Green Economy

Sustainable blue economy vital for small countries and coastal populations

Published June 4, 2023 | By editor

Unsplash/Benjamin L. Jones Seagrass meadows – expanses of green, grass-like shoots and flowers – are a hugely effective nature-based solution to climate change.

With the livelihoods of about 40 per cent of the world’s population living at or near a coast, the second day of the UN Ocean Conference under way in Lisbon focused on strengthening sustainable ocean-based economies, managing coastal ecosystems. The world’s coastal populations contribute significantly to the global economy – an estimated $1.5 trillion per year – with expectations pointing to some $3 trillion by 2030.

Ensuring ocean ecosystem health, supporting livelihoods and driving economic growth requires targeted support for key sectors, including fisheries and aquaculture, tourism, energy, shipping and port activities, and seabed mining, as well as innovative areas such as renewable energy and marine biotechnology. Continue reading →

Healthy forests, healthy planet, healthy humans

Published May 14, 2023 | By editor

Forests support many local communities in Madagascar.

Forests are often called the lungs of the planet, because they absorb harmful carbon dioxide and produce life-giving oxygen so it’s no exaggeration to equate healthy forests with healthy people, the theme of this year’s International Day of Forests.

Covering 31 per cent of Earth’s land and providing a home to 80 per cent of all land-based species, forests are crucial to human health and well-being, but their loss across the planet is threatening people everywhere.

Here are five things you need to know about the age-old and ever-growing interlinked relationship between forests and human health. Continue reading →

First Person: Sharing indigenous knowledge with tourists

Published September 4, 2022 | By editor

Indigenous Argentinian tourism entrepreneur Hero photo alt text Celestina Ábalos stands outside her home.

Ivar Velasquez Indigenous Argentinian tourism entrepreneur Hero photo alt text Celestina Ábalos stands outside her home.

After successfully reclaiming her people’s territory in Northern Argentina, Celestina Ábalos turned to tourism to share and promote her indigenous culture. UN entrepreneurship training during the COVID-19 pandemic helped her business to grow.

Indigenous entrepreneur Celestina Ábalos runs a tourism business in the UNESCO World Heritage site of Quebrada de Humahuaca in Jujuy province, northern Argentina, sharing her community’s culture and knowledge of medicinal herbs.

“I am a child of Pachamama, Mother Earth. Earth is everything to us. It is life. We cannot conceive of ourselves without her. My community dates back 14,000 years. On behalf of 60 families, I led a 20-year fight for the right to land, education and freedom.

We used to live under a rental system where we had a landlord who delineated the spaces for us to occupy and to live in, both for sowing crops and raising cattle. It was a life very much governed by what the master said, by the space you had to occupy, and by what I saw my parents having to pay at the end of each year. These were very powerful moments for a teenager.

Through the process of reclaiming our territory I began to think more about how to make my history and the history of my people known. I have always seen, and I continue to see in the media, the stigma that is placed on us indigenous peoples. I wanted to show and make the other side of the story known. That motivated me but I was thinking: “How do I do it, how do I show this?”

Continue reading →

First Person: The honey business owner creating a buzz in northern Uganda

Published August 14, 2022 | By editor

UN News/ Hisae Kawamori Sam Aderobu, found of Honey Pride

Sam Aderubo started his company, Honey Pride, in Arua, northern Uganda, in order to make a positive impact on his community. With support from the UN, the business is taking off, providing work for hundreds of local beekeepers, many of whom are marginalized women and youth.

“I used to work in an office, and people would come to my place of work to sell ‘West Nile honey’, named after the region I come from. I was interested to see that my region was being used as a brand, and discovered that West Nile is one of the top ranked regions in Uganda for the production of honey.

So, I decided that I would come back home, and start a company to serve my community.

UN report: Value of nature must not be overridden by pursuit of short-term profit

Published July 14, 2022 | By editor

Hornets serve an essential function to fruiting and flowering plants.

Unsplash/Aaron Burden Hornets serve an essential function to fruiting and flowering plants.

The values that we ascribe to nature are vital parts of our cultures, identities, economies, and ways of life, all of which should be reflected in policy decisions surrounding our natural world, according to a new UN-backed report released on Monday.

However, the new Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ (IPBES) assessment report finds when making policy decisions, there is a too much global focus on short-term profits and economic growth that often undervalue nature.

Continue reading →