Nature

Storebrand Asset Management provide a comprehensive overview of their approach to tackling deforestation, from designing a policy to delivering real-world impact.

Preserving nature is a key element in the world’s effort both to mitigate and adapt to climate change, and it also happens to be good for business. But new findings show that much of the private sector continues to lag far behind in tackling deforestation and protecting biodiversity.

من ضمن الالتزامات العديدة الرائدة التي تم الاستماع إليها في قمة المناخ COP26 إلى نتائج الجزء الأول من اتفاقية التنوع البيولوجي COP15 في أكتوبر الماضي ، هناك اعتراف متزايد بأن معظم التحديات العالمية التي تؤثر علينا، مثل المناخ المتشابك وحالات الطوارئ الطبيعية، يمكن معالجتها من خلال روابطها الحضرية.

New analysis shows over 90% of major forest, land and agriculture companies that have committed to net-zero could be at risk of missing their climate commitments due to a lack of action on deforestation.

At a London Climate Action Week event on 29 June, hosted by the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, speakers highlighted the need and opportunities for private sector breakthroughs, the action delivered to date and the tools required to reach a net zero, nature positive future.

Cutting nature out of the equation is equivalent to entering the ring with one arm tied behind your back, says Maria Mendiluce, CEO, We Mean Business Coalition.

To mark this year’s World Oceans day, leading ocean advocates explain why ocean solutions are pivotal to a decarbonized, just, prosperous and resilient world.

Nature-related risks matter to businesses due to impacts on markets, operations, supply chains, and customer base. Beyond the motivation for biosphere stewardship generally, and ocean stewardship specifically, the economic rationale for investing in coastal ecosystems is strong.

Forest clearing and pollution originating from aquaculture and agriculture are the single biggest factor of mangrove loss, according to 200 scientific studies published over the past four decades.

The Earth has lost 4,000 square kilometres (km2) of its tidal wetlands over the past 20 years, a new study finds. This is equal to an area roughly the size of the Spanish island Mallorca or the Indian state of Goa.

Communities across the world are coming up with locally-led solutions to help communities adapt to the impacts of climate change.

The latest IPCC report and Ukraine crisis show the urgency of phasing out fossil fuels, investing in renewables and developing sustainable agriculture, explains Egyptian UN Climate Change High-Level Champion, Mahmoud Mohieldin.

Indigenous rights activist and lawyer, Cindy Kobei discusses custodianship, the law, deepening equalities caused by the climate crisis, and the need to rekindle our connection with the natural world.

Current research at the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University tackles how we can reinvigorate the world’s largest potential carbon sinks: oceans.

Seafood firms can reduce their impact on climate and the oceans – and in doing so can ensure they have a long-term thriving business, writes Nigel Topping, UN High Level Champion for Climate Action at COP26.

A new AI-based study compares cities’ trees and lakes to how much concrete they have, to gauge their ability to respond to climate shocks.

The more we delay action, burn fossil fuels and destroy nature, the more brutal climate change will become, according to the latest IPCC scientific report on mitigating climate.

To mark World Water Day on March 22, UNICEF issued a video answering the questions most vital to the water crisis in the Middle East and North Africa region.

“If we are to realise the full benefits of ending deforestation and transitioning to sustainable production, we need to see more action now” – Nigel Topping, UN High-Level Climate Champion for COP26.

Sarah Draper from Global Canopy, explores how corporates, financial institutions and historic inaction is putting the world’s forests at risk.

Robert Nasi, Director General, Centre for International Forestry Research explains why we must better protect and manage these vital ecosystems.

Any truly resilient city must have a flood management plan that integrates natural, engineered and social systems, argues Faith Chan, University of Nottingham and Olalekan Adekola, York St John University.

Three of the 270 scientists and researchers who wrote the latest IPCC report explain why the window for climate resilient development is closing fast.

The evidence is clear: unless emissions are cut faster than governments currently plan to, climate-driven damages will worsen rapidly and parts of the planet will become increasingly uninhabitable.

Transforming global shipping is a critical part of reaching the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C and building zero emissions, resilient global supply chains that billions of people rely on.

A review of 16 university carbon-management schemes showed that none had quantitatively considered how their land might be used to offset emissions. David Werner, Professor in Environmental Systems Modelling, Newcastle University explains why universities should use carbon offsetting strategies for the land under their management.

Natural climate solutions are the key for the Race to Zero and the Race to Resilience. They can take us beyond net zero, to actually achieve drawdown. With all of the cascading benefits to people and the planet, it is clear that climate finance should support nature-based climate solutions, says Mamta Mehra, Senior Fellow, Land Use & Research Program Officer & Chad Frischmann, Senior Director, Drawdown Solutions, Project Drawdown

Elizabeth Mrema, Executive Secretary, United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity explains why we must put nature at the heart of urban development.

In her poem, 11-year-old Emtithal Mahmoud watches as her neighbour’s home crumbles into flood waters in a country “already locked in turmoil”.

“Scaling up NCS is a crucial step if we are to address these challenges, reach net zero and facilitate the transition to a future where we live well, within planetary boundaries,” argues Giulia Carbone, Director, Natural Climate Solutions Alliance.

“Seen side by side, these two Blue Marbles, taken half a century apart, would bring home the consequences of climate change wordlessly, instantly and globally.” Robert Poole, Professor of History, University of Central Lancashire explains why we need a fresh perspective.

With a remit set out in law to be “the guardian of the interests of future generations in Wales”, Sophie Howe is the world’s only Future Generations Commissioner. At COP26 she discusses how her interventions have secured fundamental changes to land use planning policy, major transport schemes and Government policy on housing – ensuring that decisions taken today are fit for the future.

It’s Nature Day at COP26 and the message is beginning to ring louder that reversing nature loss by 2030 is a requirement for net zero by 2050.

The initiative, with farmers at its heart, will work with over 500 million farmers to apply regenerative production methods and transform agricultural systems, as well as ensure roughly USD $60 billion per year is deployed to finance the transition.

“In the last 12 years, nine of the 13 oldest and five of the six largest baobabs on continental Africa have died. And it looks like climate change is one of the reasons for this,” award winning filmmaker and naturalist Cyrille Cornu.

There is no viable route to limiting global warming to 1.5°C and building resilience without urgently protecting, managing and restoring nature, argues Nature4Climate Coalition Director, James Lloyd.

Burberry has announced a strategy to protect, restore and regenerate nature, which includes expanding support for farming communities, in line with its commitment to become climate-positive by 2040.

“Both Natura and The Body Shop have worked for the last two decades with traditional and indigenous communities on how we can generate a business model that gives more value to the Amazon and other countries around the world.” Keyvan Macedo, Natura & Co. Sustainability Director, explains why the company is aiming for net positive.

Legendary marine biologist, Chair and President of Mission Blue, and National Geographic Explorer, Dr Sylvia Earle explains what it will take to restore the health of our oceans after decades of deep decline.

Ocean-based solutions not only mitigate climate change but play a large role in climate adaptation. Opinion by Project Drawdown’s Emilia Jankowska, Mamta Mehra and Chad Frischmann.

Recognizing the ocean-climate connection and the need for youth calls for ocean and climate action to be amplified, Sustainable Ocean Alliance’s Youth Policy Advisory Council solicited video submissions from young, regional environmental leaders.

A coalition of public and private partners has launched the Global Fund for Coral Reefs (GFCR) with the ambition to mobilise USD$625 million for coral reef conservation over the next decade.

“We urge you to not neglect the ocean, because without the ocean our fight against the climate crisis would be incomplete and ineffective. We need to come together to protect both land and sea, in a collective manner that will help sustain our planet for the generations to come.”

The High Level Climate Champions and the ocean community have signed the Ocean for Climate Declaration: a call to governments and non-state actors to scale up ocean-based climate solutions and action.

The race is on for private finance towards net-zero emissions by 2050 and new partnerships are set to drive exponential growth in resilience investments.

Regions, cities, investors, businesses and governments are stepping up to build resilience in the most at-risk communities and reverse biodiversity loss within the 2020s.

It’s time we stop focusing so much on the cascade of destruction that climate change may bring, and start talking about the cascading benefits, argues Chad Frischmann, Senior Director, Drawdown Solutions, Project Drawdown.

Nonprofit art hub for sustainability, ReGenesis and the UN Climate Champions convened a group of artists, representing a range of disciplines, to open up the conversation on climate and help make it accessible to everyone.

On the first day of COP26, “Nature’s Baton”, the symbol of Relay4Nature, will be passed from Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean, to Lord Zac Goldsmith, UK Minister for Pacific and the Environment.

Investors in 66% of listed companies are collectively at risk of losing $8.4 trillion due to declining ocean health and climate change if business as usual continues. Here’s why a healthy ocean is at the core of the global economy.

A shift from viewing food waste as a problem to one where it can provide a rich foundation for regenerative farming can fundamentally accelerate restoring land soil health, as well as improve food resilience, argues UN Climate Champion Regenerative Agriculture Fellow, Leah Bessa.

Here are the winners of the Mangrove Photography Award 2021, each showing the importance of preserving, conserving, and restoring the world’s mangrove forests.

From oyster die-offs and coral reef bleaching, to marine heat waves and harmful algal blooms, coastal communities around the world are feeling the effects of ocean acidification. A leading group of ocean experts discuss the significance of investing in SDG Target 14.3.

For fisheries to remain sustainable in the face of climate change, fisheries managers, scientists and governments will need to think beyond the current socio-economic structures in place, argues Dr Rohan Currey, Chief Science & Standards Officer at the Marine Stewardship Council.

“The science is clear, business as usual is not an option and the pace we had in the past, cannot be the pace in the years to come,” H&M CEO, Helen Helmersson discusses the company’s race to become circular and climate positive.

About 195 countries are expected to finalize a new accord to to halt and reverse losses of the planet’s plants, animals and ecosystems at the two-part COP15 UN summit.

From flooding and coastal erosion to the impacts of urbanization and increasing populations, the coastal zones of the South Atlantic are in crisis.

Investing in nature and biodiversity has the potential to bring about both economic and ecological benefits that would greatly outweigh the near-term costs of transition.

“Achieving our shared climate goals demands an all-hands of deck collaborative effort supported by unifying, not divisive, politics,” Carlos M. Duarte, a member of Extreme E’s Scientific Committee and a Distinguished Professor of Marine Science at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

How does a sector – defined by the movement of people and in the midst of a crisis – get to net zero by 2050 at the very latest? 

Billions of people are overweight, millions are hungry, one third of food is wasted and the way the world produces, processes and consumes food generates one-third of greenhouse gas emissions, UN chief Antonio Guterres said on Thursday at the first global summit on the future of food.

“Many little children can no longer play outside as they would have some years back. The warming climate is shifting weather patterns in Zambia creating stronger and more frequent storms. In some months, the heat is unbearable” – Prudence Muchinouta’s letter to leaders.

“We will all be watching to see what you will do to promote life, or whether you will promote death and destruction” – founder and exectuive director of the Center for Rural Enterprise and Environmental Justice, Catherine Coleman Flower’s letter to world leaders.

We are almost out of time to limit temperatures to 1.5C and urgent – and collective – action across the whole economy is required to keep the promise Paris alive, impassioned panellists agreed at the opening day of Climate Week NYC.

Natural Climate Solutions (NCS) can provide around 30% of the emissions reductions needed to limit global warming to 1.5° or 2° C, says a new report.

“At COP26, we ask you to speak out for the ocean as it has no spokesperson, no government, no pavilion or voice. Without a healthy ocean, we cannot hope to combat climate change. The two are fundamentally interlinked, it would be as if to ride a bike without wheels, or sail a boat without canvas. It just will not work.”

Scale for Resilience, a new initiative aimed at unlocking the capital needed to finance nature based solutions at scale, will be launched on September 14.

“In 2009, I was in my first semester in college when typhoon Ketsana struck the Philippines and nearly took my life. Many would look at supertyphoon Haiyan in 2013 as the turning point for climate action in my country,” climate campaigner from the Philippines, John Leo Algo’s letter to leaders.

There is a huge opportunity to better harness ocean resources in a responsible manner to provide nutritious, safe and nature-positive food, explains Sophie Ryan, CEO of the Global Salmon Initiative.

We need a new generation of financial backers from institutional investors to family offices, and from banks to insurers to put capital to work in the ocean, write Chip Cunliffe and Karen Sack, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance.

“She’s shouting. Howling at you! And so am I, so are all of us. That you presume to represent” – activist, author and founder of Planetari, Cindy Forde’s contribution to the Our World in Your Hands project.

The only way to reverse some of these catastrophic patterns, and to regain a kind of stability in climate and weather systems, is “climate repair”, argues David King & Jane Lichtenstein from the University of Cambridge.

“I’m not certain how much the natural world will have changed but I am certain that my children or grandchildren will ask me, who did this?” Kenyan climate activist, Elizabeth Wathuti’s letter to world leaders.

Today is Earth Overshoot Day. The date that tells us that we’ve once again used up all biological resources that our planet regenerates during a year. 

“Climate change isn’t about countries: it’s about people. It’s about the world we want to live in for generations to come and the species we share it with. In other words, it’s far too important to leave just to world leaders – this crisis requires all of us to step up” – Governor of California, Gavin Newsom explains what’s at stake.

“Please, reach into your dreams. Into a future that can be. And draw what you see.” – Peggy Liu, Chair of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE).

“Africa for years has been experiencing the impacts of climate change and these are becoming more and more catastrophic. It has been our past, it is our present and might become our future if we don’t Act Now.” Ugandan Climate Activist, Evelyn Acham’s submission to the Our World in Your Hands project.

Every human and natural system — from oil extraction to the flight of a flock of starlings — can be seen as a set of repeating patterns. These patterns can be disrupted for good or for bad, says Nigel Topping, the High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26. He shares three rules of radical collaboration that could positively disrupt the patterns of the global economy and help humanity tackle the world’s greatest threat: climate change.

We know the problems, but we also know the solutions. The challenge is turning these solutions into actions, by swaying leaders at all levels of society to protect the mangroves still standing and restore what has been lost, argues a new report from the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA)

Mangrove forests cover just 0.5% of the world’s coasts but account for an estimated 10-15% of coastal carbon capture. As we try to stop CO₂ levels rising and put the brakes on climate change, protecting mangroves for their blue carbon value is key, argues Adam Moolna, Keele University.

Mbaarak Abdalla from Mombasa County, Kenya, explains in his letter for Our World in Your Hands, why he is on a mission to restore and safeguard the mangroves.

Mangroves are a vital ecosystem that benefit our environment, economy, and communities. Yet they severely under threat. An estimated 67% of historical mangrove habitat has been lost or degraded worldwide, with 20% occurring since 1980. One of the biggest threats to mangroves is the tourism industry. Here’s how we can turn this ship around.

A new study that mapped the “blue carbon” uptake from marine and coastal ecosystems around the world highlights how natural sinks and climate change redistribute wealth around the globe.

Actions to conserve, restore, or improve the management of land and coastal ecosystems must be integral to corporate climate strategies, argues a new report from multistakeholder coalition, The Natural Climate Solutions Alliance.

If you could write a letter that would be read by the world’s leaders, what would you say?

The heathcare sector has a responsibility to train, educate, advocate and influence decision and policy-makers, collaborate widely through its research work, and engage the youth in inclusive programmes, according to Dr Claire Bayntun, Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine.

Shirley Rodrigues, Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy and the Greater London Authority; Catherine McGuinness, Chair of the Policy and Resources Institute at the City of London Corporation; and Georgia Gould, Leader of Camden Council discuss the monumental challenge and opportunity of a net zero London.

In order to win the Race to Zero we also need a generation of thoughtful leaders who will make healthy decisions for us and our planet, argues Anu Ramamurty, founder of Kat Kid Adventure.

In picking up from the wreckage wrought by Covid-19, the climate crisis and the devastatingly fast loss of nature and biodiversity, we find ourselves on the cusp of a great regeneration. It’s a regeneration of our health, of our planet, and of our economy. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) have worked together on a report which finds that we can either solve both nature and climate crises or solve neither.

All forms of ecosystem degradation have one thing in common: When people hurt ecosystems, they also hurt economies, biodiversity and the climate.

“Our big opportunity to look beyond what has always been and build a world that we can all thrive in.” A poem by Kumi Naidoo.

Here’s how we make the 2020s an era of recovery and regeneration and making sure that within the decade, nature is absorbing and storing carbon dioxide, supporting jobs and livelihoods, and allowing us to thrive in spite of climate shocks.

World leading shark expert Cristina Zenato explains that if we are to mend our broken relationship with the natural world then first we have to fix our disconnect with the ocean.

The ocean must be embraced as something that connects and shapes humanity rather than isolates it. A shared responsibility rather than a final frontier of resource extraction.

Adventurer, conservationist, writer and photographer Cristina Mittermeier discusses the role of storytelling in the protection of the ocean with COP25 High Level Champion for Chile, Gonzalo Muñoz.

As we head towards COP26, governments need to recognize the importance of the ocean in delivering the Paris Agreement, argues Ørsted Chairman, Thomas Thune Andersen.

8 million tonnes of plastic ends up in our oceans every year, making up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments. Chair of the Surfrider Foundation, Susie Crick explains why we must break our addiction to single use plastics.

We have to repair our connections with the ocean if we are to receive a wave of ocean benefits, argues eminent marine ecologist, Professor Carlos M Duarte.

As the world accelerates its transition to a net-zero, resilient future and recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, green maritime transport, offshore renewable energy, nature-based ocean solutions, and sustainable low carbon seafood, represent critical solutions.

Progress on climate action in critical sectors of the global economy, including steel, shipping, green hydrogen and nature is well underway.

Major economies have agreed to end support for coal production and recognize the “critical role the ocean and seas play for biodiversity and in regulating the Earth’s climate”.

One third of invertebrate pollinators, such as bees, face extinction globally. Professor Lindsay Jaacks explains why we need to think very carefully about releasing chemicals specifically designed to kill into the environment.

The solutions to the great 21st century challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss become clearer if we view them through the ocean’s blue lens, argues Peter Thomson, UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for the Ocean.

When time and resources are dedicated to regenerative farming practices, they pay dividends, both for farmers and for the wildlife they are encouraging. In turn, a healthier ecosystem results in higher yields and productivity – a win-win situation for the farming sector.

An overgrown dumping ground is being transformed into a 224-acre solar farm of 70 megawatt solar panels which will eventually produce enough green electricity to power 1,200 homes.

“We need to connect the dots and find ways to get communities activated and engaged,” Dr Husna Ahmad, CEO of international development charity, Global One in conversation with Nigel Topping.

Bamboo is more than a metaphor for human resilience. For world leading bamboo expert Dr Hans Friederich, it represents a bounty of opportunity both for climate resilience and mitigation strategies.

Ensuring that these countries are empowered, mobilized and adequately supported is a matter of climate and economic justice.

By 2050, over 570 low-lying coastal cities will face projected sea level rise by at least 0.5 meters. This puts over 800 million people at risk from the impacts of rising seas and storm surges.

Christoph H. Müller and Eduardo Makaroff – members of the Paris-based Gotan Project – have launched a new musical project, with the focus on the Anthropocene.

“This is our only home. This is our ability to survive as a species. And every other issue, whether it’s animal rights, human rights or children’s rights will be negatively impacted – and is already sometimes being negatively impacted – by an unhealthy environment. It feels like the rug underneath everything else” – Lily Cole in conversation with Nigel Topping.

With science demanding that in order to stay below 1.5C we must reach “net zero” greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 at the absolute latest, how do we get there? Tom Rivett-Carnac in conversation with Dr. Thomas Hale, Associate Professor in Global Public Policy at Oxford University.

As the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is implemented over the next decade, Razan Al Mubarak, Managing Director, Environment Agency Abu Dhabi (EAD) explains why we must prioritize enhancing the participation and engagement of women and girls.

“Literature is a great way of helping us to think better about the future. Reading is not just a retreat. For me, it’s a way of improving our thinking ability so that we can act more smartly.” – Nigel Topping, in conversation with Karuna Ezara Parikh.

As we celebrate Earth Day and inch closer to COP26, 17 of the world’s greatest environmentalists – scientists, guardians of the planet, leaders, pioneers, activists, adventurers and ambassadors – reflect on their hopes for its outcome.

Royal Society of Medicine Trustee Professor Linda Luxon examines the role health professionals are playing in tackling the defining public health challenge of the 21st century: climate change.

“Unless we begin to seriously address the effects of land degradation in [the Sahel], we will only be scratching the surface of the deep challenges that the whole world faces from the environmental impacts of climate change and its related socio-economic consequences, including drought, famine, conflict over scarce resources and migration.”

20 initiatives are officially joining the Race to Resilience as partners, driving a step-change in global ambition and action on resilience.

Rebuilding the diversity of wild pollinators offers insurance against future changes in the environment, argues Deepa Senapathi, Senior Research Fellow in Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, University of Reading.