Ecology

 Band e Amir, Bamyan, June 2009, ©Bente Scheller

Introduction

Ecology and sustainable development are central areas for securing the future of humanity.
It is to the credit of the green movement within and outside parliaments that ecology has become one of the main arenas of politics. There is hardly another subject which, within the last 30 years, has been thus transformed from the concern of a few scientists, activists into a topic of world conferences.

Ecology is not recognized as a primary concern for Afghanistan – even though every year many more people in Afghanistan die and are harmed by the effects of air and water pollution than are killed by military operations or insurgents. Every citizen can notice the negative impact environmental problems have on his or her daily life. There are already conflicts about the distribution of resources, about fertile lands, grazing grounds and water today. These are likely to increase the more affected Afghanistan will become by the effects of climate change.

HBS Kabul will start this year with an awareness raising campaign. In cooperation with the newspaper “8 a.m.” – “Hasht e Sobh” – HBS is supporting a series of articles that tackle and explain environmental problems in Afghanistan. HBS is also planning cooperation with TV on that topic.

Ecology Publication Series in daily 8 a.m

Ecology Publication Series

Afghanistan is haunted by numbers of problems. While people are already aware of many issues security, health …, but environmental issues were not yet topic of discussion. Nonetheless, ecological problems have a strong impact on people’s life. HBS Afghanistan Office in relevance to its activity in the area of ecology considering the role of media as good source of dissemination in public awareness and civic education, has already started a series of ecology publication in cooperation with daily 8 a.m. The goal of the publication is “To encourage the debate on environmental issues” in order to raise awareness for the importance of ecology and “green issues”, enhance people’s understanding of why the environment needs to be cared for and strengthen the idea of citizenship through identification with their country. 
This series is going to be translated in English and regularly published in HBS Afghanistan’s website.  

Article

Environmental Education; Ensuring a Sound World for Future Generations

- May 4, 2011 -

“In environment protection issues the most recurring challenge is public awareness and education.” Countries that are considered successful in this regard provide education to their citizens from early schooling to high education. Thus, the environment issues are not unknown to them and they have adequate information about the current and future status of environment concerns.

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Article

Kabul’s Environmental Problem

- January 16, 2011 -

Lack of sewage systems in Kabul has brought about immense health, social and administrative challenges. A number of city reconstruction projects have either been put off or hurdled due to this problem. Recently, there have huge and multi-story buildings constructed, meanwhile, Afghan refugees increasingly repatriate and most of them tend to settle in Kabul city. The question however is whether the municipality authorities have ever thought where the sewage of these buildings will flow. 

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Articles

Article

Government extends the weekend to protect the environment

December 8, 2010 - Two days officially off – this was the kind off weekend many governmental employees had long been looking forward to. Now it has been decided that for Kabul citizens it will become a reality – to protect the environment. Less work means less pollution says the Afghan government. Particularly in winter, smog is a tremendous problem in the Afghan capital. The recent decree is a big step in terms of raising awareness for environmental problems. Bente Aika Scheller more»

Article

The Land grabbers’ greed does not stop at the garbage dump

- October 7, 2010 - Wild garbage dumps are one of the biggest nuisances in Kabul. It just takes one walk through the streets of the capital to experience all kinds of odors. With children and animals also digging in the garbage, the piles also pose a severe health risk for Kabul’s citizens. The newly established garbage bins are a first step to make the city cleaner. Still, getting the entire system up and running will take some time. Bente Aika Scheller more»

Reports

Environment conference report

“Environmental Protection is a Need for Everyone”

September 19, 2010 -

Environmental protection is a hot discussed topic in industrialized countries, especially in Europe, whereas in developing countries such as Afghanistan this issue is not very popular due to poverty, war and the daily struggle to survive.Therefore the HBS and FCCS hosted a conference on environmental protection in order to raise awareness and provide a platform to present strategies of improving the environmental structure in Afghanistan in cooperation of stakeholders.

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Report

Climate Change Effects

- Developing countries are strongly affected by the consequences of climate change. So what can they do to protect themselves? How to act if those responsible for environmental pollution and climate change do not. more»

Policy Papers

Policy Paper

Democratization and climate change: a time for action

July 17, 2010 -

A surprising omission is the balanced inquiry into what climate change and its effects mean for democratization, and what democratization could mean for mitigating greenhouse gas emissions and climate adaptation. This paper draws attention to the little explored relationships between climate change and democratization.

A Policy Paper by Peter Burnell more»