Campaign For Nature

January 11, 2021
As the natural world continues to disappear at an unprecedented rate, a group of over 50 countries—which (as of 10 January 2021) together harbour 30% of global terrestrial biodiversity (using vertebrates as a proxy) and a quarter of the world’s terrestrial carbon stores (biomass and soil), and 28% of ocean biodiversity priority areas and over a third of the ocean carbon stores—have announced their commitment to protect at least 30% of the globe’s land and ocean by 2030, and to champion an ambitious global deal to halt species loss and protect ecosystems that are vital to human health and economic security. Their announcement kicks off what Costa Rica, France and the United Kingdom call an urgent year for action on biodiversity and the climate. 

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Agencia EFE

January 11, 2021
Medio centenar de países se comprometió este lunes a proteger al menos el 30 % de la superficie terrestre y marina para el año 2030, en el marco de una alianza internacional encabezada por Francia, Costa Rica y el Reino Unido.

La llamada Coalición de Alta Ambición para las Personas y la Naturaleza fue lanzada oficialmente durante la celebración en París y por videoconferencia de la cumbre One Planet Summit, que engloba los esfuerzos en favor de la protección de la biodiversidad.

Su objetivo es ambicioso: según indicó el presidente costarricense, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, actualmente solo está protegido el 15 % de toda la superficie terrestre y el 7 % de la marina.

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Washington Post

January 11, 2021
At least 50 countries committed to protecting 30% of the planet, including land and sea, over the next decade to halt species extinction and address climate change issues, during a global summit Monday aimed at protecting the world’s biodiversity.

About 30 leaders, government officials and heads of international organizations participated in the One Planet Summit, which was being held by videoconference because of the coronavirus pandemic. Top U.S. officials were notably absent, as were the leaders of Russia, India and Brazil.

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Le Monde

January 11, 2021
To stimulate a global political momentum so that 2021 is indeed the “super year of biodiversity” that 2020 could not be. This is the ambition of the One Planet Summit organized by France, in a half-virtual, half-face format.

While a new roadmap to protect the living should be adopted at the end of the year in China, at the 15 th Conference of Parties (COP) of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, thirty decision-makers (German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Chinese First Deputy Prime Minister Han Zheng, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen ...) were to set out new commitments, Monday 11 January.

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CBC

January 11, 2021
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today announced that Canada would commit up to $55 million to a United Nations initiative aimed at preventing further degradation of land and protecting vital ecosystems.

The investment in the UN Land Degradation Neutrality Fund (LDN) will go toward projects in low- and middle-income countries, Trudeau said. The LDN invests in private sector land sustainability projects to restore land degraded by environmental damage and human activity.

"When sea levels rise, when droughts become the norm and not the exception, this has catastrophic effects on national habitats," Trudeau told the virtual One Planet Summit.

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Delfino

January 11, 2021
The Ministry of Environment and Energy and the Asociación Costa Rica por Siempre launched the first Latin American fund aimed at financing sustainability in the long-term conservation of the 30x30 goals.

30x30 goals? It is an initiative led by the governments of Costa Rica and France, and co-led by the United Kingdom on ocean issues, for countries to protect almost a third of their territories before 2030.

The " Forever Blue Fund " will initially be endowed with $ 3.5 million and will be managed by the Costa Rica Forever Association , a non-profit organization with more than ten years of experience in environmental issues.

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ABC News

January 11, 2021
PARIS -- Protecting the world's biodiversity was on the agenda Monday for world leaders at the One Planet Summit, which was being held by videoconference due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The one-day summit will focus on four major topics: protecting terrestrial and marine ecosystems; promoting agroecology, a more sustainable way to grow food; increasing funding to protect biodiversity; and identifying links between deforestation and the health of humans and animals.

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UN Climate Change News

January 11, 2021
In a virtual address today at the ‘One Planet Summit’ for biodiversity hosted by the French government in cooperation with the United Nations and the World Bank, UN Secretary-General António Guterres declared 2021 as “the year to reconcile humanity with nature.”

He highlighted both the need to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and to provide adequate finance to adapt to the impacts of climate change, which include more frequent and more severe incidents of drought, flooding and fires.

While we have been abusing our planet as if we had a spare one, he said, ‘nature is striking back’, with record-high temperatures and collapsing biodiversity. Recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, however, provides an opportunity to change course: “With smart policies and the right investments, we can chart a path that brings health to all, revives economies, builds resilience and rescues biodiversity,” he said, citing nature-based solutions such as Africa’s Great Green Wall as being especially promising.

At the One Planet Summit, a new 'High Ambition Coalition for Nature and People' was launched. The 50-State coalition committed to protecting 30% of land and seas worldwide by 2030 and calls on all States to join before the UN Biodiversity Summit COP15. And the Sahel region's Great Green Wall Initiative got a major boost, receiving at least 14 billion US dollars in new funding.

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The Guardian

January 11, 2021
A coalition of more than 50 countries has committed to protect almost a third of the planet by 2030 to halt the destruction of the natural world and slow extinctions of wildlife.

The High Ambition Coalition (HAC) for Nature and People, which includes the UK and countries from six continents, made the pledge to protect at least 30% of the planet’s land and oceans before the One Planet summit in Paris on Monday, hosted by the French president, Emmanuel Macron.

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The Hill - OpEd

January 8, 2021
For four years, science has been under attack by an administration that has dismantled over 125 environmental policies, spanning protections for federal lands and endangered species to regulations that ensure clean air and water.

The Trump presidency has cost the planet valuable time in the fight against climate change and biodiversity loss. Additionally, the harm to scientific integrity, public trust and the United States’ international reputation will linger well beyond Trump’s tenure.

The Biden White House will represent a new day — and new hope — in the fight for environmental protection and climate action. Under the Biden-Harris administration, America has the opportunity to rebuild our stature in the world and assert our leadership in combating the climate crisis. The Biden transition website contains numerous policies that have reinvigorated scientists and those who care about the environment, including plans to rejoin the Paris Climate Accord, reach net-zero emissions by 2050, invest in environmental justice and conserve 30 percent of the nation’s land and water by 2030.

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Brookings - OpEd

January 7, 2021
With COVID-19 vaccinations underway in some countries and efforts to expand access still ongoing, world leaders will soon shift their attention from crisis response to pandemic recovery. Governments have already committed $12 trillion to the COVID-19 response, and there will be strong pressure to keep investing in a return to the pre-pandemic “normal.” But that would be a mistake.

Putting aside budget constraints, we have just seen that the pre-pandemic normal had dire implications for the world. Our strained interactions with the environment helped introduce the coronavirus to humans, our hyperconnected global economy allowed it to spread like wildfire, and its especially deadly effects on the most vulnerable populations have highlighted the consequences of deep-seated social and economic inequalities within and between countries.

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ScienceDaily

January 5, 2021
To stop biodiversity loss, Canada recently committed to protecting 30% of its land and sea by 2030. But making conservation decisions about where to locate new protected areas is complicated. It depends on data both about biodiversity and about a range of benefits (e.g. freshwater, climate regulation, recreation) that people get from nature. Surprisingly, despite the size of the country, new mapping suggests that less than 1% of Canada's land (0.6% of total area or approximately 56,000 km2) is a hot spot, providing all these benefits in one place. Moreover, the study published today in Environmental Research Letters suggests that some of the most critical areas where people receive these key benefits from nature do not occur within currently protected areas and may be threatened by current or future natural resource extraction.

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Mongabay

December 23, 2020
The world is facing an ongoing sixth mass extinction. To curb this human-caused loss of global biodiversity, many countries have made commitments to protect and conserve large areas of land in the coming decades. But the fate of the Indigenous peoples, local communities, and Afro-descendants who live on these lands remains unclear.

A new study conducted by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) in collaboration with the Campaign for Nature addresses the risks these groups face from exclusionary conservation measures and urges decision-makers to adopt rights-based conservation approaches.

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World Economic Forum

December 21, 2020
Scotland is famous for whiskey, haggis and stunning scenery; rolling hills, snow-capped mountains and more than 30,000 freshwater lochs. It is also home to around 90,000 species of animals, microbes and plants.

Now, plans are being proposed to protect as much as one-third of its nature. If enacted, the new laws will help safeguard Scottish biodiversity and the natural economy, which has been valued at around $39 billion.

“Dealing with the twin crises of climate change and biodiversity loss is one of the most important challenges of this generation,” Scotland’s Environment Secretary, Roseanna Cunningham said, announcing the project.

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CBC - OpEd

December 21, 2020
As Canada embarks on a massive effort to address climate change and the loss of nature, while fighting a simultaneous battle against COVID-19, Nature-based Solutions hold the promise of tackling the economic and ecological challenges we face today. 

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature identifies Nature-based Solutions as "actions to protect, sustainably manage, and restore natural or modified ecosystems, that address societal challenges effectively and adaptively, simultaneously providing human well-being and biodiversity benefits".  

Nature-based Solutions sound a lot like a convenient repackaging of familiar calls to protect nature, for our own sake and for the sake of the planet. What sets NbS apart, however, is the systematic approach that it demands and its multiple benefits for people, our economy, for Indigenous reconciliation and for human well-being.

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