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.
Renewables provide more than just energy to Native American communities
Lack of resources and unclear regulatory oversight has slowed electrification on Native American Reservations, but some organizations believe the transition for renewable energy offers an opportunity to bring reliable, green, independent energy resources to reservations. Among these groups are Read More...
Swiss voters approve legalization of same-sex marriage
Switzerland is celebrating the legalization of same-sex marriage this week after a referendum resoundingly approved the measure. In a vote held on Sunday, 64.1 percent of Swiss voters confirmed the right of same-sex couples to marry and adopt children. Swiss lawmakers voted to expand the Read More...
How portable solar-powered batteries can help expand access to clean energy
Reliable access to electricity is a luxury in Lagos, Nigeria, where the power can go out multiple times a day, rendering many inhabitants dependent on expensive, noisy, and polluting diesel generators. A corner shop in the Nigerian city, however, offers a solution to this problem in the form of a Read More...
This technique measures drinking water quality using a smartphone camera
While the provision of safe drinking water in impoverished countries is of vital importance, people often lack the facilities necessary to test the water for pollutants. To help solve that problem, a team of scientists has developed a system that uses a smartphone camera to check up on tiny aquatic Read More...
4 Key strategies to employ in the upcoming UN climate summits
Two important climate summits are coming up as we near the end of 2021. The first, on September 24, will be the first in 40 years to focus specifically on energy. The second, the COP26, will run the first two weeks of November and aims to mobilize countries to step up their climate commitments as Read More...
Evangelical Lutheran church installs first openly transgender bishop
The Evangelical Lutheran church accepted seven LGBTQ pastors in 2010 after the ordination of pastors in same-sex relationships was allowed. Now, Rev. Megan Rohrer, one of these seven, has been installed as the first openly transgender bishop during a service at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco last Read More...
The Optimist View: The Green Divide
"Neither cities nor places in them are unordered, unplanned; the question is only whose order, whose planning, for what purpose?” - Peter Marcuse BY Amelia Buckley If you stand outside in the heat of summer, you’ll notice that things are considerably less comfortable on concrete or Read More...
Solar domes could help provide a solution to the global water crisis
We have previously written about the problem of water scarcity and some of the emerging solutions aimed at solving it. Today, we’d like to share with you yet another innovative technology that works to solve the global water crisis. The novel technology, developed by London-based Solar Water Read More...
How a self-taught electrician in Malawi brought electricity to his village
According to UN-backed Sustainable Energy for All, only 11 percent of Malawi’s population of 19 million people have access to electricity, making it one of the least electrified nations in the world. The people of the Yobe Nkosi village are part of the 96 percent of the country’s rural Read More...
Costa Rica isn’t letting Covid stand in the way of sustainable progress
One small Central American country is making big moves when it comes to combating climate change. Famous for its environmental policy, Costa Rica is making headway against the destruction of its fragile habitats even in the face of budget cuts and setbacks due to the pandemic. Costa Rica is Read More...