November 30, 2021

A Kenyan activist’s verdict on climate change negotiations

In my six years as a blogger, my greatest challenge has been to amplify the voices of climate change activists from the Global South. Climate change negotiations, like the Conference of the Parties or COP26 that took place in Glasgow, UK earlier this month, hardly take into consideration the demands of these advocates although they express the views of the people most impacted by climate change in the world. It's therefore with great interest that I have met with Kevin Mtai from Kenya...
January 29, 2021

What Pacific countries can learn from managing foreign aid more effectively to tackle climate change

Few regions in the world are exposed to the threat of climate change as the Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of the Pacific. A constellation of 16 countries and seven territories spread across the largest ocean mass in the world, these states are coming under growing pressure to get the right mix of policies that can counteract the double impact of extreme weather conditions and COVID-19. I talk about these challenges with Alfred Schuster, a native Samoan living in Fiji and now a Development Effectiveness Advisor for the Australia Pacific Training Coalition. Here Alfred explains why it is important to learn from decades of experience managing foreign aid in the Pacific region to address climate change successfully, or at least more effectively.
February 3, 2020

Turismo Sostenible: innovación desde Argentina

Para mi primer artículo en el 2020 quisiera comenzar la publicación de artículos en otros idiomas, además del inglés. Como mencioné antes, es tiempo de reflejar la diversidad de visiones sobre los problemas del desarrollo global en el idioma que usamos -algo que la traducción instantánea suele perder. Espero que la lectura del artículo a continuación en el idioma nativo de la entrevistada ayude a eliminar las barreras del lenguaje (y del poder) en nuestra conversación global. Muchas gracias a Roxana Goldstein por su traducción.
December 23, 2019

Can sustainable architecture help the homeless?

After the climate change conference in Madrid (COP 25) and before the end-of-the year holidays is a fitting time to think of those who are most vulnerable to the impact of climate change, particularly those without a place to live – the homeless. I discuss their challenges with Rajendra Kumar, the Director of the School of Architecture at Noida International University, just South-East of New Delhi, India. Rajendra, who is also a member of civil society platform CIVICUS, promotes sustainable architecture, both in his native India and around the world. Here he explains what role architecture can play in reducing the harshest effects of climate change on the homeless.
November 26, 2019

It’s time to talk about climate migrants

This year marks the first review of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) or Global Goals, the seventeen objectives universally agreed to advance human progress by 2030. I discuss this progress, particularly in the fight against climate change, with Maria Theresa (Tetet) Nera Lauron. Tetet is an Advisor at the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation office in Manila, Philippines. Prior to this role, she closely followed the climate change negotiations leading to the landmark Paris Agreement in 2015. 
October 26, 2019

Who is an expert?

Having worked on global development issues for over two decades, I should know who is an expert in my sector by now. I have many lists of experts on file and can’t help noticing a recurring trend: it’s usually people from a Northern/Western background, with endless degrees and credentials, most of them English-speaking. All of which begs the question: are these traits supposed to be the qualifications of the ultimate expert in my field? What if there’s a whole world of ‘expertise’ that we simply don’t consider?
November 1, 2016

My blog Kiliza turns one – and here’s what I have learned

October last year I started my blog. I decided to call it Kiliza, from the Swahili word for ‘listen’, to focus on what I think development and climate change professionals should do more than anything else if they actually want to help people living in poverty in the global South. Back then I believed, and still do, that for development and climate change policies to be effective it is important to first understand what people from the world’s poorest places say about international co-operation, the environment, and development and climate change themselves.
October 12, 2016

What’s happened to citizen engagement in climate change discussions since Paris?

I know, I know. In my last post I said I’d be back in September and here we are, already in mid-October. Not that I haven’t tried to write something sooner. I actually wanted to refocus on climate change discussions and see whether citizens from the global South have anything to say about the historic agreement reached in Paris at the end of last year.
December 19, 2015

Adapting to a whole new climate

    Big sighs of relief about the climate change agreement reached in Paris last week. While it is far from perfect, many experts see it […]
December 4, 2015

Are climate change talks a privilege of the few?

Living in Paris and working on development and climate change issues, I couldn’t escape the deluge of updates on the ongoing Conference of the Parties (COP21) […]
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