State of the Planet

News from the Columbia Climate School

Poverty / Development31

  • Business, cooperative training to boost Millennium Villages

    Business, cooperative training to boost Millennium Villages

    With up to $20 million in business loans pledged by long-term Millennium Villages Project supporter George Soros, phase two of the project will focus on boosting local businesses to help communities achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 deadline, and empower them with sustainable incomes to pay for their own needs way beyond this…

  • “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    For many in the developing world, education isn’t taken for granted. Around 35 million girls are out of school, the World Bank says, almost half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In support of girls’ education, MCI joined the literacy organization LitWorld and other partners, including Connect To Learn, Asia Initiatives and the Children of Kibera…

  • Hybrid Climate Data for East Africa

    Hybrid Climate Data for East Africa

    In our latest video interview, climate scientist Tufa Dinku talks about his work on combining weather station data with satellite information to generate high-resolution data sets. These data could be used for making more accurate forecasts and can feed into other climate risk management activities, such as early-warning systems. With funding from Google.org, Dinku and…

  • Community Associations and Sustainable Development in Rural Brazil

    Community Associations and Sustainable Development in Rural Brazil

    After spending two days back in the big city of Fortaleza learning about the finer points of water management in the state of Ceará, I’ve returned to the rural municipality of Milhã, ground zero for the Columbia Water Center’s project to improve water access in Brazil’s semi-arid sertão region. Our group is now just three:…

  • Rwanda to Scale Up Millennium Villages Model

    Rwanda to Scale Up Millennium Villages Model

    With a renewed sense of urgency, the government of Rwanda has committed to combating poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals by supporting new initiatives in health, agriculture, education, infrastructure and business development. The Honorable James Musoni, the Rwandan Minister of Local Government, cemented the partnership with the MDG Centre through a Memorandum of Understanding…

  • Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Researchers from The New York Botanical Garden are working to document the plant life in Las Orquídeas National Park, one of the last remaining prized and unexplored rainforests that borders Columbia’s Pacific coast.

  • Mobile Links Bring Progress to Millennium Villages

    Mobile Links Bring Progress to Millennium Villages

    Members of the Broadband Commission and representatives from several East African governments visited the Mayange Millennium Village earlier this month to witness some of the success mobile technology has had in advancing health, education, infrastructure and business development in one of the poorest areas of Rwanda.

  • Bringing Water to Rural Communities in Brazil

    Bringing Water to Rural Communities in Brazil

    Though Portuguese settlers and Brazilians have lived in the sertão since the 16th century, it has never been an easy place to thrive. The primary reason is water.

  • To Meghalaya and back

    To Meghalaya and back

    From our return to Jamalganj, we headed east searching for a river to carry us up to the Indian border across the Dauki Fault. Along the way, we celebrated Steve Goodbred’s birthday. However, even the biggest of the rivers proved too shallow for our boat. We switched to the

  • Business, cooperative training to boost Millennium Villages

    Business, cooperative training to boost Millennium Villages

    With up to $20 million in business loans pledged by long-term Millennium Villages Project supporter George Soros, phase two of the project will focus on boosting local businesses to help communities achieve the Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 deadline, and empower them with sustainable incomes to pay for their own needs way beyond this…

  • “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    “Standing Up for Girls” – and their Right to the Education they Deserve

    For many in the developing world, education isn’t taken for granted. Around 35 million girls are out of school, the World Bank says, almost half of them in sub-Saharan Africa. In support of girls’ education, MCI joined the literacy organization LitWorld and other partners, including Connect To Learn, Asia Initiatives and the Children of Kibera…

  • Hybrid Climate Data for East Africa

    Hybrid Climate Data for East Africa

    In our latest video interview, climate scientist Tufa Dinku talks about his work on combining weather station data with satellite information to generate high-resolution data sets. These data could be used for making more accurate forecasts and can feed into other climate risk management activities, such as early-warning systems. With funding from Google.org, Dinku and…

  • Community Associations and Sustainable Development in Rural Brazil

    Community Associations and Sustainable Development in Rural Brazil

    After spending two days back in the big city of Fortaleza learning about the finer points of water management in the state of Ceará, I’ve returned to the rural municipality of Milhã, ground zero for the Columbia Water Center’s project to improve water access in Brazil’s semi-arid sertão region. Our group is now just three:…

  • Rwanda to Scale Up Millennium Villages Model

    Rwanda to Scale Up Millennium Villages Model

    With a renewed sense of urgency, the government of Rwanda has committed to combating poverty and achieving the Millennium Development Goals by supporting new initiatives in health, agriculture, education, infrastructure and business development. The Honorable James Musoni, the Rwandan Minister of Local Government, cemented the partnership with the MDG Centre through a Memorandum of Understanding…

  • Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Conservation of Biodiversity in Orquídeas National Park

    Researchers from The New York Botanical Garden are working to document the plant life in Las Orquídeas National Park, one of the last remaining prized and unexplored rainforests that borders Columbia’s Pacific coast.

  • Mobile Links Bring Progress to Millennium Villages

    Mobile Links Bring Progress to Millennium Villages

    Members of the Broadband Commission and representatives from several East African governments visited the Mayange Millennium Village earlier this month to witness some of the success mobile technology has had in advancing health, education, infrastructure and business development in one of the poorest areas of Rwanda.

  • Bringing Water to Rural Communities in Brazil

    Bringing Water to Rural Communities in Brazil

    Though Portuguese settlers and Brazilians have lived in the sertão since the 16th century, it has never been an easy place to thrive. The primary reason is water.

  • To Meghalaya and back

    To Meghalaya and back

    From our return to Jamalganj, we headed east searching for a river to carry us up to the Indian border across the Dauki Fault. Along the way, we celebrated Steve Goodbred’s birthday. However, even the biggest of the rivers proved too shallow for our boat. We switched to the