Our food system is broken: we must repair it
June 7, 2018
Let’s start with the good news. Humankind is living longer than ever before. Fewer of us are going to bed hungry. Improvements in diets and modern medicine have contributed to a 20-year increase in the average global life expectancy since 1960. The...
Science can help forge a new deal for nature
May 21, 2018
Biodiversity is life, all life on earth. The air we breathe, the food we eat and the water we drink are all only possible as long as we have healthy biodiversity - rich species diversity. The remarkable diversity of flowers filling the house on...
Reversing the ocean’s accelerating decline
May 18, 2018
The ocean has shaped my life, from my beginnings in the outer islands of Fiji to my appointment last year as the UN Secretary-General’s special envoy for the ocean. Like millions of others before me who have taken sustenance and succour from Neptune...
Innovation drives Seychelles blue economy approach
March 21, 2018
Our oceans provide everything from food for billions around the world, to protecting communities and economies from storms—bringing it at least $1.5 trillion to the global economy every year. But they also face a barrage of threats, from marine...
State-of-the art oceanic research ship will support LME conservation and management
January 24, 2018
In 2017, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Norway launched a new, state-of-the-art marine studies vessel, among the most advanced of its kind. Its mission: To investigate some of the planet's least-explored ocean using cutting-edge...
Bike-sharing data and cities: lessons from China's experience
January 17, 2018
Digital technologies have spread rapidly in much of the developing world. However, the development and environmental benefits from using digital technologies are yet to be fully captured. The GEF launched the Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach...
Elephants hate kale and other lessons in bringing conservation and development together
January 13, 2018
When I try to explain the importance of the GEF when it comes to protecting the world’s biodiversity, I end up with two main arguments.
First, biodiversity is not evenly distributed across the planet. And second, most of the places with the highest...
The GEF's new policy on gender equality is a win for people and planet
November 28, 2017
Gender equality is an environmental issue.
Through initiatives financed by the Global Environment Facility, UNDP recognizes this reality on the ground around the world. From Pakistan, where investing in women as clean energy entrepreneurs has led to...
Marking progress: towards gender mainstreaming at UN Environment
November 28, 2017
While working towards gender equality may be business as usual in many countries, in much of the world massive disparities in education, empowerment and opportunities remain a daily reality for women and girls.
Just one example is Mozambique, where...
A voice from the Liberian mangroves: ensuring that GEF investments work for both women and men
November 27, 2017
“Women should benefit from this project, otherwise we’ll have to continue to go in and cut the mangrove.”
I’m sitting on a narrow wooden bench, under a burning hot aluminum roof, next to a mother with a small boy on her lap who keeps a wary eye on...
