The third United Nations Ocean Conference has adopted a political declaration entitled: “Our ocean, our future: united for urgent action”, stressing that the ocean plays an essential role in mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.
Category: Nature
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Wilful blindness: turning a blind eye to planetary insolvency
The global economy could face a 50% loss in GDP between 2070 and 2090 unless immediate policy action on risks posed by the climate crisis is taken. This is the stark warning set out in ‘Planetary Solvency – finding our balance with nature’ by the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries (IFoA) in collaboration with climate scientists.
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A bug’s life – and death – tells our sad nature story
The jury is out on whether the old adage ‘you can manage what you can measure’ will come up trumps for Britain’s bug life; but a scheme for measuring the bug population is making citizen scientists of many people in the UK, and proving a valuable entry point for them to understand the catastrophic impact of nature loss.
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Uzbekistan to modernise irrigation infra with World Bank support
The World Bank has approved a $200m concessional credit to support Uzbekistan in modernising its irrigation and drainage infrastructure and improving the quality of irrigation service delivery. The project aims to reduce water losses and increase the energy efficiency of irrigation systems across five regions of the country. The Government of Uzbekistan will provide $23.2m in co-financing.
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UK publishes its woodland natural capital accounts 2024
Natural capital accounts containing information on the extent, condition and ecosystem services for woodlands in the UK have been published by the UK’s Office for National Statistics. They show that the UK land area covered by woodlands increased from 7% in 1965 to 13% in 2023. The asset value of UK woodlands was an estimated £382bn in 2021. While timber and wood fuel is often seen as the main woodland asset, it accounted for just 3.9% or £14.bn.
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EU Commission simplifies CAP, including for environment
To simplify the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and boost farmers' competitiveness, the European Commission has presented a large package of measures targeting the administrative burden, controls, implementation, crisis response and investment needs of the sector.
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King Charles announces 35 under 35 changemakers
The King’s Foundation has announced the outcome of its search for the next generation of makers and changemakers – the King’s Foundation’s 35 under 35. The final 35 are a network of exceptional young people who represent the change The King’s Foundation stands for across nature and sustainability, traditional arts and crafts, textiles, architecture and urbanism, health and wellbeing, horticulture and farming.
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Sulphur emission limits set for the Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea has officially become an Emission Control Area under MARPOL Annex VI. The sulphur content in fuel oil for ships operating in the area is now limited to 0.1%, significantly reducing air pollution and delivering major benefits to both human health and the marine environment.
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Arup: AI is designing our future sustainable cities
AI is already impacting the design of global cities and infrastructure – with more than a third (36%) of engineers, architects and city planners relying on it daily, a new survey from Arup has revealed.
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Time to think like Mad Men
If there is one thing the advertising and communications industry is expert in it’s behaviour. From decades of consumer data, the advertising industry knows what makes people do something, what moves them and increasingly they know what consumers are likely to do next.
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IFRS Foundation and TNFD team up on nature
The IFRS Foundation and the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding committing to build upon the TNFD recommendations in the ongoing work of the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB), to enable nature-related financial disclosures for use by capital markets. The ISSB will consider the relevance of the TNFD recommendations in meeting the needs of global capital markets.
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How to halt and reverse nature loss – invest
It is estimated that the private sector requires $1.2tr worth of annual investment in direct and nature-adjacent projects to halt and reverse nature loss, says the World Economic Forum. However, the majority of financial institutions still find that data availability and quality are barriers to allocating capital to nature.
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UK Gov strengthens carbon markets; helps leverage capital
The UK Government has launched plans to strengthen voluntary carbon and nature markets which can help leverage the finance needed to address climate action while diversifying revenue streams.
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Apple: goes beyond 60% GHG emissions reduction
Earth Day has real meaning for Apple. It is the point at which it surpassed a 60% reduction in its global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions (compared with 2025 levels) – this is part of its Apple 2030 goal to become carbon neutral across its entire footprint.