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As it attempts to lead the world toward a more sustainable future, the United Nations has set a policy to move "towards a zero carbon future." [More]

By David Fogarty and Deborah Zabarenko (Reuters) - A future on Earth of more extreme weather and rising seas will require better planning for natural disasters to save lives and limit deepening economic losses, the United Nations said on Wednesday in a major report on the effects of climate change. The U.N

By Gus Trompiz PARIS (Reuters) - The world's water supply is being strained by climate change and the growing food, energy and sanitary needs of a fast-growing population, according to a United Nations study that calls for a radical rethink of policies to manage competing claims. "Freshwater is not being used sustainably," UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova said in a statement. [More]

By Nina Chestney LONDON (Reuters) - Global warming will get worse as agricultural methods accelerate the rate of soil erosion, which depletes the amount of carbon the soil is able to store, a United Nations' Environment Programme report said on Monday. [More]

GENEVA (Reuters) - La Nina, a weather phenomenon usually linked to heavy rains and flooding in Asia-Pacific and South America and drought in Africa, seems to have reached its peak and is expected to fade between March and May, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) said on Friday. A weak to moderate La Nina pattern has cooled the tropical Pacific since around October, a considerably weaker event than in 2010-11, the United Nations agency said in a statement. [More]

By Katy Migiro NAIROBI, Feb 3 (AlertNet) - An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia for now but food stocks could run out again in May, the United Nations said on Friday.

By Katy Migiro NAIROBI, Feb 3 (AlertNet) - An exceptional harvest after good rains and food deliveries by aid agencies have ended famine in Somalia for now but food stocks could run out again in May, the United Nations said on Friday. [More]

By Allison Martell and Barbara Lewis (Reuters) - The United Nations body responsible for civil aviation weighed in against the European Union's emissions trading scheme on Wednesday, increasing pressure on the EU to back down in what threatens to become a serious trade dispute. [More]

This chart shows the shift in the U.N. development index for Norway (top purple), the U.S. (second purple), Turkey (green) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (red) from 1990 to 2011 If global development were a horse race, would you put your money on the slow-and-steady contenders or a fast new contender

Sirte, Libya, was destroyed by three separate militaries. Nearly the entire population fled. Now a small group of NGOs are swooping in to quickly rebuild ..

Sirte, Libya, was destroyed by three separate militaries. Nearly the entire population fled. Now a small group of NGOs are swooping in to quickly rebuild ...

On October 31, 2011, a particularly special person will be born--the seven billionth human alive, according to United Nations demographers. He or she could be delivered by a starving mother in the growing wastelands of Somalia, a failed-state gripped by famine and war. The best odds are that the child will be born in India, which has the highest rate of births per minute in the world.

The popular idea that chemistry is now conceptually understood and that all we have to do is use it is false. Sure, most of the products we use in our daily lives were made possible by modern chemistry. But producing useful compounds is far from all chemists do.

How biofuels and speculation are driving food prices to scary new heights. Why have global food prices spiked not once, but twice in the last three years, raising the specter of famine and triggering worldwide food riots-- including the Arab Spring? Many explanations have been floated, including climate change-related droughts in Australia, volatile oil prices, “food security” export restrictions, and last but not least, feeding China’s strategic pork reserve

Combining principles of conservation with the needs of agriculture might be the only way to keep growing enough food to feed an exploding global population.