Biodiversity

The COP30 in Belém unfolded against rising geopolitical tensions, intensifying climate impacts, and deepening divides between high-ambition countries and major fossil-fuel producers. In light of the absence of the US administration and the final outcome that is weakened on key issues such as the fossil fuel phase-out, we asked MEP Bas Eickhout, Co-Chair of the Greens/EFA in the European Parliament and member of the EP delegation to the COP30 UN Climate Summit, how he assesses the Belém Package and what role he sees for the European Union in future climate diplomacy.

Talustusan, a community in the Philippines once known for its abundant water resources, found itself scrambling for water during the 2024 El Niño. While residents managed a temporary fix in 2025, local officials acknowledge it is not sustainable. With rising demand and the climate crisis, the community understands the need for a long-term solution. This photo essay highlights how Talustusan is innovating amidst the crisis but also emphasizes the need for support rooted in informed policies rather than patronage politics. 

While much of the AI debate focuses on its economic potential, its expanding physical footprint tells a different story. The machines driving this revolution depend on a resource far older – and far more contested – than data or electricity.

Water is the basis of all life. It covers more than two-thirds of our planet, comprises most of our bodies, and binds us humans with nature in a unique way. Without water, there would be no plants, no animals, and no people. Water shaped us and the world we live in long before we began to manage and control it. No wonder that it has left its mark on the religions, art, and culture of every civilisation. But today water, that indispensable resource, is threatened more than ever by overuse, by the effects of the climate crisis, and by pollution. The water cycle of our planet is tipping out of balance, and we have already exceeded the limits of sustainable water use. A change of course is urgently needed. Fortunately, such a change is still possible.

Water is the basis of life. It covers more than two-thirds of our planet and shapes ecosystems and cultures. Industrialisation, overexploitation, and population growth are driving water scarcity, water pollution and conflicts.

Healthy ecosystems purify water and protect against floods and droughts. However, the climate crisis is disrupting natural cycles and threatening habitats around the world. Protecting peatlands, wetlands, and coastal areas is not only an ecological priority but also a social imperative.

Agroecology is far more than a set of sustainable agricultural practices. It puts peasants and indigenous voices at the centre. It seeks to preserve biocultural diversity and strengthen resilience while challenging existing power structures in the food system. This dossier is a collaborative effort of Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung offices and our partner organisations worldwide to highlight the diversity of agroecological initiatives within our global network. From community-led digital innovations to public policy strategies, it explores how agroecology redefines food systems and promotes people’s agency.

Soils are vital to our survival. They store greenhouse gases and water and are home to at least a quarter of all living creatures on earth. However, over 60 percent of soils in the EU are damaged and their sealing threatens biodiversity.

With more than two billion tonnes of CO2, the draining of peatlands is responsible for about 4% of all human-made emissions globally. This is outlined in the Peatland Atlas 2023 - Facts and figures on wet climate guardians, published today by the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, the Michael Succow Stiftung (partners in the Greifswald Mire Centre) and BUND (Bund für Umwelt und Naturschutz Deutschland/Friends of the Earth Germany), with support of the Global Peatlands Initiative.

Some of the world’s most important and most recently recognized peatlands can be found on the African continent. They are home to unique and rare flora and fauna – and threatened by the oil companies’ greed for money.

Peatlands all over the world sustain a rich range of habitats and species, including a wide range of threatened and endemic ones. Policymakers are called upon to protect these unique landscapes.

Peatlands exist in the mountains, in lowlands, along rivers and at the coast. Their vegetation and condition vary from one climate zone to another, but all types of peatland have one thing in common: their continued existence is in danger.

Mires are intact peatlands and home to rare plants, rare animals – and enormous amounts of carbon. But draining them for economic reasons puts them and their resident organisms at massive risk. It poses a massive threat to the climate too.

The peatlands of Africa's Cuvette Centrale in the Congo Basin store more carbon than the rainforest that overhangs it. But peat is only valuable as a carbon store if it remains water-saturated and untouched in the soil. What has kept the peat locked up until now is the lack of roads and other infrastructure. Irene Wabiwa Betoko, International Project Leader, Congo Basin Forest of Greenpeace Africa, talks about the threats facing peatlands in the Congo Basin and discusses ways to protect them.

Insects such as ladybugs or predatory wasps act as natural enemies against pests and as effective plant protectors. They are good for the environment and help cutting costs – but their habitats are under threat from pesticide use.

Experts have been warning for years that biodiversity is at stake. Pesticides have been identified as one of the causes for why the abundance of animals and plant species is deteriorating so quickly and disastrously.

Bulgaria’s CAP Strategic Plan must be corrected in order to be in line with the objectives of the European Green Deal, and the EU’s Biodiversity and Farm to Fork strategies. This article highlights essential changes to be made, from targets and monitoring to measuring coherence and consistency.

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.

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.

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.