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Knowledge

You would like to know more about climate change, environmental protection, human rights or globalisation? RESET provides you with up-to-date and in-depth background information, compiled and written by Resetters and experts. Get informed!

Climate Protection

Environmental Refugees (Climate Change and How it Affects People's Lives)

Global warming affects the livelihoods of more and more people sometimes to such an extent that they have to leave their homes either temporarily or permanently, becoming environmental refugees. Read on

Development

Education for Sustainable Development

As defined by the Brundtland Commission, "Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". The Brundtland Commission, formerly also known as the World Commission on Environment and Development was formed in 1983. Read on

Chances

Human Trafficking in the 21st Century

The International Labour Organisation estimates that around 20.9 million people are trapped in forced labour or human trafficking circumstances with the resulting profit amounting to 150 billion USD annually. Read on

Biodiversity

Genetically Modified Crops

Genetically modified crops (GM crops) are crops which have had their DNA altered in a way that does not occur naturally. Individual genes which promote durability or nutritional value are transferred from one organism to another to create biologically robust plants. Read on

Biodiversity

Overfishing

Global consumption of fish is outpacing natural production, posing a significant threat to marine ecosystems. Commercially valuable species such as tuna, swordfish, marlin, cod, halibut, skate, and flounder are fished at enormous quantities to the point where populations of said species are dangerously low. Read on

Climate Protection

Carbon Trading

Carbon trading essentially puts a price on a country's carbon emissions as a means of encouraging a reduction in greenhouse gases. Emerging countries such as China, Brazil and India are proving to be big players in the global carbon trading marketplace. Read on

Urbanity

Sustainable Cities

In today’s fast paced world, a city is not merely a place to live, it’s a catalyst in the process of economic and social growth and innovation. Read on

Peace

Land and Conflict

Up to one quarter of the world's population is estimated to be landless. For decades, indigenous people all around the globe have been fighting for their land rights. Although most people spend a large part of their lives in places where food is produced, they rarely own their own land. Read on

Climate Protection

Forests - Our Green Lungs

Forests all over the world are vanishing at an alarming rate. As the green lungs of Mother Earth, they are vital to our health and survival. The year 2011 was proclaimed by the United Nations as the "International Year of the Forest". Its aim was to promote awareness and knowledge about the conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests for the benefit of the present and future generations. Read on

Biodiversity

Grow It Where You Live - Seeds in a Globalised World

Seeds, worldwide, are the basic material for food production. This basis is threatened by international seed companies which pressure the sector with the aim of privatising and monopolising it. More and more severe regulations affect the exchange of seeds or results in them being given away for free. Read on

Biodiversity

Bitter Truth: Biodiversity and The Business of Food

2010 was the International Year of Biodiversity and offered the world the opportunity to reflect on the role of biodiversity in our daily lives – in fact our bodies and our selves. We rarely make the connection between biodiversity of plants and animals, which we celebrate in the wild and our culture of food and lifestyles. Read on

Green Living

Your Ecological Footprint

Since the late 1970s, humanity has been in ecological overshoot with annual demand on resources exceeding what Earth can regenerate each year. How does your own ecological footprint shape up? Read on

Energy

Carbon Capture Storage Technology and India

Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), or carbon sequestration, is a means of separating out carbon dioxide when burning fossil fuels, collecting it and subsequently “dumping” it underground or in the sea. CCS is an integrated concept which consists of three components comprising of CO2 capture, transport and storage (which also includes measurement, monitoring and verification). Read on

Green Living

What is "Fair Trade"?

Fair Trade is an organised social movement and market-based approach that aims to help producers in developing countries obtain better trading conditions and promote sustainability. Read on

Green Living

Garbage Sorting in China

With the ever-increasing amount of garbage piling up at a speed which exceeds the capacities of landfills and incinerators ability to accomodate it, the Chinese authority now seeks to deal with the problem at the source. Garbage sorting has started already in the big cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen and is headed to some local communities, only this time the implementation will come with strict regulations and penalties. Read on

Development

Is the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol contributing to Sustainable Development?

The purpose of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is defined in Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Read on

Development

Microcredit Schemes – Miracle, Disaster or Somewhere in Between?

The term "microfinance" or "microcredit" - the provision of financial services and small loans to people who don't qualify for traditional banking services - is a concept that many of us are familiar with. But when it comes to tackling poverty, how helpful is it really? Read on

Responsibility

The Right Livelihood Award - The Alternative Nobel Prize

In 1980, the journalist and professional philatelist Jakob von Uexkull felt that the Nobel Prize categories were too narrow in scope and too concentrated on the interests of the industrialised countries to be an adequate answer to the challenges now facing humanity. Read on

Development

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are eight goals to be achieved by 2015 that respond to the world's main development challenges. The MDGs are drawn from the actions and targets contained in the Millennium Declaration that was adopted by 189 nations and signed by 147 heads of state and governments during the UN Millennium Summit in September 2000. Read on