The Sustainability Learning Forum

Sustainable Forest Management and Carbon in Tropical Latin America: The Case for REDD+

Dr. Robert Nasi, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR)

Tropical forests are threatened by the distinctly different processes of deforestation and forest degradation. While deforestation involves the conversion of forests to another land use type, degradation results in forests that have lost some of their ability to provide environmental goods and services. In economic terms, deforestation tends to be associated with investments in other land uses, mainly agriculture, whereas degradation tends to be linked to short-term extraction of forest rents or wildfires. Forest degradation translates into losses of biodiversity, reduced capacity of forests to provide the full spectrum of goods and services, enhanced likelihoods of subsequent deforestation, and reduced resilience and adaptation potential to climate change. more[...] login_required

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Living Responsibility

Rainer Wend, Deutsche Post DHL

If one person forgets to switch off the light, it’s not the end of the world. But when thousands of employees agree to climate-protection measures, the effects can show a tremendously positive result. If only one customer requests a carbon-neutral transport, it’s not going to save the planet. However, when thousands of customers all over the world ask for eco-friendly services, it makes a big difference. Today, it is our employees and our customers who drive our corporate responsibility activities at Deutsche Post DHL. more[...] login_required

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The MDGs at a Glance

Editorial Team

In the year 2000 the United Nations introduced the Millennium Development Goals. Main targets are the reduction of extreme poverty and a global partnership for development. At the UN Millennium Summit in New York stakeholders from the international politics, civil society and global NGOs promised to achieve all these targets till 2015. The eight goals are: Eradicate extreme poverty & hunger, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/Aids, Malaria and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development. more[...] login_required

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Avoiding Adaptation Apartheid: Climate Change Adaptation and Human Rights Law

Margaux J. Hall, World Bank
David C. Weiss, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

There is now little doubt that humans will be forced to adapt to the impacts of a warming world. There is also little doubt that the poorest people in the poorest countries will bear most of the burden of adapting to climate consequences they had almost no role in creating.(2) As the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has explained, “In the Netherlands, people are investing in homes that can float on water. more[...] login_required

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The Whale Shark Campaign

Sujit Patil, TATA Chemicals

One of India’s most successful and internationally acclaimed conservation projects, the Whale Shark Campaign, is a collaboration of Wildlife Trust of India, the International Fund for Animal Welfare, Tata Chemicals Limited, and the Gujarat Forest Department. The campaign was initiated in January 2004 to spread awareness and to educate and change perceptions about the world’s largest fish among specific target groups in the western Indian state of Gujarat. more[...]

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Greening of Saline and Alkaline Sediments

Sujit Patil, TATA Chemicals

Tata Chemicals Limited (TCL), which was established in 1939, today is the second largest producer of soda ash in the world with manufacturing facilities across four continents. TCL’s journey as a synthetic soda ash manufacturer began in Mithapur, on the coast of Gujarat, on India’s west coast, and for many years Mithapur represented the sum total of TCL’s soda ash manufacturing. Over time TCL’s Mithapur production volume has grown from 80 tons per day in 1944 to its current level of 2,400 tons per day. The volumes of wastes generated from its operations have grown as well. Solid waste disposal was one of TCL’s biggest concerns. Before setting up the cement manufacturing plant that converts these effluent solids into cement in 1993, all the solid waste generated was stored in a corner of the factory site called Malara. more[...]

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Sustainable Forest Management and Carbon in Tropical Latin America: The Case for REDD+

Living Responsibility

The MDGs at a Glance

Avoiding Adaptation Apartheid: Climate Change Adaptation and Human Rights Law

The Whale Shark Campaign

Greening of Saline and Alkaline Sediments