News stories by Erik Solheim

OSLO, Norway, November 11 (IPS) - When world leaders now gather in Belém, Brazil for the UN climate conference, expectations will be modest. Few believe the meeting will produce any breakthroughs. The United States is retreating from climate engagement. Europe is distracted. The UN is struggling to keep relevant in the 21st century.

OSLO, Norway, Nov 12 (IPS) - The nation which more than any other caused the climate crisis will leave it to the rest of the world to sort out the mess.

That is a takeaway from the US election last week.

OSLO, Norway, Apr 06 (IPS) - In the deserts of Gujarat, something remarkable is happening. On my recent visit i saw hundreds of trucks moving under the warm Indian sun. Thousands of hardworking young people from all corners of Bharat, as Indians now often call their nation, are turning around the previously empty and harsh landscape.

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 03 (IPS) - For too long, the relationship between prosperity and environment has been seen as a trade-off. Tackling pollution was considered an unwelcome cost on industry and a handicap to economic growth.

BANGKOK, Thailand, Sep 04 (IPS) - Senior government officials from across Asia and the Pacific will meet in Bangkok this week for the first-ever Asia-Pacific Ministerial Summit on the Environment. The high-level meeting is co-convened by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and UN Environment and is a unique opportunity for the region's environment leaders to discuss how they can work together towards a resource efficient and pollution-free Asia-Pacific.

Since a military junta seized control of Burma in 1988, the West's response has been to isolate it. The regime has refused to implement political and economic reforms. It's time for us to change our approach, writes Erik Solheim, Norwegian Minister of the Environment and International Development.