Yahoo!

November 6, 2021
Climate change and biodiversity loss are intrinsically connected, which is why a coordinated approach to tackle them both is essential. Nature-based solutions, such as conserving carbon-rich natural areas and restoring wetlands, can help countries tackle both these challenges.

To address these interconnected crises, Canada will allocate at least 20 percent of its $5.3 billion climate finance commitment to nature-based climate solutions with biodiversity co–benefits in developing countries over the next five years. This represents more than CA$1 billion. Earlier this week, the Prime Minister announced at COP26 that Canada would provide $15 million in support for the Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance and the Global Fund for Coral Reefs. This funding will help developing countries build domestic capacity to take climate action, build resilience, and advance adaptation efforts while also increasing biodiversity.

As part of the High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People and the Global Ocean Alliance, Canada is leading the way to build support for an international target to protect 30 percent of our lands and oceans by 2030.

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The Independent - OpEd

November 3, 2021
This year, we’ve had the starkest warnings yet of the terrifying future in store if we fail to keep global temperature rises within 1.5 degrees. With Cop26 now underway, we stand at a crossroads: either deliver a tangible trajectory towards addressing the climate emergency, or risk passing a point of no return.

Globally, Cop26 represents a significant moment for world leaders to take bold action on tackling climate change and action to help our natural world recover. Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission stand together to call for nature-based solutions to be prioritised. This will not only help us adapt society, so we are more resilient to climate disruption, it will also reduce emissions helping to reach net zero.

We cannot reach net zero or limit global temperature rises to 1.5 degrees without protecting and restoring our natural world. Through improving the way forests, grasslands, agriculture and other lands are managed, our research shows we can deliver up to 37 per cent of the emissions reductions that we need globally by 2030, while at the same time making contributions toward resilience and adaptation. We have a chance – and a responsibility – to use Cop26 to catalyse the change we need to reset our relationship with nature.

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The Independent - OpEd

November 3, 2021
Reversing nature loss by 2030, while also halving greenhouse gas emissions this decade, is critical to avoid climate catastrophe. Nature can contribute up to a third of the climate action needed over the next decade, along with measurable benefits for biodiversity and people.

COP26 is the biggest moment for forests and nature since the Paris Agreement in 2015. Glasgow is producing the largest ever financial incentives for protecting forests, with unprecedented commitments from donor nations, investors and companies. 

Yesterday, more than 30 leading financial institutions, collectively with over US$ 8.7 trillion in assets under management, committed to tackle agricultural commodity-driven deforestation as part of broader efforts to drive the global shift towards sustainable production and nature-based solutions.

On top of that, more than 100 government leaders representing over 85% of the world’s forests committed to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by 2030, a pledge that was backed by $12 billions of public fund and more than $7 billion of private commitments, including exciting initiatives like the LEAF Coalition, the Natural Capital Investment Alliance and the Finance for the Amazon, Cerrado and Chaco (IFACC) initiative.

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BBC News

November 2, 2021
Brazil - where stretches of the Amazon rainforest have been cut down - was among the signatories on Tuesday.

The pledge includes almost £14bn ($19.2bn) of public and private funds.

Experts welcomed the move, but warned a previous deal in 2014 had "failed to slow deforestation at all" and commitments needed to be delivered on.

Felling trees contributes to climate change because it depletes forests that absorb vast amounts of the warming gas CO2.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is hosting the global meeting in Glasgow, said "more leaders than ever before" - a total of 110 - had made the "landmark" commitment.

"We have to stop the devastating loss of our forests," he said - and "end the role of humanity as nature's conqueror, and instead become nature's custodian".

The two-week summit in Glasgow is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control.

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Associated Press

November 2, 2021
World leaders promised to protect Earth’s forests, cut methane emissions and help South Africa wean itself off coal at the U.N. climate summit Tuesday — part of a flurry of deals intended to avert catastrophic global warming.

Britain hailed the commitment by more than 100 countries to end deforestation in the coming decade as the first big achievement of the conference in the Scottish city of Glasgow, known as COP26 — but experts noted such promises have been made and broken before.

More than 120 world leaders were heading home after two days in which they received stark warnings about the state of the Earth from Johnson, naturalist David Attenborough, Queen Elizabeth II and — most powerfully — the people of countries and regions already facing climate upheaval.

Johnson said at a news conference that it was important to “guard against false hope,” but added that he was “cautiously optimistic” about the outcome of the talks. The conference aims to keep the world on track to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels — the goal set at the Paris climate conference six years ago.

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Reuters

November 2, 2021
Colombia will designate a further 16 million hectares (39.5 million acres) of its maritime areas as protected next year, eight years earlier than planned, President Ivan Duque said on Tuesday at the global COP26 climate conference in Glasgow. read moreThe plans envisage new conservation zones off Colombia's Pacific and Caribbean coasts.

The Andean country has already established maritime reserves across just over 12.4 million hectares of its seas and the protection of further areas forms part of plans to protect 30% of Colombia's land and sea area by 2030.

After bringing its target forward, Colombia will count just over 28 million hectares of its seas protected next year.

"In this way, we are reaffirming our commitment to ... protecting our oceans," Duque said in a statement.

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New York Times

November 2, 2021
In a sweeping accord aimed at protecting the world’s forests, which are crucial to absorbing carbon dioxide and slowing the rise in global warming, leaders of more than 100 countries gathered in Glasgow vowed on Tuesday to end deforestation by 2030.

President Biden said the United States would contribute billions to the global effort to protect the ecosystems that are vital for cleaning the air we breathe and the water we drink, and keeping the Earth’s climate in balance.

The pact — which also includes countries such as Brazil, Russia and China — encompasses about 85 percent of the world’s forests, officials said. It is one of the first major accords to emerge from the United Nations climate summit known as COP26, which is seen as a crucial moment in efforts to address climate change.
“These great teeming ecosystems — these cathedrals of nature,” Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain said in announcing the agreement, “are the lungs of our planet.”

President Biden said he would work with Congress to deploy up to $9 billion to the global effort through 2030. Additionally, governments committed $12 billion through 2025, and private companies pledged $7 billion to protect and restore forests in a variety of ways, including $1.7 billion for Indigenous peoples. More than 30 financial institutions also vowed to stop investing in companies responsible for deforestation.

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New York Times

November 2, 2021
Jeff Bezos, one of the richest humans on the planet, and who started his financial empire by selling books online, pledged $2 billion to restoring natural habitats and transforming food systems at the climate summit in Glasgow on Tuesday.

Speaking at a conference where President Biden and other leaders announced a global pact to end deforestation by 2030, Mr. Bezos said that private industry must play a central role in the campaign.

“Amazon aims to power all its operations by renewable energies by 2025,” he said, restating his goal for the company to be carbon-neutral by 2040.

That will be a sizable challenge.

Amazon said, for example, that the company’s emissions from indirect sources had increased 15 percent last year over 2019. The company has pointed out that when its emissions are measured relative to its booming sales, its carbon footprint has been decreasing. But some climate experts say this calculation, called carbon intensity, obscures that the company is still generating an increasing amount of carbon.

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The Washington Post

November 2, 2021
Whales, sea turtles and hammerhead sharks will be able to swim more safely through the Eastern Pacific, thanks to a chain of new marine protected areas announced Tuesday by Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Panama.

The newly established “ocean highway” will stretch from the Galapagos to the Pacific coast of Central America, officials said, encompassing waters used by many species for hunting, mating and giving birth. This stretch of the tropical Pacific Ocean harbors some of the most productive fisheries on the planet. But it is also threatened by overfishing and the steady warming of the world’s seas.

“This is an unprecedented collaboration,” said conservationist Enric Sala, an explorer-in-residence at National Geographic. “Protection of these waters will not only protect marine life, but it will also help to replenish the waters around them.”

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Ford Foundation

November 1, 2021
The UK, Norway, Germany, the US, and the Netherlands, in partnership with 17 funders, pledged today to invest US$1.7 billion to help Indigenous and local communities protect the biodiverse tropical forests that are vital to protecting the planet from climate change, biodiversity loss, and pandemic risk, according to an announcement made today at a high-level World Leaders Summit at COP26.

“We are demonstrating our commitment today by announcing an initial, collective pledge of $1.7 billion of financing, from 2021 to 2025, to support the advancement of Indigenous Peoples’ and local communities’ forest tenure rights and greater recognition and rewards for their role as guardians of forests and nature,” says a statement released today by the donors. “We call on other donors to significantly increase their support to this important agenda.”

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Bloomberg

November 1, 2021
One hundred countries, representing 85% of the world’s forests, have given themselves nine years to halt and reverse deforestation, in a major new commitment at global climate change talks on Tuesday.

Brazil, Russia, Canada, Colombia and Indonesia will be among the nations committing to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030 at the third day of COP26 in Glasgow, Scotland, in an initiative spearheaded by the conference host, the U.K.

The inclusion of Brazil, home to the world’s largest tropical rainforest, is crucial to the initiative and comes amid a turnaround in the country’s ambitions to reduce emissions and tackle deforestation. Across the world as a whole, an area of forest the size of 27 soccer pitches is lost every minute, according to the U.K.

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Campaign for Nature

October 31, 2021
In a statement adopted today by the G20, the intergovernmental forum comprising 19 countries and the European Union, recognized the importance of protecting 30% of the planet by 2030.

The declaration states: “We recognize the efforts made by a number of countries to adhere to the Leaders’ Pledge for Nature and to ensure that at least 30 % of global land and at least 30 % of the global ocean and seas are conserved or protected by 2030, and we will help to make progress towards this objective in accordance with national circumstances.”

G20 members include Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa and other biodiversity-rich countries that have yet to join a growing global effort to endorse the global goal to protect 30x30.

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CNN

November 1, 2021
An arid region of open forests and grasslands spanning three countries and more than a quarter of a million square miles, this is Gran Chaco. It's the second-largest forest in South America after the Amazon, but has long been neglected, suffering from deforestation, agricultural expansion and the effects of climate change.

When Bolivian conservation biologist Erika Cuéllar first saw the vast expanse in 1997, she was overcome by an urge to restore it. "I am very attracted to arid lands. When I was young, I was angry that nobody cared about dry lands and everybody cared about tropical rainforest," she says.

Despite looking open and empty, the area is teeming with unique vegetation and wildlife, from jaguars and ocelots to piranhas and vipers. It's also home to nine million people, including several indigenous communities.

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The Guardian

October 28, 2021
Nearly two years after the first reported case of Covid-19, the world is still facing the repercussions. At the same time, the extent of our planetary emergency – of climate crisis, biodiversity loss and inequality – has become evident. As we rebuild our societies and economies, we are faced with a unique opportunity to build a nature-positive future that we must not let slip away. It is time for all of us to chart a planetary response to our planetary crisis – a response that puts nature at the centre.

Our shared global experience with Covid-19 has underlined the interconnectedness of our different systems. The science is clear: climate, biodiversity and human health are fully interdependent. Yet, within discussions around post-Covid recovery, nature is not yet recognised enough as an essential piece in the puzzle of a resilient future for all.

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China Dialogue

October 28, 2021
Overshadowed by climate issues, China’s biodiversity governance rarely rises to global attention. Yet, during the recently convened first session of COP15, the UN Biodiversity Conference held in Kunming, President Xi Jinping promised to lead the world in “building a shared future for all life on Earth”, based on a vision of an “ecological civilisation”, and using China’s own conservation endeavours as examples. As China strives to tell a positive story of biodiversity conservation at home, has it figured out “China solutions” for conservation governance? Solutions that can face up to the enormous challenges its rapid economic development presents to ecosystems and species?

China is often overlooked as one of the most biologically diverse countries on the planet. Its vast land area, complex topography and several climate zones all contribute to this unique biodiversity. Yet it is also “one of the countries in the world where biodiversity is more threatened”, according to China’s 2018 Sixth National Report on the implementation of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). The China species red list, a recent national assessment based on the red list system of the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), found the extinction risk of China’s vertebrate and higher plant species to be above the global average. About 43% of China’s amphibians are threatened with extinction, compared to a global average of 30.6%; and up to 59% of its 251 native species of gymnosperms (a group of plants including the conifers, cycads and ginkgo) are threatened. Habitat loss and over-exploitation are the most common factors contributing to species endangerment.

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