SciDev.Net

A meeting of African scientists and ministers on the environment's impact on health is welcome, if long overdue, says an editorial in The Lancet.

Super crops won't be enough — the planet will run short of food by 2030 unless we invest to avoid an imminent world water crisis, says Colin Chartres.

Nanotechnology could help make drinking water safe, but the risks have to be weighed, say Thembela Hillie and Mbhuti Hlophe.

Policymakers must plan for healthier environments now to avoid unnecessary loss of life, says an editorial in The Lancet.

Growing biofuels could put pressure on scarce water supplies in poorer countries, argues Charlotte de Fraiture.

Despite regional unrest, Middle Eastern scientists are working together to manage precious water supplies, says Eric Pallant.

Germán Poveda says Colombia's government did not consult scientists when they reformed funding priorities, and that research relating to water and the environment will suffer as a result.

Rhona MacDonald says the effort to get clean water to the developing world is running out of time.

Peter H. Gleick champions a small-scale, community-based and environmentally friendly way of meeting world water needs.

Solving the world's water crisis will require science, plus a large dose of political will, argues an editorial in Nature.

Peter H. Gleick argues that a new way of thinking about the world's scarce water resources is long overdue.

Calestous Juma argues that one of the main challenges facing the WSSD is to find new ways of turning knowledge into action, particularly at the local level.

Saleemul Huq argues that Bangladesh — as one of the countries that stands to be most adversely affected by continued emissions of greenhouse gases — must pay a more important role in international negotiations on climate change.

Sallie W. Chisholm et al warn that fertilising oceans to increase their absorption of carbon dioxide is difficult to validate and could alter the oceans’ food webs and biogeochemical cycles in unintended ways.