As Sri Lanka struggles with its worst drought in 40 years, farmers in the hardest hit areas are migrating for work – with some wondering whether farming remains a viable career as climate change brings more frequent extreme weather.
Disasters – from deadly floods to worsening droughts – are happening more frequently in Sri Lanka. But efforts to begin treating the crises as a new "normal," which require system changes rather than one-time responses, are struggling.
What's mud got to do with sustainable housing? A new Sri-Lankan research shows cheap mud has a huge role to play in providing adequate and climate-resilient living conditions for vulnerable communities.
Cindy Berman –
Mauritius and Bangladesh are negotiating an agreement that could put an end to bonded labour once and for all, writes Cindy Berman from the Ethical Trading Initative.
Alexandra Soezer and Priyantha Wijayatunga –
Beyond its positive impacts to climate and the environment, a transformation to 100 per cent renewable energy will also spur several Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), say ADB's Priyantha Wijayatunga and UNDP's Alexandra Soezer.
Ilan Kelman –
Hurricane Harvey isn't a "natural disaster" because disasters are not natural, says University College London researcher Ilan Kelman. Rather, they are the result of social and political forces which shape people's vulnerability to events.
Researchers from CSIRO identify ways to tackle the mounting problem of plastic pollution - solutions are urgently needed, given that 8 million tonnes of plastic enter oceans each year.