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Land is a scarce resource increasingly affected by the competition of mutually exclusive uses. Fertile land in rural areas becomes scarcer due to population growth, pollution, erosion and desertification, effects of climate change, urbanization etc. On the remaining land, local, national and international users with different socioeconomic status and power compete to achieve food security,…

The Convention on Biological Diversity is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. The Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011–2020, adopted by the tenth Conference of the Parties (CO P) to the CBD promotes the effective implementation of the Convention through…

The earth’s climate is changing at a rate unprecedented in recent human history and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. The impacts and risks associated with this are global, geographically diverse and increasingly being felt across a range of systems and sectors essential for human livelihoods and well-being. The more severe and far-reaching the impacts of climate change are, the…

The world is in transition from an era of food abundance to one of scarcity. Over the last decade, world grain reserves have fallen by one third. World food prices have more than doubled, triggering a worldwide land rush and ushering in a new geopolitics of food. Food is the new oil. Land is the new gold. Welcome to the new geopolitics of food scarcity. As food supplies tighten, we are moving…

Renewable power generation can help countries meet their sustainable development goals through provision of access to clean, secure, reliable and affordable energy. Renewable energy has gone mainstream, accounting for the majority of capacity additions in power generation today. Tens of gigawatts of wind, hydropower and solar photovoltaic capacity are installed worldwide every year in a renewable…

When all of the world’s land sinks, due to a catastrophic earthquake in the year 2020, the one and only remaining island is more valuable than gold to those left floating on the ocean, aboard thousands of surviving ships in this post-apocalyptic tale of adventure. One hundred years after the great sinking, parcels of the island are up for grabs and it will be a life or death struggle to obtain it…