World Development News

June 3, 2025

Top Headlines

May 29, 2025 — Scientists have pioneered a new way to breed climate-resilient crops faster by combining plant genebank data with climate and DNA analysis. The method, tested on sorghum, could speed up global efforts to secure food supplies in a changing ...

New Global Model Shows How to Bring Environmental Pressures Back to 2015 Levels by 2050

May 14, 2025 — A new study finds that with bold and coordinated policy choices -- across emissions, diets, food waste, and water and nitrogen efficiency -- humanity could, by 2050, bring global environmental ...

Shrinking Andean Glaciers Threaten Water Supply of 90 Million People, Global Policy Makers Warn

Mar. 20, 2025 — Scientists will warn policymakers that the shrinking glaciers of the Andes threaten the water supply of 90 million people on the South American continent at the first-ever World Day for Glaciers ...

Tax Sugar and Salt in Food to Improve Health?

Mar. 17, 2025 — Introducing a new salt levy is another proposal put forward in a comprehensive set of recommended regulations for the food ...

Latest Headlines

updated 10:52pm EDT

PIK PR: Little Potential for 'Climate Plantations' Within Planetary Boundaries

Feb. 12, 2025 — Planting fast-growing crops, burning them, capturing the released CO2 and storing it: this is being discussed as a way to remove greenhouse gases ...

The Cost of Preventing Extinction of Australia's Priority Species

Feb. 3, 2025 — A new study has estimated it would cost $15.6 billion per year for 30 years to prevent extinction for 99 of Australia's priority species. The research highlights the urgent need for increased funding ...

Electricity Prices Across Europe to Stabilize If 2030 Targets for Renewable Energy Are Met, Study Suggests

Feb. 3, 2025 — National targets for solar and wind power will see reliance on natural gas plummet, reducing electricity price volatility across Europe, with major ...

Small-Scale Fisheries Essential to Global Nutrition, Livelihoods

Jan. 15, 2025 — Small-scale fisheries play a significant but overlooked role in global fisheries production and are key to addressing hunger and malnutrition while supporting livelihoods around the world, according ...

A Sustainable Development Goal for Space?

Jan. 9, 2025 — An international team of scientists has called for the creation of an 18th addition to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which would aim to mitigate against the accumulation of space ...

One of the World's Largest Social Programs Greatly Reduced Tuberculosis Among the Most Vulnerable

Jan. 3, 2025 — Brazil's Bolsa Fam lia Program, one of the world's largest conditional cash transfer programs, was responsible for the reduction of more than half ...

Water and Forests in Southern US

Dec. 12, 2024 — Climate and land use change have and will continue to alter streamflow regimes and water quality through the 21st century, with consequences for drinking water treatment costs, flood protection, and ...

Climate Change Threatens Global Food Supply: Scientists Call for Urgent Action

Dec. 5, 2024 — As climate change accelerates, scientists are sounding the alarm about its potentially devastating impact on the world's food supply. Researchers ...

Strategies for Safe and Equitable Access to Water: A Catalyst for Global Peace and Security

Nov. 29, 2024 — Water can be a catalyst for peace and security with a critical role in preventing conflicts and promoting cooperation among communities and nations ...

Design and Imagination as Essential Tools During the Climate Crisis

Nov. 21, 2024 — Researchers advocate the use of imagination in tackling the climate crisis. They focus specifically on urbanizing river deltas, which are of great social and economic importance and highly vulnerable ...

More People Living Without Running Water in U.S. Cities Since the Global Financial Crisis, Study Reveals

Dec. 19, 2024 — More American cities -- even those seen as affluent -- are home to people living without running water as people are being 'squeezed' by unaffordable housing and the cost-of-living crisis, ...

War Impacts the Function of Children's DNA and Slows Development

Nov. 20, 2024 — Children living in war-torn countries not only suffer from poor mental health outcomes, but war may cause adverse biological changes at the DNA level, which could have lifelong health impacts, ...

Study Raises Concerns About the Climate Change and Global Conflict Crises

Nov. 20, 2024 — Researchers are looking at the impact of climate change in communities affected by conflict and have found that many countries most impacted by these crises are being ...

Pioneering Planetary Boundaries Science as Key to Mitigating Rising Planetary Risks

Nov. 8, 2024 — The Planetary Boundaries framework is a pivotal tool for tackling the climate crisis and safeguarding humanity's future on Earth. For the first time, the full story of the Planetary Boundaries ...

Some of the World's Least Polluting Populations Are at Much Greater Risk of Flooding Fueled by Climate Change

Nov. 7, 2024 — A new study has exposed for the first time how inhabitants of the smallest countries globally, contributing least to climate change, already bear the brunt of its devastating consequences and the ...

Coral Reef Destruction a Threat to Human Rights

Sep. 30, 2024 — A human rights-based approach to coral reef protection could ensure governments are held to account for safeguarding marine ...

Thinking About the Future: Examining the Exacerbating and Attenuating Factors of Despair-Induced Climate Burnout

Sep. 25, 2024 — New research explored the exacerbating and attenuating factors of despair-induced climate burnout to learn how people can overcome despair and maintain motivation to fight climate ...

Global Warming's Economic Blow: Risks Rise More Rapidly for the Rich

Sep. 13, 2024 — Researchers analyzed how erratic weather events, increasingly intensified by global warming, affect global production and consumption across different income ...

Personal Carbon Footprint of the Rich Is Vastly Underestimated by Rich and Poor Alike, Study Finds

Sep. 12, 2024 — The personal carbon footprint of the richest people in society is grossly underestimated, both by the rich themselves and by those on middle and lower incomes, no matter which country they come from. ...

Path to Prosperity for Planet and People Shrinking Rapidly, Scientists Warn

Sep. 12, 2024 — Our planet will only remain able to provide even the most basic standard of living for everyone in the future if economic systems and technologies are dramatically transformed and critical resources ...

Path to Prosperity for Planet and People If Earth's Critical Resources Are Better Shared

Sep. 11, 2024 — Earth will only remain able to provide even a basic standard of living for everyone in the future if economic systems and technologies are dramatically transformed and critical resources are more ...

Women in Global Fisheries Industry Fall Through the Safety Net

Aug. 27, 2024 — Millions of women who work in the fisheries industry are being left behind as technologies develop to counter the effects of climate change and economic pressures. A new study examines this global ...

Scientific Consensus Can Strengthen Pro-Climate Attitudes in Society

Aug. 26, 2024 — Climate scientists have long agreed that humans are largely responsible for climate change. A new study finds that communicating the scientific consensus about climate change can clear up ...

Researchers Develop Index to Quantify Circular Bioeconomy

Aug. 19, 2024 — As the world faces the challenges of mitigating climate change and providing resources for a growing population, there is increasing focus on developing circular economies for sustainable production. ...

Number of Pediatric Inpatient Psychiatric Beds in the U.S. Did Not Increase 2017-2020 Despite Youth Mental Health Crisis

Aug. 19, 2024 — U.S. pediatric inpatient psychiatric bed capacity did not change 2017 -- 2020, despite increases in pediatric mental health emergency visits, according to a new study . Researchers also found ...

Just Say 'Climate Change' -- Not 'Climate Emergency'

Aug. 12, 2024 — The familiar terms 'climate change' and 'global warming' are more likely to resonate with people than other commonly used ...

Type 2 Diabetes Cases More Than Doubled Seven Decades After Exposure to Famine

Aug. 12, 2024 — Researchers used the setting of the human-made Ukrainian Holodomor famine of 1932-1933 to examine the relation between prenatal famine and adult Type 2 diabetes ...

Countries Need to Co-Operate on Migration as Climate Crisis Worsens

July 29, 2024 — Humanity must rethink migration as the climate crisis drives rapid global changes, researchers ...

A Window of Opportunity for Climate Change and Biodiversity

July 23, 2024 — World leaders must take advantage of a pivotal window of opportunity for forging a much-needed joined-up approach to tackle climate change and biodiversity loss, say scientists. Without this, work on ...

Using Forest Resources Strengthens Food Security

July 22, 2024 — Forests can reduce hunger in rural households while also capturing carbon and advancing sustainability goals for low- and middle-income countries, according to new ...