Nearly half the world’s rainforests have been lost since the 1960s, and agriculture is the leading culprit, estimated to be responsible for about 80% of deforestation in tropical and subtropical countries between 2000 and 2010. With the planet needing to feed at least 2 billion more people by 2050, pressure on the environment continues to rise.

Palm oil cultivation is booming in Peru, boosting the income of small farmers who supply Swiss food giant Nestlé with the product. But the crop is one of the main drivers of deforestation in this part of the country. Can farmers really “go green” amid so much demand?

New requirements for Venezuelans to hold “humanitarian visas” before entering Peru will drive large numbers of migrants into the informal economy, where they will lose protection, assistance, and government services, aid groups are warning. Peru is the second most popular destination country after Colombia for the more than four million Venezuleans the UN estimates have fled their country’s economic and political meltdown since 2015.

Cameroon’s longtime president Paul Biya’s latest “private visit” to his usual retreat at the Intercontinental Hotel in Geneva has sparked more than its usual mix of political controversy and quiet embarrassment.

After denying the existence of a humanitarian crisis for years and blocking foreign aid, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro struck an unexpected deal in March to allow the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to assist his increasingly hungry and sick population. One month after the first shipment of medical supplies and generators arrived in Venezuela, The New Humanitarian spoke to Yves Daccord, director-general of the International Committee of the Red Cross, and IFRC Secretary General Elhadj As Sy to find out how the mission was going.

As the world’s second-deadliest Ebola outbreak ever continues to ravage communities in the Democratic Republic of Congo, international aid groups are reconsidering the way they respond after a string of attacks by armed assailants on health centres.

Reverend Olav Fykse Tveit, general secretary of the World Council of Churches, took time out of a recent gathering to explain how faith-based organisations are forging better responses globally for migrants and refugees living with HIV/AIDS.

How do you make art more inclusive and reflective of current political and social realities? This was the subject of the recent Verbier Art Summit, which gathered together leaders in the art world.

Tomando o modelo do Fórum Econômico Mundial em Davos, outro resort suíço está se tornando um destino no meio do inverno para as personalidades que agitam o mundo do futuro. A Cúpula de Arte de Verbier assumiu a questão de como tornar a arte mais inclusiva, e também mais atuante nas realidades políticas e sociais da atualidade.

Humanitarian aid to millions of hungry and sick Venezuelans has become an international political football, with President Nicolás Maduro equating the prospect of outside assistance entering his country to a foreign military intervention.

“Nobody from any government would try to kill its own people, but that is exactly the way it is.”

My interview with Naine Terena at the Verbier Art Summit on what it means to be an indigenous artist in Brazil after the election of President Jair Bolsonaro

PUERTO MALDONADO, Peru (RNS) — Pope Francis’ trip to Peru a year ago included a visit to a biodiverse region, where a Swiss priest has for decades sought to bring global attention to environmental and social devastation caused by illegal gold mining. Despite years of effort — and the pope’s visit — little has changed, said Xavier Arbex.

As Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro began a new six-year term on Thursday, Peru led Canada, the United States, and 12 other countries in the Americas in refusing to recognise his presidency, citing irregularities in his May 2018 election and despair over an economic collapse that has precipitated the largest exodus in the region’s history. But as Peru has recalled its diplomats and imposed travel bans and financial sanctions on Maduro and his allies, human rights advocates have raised concerns that the Peruvian government itself is taking an increasingly hard line on those fleeing Venezuela and failing to adequately prepare for a flow of migrants that shows no sign of abating.

Han pasado casi 35 años desde el inicio de los años más violentos de la historia reciente de Perú, pero para miles de familias las heridas siguen abiertas. La búsqueda de respuestas sobre los familiares desaparecidos se ha convertido en una cuestión política, y las personas afectadas depositan su confianza en el CICR para recibir apoyo humanitario.

GENEVA — For some, 2018 may represent the beginning of the undoing of the global rules-based system set up after the end of the World War II. A year after announcing its departure from the Paris Agreement on climate change, Washington continues to disengage with the United Nations — withdrawing from the Human Rights Council and cutting funds to programs such as UNRWA, the U.N. agency that supports Palestinian refugees.

Three years after sealing a landmark global climate deal in Paris, world leaders are gathering again in Poland to agree on the fine print. Switzerland’s climate ambassador tells swissinfo.ch what to expect from the talks.

GENEVA — To achieve the ambitious Sustainable Development Goals, the United Nations has been widening calls for support from the private sector — and some believe stock markets could play an important role.

Nearly 80 trading venues including the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), the London Stock Exchange and Nasdaq have joined the United Nations’ Sustainable Stock Exchange (SSE) initiative, which tackles climate and social issues. The SIX Swiss Exchange, however, is one of the few major markets that remains on the sidelines.