Global Development
In an increasingly globalized world, international development efforts aim to improve living conditions, equity, and human rights around the world. Our global development section tracks this globalization and reports on specific equitable and sustainable development initiatives.
Upcycled shipping containers provide housing for LA’s homeless
Los Angeles County has an estimated 66,000 homeless individuals, but a new initiative is helping some find housing from an unexpected source: old shipping containers. Recycled shipping containers can be transformed into livable spaces surprisingly quickly. Each container in the seven-unit Read More...
Report: It would cost $330 billion to end global hunger by 2030
More than 10 percent of the total global population is expected to go hungry in 2020. By spending $330 billion on strategic interventions, the number of hungry people around the world could decrease down to zero by 2030, according to a series of recent reports which looked at available solutions to Read More...
Nobel Peace Prize recognizes importance of food security in 2020
Some of the most influential humans in the world have won the Nobel Peace Prize including Malala Yousafzai, Barack Obama, and Nelson Mandela. This year, the prize goes to a much broader world actor: The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP). The pandemic has exacerbated food insecurity Read More...
Thought Leader Series: Post-pandemic travel needs to be regenerative
Tourism has been decimated by the pandemic, but when travel returns, what will it look like? This week’s Thought Leader Series from The New York Times, shared with us by an Emissary, looks at the concept of regenerative travel and how we can take sustainable vacations one step Read More...
Years later, many refugees are feeling at home in Germany
When Germany's chancellor Angela Merkel welcomed a great influx of refugees in 2015 rather than denying them at the border, she received overwhelming criticism for opening the country’s borders to migrants. Germany was suddenly the country with the second-highest population of refugees in the Read More...
Hurricane Laura: Here's where you can contribute
Hurricane Laura is the latest climate change-fueled natural disaster to hit the US. The powerful storm made landfall in Louisiana last Thursday with winds of up to 150 miles per hour. Obviously hurricanes are a destructive force, but a hurricane (or any natural disaster) occurring during a pandemic Read More...
Africa to be officially declared free of wild polio
Just twenty-five years ago, thousands of children in Africa were left paralyzed due to the poliovirus. Now, Africa is to be declared free from wild polio by the independent body, the Africa Regional Certification Commission. Polio is a virus that spreads from person to person, usually through Read More...
It could be possible to stop locust swarms using their own scent
A single locust is just bigger than a paper clip. But when these solitary critters attract others into a growing swarm, billions of locusts wind up flying together, forming a moving carpet that can block out the sun and strip the landscape of plants and crops. Giant swarms like this have Read More...
Thought Leader Series: Damon Gameau and the world in 2040
If it was up to you, what would our world look like in 2040? Would there be more trees? More sustainable development? Less meat-eating? This is the exact question Damon Gameau set out to answer in making his film 2040. Inspired by his young daughter, Velvet, he set out to scour the globe for Read More...
These solar-powered fridges are reducing food waste and hunger in Nigeria
Food waste is a huge problem all around the world, but the causes of spoilage are different depending on the region. In many developing countries like Nigeria, the primary cause of waste is not inefficient purchasing and cooking habits, but inadequate storage facilities to keep food fresh. When Read More...