The Water Partnership Programme (WPP) published a new video that shows how climate change affects the Middle East, Latin America and Central Asia. The video looks at how climate change impacts the poor and most vulnerable populations. It is a free resource for those in the climate change community who want to raise awareness on the issue. The WPP works globally to counter the effects of climate change by supporting water-related programmes that promote innovative tools to help countries build resilience and prepare for an uncertain future.

Agriculture and food security are exposed to impacts and risks related to the changing climate in several ways. On the other hand, agriculture and food production activities are also responsible for part of the greenhouse gas emissions that in turn cause climate change.

According to the latest conclusions by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, agriculture, together with deforestation and other human actions that change the way land is used (codename: AFOLU, Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Use), accounts for about a quarter of emissions contributing to climate change.

Greenhouse Gas Emissions by Economic Sectors. Fig. TS.3, IPCC AR5 WGIII, Mitigation of Climate Change, Technical Summary, 2014

GHG emissions from farming activities consist mainly of non-CO2 gases: methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) produced by bacterial decomposition processes in cropland and grassland soils and by livestock’s digestive systems.

The latest estimates released in 2014 by the UN Food and…

The Wider Caribbean Region (WCR) has the greatest concentration of plant and animal species in the Atlantic Ocean Basin.  Yet these precious, and often irreplaceable, natural resources are disappearing at an astounding rate. The vast majority of all species are threatened by habitat loss or modification in addition to unsustainable practices such as over-fishing, unplanned coastal development and pollution. These same habitats are often the main source of food and income for many coastal communities.

The Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW) of the Cartagena Convention, is a regional agreement for biodiversity management and conservation in the Wider Caribbean Region, in existence since 1990. It is managed by the United Nations Caribbean Environment Programme (CEP) and it became international law in 2000.  It aims to protect critical marine and coastal ecosystems while promoting regional co-operation and sustainable development.

To date, sixteen countries from the region have ratified the…

CBP drone take off from Fort Huachuca in Sierra Vista, Ariz. (Matt York/AP)

Customs and Border Protection (CBP) caught 120,939 illegal boarder crossers in Arizona during 2013, but CBP’s fleet of 24 drones providing aerial border surveillance aided in fewer than two per cent of the apprehensions. This statistic is cited in a recent Department of Homeland Security (DHS) inspector general audit that found “little or no evidence” CBP’s current fleet – that surveys a mere “100 miles of the Arizona border and 70 miles of the Texas border” – warrants the agency’s planned $443 million expansion of the program. The DHS audit is released while “Congress considers whether to spend more on drone surveillance to secure the borders as part of immigration legislation.”

WikiLeaks has released a July 7, 2009, CIA analysis entitled “Making High-Value Targeting Operations an Effective Counterinsurgency Tool,” highlighting the limited overall effect of “high…

San Fernando police delivered detainees to the Zetas drug gang, according to a newly-declassified memo.

As demonstrators across Mexico take to the streets to protest the government’s involvement in the September 2014 disappearance of 43 students in Iguala, Guerrero, a case bearing many of the same grim hallmarks is getting renewed attention.

Today, in a new article for The Nation, I examine newly-declassified evidence of police involvement in the 2011 San Fernando massacre and what it all means for access to information on human rights cases in Mexico.

In August 2010, the Zetas criminal group abducted and killed 72 people pulled from buses traveling the highways near San Fernando, Tamaulipas, a town more than 1,000 kilometers northeast of Guerrero. The remains of 193 people were discovered buried in dozens of mass graves in the same part of the state the following April. Members of the Zetas and 17 San…

The Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) is seeking Expressions of Interest (EoI) for Consulting Services for the Implementation Consultant (IC) to assist the Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC) in the implementation of the Coastal Protection for Climate Change Adaptation in the Small Island States in the Caribbean Project. Qualified Independent Consultants are invited to submit a pre-qualification document. Funds have been earmarked for this Project by the German bilateral Financial Cooperation, provided through KfW Development Bank.

Ref-No: BZM 201297621

Project-No: 2012.9762.1

Deadline for submission of EoI is at 2:00 pm January 30, 2015, Belize Time.  Late submissions will not be accepted.

Peruse the official EoI request here.

EoIs should be submitted in one original and three copies to: