'The WHO Guide to sanitation in natural disasters (Assar, 1971) summarized the essential aspects of environmental health management in disasters. These included the provision of emergency water and sanitation services; the burial or cremation of the dead; vector and pest control; food hygiene; and the assessment of the danger of epidemics following emergencies and disasters, etc. Thirty years later these aspects remain essential, though the needs, challenges and opportunities are greater.

The more...

'Every year some 3.4 million people, mostly children, die from diseases associated with inadequate water supply, sanitation, and hygiene. Over half of the hospital beds in the world are filled with people suffering from water- and sanitation-related diseases.

In 2002, participants in the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg, South Africa, made a commitment to reduce by half the proportion of people without access to basic sanitation by the year 2015. The United Nations Deve more...

'Global food prices are up 83 per cent compared with three years ago. The resulting food price crisis constitutes an unprecedented threat to the livelihoods and well-being of millions of rural and urban households who are net food buyers.

This briefing note sets out a series of steps, both short- and medium-term, to deal with the current food crisis, and to put in place the reforms required to prevent future repetitions.'

The Public Building Commission of Chicago (PBC) is committed to improving the environmental quality of life for all Chicagoans. The PBC also strives to support Mayor Richard M. Daley's effort to make Chicago the most environmentally friendly city in America, by ensuring that 'green' building strategies are integrated into the design phase of every project.
In June 2004, the PBC unveiled the Morgan Park (22nd District) Police Station, a state-of-the-art-facility that aims to be the first LEED (L more...

The World Bank conducts rigorous research on climate change to guide its operational strategies and offer better advice to member countries. An important aspect of this research agenda is its focus on adaptation to climate change – an issue that has received increasing attention since Kyoto. For most United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) parties with relatively low emissions, adaptation is the critical challenge in framing policies that respond to climate change.

A more...

'Oxfam is calling for climate change adaptation policies at every level to be gender-sensitive so that they address both women’s and men’s needs and interests. Only this approach will be effective in building community-wide resilience to climate change, reducing gender inequalities, and so also promoting development.'

'People in Uganda, whose contribution to global warming has been minuscule, are feeling the impacts of climate change first and worst. On the one hand there is more erratic rainfall in the March to June rainy season, bringing drought and reductions in crop yields and plant varieties; on the other hand, the rainfall, especially in the later rains towards the end of the year, is reported as coming in downpours that are more intense and destructive, bringing floods, landslides, and soil erosion. Cl more...

'The current biofuel policies of rich countries are neither a solution to the climate crisis nor the oil crisis, and instead are contributing to a third: the food crisis. In poor countries, biofuels may offer some genuine development opportunities, but the potential economic, social, and environmental costs are severe, and decision makers should proceed with caution.'

'A destructive combination of earthquakes, floods, droughts and other hazards make South Asia is the world’s most disaster-prone region. The effects are aggravated by climate change, unsuitable social and development policies, and environmental degradation. The effect is to slow or block development and keep millions trapped in poverty.

It does not have to be this way. Oxfam's experience shows that successful disaster risk reduction policies, integrated into
development work, save lives an more...

'New research from nef and WWF reveals the paradox of the UK Treasury hooked on income from the oil and gas sector, yet missing a never-to-be-repeated opportunity to invest in the transition to a sustainable energy system by failing to tax surplus profits from oil. 
The research calls on the government to follow the broad example set by Norway, which established in-effect, an oil ‘Legacy Fund.’'
This is a New Economics Foundation's (nef's) paper, published in October 2006. PDF format, 47 more...