30 March 2010 - The livelihoods of six and a half billion people are sustained by ecosystems containing almost 2 million known species. The welfare of Humankind is utterly dependent on this web of life. According to the UN's 3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook (to be published in May, 2010), 130 species become extinct each day. That's over 1,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. Projected trends show accelerating species extinctions and loss of habitat throughout the 21 st century. Alarmed at this assault on nature, the United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversty.
6 April 2010 - Zimbabwean journalist Busani Bafana is the 2009 recipient of the Award for Excellence in Agricultural Science Journalism, described by CGIAR as”[a] professional who has put his way with words at the service of Africa's agriculture”.
Port au Prince, Haiti, 20 January 2010 - The Thomson Reuters Foundation has successfully launched its Emergency Information Service (EIS) to assist the disaster-struck population of Haiti and has already received more than 2700 messages. The new service, launched Sunday, allows survivors of the earthquake to receive critical information via a variety of communications channels, including SMS message directly to their phones, free of charge. Individuals can also send feedback via the same system that will reach the aid organisations working in Haiti.
18 December 2009 - Wangari Maathai , Kenya 's 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, spoke at the launch of Alertnet: Climate, a new website on the humanitarian impacts of climate change funded by Com+, Danida and the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Access to partner news articles
Reporting on sustainable development key issues
COMplus, in a joint effort with Inter Press Service (IPS) and the International Federation of Environmental Journalists (IFEJ), is encouraging environmental journalists around the globe to produce in-depth, independent articles on sustainable development key issues, through the initiative: Bringing Sustainable Development Closer to the People through Mainstream and Civil Society Media Networks. The articles can be read in English, Spanish and some of them in French and are distributed through the IPS global wire service, COMplus partners, Tierramerica, IFEJ network, Terraviva and Planet's Voice among others.
Visit the IPS website for full coverage in English and in Spanish
IPS, 14 April 2010 - How's this for short-sighted: A billion people go hungry every day, food prices have climbed 30 to 40 percent, climate change is reducing agricultural production - and for the past two decades, the world has slashed investments in publicly-funded agriculture until it is a pittance in most countries.
IPS, 14 April 2010 - The 2009 global financial crisis marked the definitive end of longstanding paradigms of the global economy and development, such as the "Third World" and "North-South", according to World Bank President Robert Zoellick.
IPS, 13 April 2010 - Over the past four years, the Local Small-scale Irritation Project has spent more than $10.5 million U.S. dollars supporting rural communities in Senegal.
IPS, 13 April 2010 - The gathering environmental crisis presented by global warming makes effective weather information and prediction a matter of urgency. As Africa's farmers come to grips with adapting to climate change, it may be that the best way to equip them is to involve them directly in collecting the data.
IPS, 12 April 2010 - A once-in-a-century drought in south-west China has sparked concern over how China, which has one-fifth of the world's population but just 7 percent of its water, has managed its water supply and growing network of hydroelectric dams.
