London– The World Bank Group and International Monetary Fund have called upon the G20 countries to provide debt relief for the poorest countries as they are fighting to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.
The coronavirus outbreak is likely to have severe economic and social consequences for IDA countries, home to a quarter of the world’s population and two-thirds of the world’s population living in extreme poverty,” the organisations said. Continue reading
Daily Sabha — Nibbling their way across a large part of Africa in the worst outbreak, locust swarms are now threatening South Asian countries with India taking extra measures to ward off a new outbreak that could ravage crops. India is buying drones and specialist equipment to monitor the movement of locusts and spray insecticides.
Earlier this year, Indian authorities were able to bring swarms of desert locusts under control, but an outbreak in neighboring Pakistan has again raised concerns about the safety of crops such as wheat and oilseeds in India. Continue reading
Photo : UN Climate summit 2019
London – The Least Developed Countries (LDCs) have expressed disappointement over the outocme of the UN Climate Change Conference that concluded in Madrid on Sunday adopting the ‘Chile Madrid Time for Action’, which left key issues unresolved.
The effects of climate change are being increasingly felt in vulnerable countries like Bangladesh. Photo: Reuters
The global negotiations on how to tackle climate change take place in December at the annual Conference of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which is hosted in a different continent each year. This year it was the turn of South America, and COP25 was supposed to have been held in Santiago, Chile from December 2 to 13. However, due to the ongoing political unrest in Santiago, the government of Chile asked Spain to host it in Madrid. Continue reading
Choki Wangmo
The 47th ministerial meeting on climate change among the least developed countries (LDCs) in Thimphu discussed and endorsed agenda for the Conference of Parties (COP25) in December.
The ministers emphasised the need to reduce the green house gas (GHG) emissions to limit global warming to 1.5°C.
The recent special report on land, climate change, and the ocean and cryosphere, published by Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), highlighted the damaging impact climate change has on agriculture and important biospheres critical to LDCs’ livelihoods and food security. Continue reading
By: Ngamindra Dahal and Bhagirath Yogi
Historically LDCs’ contributions to climate change is negligible but over a billion people in the low income countries are increasingly bearing the brunt.
Nearly 70 people died due to a monsoon landslide in Myanmar’s Mon State. According to officials, the landslide took place when the mountain side of Ma-lat mountain collapsed due to heavy rainfall in Paung township in early hours of August 9. The remains of the collapse buried residents, houses and vehicles, reports said. Continue reading
The latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), on climate change and land use, is a major piece of work. It deals with such complex issues as the balance between land as a source of greenhouse gas emissions and land as a carbon sink.While the implications of its findings for the future of rich country diets has grabbed the headlines, its warnings for climate justice are significant.
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Achieving developing economy status would mean reduction in the informal economy as a share of GDP. Photo: Star
Habibullah N Karim, The Daily Star— It is indeed a seminal event in the history of Bangladesh that the UN last year declared Bangladesh eligible to step up to a developing economy from being a Least Developed Country (LDC). Of course the process is gradual and due to take effect in 2024 with a grace period of three years to wean off the special dispensations of the LDC status. Continue reading
Lines of people waited to collect drinking water during the drought in Cape Town, South Africa, January 2018.
©Mark Fisher/Shutterstock.com
By : Marianne Kjellén, Senior Water Advisor, UNDP
UNDP— Fears of cities running out of water have become very real in several parts of the world, most recently in South Asia in places such as Karachi, Islamabad, Chennai, and Delhi. These crises reveal severe underlying problems with water resource management and distribution. Continue reading
