Humans' appetite for gnawing away at the fabric of the Earth itself is growing prodigiously. According to a new UN report, the amount of the planet's natural resources extracted for human use has tripled in 40 years.

A report produced by the International Resource Panel (IRP), part of the UN Environment Programme, says rising consumption driven by a growing middle class has seen resources extraction increase from 22 billion tons in 1970 to 70 billon tons in 2010.

It refers to natural resources as primary materials and includes under this heading biomass, fossil fuels, metal ores and non-metallic minerals.

The increase in their use, the report warns, will ultimately deplete the availability of natural resources—causing serious shortages of critical materials and risking conflict.

Growing primary material consumption will affect climate change mainly because of the large amounts of energy involved in extraction, use, transport and disposal.

Irreversibly Depleted

"The alarming rate at which materials are now being extracted is already having a severe impact on human health and people's quality of life," said the IRP's co-chair, Alicia Bárcena Ibarra.

"We urgently need to address this problem before we have irreversibly depleted the resources that power our economies and lift people out of poverty. This deeply complex problem, one of humanity's biggest tests yet, calls for a rethink of the governance of natural resource extraction."

The IRP says the information contained in the new report supports the monitoring of the progress countries are making towards achieving the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. It also shows the uneven way in which the materials exploited are shared.

The richest countries consume on average 10 times as much of the available resources as the poorest and twice as much as the world average.

This total—almost three times today's amount—will probably increase the acidification of the world's waters, the eutrophication of its soils and waters, worsen soil erosion and lead to greater amounts of waste and pollution.

The report also ranks countries by the size of their per capita material footprints—the amount of material required in a country, an indicator that sheds light on its true impact on the global natural resource base. It is also a good way to judge a country's material standard of living.

Europe and North America, which had annual per capita material footprints of 20 and 25 tons in 2010, are at the top of the table. China's footprint was 14 tons and Brazil's 13. The annual per-capita material footprint for Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and West Asia was 9-10 tons, and Africa's was below 3 tons.

Unprecedented Amounts

Global material use has rapidly accelerated since 2000, the report says, as emerging economies such as China undergo industrial and urban transformation that requires unprecedented amounts of iron, steel, cement, energy and building materials.

Compounding the problems, there has been little improvement in global material efficiency since 1990. The global economy now needs more material per unit of GDP than it did at the turn of the century, the IRP says, because production has moved from material-efficient economies such as Japan, South Korea and Europe to far less materially-efficient countries such as China, India and some in south-east Asia.

The report says uncoupling the increasing material use from economic growth is the "imperative of modern environmental policy and essential for the prosperity of human society and a healthy natural environment."

This will require investment in research and development, combined with better public policy and financing, creating opportunities for sustained economic growth and job creation.

The IRP also recommends putting a price on primary materials at extraction to reflect the social and environmental costs of resource extraction and use, while reducing consumption. The extra funds generated, it says, could then be invested in R&D in resource-intensive sectors of the economy.

It is concerned that the expanding demand for materials that low-income countries are likely to experience could contribute to local conflicts such as those seen in areas where mining competes with agriculture and urban development.

This article was originally posted on EcoWatch.

A Moroccan fog-harvesting project was awarded a UN Climate Change prize in Bonn, Germany.

The system, developed and installed by Morocco based NGO Dar Si Hmad, is said to be the largest fog-water harvesting system in the world.

Thanks to the project, more than 400 people from isolated villages on the edge of the Sahara Desert in Morocco have access to running water.

This has been of enormous value to the village women who used to spend more than three hours a day walking to fetch water from far-away wells.

Dr. Jamila Bargach, Executive Director of Dar Si Hamd, said: “Berber women bore the laborious task of carrying water from distant wells – a burden that greatly limited opportunities for young women.”

Fog harvesting utilises a specialised mesh that traps water droplets from the fog.

The condensed trapped droplets then fall into a container, which slowly fills up to form a significant reserve of water.

Dar Si Hmad’s project involves 600 square meters of mesh netting, seven storage reservoirs, six solar panels and more than 10,000 meters of piping.

Bargach said: “The fog project should not simply be reduced to the story of technical and success: there are more complex and intertwined stories to tell... One narrative is that of curiosity and aspiration; one of motivation and quest for dignity; and one of rigour and determination.”

The system has received the prize under the Momentum for Change Women for Results focus area for providing a sustainable water source to combat the effects of desertification.

UNFCCC Spokesman Nick Nuttal said: “It is impressive to see so many original and creative ways to tackle climate change... It’s also great to see a winner from Morocco, this year’s host of the United Nations Climate Change Conference.”

This article was originally posted here.

The developing world and emerging markets are among the most exciting places for climate policy and innovation, according to a former White House official who advised the Obama administration in the run-up to the COP20 summit in Lima, Peru.

It's hard to comprehend the concept of oceans getting more acidic. Unless you become the coral.

It’s not easy to get people exercised about ocean acidification. Yes, it’s a nasty consequence of climate change, a potential death sentence for oysters, clams, sea urchins and, most of all, coral. But it’s slow-motion extermination, out of sight of most humans, and that makes it difficult for us to feel much of a connection—let alone any responsibility—for the calamitous process.

Researchers at Stanford, however, believe a good way to help people become more aware of their impact on nature may lie in a particularly unnatural experience—virtual reality (VR) immersion.

“Some experiences may not be well-suited for VR,” says Jeremy Bailenson, professor of communications at Stanford and director of its Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL). “But if we leverage what is special about the medium—the fact that you can move your body and interact with a scene—then we can create intense experiences that actually change you.”

Bailenson has been researching the value of VR as a teaching tool since the late 1990s, and he’s found that it can have considerably more impact than simply knowing that damage is being done to the natural world. Once someone can see, hear and even feel what’s happening from the perspective of plants and animals, he or she tends to understand their fate in a more visceral way and is more motivated to take action, he says.

That notion was borne out in a recent study by Bailenson and a team of scientists from Stanford, the University of Georgia and the University of Connecticut. They determined that immersing people in a VR experience was clearly more effective in getting through to them than simply showing them a video on the same subject.

The key was to have people become the coral.

In two worlds

The Stanford team worked with marine biologists to build a virtual replica of a reef around the Italian island of Ischia. Underground volcanic vents there have been spewing carbon dioxide, and that has given researchers the opportunity to closely analyze the effect on marine life—specifically how, as ocean water absorbs more carbon dioxide and becomes more acidic, it corrodes coral and the shells of crustaceans. 

From that model, the researchers programmed a VR experience that speeds up the destructive process,  allowing a person to first interact with a reef full of life, and then be an up-close-witness to decay as species disappear. Ultimately, the person takes on the perspective of a coral, one whose branches break off with an audible crack.

At its best, virtual reality, says Bailenson, enables you to have a “dual presence,” where you know you’re still in a room wearing a headset, but also actually can feel that you’re at the bottom of the sea. It’s important, he says, for the VR environment to respond your body’s movements.  

It also should to be an experience that stimulates multiple senses, including touch when possible. The coral reef VR, for instance, creates the sensation of a fishing net brushing against you. If it feels natural, notes Bailenson, the brain is able to treat the experience as authentic.

That said, Bailenson concedes it’s still difficult to measure the long-term impact of VR immersion. In other words, can it actually spur people to change their behavior for an extended period of time? In a previous study, Bailenson found that people who chopped down virtual trees, using a joystick that vibrated like a chainsaw, used 20 percent less paper afterwards than others who read about cutting down trees or watched a video about the process.

But that study and most of the other research to date has relied on follow-up questionnaires a week or two later. So, researchers haven’t really been able to determine how long VR-induced empathy endures. Bailenson thinks that is about to change.

“With the advent of mobile equipment, we are planning to run longitudinal studies, which means collecting data from very large, demographically diverse data sets,” he says. “This will be very important in discovering the impact of VR on the general public—from children to the elderly, and those from all socio-economic statuses and backgrounds.”

Teachable moments

Bailenson and the Stanford team have already begun taking steps to move virtual reality teaching beyond the research lab. Earlier this year, the Stanford Ocean Acidification Experience and a related VR documentary were featured in an arcade at the Trebeca Film Festival. “For a week, we had a constant line of people,” says Bailenson. “They were waiting in line to learn about marine science.”

And last week, the VR experience was made available to the public as a science education tool. It can now be downloaded for free and experienced on HTC Vive, a high-end virtual reality system that sells for about $800. While the consumer market for VR systems is still relatively small, the consensus is that sales will start to take off in the coming holiday season now that prices have begun dropping and headsets are no longer so unwieldy. Next year, according to the VR industry consulting firm KZero, more than 170 million units could be sold.

Bailenson hopes Stanford’s software will become a model for virtual reality “field trips” that will allow students to have experiences that can teach them about nature in a uniquely personal way.

To that end, he says museums have begun investing in VR systems to provide that opportunity.

“You’re not watching something, you’re doing it,” he says. “You learn by doing. These are magic, teachable moments.”

This blog post was originally posted here.

War and conflicts are ravaging communities across the world today. The recent years have also seen wide-spread targeting of women and girls in conflict zones and a marked pushback on women’s rights. Sixteen years since the adoption of UN Security Council resolution 1325 in 2000, the women, peace and security agenda remains relevant and critical in the face of rising violence, extremism and deadly conflicts.

Even as women continue to bear the brunt of war, there is increased recognition of their pivotal role as peacebuilders. For example, in 2015, 7 out of 10 peace agreements signed included gender specific provisions [1]—a vast improvement compared against the analysis showing that only 73 out of 664 agreements produced between 1990 and 2000 included a reference to women. More security sector personnel are now trained to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence, and more countries are implementing national action plans or related strategies.

When women are included in peace processes, there is a 20 per cent increase in the probability of an agreement lasting at least 2 years, and a 35 per cent increase in the probability of an agreement lasting at least 15 years [3]. There is a growing momentum for fulfilling the women, peace and security agenda: at the 2015 High-Level Review of the implementation of resolution 1325, more than 180 political, financial and institutional commitments were made by Member States and regional organizations.Resolution 2242, which was adopted unanimously by the UN Security Council during the 2015 Open Debate, together with the seven previous resolutions and related policy commitments on women, peace and security, provide a strong common agenda for action.

Yet, implementation of policies and international commitments on the ground remain unfulfilled. Much more needs to be done. For example, women make only 3 per cent of UN military peacekeepers [4]. In conflict-affected countries, women’s share of seats in parliament is four per cent lower than the global average of 22.7 per cent [5]. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon recently urged all actors, including governments, to earmark 15 per cent of peacebuilding funds to projects that directly advance gender equality, which would not always require new funding, but rather, a prioritization within existing funds. 

On 25 October 2016, the UN Security Council will convene its annual Open Debate on Women, Peace and Security, with a focus on how Member States, regional organizations and the UN have followed-up on commitments and recommendations from the 2015 High-level Review and the related Global Study on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 (2000). The Debate will also consider future steps to advancing the agenda, taking into account new threats and emerging challenges, including the rise of violent extremism, the protracted nature of displacement and the impact of climate shocks.

The new report of the UN Secretary-General on women, peace and security (S/2016/822) brings forth information on recent trends and highlights latest development and results. It also provides an update on the status of implementation since 1 January 2015 and draws attention to areas of stagnation and regression and other concerning developments. The report features initiatives such as the new mechanism in the Security Council, the Informal Experts Group on women, peace and security, designed to ensure greater flows of quality and actionable information to the Council; the new Global Acceleration Instrument on women, peace and security and humanitarian action, aimed at catalyzing new funding for commitments on this agenda and country-level progress in a range of areas from implementation of National Action Plans to increased women’s leadership in institutions responsible for peace and security. It further notes that the priority areas identified last year continue to require urgent action. 

On the 16th anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, UN Women spotlights women’s leadership and the critical role they play in preventing conflict, sustaining peace and shaping more effective responses to today’s complex crises.

Read personal, unique and powerful stories of women around the world.

This blog post was originally posted here.

Through the Global Gender Gap Report, the World Economic Forum quantifies the magnitude of gender disparities and tracks their progress over time, with a specific focus on the relative gaps between women and men across four key areas: health, education, economy and politics. The 2016 Report covers 144 countries. More than a decade of data has revealed that progress is still too slow for realizing the full potential of one half of humanity within our lifetimes.

Download the report.

Progress in closing the global workplace gender gap is slowing dramatically, according to a World Economic Forum study, with a notable exception in Rwanda, a country still emerging from the aftermath of genocide that has become the world's leader on equal pay.

The Geneva-based body pushed back its projection for economic parity between women and men by 53 years after finding chronic imbalances in salaries and workforce representation had reversed the pace of progress since a peak in 2013. It now projects economic equality to be reached in 2186, another 170 years off.

"Progress towards parity in the key economic pillar has slowed dramatically with the gap now larger than at any point since 2008," WEF said when releasing its 2016 Global Gender Report on Wednesday.

Last year, women around the world earned just over half as much as their male counterparts despite working more hours, and participated in the labor market at two-thirds the rate of men, its authors found.

While high-income countries showed the narrowest gender gaps, low-income countries on average performed just as well as their upper-middle-income peers. Differences were more pronounced on a regional basis, with even high-income nations from the Middle East and North Africa scoring low.

NORDIC COUNTRIES MOST SUCCESSFUL

Nordic countries once again topped the list -- with Iceland, Finland, Norway and Sweden ranked highest on gender equality.

Rwanda -- a low-income country -- moved up to fifth place, with more women than men in its labor force and the world's highest share of female members of parliament at 64 percent.

Rwandan women earned 88 cents to men's dollar for similar work, WEF said, making it the country with the highest degree wage equality.

While gender gaps in education as well as health and survival have nearly closed overall, the Swiss non-profit group said inequalities in economic participation and political empowerment remain "wide open" around the world. Women have less than a quarter the political representation attained by men and 59 percent of the economic participation and opportunity.

"The number of women in senior positions also remains stubbornly low, with only four countries in the world having equal numbers of male and female legislators, senior officials and managers, despite the fact that 95 countries now have as many - if not more - women educated at university level."

Each year the Geneva-based body gathers politicians and business executives at a week-long summit in the resort town of Davos. With a host of factors holding women back from top positions worldwide, WEF has said female representation in Davos remains too low.

This year just 18 percent of participants were women.

This article was originally posted here.