News headlines for “Biodiversity”, page 179
Vietnam and Cambodia: Leveraging Support to Enhance Climate Ambition
- Inter Press Service

WASHINGTON DC, Nov 19 (IPS) - The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted nearly every facet of our lives and delayed what was slated to be a landmark Conference of the Parties (COP26). This pivotal year marks the first due date for countries to submit revised national climate plans per the five-year cycle required by the Paris Agreement.
Remarkably, countries are still moving forward with renewed urgency. And many countries are integrating green recovery into their COVID-19 responses, further contributing to climate action. While many countries have positive stories to tell, both of our nations, Vietnam and Cambodia, are sterling examples of nations taking strong, decisive action, particularly with support through the NDC Partnership. Just last month, the people of Vietnam submitted their updated national climate plan and, in short order, the people of Cambodia will do likewise.
Bringing Clean Water On Tap To Rural Villages In Polynesian Island Nation Of Tuvalu
- Inter Press Service

CANBERRA, Nov 18 (IPS) - Rural communities on one of the nine islands that make up the Polynesian nation of Tuvalu are anticipating how life will change when they are connected to piped clean water for the first time.
Eswatini makes Progress on NDCs thanks to Crucial Partnership Support
- Inter Press Service

MBABANE, Nov 17 (IPS) - Barry de Maine, the director of Green Cross Pharmacy, lost about $ 7,675 worth of stock when The Mall, the largest shopping centre in Mbabane, was flooded back in 2003. But when the flash floods hit again this year, he had already installed a flange to stop water from coming in.
This is the best I could do under the circumstances, De Maine told IPS, adding: Otherwise since we started experiencing floods at The Mall (17 years ago) nothing has been done.
Global Summit of Development Banks Fails to Learn from Destructive Past
- Inter Press Service

MANILA, Nov 13 (IPS) - Development banks have repeatedly looked the other way and been complicit in the human rights violations of corporations and governments they work with. They support activities where armed forces push forward large infrastructure and extractives projects on traditional lands without the participation and consent of Indigenous Peoples.
This week, 450 public development banks from around the world met for the Finance in Common Summit at the Paris Peace Forum. They gathered to discuss how they can direct their combined investments of over USD 2 trillion - 10% of total investments in the world - "to support the transformation or the global economy" and "build new forms of prosperity that take care of people and the planet."
Vietnam Takes the Lead on Indo-Pacific Economic Integration
- Inter Press Service

PERTH, Australia, Nov 12 (IPS) - This was the year that Vietnam was poised to make progress on its rise as a regional leader. Under the auspices of Vietnam's ASEAN chairmanship, a breakthrough in global trade has been achieved despite rising protectionism and a global pandemic.
Is Development for the World Bank Mainly Doing Business?
- Inter Press Service

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 (IPS) - The World Bank has finally given up defending its controversial, but influential Doing Business Report (DBR). In August, the Bank "paused" publication of the DBR due to a "number of irregularities" after its much criticized ranking system was exposed as fraudulent.
Q&A: How Desert Dust Storms Supply Vital Nutrients to the Oceans
- Inter Press Service

UNITED NATIONS, Nov 09 (IPS) - When sand and dust storms (SDS) rage in the Sahara Desert, more than 10,000 km away in the Caribbean Sea the very same storms have a range of effects on the 1,360 species of shorefish that populate the waters there.
From Paraguay to Italy: Development at All Costs
- Inter Press Service

BRUSSELS, Nov 09 (IPS) - I am speaking with Gladys and Raúl about civic space in Paraguay, when Raúl suddenly tells me about the fires. Thick smoke has reached the capital Asunción where he is based. In October, Paraguay became Dante's Inferno.
Driving Climate Change from the Top in the Dominican Republic
- Inter Press Service

SANTO DOMINGO, Nov 02 (IPS) - When President Luis Abinader arrived at his inauguration in an electrically driven car as a symbolic gesture of his Government's intentions to make sustainable development one of its main objectives – he signalled the start of addressing climate change commitments in the country.
Economic Trends and What’s Important in Life
- Inter Press Service

SYDNEY and KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 02 (IPS) - US third quarter GDP numbers released two weeks ago delighted stock markets and President Trump. Output had picked up by 7.4%, annualised as 33.1%, the largest quarterly economic growth on record, almost double the old record of 3.9% (annualised as 16.7%) in the first quarter of 1950, seven decades ago.

