The latest news related to nature conservation from around the world. If there is
Almost half of World Heritage sites could lose their glaciers by 2100
The study, ‘Disappearing World Heritage glaciers as a keystone of nature conservation in a changing climate’, combines data from a global glacier inventory, a review of existing literature and sophisticated computer modelling to analyse the current state of World Heritage glaciers, their recent evolution,…
Headline: Biodiversity: the word no one used – until it began to vanish
First used in 1985, ‘biodiversity’ is one of the most successful political coinages of modern times
Our obsession with growth is ruining the planet. A Green New Deal can save us
If we want to head off mass extinction, we should grasp this once-in-a-species chance to throw out the old rules completely
Pressure mounts on EU to curb Brazilian deforestation, human rights abuses
In the 100 days since Jair Bolsonaro became president of the world’s fourth largest democracy, Brazil has weakened indigenous rights and environmental protections, with no sign of slowing down.
Headline: Brazil indigenous chief Raoni goes to Europe in defense of Amazon
Brazil’s legendary indigenous chief Raoni headed to Paris Sunday for the start of a three-week tour across Europe where he will meet heads of state, celebrities and the Pope to highlight growing threats to the Amazon.
The Extinction Report tells us something important about what it means to be human | The Narwhal
There’s a little known essay by Sigmund Freud that details his walk through a garden with an unnamed poet and a philosopher (whom some suspect to be Rainer Maria Rilke and Friederich Nietzsche). The scene is pastoral, a summertime flush of petal and leaf adorns their surroundings. And it’s bumming…
Earlier this week, the Global Assessment on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services was been published by IPBES, the science-policy platform that serves under the flag of the United Nations. In the assessment major concerns are raised on the state and trends of biodiversity. The way currently deal with the…
NY Times – Plant and animal species are disappearing faster than at any time in recorded history. We know who is to blame.
Humans depend on biodiversity and we’re destroying it
… and signed the Convention on Biodiversity. Governments committed to halt the loss of biodiversity. Unfortunately, since then, the loss of biodiversity …
Headline: Striking a balance between conservation and development
A few years ago, a team of scientists and engineers speculated in a documentary series what might become of Earth if humans suddenly disappeared.
Biodiversity Loss Is as Big a Crisis as Climate Change
The release of a major report looking at the state of nature presents a grim forecast for the future of humanity and the planet.
EU must prioritise biodiversity and climate change
“Nature gives us life – and we are destroying it. Over the past half-century we have met the challenge of feeding a fast-growing global population with …
International biodiversity conference announced
09 May, 2019 Scotland’s nature agency SNH has welcomed First Minister Nicola Sturgeon confirming that Scotland will host a UN-backed international nature conference in Spring 2020. The UN Convention on Biological Diversity issued a report earlier this week on the state of nature globally. Chief…
Enhancing progress towards Aichi Target 11
The meeting entitled: “Stocktaking, Coordination and Development of Monitoring Plan meeting for Achieving Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 by 2020”, was held from 24 – 27 April 2019, on the island of Vilm, Germany.Aichi Biodiversity Target 11 calls for the conservation of “at least 17% of terrestrial and…
Headline: Asean strategizes to meet 2050 Vision on biodiversity
‘It is an aspiration to reform the world as we know it, to be the one that we wish for it to be.”
How the Paris Agreement Model Could Help Ward Off the Next Mass Extinction
Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. A bankrupt biosphere, however, is not yet destiny. To reverse course, nations must take a page from the Paris Agreement on climate change and negotiate a New Deal for Nature.
What is marine plastic pollution costing us? The impacts of marine plastic on the Blue Economy
[1] Some of the following estimates are for beach litter rather than just plastic litter, but plastic comprises a large percentage of beach litter. It is estimated that ~ 60-80% of marine debris is plastic.
Mariana Trench: Deepest-ever sub dive finds plastic bag By Rebecca Morelle
An American explorer has found plastic waste on the seafloor while breaking the record for the deepest ever dive.
Underwater Arctic forests are expanding with rapid warming
Lush underwater forests of large brown seaweeds (kelps) are particularly striking in the Arctic, especially in contrast to the land where ice scour (scraping of sea ice against the sea floor) and harsh climates leave the ground barren with little vegetation.
Roundtable: How can China and the world stem global biodiversity loss?
As a major new report warns that biodiversity loss presents an existential threat to human life, we asked the experts what should be done
China’s National Panda Park Will Be Three Times the Size of Yellowstone
The vast space will connect China’s fragmented panda populations, enabling the land giants to better find mates and diversify their species’ gene pool
OPINION: Time to join up work on climate change, ocean conservation and biodiversity loss
On Wednesday, Pacific leaders are joining United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in Fiji to discuss climate change and what the international community must do to address it.
Calling on Member States to take “urgent action to limit global temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels”, the leaders of more than 30 UN agencies and entities, issued a formal, joint appeal for governments everywhere to “step up ambition and take concrete action” ahead of the landmark
How can the biodiversity and climate crises be tackled together?
In the political sphere, however, the climate and biodiversity crises have … The two UN programmes, the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) and UN ..
Headline: Urgent Action Vital to Stop Twin Crises of Nature’s Destruction & Climate Change
LONDON, May 13 2019 (IPS) – The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services’ report on the global state of biodiversity is shocking but not entirely surprising. The question is, how much more evidence and repeated warnings will it take for governments, companies and financial
