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Cities: pushing for an ecosystem approach

Cities: pushing for an ecosystem approach

Cities as ecosystems? The benefits of this approach are manifold, including water purification, improved public health, reduced disaster exposure, enhanced resilience and social justice. But to move cities – and so the planet – into a sustainable future, this approach must become more integrated and pragmatic, and applied also in the global south, says on Nature Xuemei Bai, professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National University in Canberra.

The new Atlantis: how climate change endangers our Internet network

The new Atlantis: how climate change endangers our Internet network

Climate change – related sea level incursions could have a devastating impact on Internet communication infrastructure even in the relatively short term. A risk assessment to highlight the threats to the management and operations of communications systems and develop mitigation strategies designed to minimize the impacts on coastal areas.

Fish is life: insights from The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018

Fish is life: insights from The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture 2018

Since 1961 the annual global growth in fish consumption has been twice as high as population growth, demonstrating that the fisheries sector is crucial in meeting the goal of a world without hunger and malnutrition. Data and in-depth analyses on global fish production, consumption and marketing rates, together with some first attempts at quantifying the possible future scenarios regarding the linkages of fisheries and aquaculture both to climate change and to other challenges, such as pollution. The current state of these two key sectors worldwide up to 2018 in the new FAO report.

Low-Tech is the new High-Tech

Low-Tech is the new High-Tech

Faith in progress through new technologies has been a driving force since the industrial revolution, but countries have come to realize the finiteness of natural resources: can we really resolve problems that were caused by the rise of industrial and technological progress with the same processes? Philippe Bihouix advocates for a development model in which “low technologies” would replace today’s “high-tech” world.

bumpy-road-Paris-climate-deal

The bumpy road to action of the Paris climate deal

The end of 2018 is a crucial date for the implementation of the climate agreement adopted in Paris in 2015 and currently ratified by 178 countries. At COP24 in Katowice, Poland, countries are due to finalized and adopt the operational guidelines of the treaty, also known as “the Paris rulebook”.