Knowledge Base

Global biodiversity deal to halt nature loss stalls in Nairobi

Efforts to draft an ambitious global agreement on halting nature loss ended Sunday with little progress made in the Nairobi negotiations, leaving limited time for brokering a biodiversity pact this year.

Less talk, more action from the G7 on climate change

It's difficult to cajole developing countries to abandon coal while reopening your own coal-fired power plants.

Can degrowth stop climate change and end poverty?

A growing movement of researchers want to shrink rich economies to stop the planet heating — but both supporters and critics are gambling on prosperity and climate stability for billions of people across the world.

Every heatwave occurring today is more intense due to climate change

It is no longer important to use modelling to determine whether a heatwave was made more likely by climate change, say scientists, because it plays a role in all heatwaves today

As Climate Change Threatens Mounting Urban Costs, Is Biomimicry The Way Forward?

It’s well established that urban environments are going to be home to the majority of the world’s population in the coming decades. While extreme weather is causing floods, droughts and wildfires, it’s also going to have significant effects on urban living.

London Could Feel as Hot as Barcelona by 2050

A major climate change study has found that London's weather could feel more like Barcelona's by 2050. Even though this might sound like a dream at first to Londoners, the change could turn into a nightmare as it would be accompanied by stretches of severe drought as well as heavier downpours in ...

Climate Change and the Affordable Housing Crisis

1 in 10 residential properties in the United States was impacted by natural disasters in 2021 alone. The climate crisis has exacerbated economic and social disparities within the country, directly affecting the human right to adequate housing.

The eco–climate nexus

Ecosystems, and the services they provide, can support climate mitigation and adaptation, yet also suffer from climate change impacts. Now, discussions surround how to best support the eco–climate nexus, overcoming the challenges ahead and creating multiple benefits.

Climate change role clear in many extreme events but social factors also key, study finds

Climate change is to blame for the majority of the heatwaves being recorded around the planet but the relation to other extreme events and their impacts on society is less clear, according to a study.

Urban Wildlife Photography Awards 2022: in pictures

An amateur photographer who works in digital advertising has won the inaugural Picfair Urban Wildlife Photography Awards for his image of two coyotes on a dimly lit suburban street in Ontario. All Picfair profits on print sales will go to global conservation non-profit Re:Wild

UN meet sees blitz of pledges to protect ailing oceans

A major UN conference on how to restore the faltering health of global oceans kicked off in Lisbon this week with a flurry of promises to expand marine protected areas, ban deep-sea mining, and combat illegal fishing.

Global Experts and Practitioners Unite to Improve Ocean Health by Tackling Systemic Challenges in Marine Management

Global experts from the United Nations Environment Programme, The Nature Conservancy, governments, research agencies, and the private sector are coming together to share best practices in improving marine management based on lessons learned around the world.

UN meet sees blitz of pledges to protect ailing oceans

Oceans Great Dying 2.0: Earth’s climate moderator is warming, faster

Oceans are heating up as they cross their natural capacity to sink carbon and atmospheric heat induced by GHGs emissions. It will further disrupts life above the oceans

Why the UN Ocean Conference is a key step on the road to recovering ocean health

A healthy ocean is critical to all life on Earth, and the UN Ocean Conference is a step in this direction. However, the ocean’s health is declining – from overfishing to acidification.

UN chief calls for more efforts to conserve world’s oceans

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wants countries to step up their efforts to conserve the world’s marine resources even as he acknowledged the progress made since the last UN Ocean Conference.

Aquaman speaks up for world’s oceans at UN conference

Hollywood actor Jason Momoa is taking his role as Aquaman, protector of the deep oceans, off the screen. Attending a UN conference in Portugal, Momoa was appointed the new UN Environment Program advocate for Life Below Water – an honorary position to acknowledge his work to help protect marine life.

Ogiek, Sengwer cry as Nairobi talks end without solution

The UN negotiators are in Nairobi to strengthen the Convention on Biological Diversity treaty, through new rules expected to be adopted in Montreal this year.

Researchers Create ‘Species Stock Market’ to Help Protect Biodiversity

European researchers have come up with a system to help determine the value of a species to help protect threatened species. They also hope the system will help them see how human activities affect biodiversity.

Practice what you preach: have biodiversity negotiations forgotten the urgency to act?

As the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) talks close in Nairobi, Kenya; Director of IUCN’s International Policy Centre Sonia Peña Moreno reflects on the past week of discussions, and what must change to deliver a truly global framework to halt the loss of biodiversity.

UN members 'need to urgently scale up actions' to protect the ocean: Vivian Balakrishnan

Members of the United Nations (UN) "need to urgently scale up actions" to protect the ocean and mitigate the impacts of climate change, Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan said at the Second United Nations Ocean Conference in Lisbon on Tuesday

Trade in ocean goods shows resilience, UNCTAD data reveals

Trade in ocean-based goods showed remarkable resilience during the recession induced by COVID-19 in 2020, according to the latest available data from a new UNCTAD database. Such goods include resources either sourced from the ocean, made from marine resources or manufactured for marine activities.

UN Ocean Conference: Colombia first nation to achieve 30x30 goal

The United Nations Ocean Conference is currently underway in Portugal’s Lisbon. Ending on 1 July, the conference is attended by heads of state from 20 countries. In the opening speech of the event on 27 June, UN secretary general António Guterres has declared an “ocean emergency” and urged gover ...

More than 150 companies take principled stand at UN Ocean Conference

At the Sustainable Blue Economy Investment Forum in Cascais, Portugal, a special UN Ocean Conference event, more than 150 major companies have signaled their commitment to a healthy ocean by signing onto the UN Global Compact Sustainable Ocean Principles.

For fisheries in the Caribbean, life revolves around the climate… and our climate resilience

“Life revolves around the climate,” says José Luis “Pepe” Gerhartz, a senior conservation specialist from the Caribbean Biological Corridor Initiative, or CBC, a joint initiative between Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Puerto Rico.