By Hellen Kahaso Dena* The final round of negotiations for the Global Plastics Treaty (25 November-1 December) is underway in Busan, South Korea. Delegates from over 175 nations have gathered to craft a legally binding agreement on the life cycle of plastics. NAIROBI, Kenya | 22 November 2024 (IDN) — Africa is drowning in plastics, […]
Ocean Climate Crisis: Acidification, Deoxygenation and Warming
By Dr. Kirsten Isensee, Dr. Katherina School, Professor Steve Widdicombe and Jeremy Sterling* PARIS | 11 November 2024 (IDN) — Governments meeting in Baku for the COP29 Climate Summit have many mountains to climb in their quest to raise ambitions and accelerate action. They must not, however, forget about the ocean. Because the blue part […]
Strengthening Tsunami Preparedness in a Changing Climate
By Sanjay Srivastava, Temily Baker and Nawarat Perawattanasakul* BANGKOK, Thailand | 4 November 2024 (IDN) — This year’s World Tsunami Awareness Day (5 November) presents a moment of reflection 20 years on from the catastrophic Indian Ocean Tsunami in 2004. The tsunami resulted in 225,000 fatalities across 14 countries and emphasized the urgent need for […]
Anxious Polar Bears Watch their Icy Home Slowly Melt Away
By Dr Palitha Kohona* COLOMBO, Sri Lanka | 30 August 2024 (IDN) — The expedition ship, (Seabourn Venture) powers its way through icy waves and freezing winds further into the cold north, well past the Arctic Circle. Svalbard, with its stark landscape, discovered by accident by a Dutch expedition commanded by Willem Barentz searching for […]
A Brown Tide of Sargassum Is Causing Havoc in Barbados
By Julian Reingold* This article was first published in Dialogue Earth. This story was supported by a reporting grant from the Pulitzer Center. BUENOS AIRES | 29 August 2024 (IDN) — Emerging from the sea a light orange colour, the seaweed turns brown once it dries out. But the most distinctive thing is the smell. […]
Ocean Currents Bringing Plastic Waste to Tonga
By Malia Kavai* NUKU’ALOFA, Tonga | 25 June 2024 (IDN | Wansolwara) — Ocean currents across the vast Pacific Ocean are bringing plastic wastes to Tonga. This is the warning from two visiting scholars from New Zealand. The two scholars, Professor Palatasa Havea from Massey University and Dr. Bridie Allan, a lecturer at Otago University, […]
Turning Development Challenges into Opportunities
By Amanda K Serumaga The author is the UNDP Resident Representative, Mauritius and Seychelles. VICTORIA| 30 May 2024 (IDN) — An archipelago of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean, Seychelles has a population of just over 100,000 in an area covering 457 square kilometres. But while it is classified as a high-income country, this Small […]
The Quad, Maritime Security, and Climate Change
By Robert Mizo* This article was issued by the Toda Peace Institute and is being republished with their permission. NEW DELHI | 20 May 2024 (IDN) — The Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, colloquially known as the Quad, was re-initiated in 2017 after almost a decade-long hiatus. The members of the informal minilateral—Australia, Japan, India, and the […]
Is China Grabbing the South China Sea?
By Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden | 8 May 2024 (IDN) — Napoleon warned us that China was a sleeping giant best left, undisturbed. No longer. As is clear from the visit of President Xi Jinping to France this week, the giant is well awake, even happy to pay a ceremonial visit to Napoleon’s tomb, affirming […]
A Mixed Reception at Talks on an Anti-Pollution Plastic Treaty
By Simone Galimberti* KATHMANDU Nepal | 5 May 2024 (IDN)– The fourth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-4), negotiating a draft treaty against plastic pollution, one of the growing environmental hazards, was held in Ottawa, Canada, 23-29 April. But how did the talks end? It depends. Certainly, you do not need to be an […]