Mongabay - OpEd

March 30, 2021
This past December marked the 5th anniversary of the landmark Paris Agreement. Soon after, the Biden Administration rejoined the Paris Agreement as one of their first actions in office. And in January, the Climate Adaptation Summit once again convened global leaders and local stakeholders to accelerate adaptation action.

As these milestones reinvigorate a call to action for our politicians and business leaders to act on climate and “ramp up climate ambition,” all eyes inevitably turn to the usual avenues for addressing and adapting to climate change: forests, clean energy and waving goodbye to our toxic relationship with fossil fuels. And while mitigation efforts continue to dominate the conversation, adaptation is ever-increasing in importance in global discussions as extreme weather and its impacts worsen around the world and countries work to build stronger national commitments.

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World Economic Forum

January 27, 2021
Climate change is having a substantial impact across the world. Rising temperatures, disrupted water supplies and flooding have already displaced tens of millions of people. Drought and extreme weather events threaten food production and supply chains. At the same time, our exploitation of nature has lead to the destruction of 32% of the world’s forests, 40% of invertebrate pollinators face extinction, and land surface productivity has shrunk by 23% due to land degradation. Without unprecedented action, global warming is set to reach 4.1-4.8°C above pre-industrial levels with 50% percent of species facing extinction by the end of the century. 

But the call for action is being heard. Net-zero commitments by companies have more than doubled in the past year, with many companies also making commitments to protect nature. For example, Amazon is investing $10 million to restore 1.6 million hectares of forest in the US; Shell is planting 5 million trees in the Netherlands; and Unilever has committed to a deforestation-free supply chain by 2023.

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The Hill

January 14, 2021
In a new report released Thursday, the United Nations warned that countries need to work faster and allocate more resources toward adapting to climate change across both public and private sectors.

Outlined in the agency’s Adaptation Gap Report 2020, U.N. researchers underscore that despite some progress made in countries around the world adopting national adaptation strategies, levels of engagement and commitment vary.

Citing 2020’s natural disasters as some of the most cataclysmic on record and the record-breaking heat, U.N. authors emphasize the need for increased action amid the COVID-19 pandemic. 

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Bangkok Post

December 21, 2020
Climate mitigation technologies that harness natural processes to reduce or remove greenhouse gas -- plays an important role in mitigating the devastating effects of global warming, which is expected to reach 1.5 degrees Celsius between 2030 and 2052, according to the projection by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Global warming has contributed to sea level rise and increased incidences of extreme and deadly weather events, researchers have found.

With the potential mitigation impact of 11 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide annually, NCS can provide over a third of the mitigation action needed to meet the Paris agreement targets by 2030, says the report issued by Conservation International, DBS Bank, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Temasek.

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Reuters

December 12, 2020
Five years ago, when the Paris Agreement to tackle climate change was adopted, storing planet-warming carbon in ecosystems such as tropical forests, wetlands and coastal mangroves was not seen as a major part of the solution.

Now officials and environmentalists say goals to limit global temperature rise cannot be met without nature’s help.

Ahead of a U.N. “Climate Ambition Summit” to mark the fifth anniversary of the Paris accord on Saturday, held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they said threats to plants, wildlife, human health and the climate should be confronted together.

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The Weather Network

April 21, 2020
Scientists say that more conservation efforts are needed to ensure that ecosystems can continue absorbing large amounts of carbon dioxide.

Earth Day is celebrated each year on April 22 and this year marks the 50th anniversary since the campaign first launched. The event encourages increased awareness of the environment as well as actions and commitments that will reduce the negative impacts humans have on the planet.

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GreenBiz

February 24, 2020
It’s 2020. We’ve officially entered the defining decade to tackle the climate crisis. As businesses ramp up climate action commitments through science-based targets and net-zero or carbon neutral goals, they are realizing there are untapped opportunities to work with nature instead of against it. Nature-based climate solutions will provide the lever of change to make faster progress toward those goals, and it just might help them go above and beyond.

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Fast Company

January 10, 2020
As wildfires devastate Australia, author and activist Julia Watson considers the wisdom of low-tech land management strategies that’ve been passed down through generations.

Australia’s wildfires—which, since September, have burned 17.9 million acres of the continent—have not only turned skies vermillion and made breathing the air a health hazard, they have also claimed the lives of an estimated 27 people and 1 billion animals. This global warming-fueled crisis began thanks to a combination of lightning, arson, and an unusually hot and dry summer season.

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Phys.org

January 6, 2020
A new study, accepted in Environmental Research Letters, has found that diverse natural forests with a mix of tree species are more reliable and stable at absorbing and storing carbon than plantations dominated by just a few tree species, both over time and across diverse conditions. The study was co-authored by scientists from Columbia University's Earth Institute and its Department of Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Biology.

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The Globe and Mail - Opinion

December 29, 2019
As concern about climate change reaches new levels, Canada has a rare opportunity to be a bigger percentage of the climate solution than it is a percentage of the problem.

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Eco-Business

December 13, 2019
Mangroves protect coasts, support fisheries and are rich carbon sinks. Can an upcoming pilot project in the archipelago incentivise communities to keep these valuable ecosystems intact?

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Vox

December 12, 2019
Dozens of countries have extraordinary tropical forests, but three stand out: Brazil, Indonesia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These countries not only have the largest areas of tropical forest within their borders; they also have the highest rates of deforestation.

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Arab News (Editorial)

December 4, 2019
As world leaders gather at the 25th UN Climate Change Conference (COP25) in Madrid this month, they will discuss concrete steps for meeting and increasing national emissions reduction targets. But, equally important, COP25 offers an opportunity to elevate one of the most powerful tools we have to address climate change: Nature.

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Project Syndicate

December 2, 2019
Although most countries have acknowledged the threat posed by climate change and established targets for reducing greenhouse-gas emissions, the international community still has not made the same level of commitment to environmental conservation. Yet it is our natural ecosystems that will save us from catastrophe – if we let them.

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