Health

Access to clean, reliable and affordable energy is an enabler for sustainable socio-economic development. In a post-COVID-19 world, this is all the more important. Yet the sector’s progress towards energy for all could be endangered by the effects of the pandemic. The European programme GET.invest supports clean energy companies in the African and Caribbean region to navigate the crisis.

The EU is supporting partner countries in their response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Top priorities to be addressed include access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) services in healthcare facilities and public spaces.

If the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us one thing, it is that risks are systemic; a disaster can quickly turn more complex and deadly, with a cascading effect on all aspects of society and the economy.

Large-scale government measures to restart the economy post-COVID-19 are a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to change the way we produce, consume and trade, and to pave the way for a new economic model. The circular economy, which integrates sustainability and resilience and allows us to give back to the planet more than we take, should be at the heart of this transition.

With the root causes of the pandemic linked to the drivers of biodiversity loss, how can EU development action contribute to a sustainable recovery for a healthier planet?

Results from an EU-commissioned survey reveal how the pandemic is impacting the wildlife tourism sector.

Because of its geographic location, Belize is exposed to risks of water-related hazards such as floods, storms, cyclones, hurricanes and droughts. It is therefore essential that health care facilities be properly prepared and equipped to remain operational before, during and after a natural disaster.

As highlighted in the article on pollution and health, pollution has hit the attention of the public opinion and now governments are asked to proactively address this threat. But this is a global issue, which requires a global common response involving everyone, including the public and, very importantly, the private sector, as well as citizens.

The Fifth Green Growth Knowledge Platform (GGKP) Annual Conference will be hosted by the World Bank on the topic of sustainable infrastructure. Infrastructure includes water supply and sanitation, flood protection, roads and transport, and energy and telecommunications. Infrastructure has major implications at the household level (health, education and social mobility), the business level (productivity, industrial development), and the global level (climate change, energy, forests, biodiversity and pollution). Ensuring affordable and reliable access to infrastructure remains a major challenge in developing countries, but one that is further complicated by both a changing climate and changing climate policies.

The DEVCO Environment Week took place from 6-10 February 2017. Two back-to-back seminars were organised: from 6-8 February, ‘DEVCO Thematic Seminar on Environment - Implementing the Environmental Dimension of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’; and from 9-10 February, ‘Conservation, development and security’ (co-organised with DG ENV and EEAS).

2016: second consecutive year of record rise in atmospheric C02 / China enacts ivory ban / Rich countries export air pollution mortality to poor