Water is essential for life. Not only does it connect every aspect of life, it’s a fundamental human need.

Every person requires at least 20-50 liters of clean, safe water daily for drinking, cleaning, cooking and more. And despite scientific advancements, about 780 million people do not have access to an improved water source, with an estimated 2.5 billion people lacking access to improved sanitation.

That’s more than 35 percent of the earth’s population.

Read more: The Critical Facts You Need To Know About The Clean Water Crisis

JAKARTA — A highly contentious set of revisions to Indonesia’s Criminal Code threatens to undermine the fight against environmental offenders and polluters, activists warn.

Deliberations on the new draft are in the final stage in parliament, in what proponents are calling a much-needed overhaul and reform of a penal code inherited from Dutch colonial rule more than 70 years ago.

Already the bill has drawn intense criticism for new provisions that, if passed as expected in April, would criminalize consensual non-marital sex, outlaw the promotion of contraceptives, and make it illegal to insult the president or religious leaders, among other points.

But overshadowed by the furor over the looming rollback of personal freedoms and human rights are provisions that appear to weaken existing enforcement articles under the 2009 Environmental Protection Law.

“When we studied the draft, we found out that it’ll heavily affect existing environmental law enforcement and there are going to be many things that can’t be enforced,” said Reynaldo Sembiring, a researcher with the Indonesian Center for Environmental Law (ICEL).

“While the current law still has some weaknesses, those weaknesses will be amplified further in the new Criminal Code.”

These include making it more difficult to prove an environmental crime has taken place, watering down sentences for environmental violations, and a persistent failure to apportion accountability for these crimes.

Read more: Activists fear for environmental protection under Indonesia’s revised Criminal Code

Recycling plastic — bottles, in particular — will never be enough to solve the country’s garbage and pollution problem.

Read more: ‘Upcycling’ could be the best way to beat the plastic menace

• Climate change could cost South Asia 50% of its GDP by 2050.  In order to drive action at scale climate adaptation needs to be mainstreamed into all areas of decision making.
• The Action on Climate Today (ACT) programme has developed a new ‘governance framework’ for integrating climate adaptation into government systems, policies and plan has been successfully tested in South Asia.
• Most traditional approaches to mainstreaming climate change emphasize technical issues and often overlook the politics. This framework puts institutions and politics it at the center.

Read more: New framework has successes integrating climate change into governance systems in South Asia

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) aims to plant bamboo on more than 15,000 hectares of land this year under the National Greening Program.

Read more: DENR: 15,000 hectares to be planted with bamboo

Conflict and climate change have pushed 124 million people in 51 countries into acute food security, a situation when the inability to consume adequate food represents an immediate danger to people’s lives and livelihoods. In 2017, the number of people affected by acute food insecurity increased by 11 million.

Read more: Report: More People at Risk of Hunger Because of Conflict and Climate Change

It was predictable that one day Adisa Azapagic, who studies the carbon footprint of various foods, would get around to chocolate. Little was known about the environmental impact of producing that guilt-and swoon-inducing pleasure, and for many, ignorance was bliss. “My husband wasn’t amused when I suggested he consider switching to dark chocolate,” which has a smaller carbon footprint than milk chocolate, she said. “He said it was a divorcing issue.”

Read more: Keep your love of chocolate from destroying the planet with this one easy fix

Research led by Swansea University's Bioscience department has found that the world center of biodiversity is under widespread threat of losing a key marine resource.

Read more: Center of world's marine biodiversity is in danger

A new wildlife sanctuary in Oddar Meanchey, a Northwestern province of Cambodia is going to be established as The Royal Government of Cambodia has recently issued the statement.

Read more: Cambodia to establish a new wildlife sanctuary

The breakthrough, spurred by the discovery of plastic-eating bugs at a Japanese dump, could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis.

Scientists explain how plastic-eating enzyme can help fight pollution – video

Scientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles – by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling for the first time the full recycling of bottles.

Read more: Scientists accidentally create mutant enzyme that eats plastic bottles