Pollution

Bolivia's “people of the water” attempt to forge a life after the disappearance of Lake Poopó

25 March 2024

Bolivia’s “people of the water” attempt to forge a life after the disappearance of Lake Poopó

Bolivia’s second largest lake has been completely dried out since 2015. This is due to global warming, which is accelerating evaporation – already very high at 4,000 metres altitude – as well as the mining industry, which consumes a significant amount of water. The Uru Murato people are trying to [...]Read the full article

Mining in the 21st century Hispanosphere and beyond: transition, resistance and empowerment

5 February 2024

Mining in the 21st century Hispanosphere and beyond: transition, resistance and empowerment

The global digital and energy transition is increasing the demand for minerals. At the same time, resistance against projects is rising, support networks are being woven and initiatives to guarantee the rights of communities and decent working conditions are being [...]Read the full article

The chlordecone health and racism scandal in the French Antilles: case dismissed, but the fight goes on

15 January 2024

The chlordecone health and racism scandal in the French Antilles: case dismissed, but the fight goes on

After a 16-year legal battle, a court has ruled to dismiss the case of chlordecone poisoning in the French Antilles. This pesticide, used in the banana plantations from 1972 to 1993, despite its proven toxicity, continues to claim lives. But, be it in Paris or the French overseas departments, [...]Read the full article

The electrification of transport in Latin America is clocking up the kilometres, but unequally

4 December 2023

The electrification of transport in Latin America is clocking up the kilometres, but unequally

The electrification of transport in Latin America is seeking to impact positively on the environment, equality and inclusiveness, but it also entails losses for workers, especially informal transport workers. The changes and the impact in terms of awareness are already being [...]Read the full article

Turkey: Europe's rubbish dump

20 November 2023

Turkey: Europe’s rubbish dump

“The fact that Turkey continues to buy plastic waste from the EU while producing so much plastic itself is due to the growth of the recycling sector. But there’s also another problem here. Research shows that only nine per cent of the plastic produced to date can be [...]Read the full article

Death, injury and disease: the battle to improve working conditions in South Asia's shipbreaking yards

17 November 2023

Death, injury and disease: the battle to improve working conditions in South Asia’s shipbreaking yards

Every year, thousands of ships around the world reach the end of their lives. The vast majority meet their end in South Asia, where, every year, almost 70 per cent of the vessels are dismantled on just three beaches, often with no regard for the workers’ health and [...]Read the full article

High-stakes treaty negotiations expose the challenge of just transition in the plastics sector

30 October 2023

High-stakes treaty negotiations expose the challenge of just transition in the plastics sector

Unions and many environmentalists want to see all waste workers – including waste pickers – in decent working conditions, while ensuring that upstream workers are not left behind.Read the full article

Can humanity avoid the “nightmare scenario” that could be caused by mounting space junk?

22 September 2023

Can humanity avoid the “nightmare scenario” that could be caused by mounting space junk?

Seven decades of exploitation by the world’s leading space agencies have left the Earth’s orbit cluttered with debris, which has been causing problems for the planet. These problems have been exacerbated by the private sector’s entry into the space race over the last five [...]Read the full article

In Brazil, a nature reserve near Rio de Janeiro is being threatened by a tourist resort

21 June 2023

In Brazil, a nature reserve near Rio de Janeiro is being threatened by a tourist resort

In Brazil, the ecosystem of the Maricá restinga, a nature reserve 60 kilometres from Rio de Janeiro, could be disrupted by plans to develop a luxury resort, the environmental impact of which has been denounced by several researchers.Read the full article

Polluting cooking methods, used by billions of people around the world, remain a threat to women's health

16 January 2023

Polluting cooking methods, used by billions of people around the world, remain a threat to women’s health

The use of solid fuels is damaging to health and the environment. Despite the availability of clean cooking solutions and technologies, the prospects for improvement are compromised by successive crises, Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, and a lack of structural investment. In many countries, [...]Read the full article

Montenegro's dependence on its coal-fired power plant is holding back the country's energy transition

21 November 2022

Montenegro’s dependence on its coal-fired power plant is holding back the country’s energy transition

In Montenegro, a single coal-fired power plant provides almost half the country’s electricity needs, but it may be forced to close if the country wants to meet its climate commitments.Read the full article

Why informal workers are opposing waste-to-energy technology in South-East Asia

24 October 2022

Why informal workers are opposing waste-to-energy technology in South-East Asia

While some governments, development funders and business groups in South and South-East Asia are pushing for the increased use of incinerators to manage waste, informal workers are making their objections known – not only for environmental reasons but also because of the negative impact on waste [...]Read the full article

One photo at a time, Thai fisherfolk try to hold those responsible for oil spills accountable

14 October 2022

One photo at a time, Thai fisherfolk try to hold those responsible for oil spills accountable

Fisherfolk in eastern Thailand have taken up the role of citizen scientists to document the long-lasting impacts of what is believed to be the biggest oil spill in the history of the country, and to obtain compensation from those [...]Read the full article

In Lebanon, drinking water has become a luxury that few can afford

21 September 2022

Politics & economy

In Lebanon, drinking water has become a luxury that few can afford

The country’s economic collapse has left four out of five Lebanese living below the poverty line. With power outages and shortages of essential goods commonplace, access to drinking water has become a daily emergency.Read the full article

15 September 2022

Solutions from nature are the building blocks for inclusive cities

Nea Pakarinen: If planned with care and co-created with citizens, nature-based solutions can be a revolutionary way to change our urban environments to be more sustainable and inclusive.Read the full article

On water, earth, fire and air…light and tonnes of plastic

5 August 2022

On water, earth, fire and air…light and tonnes of plastic

The degradation of soil, water and air is accelerating across the globe. Do we have the time, resources and will to stem the tide of plastics and to protect biodiversity, air quality and even the alteration of light and darkness, on which virtually all forms of life are [...]Read the full article

Government indifference is hindering the development of green energy in Venezuela

29 June 2022

Government indifference is hindering the development of green energy in Venezuela

Venezuela, an oil-producing power for many decades, is faced with the challenge of transitioning to green energy like the rest of the region. Its main obstacles are the lack of investment in technology and the absence of a national policy on the [...]Read the full article

To combat pollution and its inequalities, European citizens are calling for the “right to clean air” for all

3 June 2022

To combat pollution and its inequalities, European citizens are calling for the “right to clean air” for all

In Europe, growing awareness of the social inequalities in exposure to air pollution is as yet to be translated into public policy, despite the work being done by scientists and citizens to analyse and raise consciousness about the impact on the most exposed [...]Read the full article

Tara Peel and John Mark Mwanika on the effects of climate change on workers in Canada and Uganda

27 May 2022

Tara Peel and John Mark Mwanika on the effects of climate change on workers in Canada and Uganda

Tara Peel, political advisor at the Canadian Labour Congress, and John Mark Mwanika, programmes officer at Uganda’s Amalgamated Transport and General Workers’ Union, discuss the impacts of the climate crisis on workers in Uganda and [...]Read the full article

Staunching the plastics tide

6 April 2022

Staunching the plastics tide

Waste pickers call for their voices to be heard in negotiations for a global treaty on plastics that some compare to the Paris climate agreement.Read the full article

Environmental activists in Russia are under increasing pressure

9 March 2022

Environmental activists in Russia are under increasing pressure

Being an environmental activist in Russia has never been easy. Industrial pollution, environmental degradation and health problems are truths that the Russian government has always tried to hide. Recently, however, the repression of activists has become increasingly [...]Read the full article

How nanoplastics enter the human body

28 February 2022

How nanoplastics enter the human body

If you regularly drink water from plastic bottles, you’re likely ingesting even more plastic than the average consumer.Read the full article

Light pollution: the white light wounds disrupting our planet

18 February 2022

Light pollution: the white light wounds disrupting our planet

The form of night lighting that humankind has adopted on a massive scale is not only excessive and inefficient but is also doing far more damage than we, from the comfort of our urban environments, tend to realise.Read the full article

What kind of ships and fuel is the shipping industry looking at to reduce its environmental impact?

9 February 2022

What kind of ships and fuel is the shipping industry looking at to reduce its environmental impact?

Pressure is mounting on the maritime sector to reduce its environmental impact. With approximately 80 per cent of all goods transported by sea, the industry is looking to find viable solutions whilst sustaining global trade.Read the full article

The bug revolution? Insect protein makes its way to Europe

8 December 2021

The bug revolution? Insect protein makes its way to Europe

With legislators and investors in the same boat, the wind is blowing in favour of insect farmers in Europe. The question now is: how far can they go?Read the full article

Junk returns: the hidden cost of global consumption

26 November 2021

Junk returns: the hidden cost of global consumption

An estimated one in three products purchased online is returned within three months of purchase. This is the flip side of mass consumption: mass returns. It is easy and mostly free. But someone always pays.Read the full article

Costa Rica, a well-known and applauded environmental model, is faced with lesser known but major challenges

22 November 2021

Costa Rica, a well-known and applauded environmental model, is faced with lesser known but major challenges

Although Costa Rica is widely applauded for its environmental policies, it is lagging behind in other areas linked to the environment, such as just transition.Read the full article

In the midst of Lebanon's financial crisis, farmers are struggling to survive

2 July 2021

Politics & economy

In the midst of Lebanon’s financial crisis, farmers are struggling to survive

With an economy based on banking and tourism, Lebanon produces very little and therefore has to import 80 per cent of its consumer goods, including fertilisers, seeds and animal feed. To get by, farmers are developing ecological alternatives, but their options are [...]Read the full article

The Portuguese government wants to build a new airport; environmentalists want climate justice

21 June 2021

The Portuguese government wants to build a new airport; environmentalists want climate justice

Environmental campaigners say that the new airport plan is at odds with the government’s commitment to reduce emissions and become carbon neutral by 2050.Read the full article

Ma Jun: “There is a green momentum in China. We had no choice but to change our model”

18 June 2021

Ma Jun: “There is a green momentum in China. We had no choice but to change our model”

Ma Jun is the father of environmental activism in China. The degradation of the landscapes of his childhood led him to embark on an unexplored path: transparency in industrial data.Read the full article

Mexico clings on to fossil fuels

25 May 2021

Mexico clings on to fossil fuels

Mexico is reluctant to part with fossil fuels. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s energy strategy is firmly committed to new hydrocarbon projects and the generation of dirty energy, to the detriment of renewable sources such as wind and solar [...]Read the full article

The rise of a new generation of ‘green collar workers' in South-East Asia

17 May 2021

The rise of a new generation of ‘green collar workers’ in South-East Asia

A new crop of professionals in the region are developing and engaging in new projects to help communities, the environment, and to make a difference.Read the full article

Will the pandemic provide an opportunity for positive change in the cruise industry?

10 May 2021

Will the pandemic provide an opportunity for positive change in the cruise industry?

“Calls to take action on sustainable fuels and climate change are increasing, destinations are taking steps to ban cruises or regulate access, and the effects of mass tourism are becoming increasingly visible.”Read the full article

Argentina at an energy crossroads: the role of trade unions in building a just transition

14 December 2020

Argentina at an energy crossroads: the role of trade unions in building a just transition

Argentina’s trade unions are faced with the challenge of putting a just energy transition on the agenda, a transition combining sustainability with the principles of social and environmental justice.Read the full article

Water pollution forces Europe to rethink its agricultural policies

4 December 2020

Water pollution forces Europe to rethink its agricultural policies

The Murcian lagoon is one of the most striking examples of the clash between the European Union’s environmental and agricultural policies: the intensive agriculture it promotes is a clear threat to the sustainability of watercourses and aquatic [...]Read the full article

3 December 2020

If decent work, saving our climate and protecting our biodiversity is the destination, just transition is the only pathway

Bert De Wel: “While just transition is a concept that is often associated with workers in fossil fuel industries that are in decline or expected to decline, the concept goes well beyond this.”Read the full article

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