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Beekeeping relieves land degradation in Kyrgyzstan
Biodiversity
To serve the ecosystems that serve us
It's time to move beyond the term “ecosystem services” and consider what it really takes to craft sustainable lifeways that span generations.
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Climate
Could the rebound effect undermine climate efforts?
Researchers argue that energy efficiency savings can easily be cancelled out by increases in other carbon-intensive activity.
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Food
Protecting native bee populations in Mexico
Apart from the value of the country's sizeable honey industry, many Mexican organisations are also recognizing how crucial bees are in the balance of an ecosystem.
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Oil
All biofuel policies are political
A biofuels expert assesses the rationales for US biofuels policies by using life-cycle assessment analysis
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Climate
Mongolia’s herders seek a new approach
Ecological changes are impacting livelihoods in the Gobi region. One collaboration seeks to put traditional knowledge back into a formula for sustainability.
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Climate
Debate 2.0: WWF’s new unprintable file format
World Wildlife Fund's launch of a .wwf format raises a number of issues. Do you think it's genius, insulting or just dumb?
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Food
Agave sweetens livelihoods for indigenous women
Producing goods from traditional crops (using solar power) is now a top source of income for Otomí communities in central Mexico.
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Oil
Regional perspectives on challenges and opportunities for Africa
Can Africa’s natural resources be harnessed to advance sustainable development of the continent?
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Oil
WikiLeaks cables: Saudi Arabia oil reserves overstated
A leaked cable urges the US to take seriously the claim that Saudi oil reserve statistics have been inflated by 40%.
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Oil
In depth on indigenous rights in the tar sands
An illuminating Q&A with Indigenous Environmental Network activist Clayton Thomas-Muller sheds light on aboriginal rights in Canada's tar sands.
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Oil
Debate 2.0: To nuclear or not to nuclear
To wrap up Nuclear Week, we want to hear from readers. In today's climate changing, oil peaking world, how do you think this controversial energy source stacks up?
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Oil
Can nuclear power save Japan from peak oil?
Japan's self-sufficiency in primary energy is a mere 18%, but the country's government is looking to boost that with nuclear rather than green sources.
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Oil
From ashes to honey: nuclear alternatives
The work of filmmaker Hitomi Kamanaka examines the reasons for which she thinks Japan should reconsider its focus on nuclear energy.
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Climate
Debate 2.0: Is sustainable development still relevant?
As we approach its 25th birthday, it seems this complex concept needs rethinking. Do you agree?
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Food
A food price crisis, if not in name
With the lack of consensus on the cause of the last food crisis and currently mounting prices, the FAO's call for more rigorous analysis seems rather urgent.
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Food
GM crops key to human survival says UK chief scientist
Dr. John Beddington thinks that opposing Genetically Modified crops on ethical grounds is no longer justified.
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Oil
Reality of peak oil enters our fiction
Can a recent raft of novels on the topic prompt more people into pondering the reality of the end of cheap oil?
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Biodiversity
Local communities protect their Amazon
Residents in one of Peru's most deforested regions adopted 267,133 hectares of state-owned land and are working to conserve it.
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Biodiversity
More than just planting trees
For the International Year of Forests campaign to succeed, it has to make the connection between people and forests.
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Food
Local innovation to help nourish the planet
Speculation about any future global food crisis aside, here are some inspiring examples of agricultural innovation from the Nourishing the Planet blog.
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Biodiversity
Conservationists unveil plans to save coral from extinction
The Zoological Society of London is attempting to protect 10 of the world's most important threatened coral species.
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Oil
Can we evolve beyond money?
If coming generations are weaned on collaborative consumption, it is possible they will naturally gravitate away from consumerism.
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Food
All they wished for was meat and soda
Food prices are again making headlines worldwide and Ugandans, already strapped with drought and devalued currency, felt the effects this holiday season.
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Climate
The possible planet
As one decade closes and a new one begins, a retired school teacher reflects on how an illusion of separateness is paralysing us in a pivotal time.
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Climate
Could climate science become open source?
Opening up the IPCC process will bring it in line with other leading scientific organisations.
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Oil
Why are climate scientists ignoring peak oil and coal?
In a world of peak oil and of escalating economic and political volatility, perhaps climate change scenarios need to be rethought.
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Biodiversity
Our World 2.0 — 2010 in review
In what has become a tradition, the OW2.0 team looks back at the challenges and triumphs of the year past and shares resolutions for the new one.
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Oil
Urban mining in ubiquitous cities of gold
As peaks loom for many minerals, cities could go from being simply centres of consumption to becoming the ultimate resource.
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Climate
What future for international environmental law?
A new book from UNU Press attempts the demanding task of assessing the effectiveness of existing international environmental law.
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Biodiversity
Business needs to tackle the sustainability crisis
What better era for socially responsible enterprise to nurture a mutually-dependent relationship with benefits for society and business?
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Climate
Eco-products under the holiday tree
After visiting Tokyo's eco-fair, a couple of Our World 2.0ers share ideas they hope can inspire holiday gift buyers to think green.
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Oil
Collaboratively consuming everyday things
Sharing, bartering, lending, trading, renting, gifting, and swapping are being reinvented through network technologies.
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Climate
Is Cancún climate deal a pig’s ear?
In a guest editorial, a young journalist argues that a positive image has been given to an outcome that is not as valuable as it has been made out to be.
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Climate
Deal is reached at Cancún summit
With the exception of Bolivia, the world's nation-states agree to modest goals to tackle climate change at COP16.
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Climate
Getting graphical about climate change
Is a new clearly illustrated UNEP report on Latin American and the Caribbean the kind to help laypeople better absorb the mounting piles of science data?
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Climate
What does Cancún offer the climate generation?
No matter the outcome of COP16, there is hope in cultivating young green entrepreneurs who are working to address climate and sustainability issues.
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Climate
Debate 2.0: Do we still care about climate change?
Have your say on whether the world's urgency to deal with climate change has lessened.
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Biodiversity
Discovering species in the mountains under the deep sea
Investigations by a multi-disciplinary team will form the scientific basis for management and conservation in the southern Indian Ocean.
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Climate
Cancún and the new economics of climate change
In this commentary two experts argue that COP16 should see the world embracing the 'new economics' that are more compatible with climate science.
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Oil
Mapping critical politics: a land use expert talks tar sands
Veteran land use planner Petr Cizek shares how and why he helps make maps that show the true scale of Canada's advancing tar sands development.
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