Working paper
Modern developments in biotechnology and the continuing expansion of global trade have allowed society to gain greater access to, and to derive benefits from, the world’s biological and genetic diversity. Eleven years ago the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) entered into force, with a goal of ensuring that in the process of obtaining and sharing such benefits, society would...
Many countries and communities are vulnerable to natural disasters related to their location and geophysical context; while the risk of technological disasters exists everywhere. Disaster risk reduction is one of the great challenges of development. Disaster risks can be minimised and losses substantially reduced by enabling local bodies such as Unions, VDCs and Municipalities to undertake...
This document contains information on farmers’ indigenous knowledge and practices associated with the ricebean (Vigna umbellata (Thunb.) Ohwi and Ohashi, previously Phaseolus calcaratus) in potential ricebean growing areas of Nepal. Ricebean is a potentially valuable but underutilised multipurpose grain legume for farmers in the marginal hill areas of Nepal. It is a traditional crop that...
Almost a century ago, fears began to be expressed about the possible impact of the rise in atmospheric temperature on mountain glaciers. The fears led to the initiation of concerted scientific efforts to identify and examine the fluctuations along the front-snout of glaciers. It was believed that such studies, over the next century or so, would enable scientists to establish the relationship...
Climate change is the number one threat to human development. Yet progress towards limiting global warming to below 2°C has not been sufficient.
The global effort required to reduce emissions and support the poorest and most vulnerable people to adapt to unavoidable changes must be based on objective indicators of countries' historic responsibilities for causing the crisis, and...
Irresponsible arms transfers are undermining many developing countries’ chances of achieving their Millennium Development Goal (MDG) targets. This paper shows new evidence of how this is happening in parts of Asia, Latin America, and Africa – either by draining governments’ resources or by fuelling armed violence or conflict.
Either way, irresponsible arms transfers...
In sub-Saharan Africa mobile pastoralism is predominantly practised in arid and semi-arid lands. These lands are hot and dry, with low and erratic rainfall. There are not many livelihoods suited to this unpredictable environment, but pastoralism is particularly appropriate, because it enables people to adapt by moving livestock according to the shifting availability of water and pasture.
...Biofuels are presented in rich countries as a solution to two crises: the climate crisis and the oil crisis. But they may not be a solution to either, and instead are contributing to a third: the current food crisis.
Meanwhile, the danger is that they allow rich-country governments to avoid difficult but urgent decisions about how to reduce consumption of oil, while offering new avenues...
No one has to be poor in 2008. No woman need die giving birth for want of simple medical care. No child should die of pneumonia because of a lack of medicine. No girl should have to watch her brothers leave to go to school while she stays at home. No family should see floods wash away its food. No woman should have to watch her children risk their lives drinking dirty water, or go to sleep...
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