The Peruvian Amazon is a tropical rainforest covering more than 270,000 square miles, and its vast collection of plant and animal species make Peru one of the world’s most biologically diverse countries. Many Peruvians rely on forest-based livelihoods to feed their families, but a deforestation crisis has jeopardized their jobs. The USAID Peru Environmental Management…
What are the biggest risks if cities in Mozambique do not become more resilient? It would be a catastrophe. Right now, we’re starting to see the impact of extreme climate events, and we know they will get worse. Even minor-seeming weather events can cause significant problems. For example, it rained lot in the city of…
The work that BioREDD+ produced in the Colombian Pacific region was designed to achieve USAID’s development objective to strengthen Colombia’s efforts to sustainably manage the country’s environmental resources, by addressing climate change, biodiversity conservation, and environmental governance objectives. The BioREDD+ climate change component focused on mitigation and preparing Afro-Colombian and indigenous communities along Colombia’s Pacific…
The signing of the United States-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement (PTPA) in 2006 revealed a need to reduce Peru’s illegal logging rates. To accomplish this, USAID’s Environmental Management and Forest Governance Support Activity, also known as Peru Bosques (“Forests” in English) project supports several objectives 1) to help the Peruvian government improve its institutions, forestry regulations,…
In 2013 I wrote a book called Redeeming REDD: Policies, Incentives, and Social Feasibility for Avoided Deforestation, published by Earthscan. In the book I argue that reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD, and the latest variant known as REDD+), needs a suite of enabling conditions, independent of market viability as well as measurement,…
We are at a pivotal moment in the movement to combat climate change. Extreme weather events are becoming more commonplace, and the health consequences connected to rising temperatures and worsening air quality are affecting communities around the world. And although it might not be easily observable, climate change is having a dramatic economic impact as…
Interest in how extractives companies deal with the environmental, social, and governance aspects of their work is increasing among investors, financial institutions, affected communities, consumers, and NGOs. To meet stakeholders’ expectations and avoid additional regulations, many extractives companies are committing to voluntary environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards — essentially principles, guidelines, and certifications systems…
Insecurity of land tenure and property rights is cited as a precipitating, if not primary, cause of contemporary global poverty and inequality. Research from a range of sources including the World Bank, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, OECD, civil society organizations, and academic institutions show that strengthening land and property rights goes hand…
As Eileen Hoffman observed in last week’s blog post on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 1, the seventeen SDGs are interconnected and must be pursued concurrently. Poverty alleviation, food security, sustainable economic growth, gender equality — each goal contains ambitious targets, but it is the commitment to resilience and inclusivity enshrined across all the goals that weaves them…
Through upgrades in data gathering, knowledge creation, and information sharing, MIND strengthened early warning systems for floods and cyclones and helped improve disaster management and contingency planning. In the process, MIND fostered networking and built Mozambican capacity to unprecedented levels. MIND combined a spectrum of tools — from high-tech, satellite-derived rainfall estimations to multicolored cyclone…