Climate change
Zoï staff has been working to combat climate change for over thirty years. Our early warning studies of the Nile Delta and the Uganda coffee crop – developed in the 1980ies – have set the standard in the international community for such research. Since then, we have focused on demonstrating the impact of climate change all over the world and guide a range of different groups and entities towards climate neutrality. This also includes providing support towards the implementation of the historic Paris agreement on climate change.
Biodiversity
The preservation and management of the earth’s fragile ecosystems under ever-increasing pressure is central to the work of Zoï. We support the Rio conventions on desertification and biodiversity with well-readable illustrated ‘heavy-weights’ such as ‘Desertification – a visual synthesis’, as well as simple ‘primers’ such as ‘Biodiversity in Central Asia’. Most recently, we have helped the Critical Ecosystems Partnership Fund to map key biodiversity hot spots in Central Asian mountains.
Chemicals and Waste
Chemicals can not only severely damage the environment but also endanger human health and lives. That’s why we highlight the need for urgent action in our visual products, such as the ‘Vital Waste Graphics’ series produced cooperatively with UN chemical conventions. We provide support to making international legal instruments on waste and chemicals and their priorities better understandable to non-specialists.
Security and conflict
Environmental challenges can cause security concerns both between and within countries. Addressing these risks has been one of central elements of Zoï’s work to-date. Through innovative analysis, participatory mapping and visualization, we have contributed to regionally and globally recognized flagship assessments on the environment-security interface. We are also highly engaged on the ground in addressing the unfolding environmental and social issues, including those concerning mining industry which is often at the source of local conflicts.
Water
In recent years, water use has become a focus in international affairs. Zoï has been part of many activities on the ground trying to understand, explain and improve the management of water concerns, in particular in internationally shared lake and rivers. We have also been working with a range of partners, in particular the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation and UNECE, to provide analytical and information support to a new type of ‘water diplomacy’.