As bad news continues to roll in regarding the accelerating impacts of greenhouse gases accumulating in the atmosphere, there is increasing discussion about imposing a carbon tax. Economists across the political spectrum support it, from Irwin Seltzer’s camp that remains “uncertain as to whether there is a global warming phenomenon” to William Nordhaus, who unequivocally views climate change as a threat.

2015 was a deadly year for environmental activism. According to Global Witness, 185 activists were killed, a 60 percent increase from 2014. Of the victims, 40 percent were indigenous people, like Berta Cáceres, who spoke at the Wilson Center last year and was shot and killed in her home in Honduras this March. [Video Below]

The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are an ambitious framework for reducing poverty and improving the lives of billions of people. They were agreed to last year by governments at the United Nations and cover developing and developed countries alike. But how will governments, NGOs, and other organizations go about actually accomplishing them over the next 15 years? [Video Below]

In 1970, Cyclone Bhola slammed into East Pakistan – present day Bangladesh – with sustained winds of 150 miles per hour, killing as many as half a million people. In 2007, Cyclone Sidr killed 3,406 people in Bangladesh. This year, Cyclone Roanu killed just 30. What’s behind this huge decline in mortality? What has Bangladesh done differently?

In recent years, the demographic dividend has garnered enormous traction in African policy circles, and leaders and policymakers have begun to see it as a strategy for achieving their economic growth targets.

Resilience is increasingly recognized as a powerful concept to help practitioners, academics, and policymakers better understand how people respond to shocks and stressors, and how those responses can be linked to longer-term positive or negative development outcomes, such as wellbeing or food (in)security.

Gains in food production and increased awareness of global food security are threatened by looming losses due to climate change, according to a study published in The Lancet. Marco Springmann et al. calculate that climate change will lead to a 3.2 percent reduction in global food availability per person by 2050, driven by changes in weather patterns, increasing frequency of extreme weather, and potential social disruptions to food production like disease and conflict.

In principle, development organizations and donors have known that gender dynamics affect the success or failure of their efforts for some time. In practice, overturning cultural mores while at the same time improving health outcomes, incomes, or food security can be difficult. [Video Below]