16 August 2019: The UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Rights Office signed a cooperation agreement on protecting environmental and human rights. The agreement responds to the growing threats to individuals and communities defending their environmental and land rights in many parts of the world. While seeking to increase support for national implementation of human rights-based environmental policies, the partnership aims to also promote global recognition and acceptance of the human right to a healthy environment.

Tribe vows to fight encroachment of outsiders

AMAPÁ, Brazil - Deep in the heart of the Amazon, Ajareaty Waiapi performs one of her tribe's most traditional rituals. The tribal chief crushes blood red urucum seeds into a thick paste and generously applies it to her face, bare chest and torso. The mixture protects her skin from the sun and insects. It's also believed to ward off evil spirits.

Drone data has allowed us to find solutions for a wide range of social challenges, like humanitarian aid, resource conservation, resilient urban planning and many more. But as the field has expanded, three pressing issues have emerged:

1. how to produce impactful analysis in a rapid manner;
2. how to then bring back results to beneficiaries to turn data into action; and
3. how to make ethics a main concern in each step of the process.

As part of UNIDROIT’s work on private law and agricultural development, a UNIDROIT Working Group is currently developing a Legal Guide on Agricultural Land Investment Contracts, in collaboration with the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Canada aims to conserve 17 per cent of its land and fresh water by the end of 2020. This noble objective will help protect water, air, food and biodiversity and improve the health of humans.

Abundant downpours during the rainy season bring deadly floods every year but officials are increasingly worried about another trend: diminishing water reserves

FREETOWN, Aug 19 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Half the year, Iyatunde Kamara worries torrential rains will wash her house off its hillside and into the rivers of waste that flow through Sierra Leone's capital Freetown.

The other half, she rarely has enough water to fill a pot.