Natural Resources
Resources
Conflict Minerals: Glencore, Umicore to Trace Battery Cobalt with Blockchain Technology
International
Mining and trading company Glencore and other miners are joining forces with battery material supplier Umicore to make the cobalt used in electric cars traceable…
Myanmar: Kachin Farmers Occupy Land Seized by Myanmar Military-Linked Company
International
Kachin State farmers are recapturing their land, confiscated under the previous military regime by the Yuzana Company in 2006, after the Kachin Independence Army (KIA)…
DRC: NBA Hall of Famer and Global Philanthropist, Dikembe Mutombo and Partners, to Invest US$1 Billion in Ethical Mining Projects in Democratic Republic of the Congo to Support Electric Vehicles and Other Technologies
International
Dikembe Mutombo, Chairman of Bluetech Investments, and international groups of investors from the United States, Hong Kong, and Germany, have announced over a US$1 Billion…
Mozambique: Gas Fields and Jihad: Mozambique’s Cabo Delgado Becomes a Resource-Rich War Zone
International
On Monday, French energy giant Total declared force majeure on its multibillion-dollar light natural gas (LNG) project in northern Mozambique, formally withdrawing all of its…
DRC: Gécamines Takes over the Artisanal Cobalt Mining Sector
International
Officially launched on 31 March, EGC - a new subsidiary of Gécamines - is intended to formalise and clean up a previously opaque artisanal mining…
Myanmar: US Hits State-Owned Myanmar Gem Firm with Coup Sanctions
International
The Biden administration on Thursday hit Myanmar’s junta with new sanctions in response to February’s coup in the Southeast Asian nation. The State and Treasury…
Liberia: Economics of Nature: Mapping Liberia's Ecosystems to Understand Their Value
International
Conservation scientist Trond Larsen and his team trekked through a remote forest in Liberia, recording the plants, animals, and insects that they saw. They noted…
Sudan: Sudan to Develop Gold Mines Once Linked to Warlord’s Family
International
Sudan dispatched a research team to revitalize a network of gold mines in Darfur previously linked to the family of the country’s most powerful militia…
DRC: First Minerals Exported from DRC with Blockchain
International
Minexx has exported minerals with full financial transparency from the Democratic Republic of Congo, by processing $250k of blockchain certified payments – a first for…
South Sudan: South Sudan Integrates Environmental Protection with Hydrocarbon Exploration
International
Despite holding the third-largest oil reserves in sub-Saharan Africa – estimated at 3.5 billion barrels – only 30% of South Sudan has been explored to…
Liberia: Government of Liberia Launches Processes Leading to Digitization and Systematic Land Titling
International
In a bid to help curtail the growing wave of land disputes and boost revenue generation in the country, the Government of Liberia (GOL), through…
Sudan/South Sudan: Sudan and South Sudan Sign Oil Production Agreement
International
East African countries Sudan and South Sudan have signed a number of agreements that involve oil production in the two countries. The countries have agreed…
Myanmar: Myanmar to Launch Digital Land Database
International
Myanmar will launch an online land database soon, said Minister of Investment and Foreign Economic Relations U Thaung Tun. The online land database will be…
South Sudan: South Sudan Resumes Environmental Audit in Oil-Field Areas
International
South Sudan on Thursday resumed its plan to boost environmental audit in oil-producing regions following public uproar over poor waste management. Puot Kang Chol, Petroleum…
Liberia/Sierra Leone: Saving the Gola Forest: Reimagining Forest Conservation in West Africa
International
Covering more than 350,000 hectares, straddling the Liberia and Sierra Leone borders, Gola Forest is the largest remaining block of Upper Guinean Forest. Years of…
United Kingdom, South Africa: UK to Support South African Women Entrepreneurs to Develop GreenTech Businesses
International
The UK, through the UK-South Africa Tech Hub, and in partnership with the Future Females Business School, will help 30 South African women entrepreneurs to…
Uganda: Mubende Youth, Women Embrace Climate Smart Agriculture Technologies
International
Ms Hilda Atwongyeirwe, an IT graduate who is now deeply committed to her 35 acre soybean plantation at Kahumuro village Kitenga Subcounty in Mubende District…
Where Are the Women in Food Insecurity Analysis?
International
NEW YORK — Women are more likely to experience food insecurity than men, and the pandemic has exacerbated this divide. Women continue to shoulder more…
Myanmar: Myanmar Mulls Online Gems and Jewellery Sales
International
After almost a year without income due to the inability to hold physical emporiums and promotional events in 2020, the Myanmar gems and jewellery industry…
The Impact of Conflict-Driven Cropland Abandonment on Food Insecurity in South Sudan Revealed Using Satellite Remote Sensing
Briefs & Development
Armed conflicts often hinder food security through cropland abandonment and restrict the collection of on-the-ground information required for targeted relief distribution. Satellite remote sensing provides…
War, Waste and Polluted Pastures
Briefs & Development
The environment in north-east Syria has faced serious challenges since the outbreak of the peaceful revolution ten years ago. The ensuing violence by the Syrian…
Solar-Powered Irrigation in Yemen: Opportunities, Challenges, and Policies
Briefs & Development
Yemen is one of the most water-scarce countries in the world, with renewable water resources currently capable of providing only 75 m3 per capita per…
Satellite Analysis of the Environmental Impacts of Armed-Conflict in Rakhine, Myanmar
Briefs & Development
The impacts of armed conflict on the environment are extremely complex and difficult to investigate, given the impossibility of accessing the affected area and reliable…
GIS in Colombian Post-Conflict Land Use Planning
Briefs & Development
This research collected and interpreted geographic and temporal data on changes in land use coverage in order to improve sustainable development and land use planning in…
Food and Water Insecurity as Causes of Social Unrest: Evidence from Geolocated Twitter Data
Briefs & Development
Research often fails to account for the specific pathways by which climatic factors can cause social unrest. One challenge lies in understanding the distinct effects…
Armed Conflict, Militarization and Ecological Footprint: Empirical Evidence from South Asia
Briefs & Development
Environmental degradation as a consequence of military activities largely remains a neglected subject, especially in South Asia. To fill this gap, we have investigated the…
Liberia: Communities Use New App to Track Illegal Logging
International
Rural towns and villages are now using ForestLink, a new app, to track illicit forest operations and deforestation across Liberia, including illegal logging and mining,…
Iran/Jordan: A Controversial New Power Grid Divides the Middle East
International
More details have emerged on the Iraq-Jordan electricity power grid that is fast becoming a highly controversial project due to Iraq’s persistent political game-playing with…
Afghanistan: UN Involved in Afghanistan Blockchain Land Registry Tool
International
Later this month, the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat) plans to launch a land registry solution for urban cities in Afghanistan called goLandRegistry. The project is a collaboration with…
More Women in Boardrooms Mean Better Climate Change Policy, Study Says
International
Companies with greater gender diversity in their boardrooms show better performance on developing policies and methods to address climate change risks, according to BloombergNEF.