Global 3000: Recent Episodes
Deutsche Welle
The magazine gives globalization a face and shows how people are coping with the opportunities and risks the confront in a rapidly changing world.
The Gwich'in people have a traditional way of life. But the native Alaskans and their habitat are under threat. Demand for oil and gas is stronger than concerns about climate change.
In the early 1970s crocodiles were considered almost extinct in northern Australia. Then the country banned hunting them and launched a conservation program that has been proving very successful. Both people and nature benefit.
Many women in Indonesia feel like second-class citizens. Sexual harassment in public is sadly commonplace, and criticizing it remains largely a taboo issue. But some women are taking a stand.
Uruguay generates over 90% of its power from renewables. The country now wants to pass on its know-how, and is training special engineers for the task. But despite all its success, Uruguay still has to convince some of its own people.
Nala Chengwe-Pupp is 15 years old, lives in South Africa and loves anything to do with art. She wants to study psychology like her sister and hopes that one day the world will be free of racism, homophobia and COVID-19.
In 2019 Moscow unveiled a waste management plan, but implementation is proving difficult. Few Russians recycle their trash – due to a lack of awareness and facilities.
Matatus are the primary means of getting around Nairobi. The artwork outside and music inside the minibuses often play a key role in the success of their operators.
Online dating is a relatively new phenomenon in India. 39-year-old Mumbai-based artist Indu Harikumar tried her luck at it.
Pangolins are the most trafficked mammals in the world. Their meat is a prized delicacy, while their scales are used in traditional medicine. Traffickers are now targeting Africa – where the animals are already an endangered species.
The organization Familial Forestry distributes fruit tree seedlings to families and schools, who are instructed to treat the saplings like family members. The project aims to increase tree cover, produce fruit and slow down the expansion of the desert in Rajasthan.
Iraq’s Mesopotamian Marshes were supposedly the inspiration for the biblical Garden of Eden. Climate change and major dams have decreased water flow to the marshes, destroying both the environment and the ancient culture of the Ma’dan people.
The monkey puzzle tree is one of the oldest tree species in the world, dating back to the dinosaur age. Climate change and deforestation endanger them, but in areas inhabited by indigenous peoples in Chile, their numbers are increasing.
All the Earth's continents were inhabited before Europeans began to colonize much of the planet. Imported diseases, genocides and slavery decimated indigenous populations. They still face discrimination today, yet there's much to learn from them.
Some 70 years after the end of the Korean War, a four-kilometer-wide demilitarized zone — known as the 'DMZ' — still runs along the border on the 38th parallel on the Korean Peninsula. The site, which has seen incidents, has become a sanctuary for cranes.
Infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar left an unusual legacy: hippos. We met tour guide Dona Chavita on her home turf of Rio Magdalena in the city of Medellin. She takes tourists to see the animals that are becoming a problem themselves in the country.
The housing shortage in and around Rio de Janeiro has worsened during the pandemic: more and more are living on the streets or in impoverished neighbourhoods. One sustainable project offers needy people the chance to build their own apartment.
Pedro Calderon is a conservationist and loves horse riding. He shows you his home on a ranch in Chihuahua in the north of Mexico.
The Ebo rainforest in Cameroon is part of the second-largest tropical forest in the world. It is home to rare primates including gorillas. But poachers and logging companies threaten the forest and its inhabitants.
The growing appetite for milk and meat is pushing the planet to the edge. But it doesn't need to be that way since there are many plant-based alternatives that aren't bad for the environment and still taste good.
Clean drinking water is vital – but for many people, accessing it is difficult and expensive. A pastor in an Indonesian village encourages people to make use of a dependable water supply that comes free of charge: rainwater.
Restricted areas are a blessing for nature, allowing flora and fauna to flourish free of human influence. The once fortified Cold War border which divided the two Germanys is now a “Green Belt” nature reserve running through the whole country.
The Dominican Republic markets itself as a tropical vacation paradise. But behind the scenes lie heaps of trash from mass tourism. People like Eddy Rosado and the UN environment program are trying to shrink the Caribbean nation's garbage dumps.
Mario Fallas runs a fruit juice stand in Belén in Costa Rica. His speciality is freshly squeezed sugarcane juice.
Industrialized agriculture destroys soil and biodiversity worldwide. It also uses a lot of water and contributes to climate change. One alternative is aquaponics, combining vegetable farming with raising fish.
Using conservation to reduce property taxes and get landowners to leave their land to nature: Candice Stevens and her Wilderness Foundation have converted 500,000 hectares of land in South Africa into nature reserves.
The Social Innovation Academy (SINA) is based in Mpigi, near the Ugandan capital. With a focus on social and environmental initiatives, the organization aims to help young people turn their dreams into reality.
According to the FAO, every year around 1.3 billion tons of food are discarded. At the same time, more than 820 million people worldwide suffer from hunger. A US company has developed a liquid which can extend the shelf-life of fruit and vegetables.
Galang Rajendra Rabbani is a twelve-year-old from Indonesia who dreams of being a soccer star. He also wishes there was less traffic, and that the world was kinder to children.
When disputes arise over sparse pastures, Habiba Tadicha is a voice for peace. As the former head of a nature conservancy, she pays respect to nature and advocates for women's rights. A portrait of an empowered woman in northern Kenya.
Road traffic is increasing all over the world, and it's suffocating many cities. In Vietnam traffic jams are destroying the quality of life and bringing the country's cities to a standstill.
Climate change itself is neither fair nor unfair. But some people bear more responsibility for it than others, and some people will feel its impact more strongly than others. Who's to blame? Is there a fair path to climate justice?
In 2015, a mysterious disease killed 90% of the Saiga antelope in the steppe of Central Kazakhstan. Experts feared they'd all be lost. But those fears have turned to hope: there's a baby boom on the steppe.
Vorkuta is slowly becoming a ghost town. Every year, another 2,000 people leave this city in the Arctic. Natalia Tsvirko would like to stay. Nine years ago, she opened a beauty salon.
Small solar panels are to be installed on the roofs of houses in the village of Sabana Real, Dominican Republic. The local project is part of a major plan: By 2025, the country hopes to generate a quarter of its energy from renewable sources.
Enjoy 'Koeksister' - a deep-fried, syrupy-sweet specialty from Cape Town, South Africa.
Traffic controls, extensive bike paths and paved sidewalks aren’t exactly common in Brazil. The city of Belo Horizonte is setting a good example with its transport planning. A low speed limit zone and children’s play areas have transformed one area.
Zidan is five years old and suffers from asthma. It’s a consequence of the poor air quality in Indonesia’s capital, Jakarta. How can parents protect their children? The new DW series "Unseen" shines a light on environmental problems, and explores solutions.
Brasilia’s bus station is a bustling place. It’s also a gourmand's paradise for those in a hurry. The culinary heart is the Pastelaria Vicosa. Here you can get traditional handmade pastries and sugar cane juice.
Thousands of miners descended on Chimanimani National Park to find their fortune digging for gold. But environmental costs have been high. Can legalization and organized cooperatives help preserve what's left untouched?
In October 1950, China occupied Tibet. Since then, the mountain state's culture and religion have been brutally suppressed. To this day, Tibetans still flee their country. DW met one family in Switzerland.
Lake Nakuru, a three-hour drive from the capital Nairobi, is a natural paradise, and a tourist magnet with its countless flamingos. But the lake's water level has risen, causing people living along its shores to lose their homes and farms.
Circular economies are only starting to take off in Peru: A country where almost everything is thrown in the garbage. But a chef and an resourceful farmer want to change this by creating products using all-organic waste. Good ideas — and hard-working chickens — help make this possible.
This week’s Global Snack comes from Indonesia. The island nation is famed for its range of traditional dishes, with each region having its own cuisine. We try out kerak telor, an egg-based specialty from Jakarta.
Air conditioners, laptops, smartphones — as consumer demand for electronics grows, so does the waste. Some 53 million tonnes of e-waste are generated globally every year. But that waste is a valuable and profitable resource, as some companies are proving.
In 2019, Cyclone Idai devastated Mozambique's port city of Beira. Many died and entire neighborhoods were flooded. The city is now setting up large green areas designed to absorb future floodwaters. But entire fishing communities need to relocate.
This week's Global Snack comes from southern Mexico. A local specialty known as garnachas is comprised of small corn tortillas with delicious toppings - a nutritious and tasty snack, spiced up with a generous portion of chili.
Many of the items we no longer need end up being burned at trash sites. The environmental costs are significant. An alternative would be to design products to be reused or converted back into raw materials.
It's risky to rely on a few varieties of a few crops. If climate change or disease were to wipe any out, we would be in a big mess. Seed banks preserve as many strains of crop plants as they can. Some old strains are more resilient than current ones.
Most farmers in Ecuador use just a few kinds of commercially produced seeds from abroad. Traditional and indigenous varieties are out of favor. But 'Seed Guardians' are seeking to preserve them and encourage farmers to use them.
Access to clean water may be a right, but it's often hard to come by. Contaminated water kills. Henry Othieno and Saudah Birungi have developed eco-friendly filters for use in schools and homes. They turn dirty lake water into drinking water.
Colombia's capital Bogota is known for its congestion. Diesel-guzzling trucks don't only clog up the roads but also cause environmental damage. Now electric trucks are offering a solution. Quiet and environmentally friendly, they create jobs, too.
Because of the coronavirus, many people in Kenya have lost their jobs. In Nairobi's largest slum, a struggling family is dependent on money their daughter sends from Saudi Arabia. She is one of millions of migrant workers.
Migrant workers from Romania are getting support from a union in their fight for better working conditions and more pay in Germany's meat processing industry. Most of them just want to support their families back home.
Jaguars roam the rainforests of South America silently and well camouflaged. But their habitat is dwindling and ranchers see them as a threat. Yet two brothers are fighting misconceptions and want to project them.
Millions of Indian migrant workers have lost their job in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic and government lockdowns. Many have returned to their home villages and some are now getting vocational training.
Faith Kathure is a cheerful 17-year-old who lives in the village of Matunda. She loves going to school and writing poems. A sense of gratitude underlies her joyful nature
The government in Uruguay acted swiftly to slow the spread of the virus and introduce widespread testing -- in line with the science. The country also has a public healthcare system that really works.
Adela Vasquez lives with her five children in the highlands of Chiapas. Her family congregates in the kitchen where she makes fresh tortillas twice a day on her 'comal', a traditional griddle.
Amsterdam has big plans: the city wants to achieve a circular economy by 2050. This means that emissions will be minimized, and waste will be recycled as far as possible. New technology enables all kinds of waste to be removed from the canals.
Architect Nilanjan Bhowal wants to do something about Delhi's profusion of poorly constructed and polluting buildings. He designs sustainable buildings inspired by traditional construction methods.