Thomson Reuters Foundation

September 29, 2020
This year has revealed the extent to which nature underpins our human health, security and prosperity. The warming climate and rapid loss of biodiversity is sounding a planetary emergency alarm.

Our encroachment on nature has unleashed a global pandemic this year and a resulting economic crisis, while people around the world are facing ravaging forest fires, extreme weather events, droughts, record heat waves, rising sea levels, ocean degradation, air pollution and looming food insecurity.

The global community must act urgently and decisively. There is no single solution to the emergency - we will need to undertake systemic transformation of our economies and our societies.

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Yahoo News!

September 28, 2020
Britain and Canada on Monday joined the European Union in pledging to protect 30% of their land and seas by 2030 to stem "catastrophic" biodiversity loss and help galvanise support for broader agreement on the target ahead of a U.N. summit.

With the twin crises of climate change and wildlife loss accelerating, leaders are trying to build momentum ahead of the meeting in Kunming, China, in May, where nearly 200 countries will negotiate a new agreement on protecting nature.

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Radio Canada International

September 28, 2020
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is calling on the world’s largest countries to commit to protecting 30 per cent of their lands and waters to stop the loss of the planet’s biodiversity.

Trudeau made that call today at a special session of the United Nations via video conference on the sidelines of the virtual General Assembly meeting.

Trudeau was taking part in the Leaders Event for Nature and People that also featured the leaders of Costa Rica and Norway.

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Euronews

September 28, 2020
The UK has pledged to protect 30 per cent of its land by 2030, in a bid to safeguard biodiversity.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is formalising this commitment today as part of the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature, a global campaign backed by heads of state from around the world. Over 60 world leaders have signed the pledge, committing to fight pollution, eliminate plastic waste from the oceans, and encourage sustainable economic policies.

The UK is one of the first nations to outline its plan for meeting the 30x30 goal launched by the Campaign for Nature earlier this year. The campaign calls for 30 per cent of the planet’s land to be designated as a protected area in order to halt wildlife loss, as well as boost the global economy.

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Thomson Reuters Foundation

September 28, 2020
Protecting the planet's plants, animals and ecosystems, and repairing the damage done to them by humans will take about $700 billion a year in extra funding over the next decade, requiring a huge boost in investment by governments and business, officials said on Monday.

The call came as Britain and Canada joined a coalition of countries that have promised to protect 30% of their land and seas by 2030 to stem "catastrophic" biodiversity loss.

The two nations also signed up to a separate pledge, uniting 70 countries and the European Union, to reverse the loss of biodiversity by 2030 through a green recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, tackling pollution and deforestation, and boosting financing to safeguard the planet, among other commitments.

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Creamer Media’s Engineering News

September 28, 2020
The Campaign for Nature has welcomed additional support, pledged by world leaders, for its science-based target to protect 30% of the planet by 2030.

Campaign for Nature works with scientists, indigenous people and a growing coalition of conservation organisations around the world to call on policymakers to commit to protecting at least 30% of the planet by 2030.

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The Hill - OpEd

September 28, 2020
This month, world leaders are convening for the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly. While nations will sign a declaration marking the milestone, the reality is that this is no time to rest or to celebrate.

Interlinked challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and economic recovery will be in full focus during UNGA, and the 75th session will culminate with a special high-level Summit on Biodiversity on Sept. 30. There are many overlapping crises that the world is facing, from a global health crisis to record job losses to a growing recognition of long standing systemic racism and growing inequality. 

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National Geographic

September 28, 2020
Today, key world leaders announced their support for the science based target to protect 30% of the planet by 2030. 

These new endorsements come days before a United Nations Biodiversity Summit — where Heads of State will lay down their proposals to curb biodiversity loss before next year’s 15th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Kunming, China.

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Campaign for Nature

September 15, 2020
The Fifth edition of the United Nations Global Biodiversity Outlook (GBO-5) released today paints a painful picture of the intensifying collapse of the natural world with none of the targets set in Aichi ten years ago fully met. The report makes clear that this unprecedented failure is due to human pressure on our natural world and the lack of political prioritization and funding to protect, preserve and restore biodiversity and the ecosystem services that we rely on to survive. 

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New Straits Times

September 2, 2020
Roads encroach on animal habitats and populations, posing a hazard to wildlife. 

In Malaysia, as elsewhere, the rise in roadkill incidents contributes to biodiversity loss, which is a threat to the wellbeing of humans every bit as dangerous as climate change.

The solution includes safe corridors of transit between habitat areas — passages and bridges — and better driving habits. 

On an exceptionally large scale, we need to ensure the connectivity between national and international protected areas and animal habitats.

A global effort to conserve biodiversity got underway recently. Campaign for Nature (CFN) called on governments worldwide to protect at least 30 per cent of the planet's land and oceans by 2030, deemed by scientists to be the minimum area needed to halt biodiversity loss. 

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Reuters

September 1, 2020
It’s not an overstatement to say that our oceans are in crisis. Warming waters and ocean acidification caused by greenhouse gas emissions; fertiliser run-off creating dead zones where there’s no oxygen for life to survive, and over-fishing are all contributing to the destruction of biodiversity and loss of the ocean’s ability to mitigate climate change by storing carbon.

Research done for the High Level Panel for Sustainable Ocean Economy highlights the crucial role played by oceans, which account for 70% of the planet’s surface. It sets out ocean-based climate action that will cumulatively contribute as much as 21% of the emissions reduction needed to put us on a 1.5 degree pathway. These include sustainable seafood production; ocean-based renewable energies; the greening of shipping, and the conservation of mangroves and seagrass that store carbon.

To meet the goals of the Paris climate change agreement, a big proportion of the ocean has to be returned to a natural state, according to the Global Deal for Nature, a paper that sets a science-based target of protecting at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030.

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New Straits Times

August 20, 2020
In a few weeks, the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity will release a final report card on the world's 20 biodiversity targets, set back in 2010 for achievement by this year. According to all predictions, we have made progress, but largely missed those pledges, as we did the decade before, when the world agreed to stem the rate of biodiversity loss.

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Project Syndicate

July 31, 2020
Natural systems like the massive Sundarbans mangrove forest in India and Bangladesh are not just home to millions of plant and animal species that deserve protection from human encroachment. They are also crucial sources of economic output and resilience, demanding far more protection than they currently receive.

When Cyclone Amphan came barreling up the Bay of Bengal this past May, South Asia’s first named storm of the year appeared to pose a massive threat to the people who live on the coastal floodplains and to the animals and plants – including many endangered species – that rely on these sensitive ecosystems. But nature came to the region’s rescue.

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Mongabay

July 23, 2020
As COVID-19 wreaks havoc on the world’s people and the global economy, a group of international researchers is looking to the future. Their ground-breaking work underscores the immense economic benefits of expanding global protected areas to include 30% of the world’s land and oceans in order to accelerate recovery from the pandemic.

The report, authored by more than 100 economists and environmentalists for the advocacy group Campaign for Nature and published earlier this month, claims to be the first analysis ever to measure the economic benefits and costs of protecting 30% of the planet’s land and seas. The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity included this 30% protected area goal as part of its ten-year conservation strategy which is expected to be ratified by 196 countries at an international summit in Kunming, China, next year.

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China Dialogue

July 20, 2020
Two major reports, by the World Economic Forum and the Campaign for Nature, describe the vast economic benefits of protecting and restoring the living world

Businesses that add value to nature instead of degrading and destroying it could tap into a $10.1 trillion opportunity which could create 395 million jobs by 2030.

This is the central finding of a major new analysis by the World Economic Forum (WEF). The report is the second of three from the forum’s New Nature Economy series, which aims to demonstrate the relevance of nature-loss to boardroom discussions on risks, opportunities and financing.

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