Organizations for women’s rights in Afghanistan can be proud: While in the beginning the government considered to have only 20 women among the delegates, now more than 340 women joined the National Consultative Peace Jirga. This is due not only to lobbying of activists but more importantly to a long-term effort that started ahead of the London conference.

The conflict in Thailand between "Red Shirts" protesters and the government turned violent in May with over 80 people killed. The Thai NGO networks "Coordination Network of NGOs" and the "Anti Civil War Network" condemn the violence and propose solutions to the conflict.

Developing countries are strongly affected by the consequences of climate change. So what can they do to protect themselves? How to act if those responsible for environmental pollution and climate change do not.

On Wednesday, June 2, the long-announced Peace Jirga starts in Kabul. 1600 delegates from all over Afghanistan will come together to discuss whether and how peace can be achieved. People are unsure what to expect from a gathering on which even a day before it is happening neither participants nor agenda have been made public. More easy than to know who will be attending the Jirga is to know who will not be there: The armed opposition has not been invited, the political opposition declares its boycott and women have only reluctantly been included.  

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is currently being attacked by radical islamists. Recently a UNRWA summer camp for palestine boys and girls has been set on fire. John Ging about the humanitarian crisis due to the Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip in violation of international law.

The international conference deals with the political framework, regulatory instruments, as well as leading technologies, key projects and new alliances for the economic-ecologic turnaround. On May, 28-29 a live-stream will be available.

How can we switch our economy to a modus operandi that will not emit additional carbon dioxide into the atmosphere? How can we feed most resources back into a circular economy? What changes to key sectors of our economy are necessary to achieve this? A green transformation of industry and economy is one of the greatest challenges facing us in the 21st century.

The ecological challenges are enormous. As long as there are financial incentives that point the other way, we will not be able to solve these and other environmental problems within a market economy. State finances will have to be put on a new base.

Arsham Parsi is an Iranian LGBT Human Rights activist who lives in exile in Canada. He is the founder and head of the Iranian Railroad for Queer Refugees (IRQR), an advocacy group on behalf of LGBTs fleeing Iran. We had the chance to speak to Arsham Parsi during his visit to Berlin in early May.

Dynamic growth due to the global fight against climate change has made China the world's number one producer of solar cells. 98 per centof all solar cells were exported. Not even 1 per cent was used in China itself. But Wang Sicheng of the Energy Research Institute is convinced that the focus of the Chinese solar energy industry will gradually shift from foreign to domestic markets.