Beyond The Limits: How Gambling on Overshoot is Pushing the Planet Past a Point of No Return Published: 28 February 2022 The new IPCC Working Group II Report Highlights How Gambling on Overshoot is Pushing the Planet Past a Point of No Return.
Solidarity with Ukraine Published: 24 February 2022 We declare our full solidarity with Ukraine. We stand by the side of our Ukrainian partners and colleagues and, at the same time, by the side of our partners in Russian civil society who are beset by harsh repression.
Net-Zero files by CLARA Group Published: 24 February 2022 CLARA pursues climate solutions that work for people - at community, landscape, and national levels.
Covid-19 pandemic, vaccine distribution and global justice: the story so far Published: 22 February 2022 We are experiencing two very different pandemic realities between low-income and high-income countries. Unfortunately, instead of seeking a solidarity-based response, the international community has once again demonstrated its disunity in this health crisis. The task now is to regain credibility and rebuild trust.
Andri Prasetiyo Senior Researcher on Climate Policy and Finance at Senik Centre Asia Andri Prasetiyo is a senior researcher on climate policy and finance at Senik Centre Asia, a research-driven organization working on clean and equitable energy transition
Displacement and generational loss in flooded Karachi Published: 21 February 2022 This article weaves together an in-depth interview of a journalist and his family’s tribulations of urban flooding in the city of Karachi in Pakistan analysing various dynamics that merge erratic changing climate to faulty urban management. The article further explores the intergenerational loss due to climate change by retelling the protagonist’s experiences with family history and flooding. Socio-political elements are also discussed to shed light on the more sinister and systemic bottlenecks to urban planning and management that is more climate resilient and responsive. Finally, it merges Karachi’s most popular urban myth with climate change projections to show how people use storytelling to either fight against climate change or become complacent to its eventual disasters.
Ill feeling between continents ahead of the EU-AU summit Published: 14 February 2022 The travel restrictions imposed by the European Union on people traveling from southern Africa after the discovery of the Omicron variant, will potentially have a long-term impact on the EU-AU relations.
Iulia-Sabina Joja Director of the Black Sea Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C. Iulia-Sabina Joja, Ph.D., is a senior fellow and director of the Black Sea Program at the Middle East Institute in Washington D.C..
Shaun Turton Journalist Shaun Turton is an Australian journalist most recently based in Cambodia, where he covers business, politics and Chinese investment for Nikkei Asia.
Natthapan Saengtab: Leading the fight for land rights in Southern Thailand Published: 9 February 2022 At the age of 18, Natthapan Saengtab crashed her motorcycle into a stranger's car. It set off a chain of events that would see her parents lose their land, sending the family on a downward spiral. But against all odds, the fateful accident set Natthapan on the path to becoming a prominent land rights defender in southern Thailand.
Thailand’s Alisa Bintuna: Believing in the young generation’s power to change the world Published: 9 February 2022 Alisa, who goes by the nickname Fon, went to a high school located right at the beach, prompting her to develop a deep interest in the coastal communities of her hometown. She then became inspired to pursue a career in law, hoping to bring the voices of local communities into the country's environmental laws and regulations. Today, the young activist is one of the pioneers of encouraging young people in Thailand's South to raise their voices for change. She became one of the few youth representatives in national politics dedicated to community struggles in the country’s coastal areas.
Songseang Supanya: A rising voice of empowerment for the slums of Bangkok Published: 9 February 2022 Until the second grade, Songseang Supanya did not see a problem with commuting to school in a saleng, a three-wheeled cart her parents used for scavenging in the streets of Bangkok. Then, in third grade, she switched to a school van, supervised every morning by teachers. "One day, I overheard a teacher talk about picking me up from home. 'She lives in a slum!' she said. I felt terrible. I questioned whether living in a slum meant I was not a [good] student," Songeang recalls.
Transformation or stagnation? How digital media is changing student activism in Indonesia Published: 9 February 2022 Indonesia, like its neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia, has a long history of student activism; from the participation of indigenous and Islamic students to end Dutch colonial rule and a wave of protests in the 1970s against corruption, student movements became a strong force in Indonesia’s democracy. With the changing landscape of technology has also come a shift in how students and youth in Indonesia become politically engaged.
Seeking Justice: How Yureesa Sama builds peace through dialogue in the Deep South Published: 9 February 2022 Yureesa Sama was a high-school student when the police officers showed up at her doorstep for the first time in 2010. Her family lived in a small house surrounded by rice paddies in a Malay-Muslim community in Pattani province in Thailand's Deep South. The officers questioned her parents, family members and neighbours. Then they left, only to return the following week, the one after that and so on. Sometimes they just hung around the house for hours watching who came and went. Yureesa sensed her parents' concern and knew something was wrong, but she didn't quite understand what was going on. Finally, she was told not to worry and focus on her studies. In most other places in Thailand, the officers' conduct would have raised eyebrows, but the Deep South has been ruled by martial law since 2005. Growing up in a region affected by a prolonged separatist insurgency, Yureesa was taught not to ask too many questions.
Feminist Development Policy #4: Funding beyond power differentials Published: 19 July 2023 This recommendation paper offers development practitioners and organisations some reflections to shift international development policy towards intersectional Feminist Global Collaboration.
Living Within Our Means Published: 19 July 2022 Feminist perspectives on sustainability ahead of the Earth Overshoot Day 2022. This is a series of interviews with feminist change-makers committed to fighting for people and the planet.
Linda Böttcher student assistant Linda Böttcher has been supporting the MENA team as a student assistant since October 2022.
A collection of alternative terms (and narratives) around identity politics Published: 28 January 2022
Feminist foreign policy in action: exiled Afghan women MPs in Greece Published: 27 January 2022 Afghan women political representatives want to establish a parliament in exile in Greece: reason enough for me to pay them a visit and show my support.
Are identity politics inevitable in order to stand up for (one's) rights? Published: 26 January 2022 Left-wing identity politics must be more about foregrounding people’s common concerns and not their common characteristics, says Dr. Julia Ehrt, Executive Director at ILGA World.
Blurred Lines: Foreign Policy in the Age of Climate Change Published: 26 January 2022 At the third session of the 22nd Heinrich Boell Foundation Foreign Policy Conference, the penultimate panel will focus on the German-Indian relationship - and the blurred lines between environmental and climate issues.
Southeast Asia: How Sustainable Honey Benefits Communities and Ecosystems Published: 26 January 2022 Small-scale beekeeping with native species is a resourceful way of tapping into local honey production alongside increasing household incomes in Southeast Asia. Finding honey bee species most suitable to the native landscape will result in more resilience.
The Syrian Women's Advisory Board – lessons to be learned Published: 26 January 2022 An example of misunderstood identity and representation politics on the part of the UN: the international intervention to include Syrian women in the negotiation process was not a success.
Indigenous rangers expand footprint in Cambodian forest besieged by illegal logging Published: 25 January 2022 As environmental activists are silenced around them, a group of Kuy grandfathers have taken matters into their own hands and are reversing a global trend in a bid to keep their ancient culture alive.
Indigenous rangers expand footprint in Cambodian forest besieged by illegal logging Published: 25 January 2022 As environmental activists are silenced around them, a group of Kuy grandfathers have taken matters into their own hands and are reversing a global trend in a bid to keep their ancient culture alive.
Malaysia’s hysterical obsession over one transwoman and the struggle for true political reform Published: 20 January 2022 Only Sajat, a successful entrepreneur and social media influencer in Malaysia, has been targeted by the government and the public for years - mostly because of her gender identity.
What to Expect from ASEAN: 2022 Onwards Published: 19 January 2022 The year 2022 brings in not just one or two but a handful of hot button issues to deal with for ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. Between economic recovery from the pandemic through to internal civil war within Myanmar and external disputes and alliances, Cambodia assumes Chair of ASEAN with plenty to consider. ASEAN’s culture and intergovernmental model value cooperation but a different kind of multilateralism may be changing the stakes and strategies in negotiation across the ten member states.
A transatlantic climate alliance? A closer look at the tensions between European and US approaches to climate policy Published: 18 January 2022 A different policy mix of climate protection in the U.S. and EU creates tensions that make a close alliance very difficult. The deep political divide in the U.S. also raises doubts about the durability of climate policy cooperation.
It’s time for climate competition with China Published: 17 January 2022 Brussels and Beijing are entering a new phase in their climate relations. Gone are the days when the EU and China were only climate partners. Now Brussels would be well-served to compete and spur China on when it comes to climate protection.