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The Capacity Building and Technical Training Programme on Waste Characterisation Survey Methodology, held in Lesotho on 15–16 June 2026, aimed to strengthen national capacity for evidence-based waste governance and planning. Organized by UNEP-IETC, IGES-CCET, UNDP, the Ministry of Environment and Forestry, and the National University of Lesotho...

Urban heat in rapidly growing megacities is spatially uneven, yet the relative influence of built form, socioeconomic activity and blue-green spatial configuration remains insufficiently resolved in cities of the Global South. This study examines neighbourhood-scale controls on land surface temperature (LST) in Delhi, India, using a single clear...

Tourism is a key driver of economic growth in Thailand, but it also generates significant environmental and socio-economic pressures, particularly in coastal destinations such as Krabi. Increasing plastic pollution, resource stress, and socio-economic inequalities highlight the limitations of conventional tourism models and the need for more...

This paper examines the governance of agrivoltaics (AV) in the context of Japan’s rapid rural depopulation and farmland abandonment. While AV is traditionally framed as a solution to land-use competition, this study argues that in shrinking regions, the primary challenge is not land scarcity but a shortage of human capacity to manage...

This study provides an indicative comparative assessment of the factors underlying these challenges by examining policy content, regulatory enforcement, and institutional capacity related to OWB across ten selected Asian countries: Cambodia, China, India, Iraq, Jordan, Laos, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand. The researchers employed a...

Agriculture in semi-arid regions is increasingly vulnerable to climate variability and land degradation, threatening rural livelihoods and food security. At the same time, the global transition toward clean energy, particularly solar power, offers synergistic opportunities to mitigate climate change while supporting sustainable rural development...

Excerpt from Preface: Climate action has long been the main focus of global sustainability efforts. From a biodiversity point of view, frameworks to manage greenhouse gases need to do more than track emissions. They should, at least, avoid harming biodiversity and at best be proactive tools for sustaining the complex ecosystems that help us...

In Japan, almost all Climate Citizens’ Assemblies (CCAs) to date have been held at the municipal level. Although considerable efforts have been made to produce valuable recommendations—those that go beyond existing local climate policies-, the usefulness of CCAs in Japan continues to be questioned. This case study examines two contrasting...

This paper outlines a comprehensive strategy for Lao PDR to eliminate open waste burning (OWB), a prevalent disposal method caused by limited waste collection services. It emphasizes that OWB is a major source of toxic air pollutants like PM2.5 and black carbon, which severely threaten public health and exacerbate climate change. Rather than...

This is a guidebook for the "City-to-City Collaboration for Zero Carbon Society" program (C3P) developed by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan since fiscal 2013. This publication is intended for potential stakeholders of the C3P, including local governments and private companies in Japan and abroad.