Afghanistan has vast mineral resources that have long attracted interest from outside countries, but a lack of infrastructure and political instability means they’re unlikely to aid its economy now.
Coastal areas in West Africa are under intense pressure from demographic growth, economic expansion and ongoing climate change.
IRD
Olusegun Dada, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD); Frédéric Ménard, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD); Pierre Morand, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) e Rafael Almar, Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD)
Around the world, fragile coastal ecosystems are under intense pressure, and understanding and managing their complex interactions requires an integrated and interdisciplinary approach.
Part of Gros Morne National Park in western Newfoundland is seen in June 2017. Tourism is critically important for many areas of rural Canada.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Colin Perkel
Misconceptions of rural realities can have serious implications. Better use of data can help avoid this and lead to policies that will help rural communities recover in the post-pandemic.
Clashes between mining companies and communities are often about the age-old question of whether mining, with its adverse impacts, can benefit the many or only a selected few.
Arnagretta Hunter, Australian National University e John Hewson, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Other existential risks include the decline of natural resources (particularly water), human population growth beyond the Earth’s carrying capacity, and nuclear weapons.
Pictured is a slag pile at Broken Hill in New South Wales. Slag is a man-made waste product created during smelting.
Anita Parbhakar-Fox
Manufacturing minerals is an expanding field of study. Making more of them could help alleviate various pressures faced by our growing population. But how are they made, and where can they be used?
Swedish activist and student Greta Thunberg, centre, takes part in the Climate Strike in Montreal on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
Should lakes, rivers and other resources have legal rights? New Zealand, Ecuador and other countries have taken this step. Now Toledo, Ohio is a US test case.
Government negligence, rampant development and illegal land clearing spark wildfires in Indonesia that annually ravage thousands of acres of forest.
AP Photo
July 29, 2019 is ‘Earth Overshoot Day,’ a date coined by the nonprofit Global Footprint Network to publicize overuse of Earth’s resources. But their estimates may actually understate the problem.
Governments have been reluctant to work towards increased overbank flows, but the Basin needs it to boost its resilience.
Dean Lewins/AAP
How does reporting on the environment promote democracy? A US journalism professor describes conditions in the republic of Georgia, where the media isn’t equipped to cover issues like pollution.
A worker marks timber logs at a concession area in Sarawak, Malaysia. Rainforest logging in Asia feeds much of the world’s thirst for timber.
AP Photo/Vincent Thian
In a global economy, passing laws to conserve forests, fisheries or other natural resources can simply shift demand for those goods to other countries or regions where they aren’t as well protected.
Presidential candidates Joko Widodo (L) and Prabowo Subianto (R) shake hands during a debate among candidates in Jakarta, Indonesia, 17 February 2019.
EPA/Adi Weda
African economies could benefit more from backward linkages to the mining industry than from beneficiation.
A dilapidated house in the northern Ontario First Nation of Attawapiskat is seen in April 2016. The parliamentary budget officer says it will cost more than $3 billion to bring First Nations water infrastructure up to standards seen in comparable non-Indigenous communities.
THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette
If we continue to shut Indigenous communities out of the modern economy, critical infrastructure projects will continue to be delayed and natural resources will remain stuck in the ground.
Purse seiner fishing in the Indian Ocean. Footprint estimates do not assess how sustainably resources such as fisheries are managed.
Jiri Rezac
August 1, 2018 is ‘Earth Overshoot Day,’ a date coined by the nonprofit Global Footprint Network to publicize overuse of Earth’s resources. But their estimates actually understate the problem.
How much would you pay to make this disappear?
Emilian Robert Vicol
What would you pay to keep trash off your favorite beach, or pollution away from a national park? Economists can tease these values out of our travel choices and use the numbers to help make policy.