UN-SDG 13: Climate Action

The Invisible Crisis We Can Actually Fix When we think of extinction, we picture dinosaurs or dodos, dramatic endings that make headlines. But right now, something quieter is happening in your backyard soil, in the stream you pass on your commute, in the meadow at the edge of town. Small creatures that hold ecosystems together are vanishing. Not in headline-grabbing events, but in silent, localized disappearances too subtle to register on global scales12. ...

One copper mine’s decision will secure drinking water for one million people by 2030. Los Bronces mine in Chile is ending all freshwater withdrawals, freeing between 14.7 and 43.2 million liters daily for communities in one of the world’s most water-stressed regions. This commitment represents the mining industry’s first large-scale attempt to operate entirely on desalinated seawater in a megadrought zone. ...

Five Farms, Six Billion Lives At the heart of global food security lies an apparent contradiction. While industrial agriculture dominates headlines and policy discussions, 608 million family farms scattered across the developing world quietly produce 35% of the planet’s food on just 12% of agricultural land123. These smallholder farmers, working plots smaller than most suburban backyards, support approximately 3 billion people45 - nearly 40% of humanity. Their story reveals both the remarkable resilience of traditional farming systems and the urgent need for transformation as planetary boundaries strain under agricultural pressure. ...

Historical Evolution of Water Security Understanding The understanding of water security has evolved significantly over time, particularly in conjunction with the growing awareness of climate change. Historically, water management often focused on ensuring supply for specific sectors like agriculture or urban consumption, often through large-scale infrastructure projects such as dams and irrigation systems1. However, the late 20th and early 21st centuries saw a broadening of the concept of “water security” to encompass not just quantity but also quality, ecosystem health, and the equitable distribution of water resources23. ...

The Stark Geography of Energy Poverty Sub-Saharan Africa has emerged as the epicenter of global energy inequity, housing 80% of the world’s electricity-poor population—600 million people living predominantly in rural areas where grid extension remains economically prohibitive12. The region’s 43% electricity access rate masks devastating disparities between urban areas achieving 81% access and rural communities languishing at 34%, a gap that widened during the pandemic as population growth outpaced electrification efforts34. ...