Biodiversity: hopes and fears for the next 10 years

The Guardian

December 31, 2019
At the end of a tumultuous decade for biodiversity, in which a report based on the most comprehensive study of life on Earth warned that “nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history”, we spoke to some of the world’s leading voices on the environment about their greatest fears for the next decade – and also their hopes. As the IPBES report’s authors noted: “It is not too late to make a difference, but only if we start now at every level from local to global.”

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Greta Thunberg and mass protests defined the year in climate change

NBC News

December 30, 2019
Most climate scientists will be quick to say that 2019 was the year that Greta Thunberg truly became a force to be reckoned with. The 16-year-old Swedish activist staged solo “Fridays for Future” school strikes that triggered a global phenomenon drawing millions of people into the streets to protest climate inaction. The teen has since become the face of that newly energized climate movement and was recently named Time magazine’s Person of the Year.

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Global consumer demands fuel the extinction crisis facing the world’s primates

Mongabay

December 29, 2019
A ceaselessly growing human population and an ever-expanding world economy based on the unsustainable demands of a few over-consuming nations, have already caused habitat degradation, forest fragmentation, and forest loss that are unprecedented in human history. Throughout the tropics, large tracts of forest have been converted to monocultures by industrial agriculture and degraded by the extraction of fossil fuels, metals, minerals, and other natural resources. This has resulted in significant declines in biodiversity.

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The natural technologies that could hold keys to climate resilience

Brisbane Times

December 29, 2019
Traveling back to Brisbane for family Christmas celebrations via a stopover in Sydney, Julia Watson was delivered directly into the NSW capital's weeks-long smoke haze.

The fires were a reminder that the impacts of a changing climate touched all corners of the globe, from cities to the remote regions the Brisbane-born landscape architect had spent much time in through her work on conservation and significant landscapes.

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2019 was the year of ‘climate emergency’ declarations

The Verge

December 27, 2019
A rapidly changing climate drove hundreds of governments around the world to declare states of emergency in 2019. While the declarations are largely symbolic gestures, they have in some cases become jumping-off points for real action. It’s the culmination of coordinated efforts by activists pushing governments to take action that is as dramatic as the threats posed by the climate crisis.

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“Endgame 2020 - The year of the decision on climate and biodiversity”

Nitro

December 2, 2019
How much time do we have left? This question concerns more and more people who are aware of the consequences and urgency of climate change and species extinction. A lot of time has been lost, but there is a date that must be delivered: the international community must agree on ambitious goals at the World Biodiversity Summit in October 2020. 

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Why is 2020 is a key year for the future of the planet’s environment

ZME Science

December 17, 2019
The recent bleak results at the COP25 climate summit in Madrid created enough reasons to be pessimistic about the future of the planet.

But next year could see a big shift thanks to three key summits, which could help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, protect biodiversity and look after the oceans. In many ways, it seems like 2020 will be a make-or-break year for the environment.

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