COP26 diary #4: A Global North greenwash festival? - Thoughts on communication around COP26 from a first-time attendee COP26 diary COPs are a time of a plethora of announcements, pledges and initiatives by countries, businesses and financial institutes. It is hard to keep up and even harder to distinguish between newsworthy reason for hope and old wine in new bottles. Lisa Tostado reports on the climate “communication nightmare” of welcoming progress while emphasizing the persistent astronomical gap to what would be Paris Agreement-compatible. By Lisa Tostado
Saving biodiversity Background With the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP 15) to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the global community wants to make a new attempt to halt the rapid and dramatic loss of ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, or biodiversity. By Lili Fuhr , Kristin Funke , Dr. Christine Chemnitz , Linda Schneider and Lisa Tostado
Water: thirsty animals, thirsty crops Meat Atlas 2021 All animal products have a water footprint: the amount of water needed to produce them. It is not just the total amount that is important, but the types of water that are needed. There is enough “green” water. But the volumes of “blue” and “grey” water should be kept low. By Heike Holdinghausen
Fertilizers: too much of a good thing Meat Atlas 2021 Nitrogen pollution from livestock manure is an increasing problem in many parts of the world. Countries in the European Union have lots of ideas on how to reduce such contamination of their environments. One approach is through closer monitoring of industrial livestock producers and restricting the amount of manure slurry that crop farmers are allowed to apply. By Dr. Thorsten Reinsch
Amazonia Today Dossier Since Jair Bolsonaro took up office as President of Brazil in January 2019, deforestation rates have curved steeply upwards once again. But it should be borne in mind that even under previous presidents, from Lula to Temer, and even with enormous global awareness of the importance of tropical forests and many national and international efforts, deforestation has never been halted altogether.
DOs & DON'Ts Flyer Nineteen Dos and nine Don'ts explained, which are helpful for developing a successful Global Biodiversity Framework. pdf
High Expectations from ‘Nature Based Solutions’ during the Climate Action Summit Background Peter Riggs, from the international network Climate, Land, Ambition, and Rights Alliance (CLARA) tells how to evaluate new commitments from countries, and greater overall ambition in achieving under-two-degree warming pathways. By Peter Riggs
Ocean Atlas 2017 Atlas Without the ocean there would be no life on our planet. But the future of this unique ecosystem faces a grave threat today. The Ocean Atlas 2017 delivers with its 18 contributions and 50 graphics the relevant facts and figures about the ocean. pdf
Biodiversity: The Danger of Declining Diversity Ocean Atlas 2017 Gourmets visiting Sylt, Germany’s idyllic North Sea vacation destination, can choose between fresh Pacific oysters and native blue mussels. But what seems like fine dining is actually a cautionary tale as the foreign oysters threaten to overrun the native mussels.
New units of measure of market-compliant nature within the Green Economy Trade with compensation credits is a prime example of how abstractions influence environmental policy. The astonishing reduction of unique habitats to a few measurable indicators is a prerequisite for trading biodiversity offsets.