A Belgian activist group seeks to legalise the composting of human bodies as an ecological alternative to burial, a method not yet legal in Belgium or any other EU country.

The Whanganui is New Zealand’s longest river. In 2017, it gained another first, when the parliament gave it the status of a legal person with rights and responsibilities. Anyone who harms it, e.g. by polluting it, faces serious penalties. The local Māori iwi, who see the river as one of their ancestors, have been striving for this law to be passed for over 170 years.

Marius, a 2-year-old giraffe, was euthanised as his gene pool was surplus to further breeding needs. Not even protests, petitions or generous offers from Hollywood celebrities or other zoos could save him. The zoo management thought selling him would be immoral.

Part of DR Congo’s capital is in darkness. A lengthy power outage only augments problems in Kinshasa, a city of 17 million – local river flooding, poor infrastructure, and violence. Darkness shrouds the streets and prospects for the future.

As natural resources dwindle, the struggle for life begins. The worst drought in 40 years has reignited a long-dormant conflict between indigenous people and the descendants of British colonialists in northern Kenya.

Since the 1970s, we’ve slowly been admitting that climate change is perhaps the main challenge humanity faces. The title of the critical documentary The White House Effect paraphrases the term “greenhouse effect” used in the late 1980s by US Vice President George H. W. Bush during his presidential campaign.

Daava and his wife Zaya watch over herds of horses, sheep and goats roaming the rugged central Mongolian steppes. Herding is their livelihood source, but the increasingly extreme weather complicates survival in the harsh region.

Vidal, 40, a journalist from southeastern Peru, once worked in a mine. He tries to tell the local community (and the rest of the world) how aggressive mining impacts the landscape. He puts his life at risk, and it won’t be long before politicians and multinational companies lose patience. Protect one’s own family or nature? This is the dilemma Vidal inevitably faces.