Biological diversity, meaning the variety of plants, animals, and microorganisms, is under threat: according to estimates of the World Wildlife Fund, we are losing at least 10,000 species every year – and 99 percent of them are at risk from human activities. In 2016, we reached a record of global tree cover loss with 29.7 million hectares vanishing signifying a 51 percent increase from 2015.

PREPARING CONTINGENCY PLANNING FOR DISASTER RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS

International Women’s Day 2018 revolves around the theme “Time is Now: Rural and urban activists transforming women’s lives”– women going on the streets, women fighting in their communities, women coming together for their rights. This is happening as much in big capitals of the world as in small communities and villages.

Under this year’s IVD theme “Volunteers act first. Here. Everywhere“, two events were planned in the Montserrado County in the North West of Liberia. For the very first time, the UNV Field Unit also organized awareness events in Grand Gedeh County (Zwedru) and Grand Cape Mount County (Robertsport).

Alexandra Palmquist, UN Youth Volunteer in Environment and Climate Change with UNDP Bolivia Alexandra arrived in Bolivia six months ago and works on environmental management, monitoring activities, assessing outputs, and preparing reports.

They came in three. Hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria battered their way through the Caribbean and Southern Florida last summer, with 185mph winds causing an estimated $67 billion worth of damage. Many homes, schools and hospitals were ripped apart, with communities working desperately hard to ensure people remained safe. One important way of ensuring people were prepared was getting potentially life-saving information to those in the path of the storms.

UNV with the special support of UNDP Sri Lanka under the Climate Change Adaptation Project (CCAP) joined hands with farm organizations, students of the Wayamba University, DMC Srilanka, the Volunteer Task Force and nearly 500 community volunteers to plant a select variety of trees on the riparian buffer of 10 selected tanks in the region of Galgamuwa Kurunegala.

Coming from a place where inequality and urban violence are the rule, my beautiful city is also under immense environmental pressure from climate change and deforestation. As part of the few with access to higher education in Salvador, having the opportunity to earn a Law degree and volunteer for climate justice projects in University helped to make me a potential solution to the challenges facing my community.

Deep in the heart of the district of Kindo Koysha in southern Ethiopia, the road system is rudimentary. When volunteers from the Ethiopian Red Cross Society wanted to start distributing emergency water rations to the most vulnerable of families, getting there was a noted challenge. But, with people like Yonas Bade, a farmer and local volunteer on hand, it was a challenge that would be quickly overcome.

The Global Renewable Energy Forum was organized by the Embassy of the Republic of Korea on 12 November 2017, as a Special Event during COP23.  Bearing the title “Towards a Low Carbon, Green Energy Future”, the event provided added value to the COP 23 policy discussions by engaging and informing an international audience on state-of-the-art, energy transition applications and policies in the sectors of transport (e.g., strategy roadmaps, electric vehicles, batteries, ‘mobility as a service’, and diesel phase out policies); and innovative, Integrated Systems (e.g., smart cities, heating