Another year, another record. Recent news headlines seem to support the adage that records are made to be broken. Yet while records are usually positive news in sport or the business world, they serve as grim reminders in the context of climate change, where unprecedented highs are best avoided and are also avoidable. This month, […]
As the second most heavily forested Amazonian country, Peru has attracted a steady stream of programmes aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions from land-use change, the country’s largest source. Despite these conservation efforts, however, annual forest loss has increased over the past two decades, from about 84,000 hectares in 2001 to a record 200,000 in […]
In the past few decades, the Sahel – the region immediately south of the Sahara Desert and the Horn of Africa – has changed. Droughts have become more severe and food insecurity has gotten worse, with millions of people in the region becoming increasingly dependent on food aid. Lake Chad has shrunk by 90 percent […]
The forests of Central Africa, through the provision of goods and services, play an essential role in regulating the climate system as well as contribute to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The forests serve a number of other sectors including agriculture, energy, infrastructure and extractive industries. When these forests are sustainably […]
Trade in agricultural commodities has been linked with deforestation in tropical regions across the globe. But what’s driving the biggest losses, and what can we do about it? The Trade, Development and the Environment Hub (TRADE Hub) project works to tease out this complex picture, and guide effective action to make trade in agriculture and […]
As people around the world rush to plant trees to restore degraded land, meet climate mitigation commitments, and build biodiversity, the question of which trees to plant in which places is more relevant – and challenging – than ever. If we don’t choose well for current and future climatic conditions, our work will be wasted […]
Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) have been top of many minds lately. It’s estimated that the sector could contribute USD 10-15 trillion to the global economy by 2030, while tough ethical questions are also being raised by the rapidly-expanding potential of the technology. But the possibilities that AI presents for the climate mitigation, adaptation, and ecosystem restoration […]
In the week since the UN Climate Change Conference (COP28) came to an end, a cyclone slammed into Australia, torrential rains pelted the United States of America and a punishing drought continued to decimate crops in Zimbabwe. These disasters are a reminder, say experts, that while progress was made at COP28, not nearly enough financing […]
A special announcement interrupted the “Halting and Reversing Forest Loss by 2030” event during Nature, Land Use and Oceans Day at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai: COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber would make a surprise appearance, the moderator said. But Al Jaber didn’t show up and he didn’t make any major statements that day. […]
Countries worldwide have pledged to plant millions of hectares of trees to offset their greenhouse gas emissions, but many of these efforts, as currently formulated, will do little or nothing to stem global warming and could jeopardize the world’s food supply and the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, a new report warns. The […]