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Why traditional knowledge is the key to sustainable agriculture

Substituting organic “bio-inputs” for synthetic agrochemicals is still a one-size-fits-all, technology-focused solution, which means it won’t lead to sustainable agriculture.

Now is the time to seize ‘unprecedented opportunity’ of the Sustainable Development Forum, says ECOSOC President

Nations across the world now have an “unprecedented opportunity to talk to each other and learn from each other”, Inga Rhonda King, President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ESOSOC), said on Tuesday, kicking off the annual High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in Ne ...

Flesh-Eating Bacteria Infects Three as Experts Warn Warming Oceans Could Make It More Common

Within the last month, at least three people have contracted a flesh-eating infection from an ocean-dwelling bacterium — an occurrence that experts warn could become more frequent as the world's oceans warm.

Global response to poverty and environmental goals 'not ambitious enough’

In his latest report on the progress towards meeting the targets of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs, the UN chief António Guterres said that while a “wealth of action” had been taken by governments across the world “the most vulnerable people and countries continue to suffer the most.”

Sustainable Development Needs a Hardware Update

BONN, Jul 8 2019 (IPS) - When UN Member States adopted the 2030 Agenda and its SDGs in September 2015, they signalled with the title Transforming our World that ‘business as usual’ is no longer an option and fundamental changes in politics and society are necessary.

No-take marine areas help fishers (and fish) far more than we thought

One hectare of ocean in which fishing is not allowed (a marine protected area) produces at least five times the amount of fish as an equivalent unprotected hectare, according to new research published today.

UN and civil society team up to make cities more sustainable and inclusive

How can we make sure that cities become more inclusive, with a smaller environmental footprint, and leave no-one behind? These questions will be tackled at the UN Civil Society Conference, which is due to take place in the capital of Utah, Salt Lake City, at the end of August.

Deep-sea mining to turn oceans into ‘new industrial frontier’

Greenpeace report reveals 29 floor-exploration licences have been granted worldwide

The far-future ocean: Warm yet oxygen-rich

The oceans are losing oxygen. Numerous studies based on direct measurements in recent years have shown this.

As the oceans acidify, these oyster farmers are fighting back

It's often hard to notice ecological changes, even when they threaten catastrophe. One oyster company in California hopes to change that.

Conservation efforts for giant South American river turtles have protected 147,000 females

y analyzing records in countries of the Amazon and Orinoco basins -- which include Brazil, Venezuela, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru and Ecuador -- researchers categorized 85 past and present initiatives or projects that work to preserve the South American River Turtle, or charapa (Podocnemis expansa), ...

Looking to the Land in the Climate Change Race

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 26 2019 (IPS) - The international community still has a long way to go to chart a new, sustainable course for humanity. But the upcoming climate change meetings provide a renewed opportunity to tackle climate change head on.

Among world's worst polluters, ASEAN vows to tackle ocean waste

With Southeast Asia awash with rubbish, from plastic-choked whales to trash-clogged canals, leaders are planning to push through a deal to fight maritime debris at a regional meeting this weekend.

South African forests show pathways to a sustainable future

Native forests make up 1percent of the landscape in South Africa but could play a key role in reducing atmospheric carbon and identifying sustainable development practices that can be used globally to counter climate change, according to a Penn State researcher.

All eyes on a new worm species

There's a worm at the bottom of the sea—and it's been discovered off the Scottish coast by a team of scientists from the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC), Marine Scotland Science (MSS) and Thomson Environmental Consultants.

First Nations have created a robust conservation economy in Great Bear Rainforest: Report

Over the past decade, First Nations have created a robust conservation economy in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, one of the largest old-growth temperate rainforests left in the world, through investments in sustainable development and environmental stewardship projects that link the health of n ...

UN oceans treaty ‘essential’ to combat ‘unprecedented pressure’ on the world’s seas – UN chief

The oceans are not only under “unprecedented pressure” due to climate change, but “half of all living coral has been lost in the past 150 years”, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on Monday, addressing the latest gathering of nations which are party to the UN Convention on t ...

UN’s Development Goals Remain Largely Elusive

UNITED NATIONS, Jun 18 2019 (IPS) - The United Nations, in a new report to be released next month, has warned “there is no escaping the fact that the global landscape for the implementation of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) has generally deteriorated since 2015, hindering the effort ...

Atlantic Ocean 'running out of breath'

A huge international research programme has been launched to assess the health of the Atlantic Ocean.

Desertification ‘More Dangerous and More Insidious than Wars’

ANKARA, Jun 18 2019 (IPS) - Businesses are being encouraged to follow the lead of the youth to halt desertification, reduce degradation, improve agricultural sustainability and restore damaged lands.

8th International Barcode of Life (iBOL) Conference 2019

17 - 20 June 2019, Trondhein, Norway

Sustainable Ocean Initiative (SOI) National Capacity-building Workshop for Maldives

17 - 19 June 2019, Island of Dhiffushi, Maldives

The complex fate of Antarctic species in the face of a changing climate

Oxygen concentrations in both the open ocean and coastal waters have declined by 2-5% since at least the middle of the 20th century.

Taking the fight to the frontline: Island states unite to end pollution

Washington DC, 13 June 2019 – Twenty-seven Small Island Developing States have come together in a bid to manage and eliminate toxic chemicals and waste in some of the world’s most vulnerable ecosystems under a new initiative announced today in Washington DC.

Why Noah's Ark won't work

For ocean species to survive climate change, large populations needed

G20 to tackle ocean plastic waste as petrochemical producers expand in Asia

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan wants to make reducing the glut of plastic waste in the oceans a priority at the Group of 20 summit it is hosting this month as governments around the world crack down on such pollution.

[Commentary] Why is marine conservation still an unchartered zone?

A glance at the map of India is enough to understand how vast and wide-ranging the country’s biophysical environment is — from alpine meadows on the Himalayan slopes to coral reefs along the ocean floors.

Business as Usual Will Not Save the Planet

The United Nations’ 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) were explicitly designed to engage the private sector in addressing the world’s most pressing challenges.

In hot water? Warming oceans may reduce sea life by 17%, study says

According to new research, climate change will cause a large decrease in the biomass of the oceans

IKEA to Use Ocean Plastic in New Products

Ikea has recently reported plans to have a more positive impact on the world’s oceans by proactively engaging in projects that will help to clean plastic waste and prevent future pollution.

Promoting gender equality a ‘crucial contribution’ in effort to restore, protect our planet’s oceans

“We need to empower each and every citizen to take care of the ocean and enable all women to play transformative and ambitious roles in understanding, exploring, protecting and sustainably managing our ocean”, said Audrey Azoulay, Director-General of UNESCO, pointing out that this year’s “specia ...

World Oceans Day 2019: "Together we can protect and restore our ocean"

8 June 2019, New York, United States of America

Message from the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer, on the occasion of the World Oceans Day, 8 June 2019: “Gender and the Ocean”.

Message from the Executive Secretary of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Dr. Cristiana Paşca Palmer, on the occasion of the World Oceans Day, 8 June 2019: “Gender and the Ocean”

Migration to the north: climate change puts plankton on the move

Climate change that has warmed the world's oceans has prompted a "worrying" northward migration among some communities of the smallest organisms in the sea: plankton.

VP Naidu calls for equitable, people-centred sustainable development

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Wednesday called for achieving equitable and people-centred sustainable development and stressed the need for efficient and frugal use of natural resources.

Straws: UK government to bring in new controls on plastic

In a bid to limit ocean pollution, the UK government will introduce new controls on single use plastic items next year.

How China will protect one-quarter of its land

Other nations could learn from China’s red-line initiative to preserve nature, biodiversity and ecosystem services in the country, says Jixi Gao.

AU to launch Africa's forestry management framework in 2020: official

NAIROBI, May 20 (Xinhua) -- Africa's sustainable forestry management framework will be launched in early 2020 to guide the continent in sustainable exploitation of forest resources, an African Union (AU) official disclosed on Monday.

Scientists fear impact of deep-sea mining on search for new medicines

Bacteria from the ocean floor can beat superbugs and cancer. But habitats are at risk from the hunger for marine minerals

Green Finance Leaders Convene to Develop Financial Solutions for Global Goals

Edinburgh, Scotland - The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Scottish-Government backed Global Ethical Finance Initiative (GEFI), together with the New York Declaration on Forests Global Platform, gather experts in Edinburgh, Scotland today to develop financial solutions that drive ...

Putting Water at the Heart of Sustainable Fashion

LONDON, May 20 2019 (IPS) - The Copenhagen Fashion Summit celebrated its tenth anniversary last week. The summit, which is often referred to as the Davos of fashion, is a key date in the fashion diary for those businesses with a pioneering vision to highlight issues and create solutions for a mo ...

Peer review of CBD Technical Series No. 87: Assessing Progress towards Aichi Biodiversity Target 6 on Sustainable Fisheries

Reference: SCBD/SSSF/AS/SBG/JA/JG/88129 (2019-047)
To: CBD National Focal Points, Marine and Coastal Biodiversity Focal Points, SBSTTA Focal Points, IPLCs and other relevant organizations

Are we actually making progress on the SDGs?

In 2015, United Nations member states, together with civil society and business, came together to prepare a blueprint to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all by 2030.

414 million pieces of plastic found on remote island group in Indian Ocean

Debris on Cocos (Keeling) Islands was mostly bottles, cutlery, bags and straws, but also included 977,000 shoes, study says

Nature Champions Summit Calls for Putting Nature at the Center of Sustainable Development Agenda

30 April 2019: The Nature Champions Summit kicked off a series of multilateral meetings focused on building momentum towards 2020, when leaders representing 190 countries will come together with non-government actors for the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the Conventio ...

Producing food whilst preserving biodiversity

n nature conservation and agriculture, there are two opposing views of how to combine high biodiversity and sustainable food production: nature conservation should either be integrated into agricultural land, or segregated into protected areas in order to enable maximum yields in the food produc ...

European Citizens’ Initiative launched, calling on EU to ‘Save the Bees’

The European Commission said on May 15 that it had agreed to register a European Citizens’ Initiative entitled “Save the bees! Protection of biodiversity and improvement of habitats for insects in Europe”.

UN chief outlines ‘intertwined challenges’ of climate change, ocean health facing Pacific nations on the ‘frontline’

“The Pacific region is on the frontline of climate change”, he said. “That means you are also our important allies in the fight against it”.

OPINION: Time to join up work on climate change, ocean conservation and biodiversity loss

On Wednesday, Pacific leaders are joining United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in Fiji to discuss climate change and what the international community must do to address it.