Biodiversity

Shall the Arctic Burn?

By Baher Kamal
Climate change and land-use change are projected to make wildfires more frequent and intense, with a global increase of extreme fires of up to 14 percent by 2030, 30 percent by the end of 2050 and 50 percent by the end of the century, according to a new report by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and GRID-Arendal, a non-profit environmental communications centre based in Norway.

International Women’s Day, 2022
War, Autocrats and Fossil Fuels – Women on the Front Line

By Farhana Haque Rahman
For decades women’s demands for political and economic inclusion have placed them centre-stage in mass struggles against dictatorships across the world. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its indiscriminate attacks on civilians now put women’s movements firmly on the front line of war, autocrats and fossil fuels.

With One Million Species Endangered, the Web of Life Is at Risk of Extinction

By Baher Kamal
These are not by any means just mere figures. It is about the risk of extinction of the whole life cycle. See what is at stake.

Pacific Islanders: Failure to Commit to 1.5 Degrees at COP27 will Imperil the World’s Oceans

By Catherine Wilson
Oceans play a pivotal role in regulating the world’s climate and maintaining the conditions for human life on earth. And they are a crucial source of sustenance and economic wellbeing in many developing countries, including small island developing states. But Pacific Islanders are deeply concerned about the fate of the oceans if world leaders fail to secure the pledges needed to limit the global temperature rise to 1.5 Degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels at the next COP27 climate change summit in November.

Speed Dating with the Future, a Romance with Science and Biodiversity

By Busani Bafana
In a busy world where love is a complicated affair, speed dating is one way to connect, but can it work to ignite more sustainable relationships with nature? Are we open to a romance with science and evidence?

When the Fate of Half Our Planet is being Discussed, it’s too Important to Shut out Civil Society

By Will McCallum
Over the past two weeks, a petition signed by almost five million people globally was handed in to governments around the world. It called for a Global Ocean Treaty to help rescue our oceans.

Nature Insight: Speed Dating with the Future

Speed dating is about having a short time to communicate things that could change your life. That’s exactly what we’re doing on this podcast, by introducing you to people with unique insight into our relationship with nature.

Road to COP27: Why Africa cannot be Complacent on Energy, Climate Change

By Bitsat Yohannes-Kassahun
A year ago, we welcomed 2021 with a sense of cautious optimism when the newly developed vaccines promised a shift in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus turned towards building back better and doing things differently as many countries started to rethink and rebuild their shattered economies.

Future of Coral Reefs in the Time of Climate Change

By Geetika Chandwani and Ira Chandwani
Coral reefs are one of the world’s most biologically diverse and productive ecosystems. They provide abundant ecological goods and services and are central to the socio-economic and cultural welfare of coastal and island communities – throughout tropical and subtropical ocean countries – by contributing billions of dollars to the local and global economies, when combined with tourism and recreation.

A Call to Action on Living Lands

By Patricia Scotland
If the ocean is the lifeblood of the Commonwealth, then forests are the lungs that breathe life into its whole system. From the vast boreal woodlands of Canada to the rich primary forests of Papua New Guinea, the Commonwealth covers nearly a quarter of all forest land in the world - an estimated 900 million hectares. These biodiversity havens not only house about half of all animal species on earth, they also give us clean air, water and food, supporting the livelihoods of millions of people while tackling climate change.

The Time to Protect Our Oceans is Now

By Enric Sala
There is no other place in the world like Costa Rica’s Cocos Island National Park. The waters surrounding the island--covered with tropical forests--are a playground to countless shivers, or schools, of sharks, including hammerhead sharks, whitetip reef sharks and whale sharks.

Why Does Yangtze River Have its Own Protection Law?

By Genevieve Donnellon-May and Mark Wang
The new Yangtze River Protection Law (YRPL), which came into effect on March 1, 2021, is China’s first legislation on a specific river basin. The Yangtze River is China’s longest and largest river system, stretching over 6,300 kilometres and has over 700 tributaries. With a drainage basin covering more than 1.8 million square kilometres, approximately one-fifth of China’s total land area, the river basin is home to over 40% of the country’s population.

Blue Ocean Solutions for Climate Resilience and Accelerated Development

By Joyce Chimbi
Seychelles’ 115 islands are an exotic ocean ecosystem of beaches, coral reefs, and unique plant and animal species. Concerned with the impacts of climate change, the country has committed to decarbonize by 2050.

Nature-Based Solutions for Enhancing Coordinated Action Around Climate Change, Land and Biodiversity

By Ruth Kattumuri
A key outcome of COP26 climate summit is the enhanced focus on “nature-based solutions” – the plans for people to work closely alongside nature to avert a planetary catastrophe.

Youth at Forefront of Climate Change Action Will Make Biggest Impact

By Joyce Chimbi
On Gladys Habu’s birthday, she filmed a message to world leaders while standing waist-deep in the sea next to a dead tree stump – the only remnant of Kale Island now submerged underwater due to climate-change-induced sea-level rise.

Fighting Loss of the Greater Mekong’s Prized Rosewood Forests

By Catherine Wilson
The famed Rosewood forests of the Greater Mekong region in Southeast Asia produce dark, richly grained timbers zealously sought after worldwide by manufacturers of luxury furniture, flooring and musical instruments, among other products. But their high value has also made them a major commodity in transnational organized crime.

Time Honoured Food Traditions, Pleasing for Palate and Planet

By Zofeen Ebrahim
Balance is the absolute key, says Alia Chughtai, a journalist who started a catering service with filmmaker Akhlaque Mahesar, by the name of Aur Chaawal (And Rice), two years ago.

Double Solution to Ongoing Food and Climate Crises

By Joyce Chimbi
For the last ten years, Angeline Wanjira’s food stall at Kirigiti Market in Kiambu County has featured the same foods, cabbages, potatoes and carrots, keeping with the community’s most preferred food types.

Finance Nature-based Solutions to Quiet Nature’s Wrath – Experts

By Joyce Chimbi
Climate change experts and leaders from the Commonwealth member states rallied behind calls to accelerate climate finance for nature-based solutions to arrest the pace of climate change, land degradation, and biodiversity loss.

COP26: The Many Links Between Food Systems & Climate Change: Message to Glasgow

By Ruth Richardson
Unless food systems transformation is put at the center of climate action, commitments governments have already made, and could make at COP26, will be jeopardized.

Risky business: Why Sustainability is now Central to Mitigating Risk

By Lany Harijanti
The COVID-19 pandemic has undoubtedly caused the largest economic and societal shock the world has experienced this century. Yet it was not unforeseen.
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