Given Samantha Power’s position as the current Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), a Pulitzer-winning author, a distinguished diplomat and one of the U.S.’s most widely respected advisors on foreign affairs, perhaps the most surprising characteristic about her is her unbridled humility. When she speaks of her years of experience in high-pressure […]
The Dalai Lama, when asked what surprised him most about humanity, answered “Man! Because he sacrifices his health in order to make money. Then he sacrifices money to recuperate his health. And then he is so anxious about the future that he does not enjoy the present; the result being that he does not live […]
The Robert Bosch Stiftung has long supported initiatives that advance progress on many aspects of life, from healthcare to education to international relations – and, since 2020, among other global issues, climate change and land restoration. Ottilie Bälz, a senior vice president of the foundation, stands as a key player in the foundation’s efforts. From […]
The central Argentinian province of Córdoba was once covered in thorny forests and rich grasslands. One of these forest ecosystems is known as “the Espinal,” an area that was replete with native flora and fauna. But within the last 100 years, almost the entire Espinal ecoregion has disappeared. Due to the spread of agriculture and […]
If there’s one thing that COP26 demonstrated, it’s that the global power players, namely governments and businesses, are feeling the heat – not from global warming necessarily, but from the growing political and societal demands for institutional change. From shortened net-zero timelines to environmental pledges to the upping of financial commitments, the U.N. Climate Conference […]
The importance of the financial sector’s role in agriculture cannot be overstated, especially as farming is increasingly uprooted by the effects of a changing climate and land degradation. These impacts are especially felt in Africa, where drought, desertification and soil salinization are upending the lives of smallholder farmers who lack the resources to adapt. “Banking […]
When Galina Angarova thinks of her grandmother, she remembers the way she could predict the day’s weather and the wild berry harvest months in advance. “She knew so many things that are hidden from the regular eye, just because she was of that land,” Angarova, a representative of Russia’s Indigenous Buryat People, said in a […]
When Ridhima Pandey was only 5 years old, climate change barreled into her life. It was 2013, and flash floods and landslides in her home state of Uttarakhand in India killed over 1,000 people and prompted the evacuation of 100,000 more. “I was scared that I would lose my parents and home because of floods […]
In the climate activism world, Katharine Hayhoe is a superstar. Not only has the atmospheric scientist served as a lead author for the U.S. National Climate Assessment for more than a decade and taught political science at Texas Tech University, but she has also spoken about climate change with movie stars and presidents, published numerous […]
When asked about why she knows her work matters, Ko Barrett, who serves as a vice chair of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as well as a senior advisor for climate at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), recalled a trip to the Shishmaref region of Alaska, just north of the […]
In describing her journey to become a lawyer and land rights activist, Nonette Royo cites the influence of her father – an Indigenous healer, linguist, educator and court clerk – and the variety of peoples she encountered growing up in Northern Mindanao, in the Philippines. “I saw beauty in diverse Indigenous cultures, their practices, their […]
The music of Fatoumata Diawara doesn’t pummel you with its power, yet it doesn’t quietly slip by either – and it certainly doesn’t meander in the mediocre middle of the two. So what is it about Diawara that has earned her two Grammy nominations, collaborations with legendary musicians ranging from Herbie Hancock to Paul McCartney, […]
When Houria Djoudi, a senior scientist at the Center for International Forestry Research, speaks about any of the number of research projects she juggles at a time, it sounds as if she’s telling a story, and likely one that will break your heart. Whether it’s about the devastating fires that swept through her homelands in […]
Food-wise, Africa is burdened with the negative stereotype of being a net importer in addition to experiencing challenges of famine and drought. But serial entrepreneur Ndidi Nwuneli sees the future differently, and entirely so. “As a continent naturally endowed for agricultural excellence, Africa holds significant potential to not only feed itself but also attain food security and […]
Few scientists experience a career moment like Luciana Gatti did when, in July 2021, she was the lead author of a research article published in Nature that marked a turning point in the public’s understanding of the state of our planet. The article, “Amazonia as a carbon source linked to deforestation and climate change,” proclaimed […]
