Alan Dangour on reframing climate change as a health crisis
The notion that climate change poses a significant health risk is not as widely acknowledged as it should be. Yet the relationship between a warming planet and human well-being is…
Global News
Global ‘Slow Food’ movement embraces agroecology (commentary)
I have spent more than 20 years visiting communities and working with farmers around Uganda and across East and southern Africa. I have come to realize that there are many…
Inaugural Planetary Health Check finds ocean acidification on the brink
The first ever pulse check of the planet’s health shows that the Earth is far beyond it’s safe operating space for humanity. Six of nine key planetary boundaries are already…
Indigenous peoples won in court — but in practice, they face a different reality
After years of delays, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights (AfCHPR) will soon meet for the first time to discuss Kenya’s failure to implement rulings recognizing the Ogiek…
Why the EU must stand firm on its plan to help protect the world’s forests (commentary)
A pioneering law under attack The world’s governments have long acknowledged the need to halt and reverse the loss of the planet’s precious forests, not least because of the contribution…
Aluminum and steel vital to energy transition, but need circular solutions
This is the second of a two-part story. Part one deals with aluminum and steel impacts; Part two explores circular solutions. Aluminum and steel have long been hailed for their…
Why I quit the film industry to work on ecological restoration (commentary)
I've spent a significant part of my career exploring and documenting how ecosystems function, and the profound impact humanity has on nature. Over time, I've come to recognize that not…
Why is violence against environmental defenders getting worse? Five things to know
In January 2023, two men mysteriously disappear after speaking out against pollution from a controversial iron ore mine in Michoacán, Mexico. The following March, climate change protesters in Austria and…
Action at Scale: Elizabeth Yee on The Rockefeller Foundation’s Climate Strategy
In the world of philanthropy, few institutions carry as much historical heft as The Rockefeller Foundation. Founded over a century ago with the grand ambition to promote the well-being of…
Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation at 60: A look back and forward
KIGALI — When scientists, conservationists and policymakers from around the world gathered in East Africa this July — exchanging ideas, celebrating successes and planning for the future — the international…
Jane Goodall is coming to San Francisco. Her event is sold out, but students can still get free tickets
Jane Goodall is coming to San Francisco. On September 16th, Climate One will host primatologist Jane Goodall and myself to mark two milestones: the conservation icon’s 90th year and Mongabay’s…
Biden-Harris Administration must strengthen position on plastic reduction treaty (commentary)
With a final round of negotiations on a global plastics treaty set to take place later this year in Busan, South Korea, an autopsy is premature, especially with the dynamics…
Will we be ready? Geoengineering policy lags far behind pace of climate change
In the 2020 science-fiction novel The Ministry for the Future, author Kim Stanley Robinson imagines a near-future climate catastrophe in which a deadly heat dome stalls over India, killing millions…
Biodiversity’s Tower of Babel: The confusion & disorientation of Convention on Biological Diversity Decision 15/9 (commentary)
Underlying parables of biblical metaphors are often only dimly remembered. The name Babel comes from the Hebrew “to confuse,” בָּלַל (bālal). The tower so ridiculed was an affront to Yahweh.…
The promise of ecocide law, from boardroom to courtroom (commentary)
Every day, decisions are made worldwide that generate substantial profits but cause severe environmental harm. This degradation affects everyone, including the decision-makers themselves. Business is not immune to externalities: climate…
Blockchain as a carbon market fix: Interview with William ten Zijthoff, Flávia De Souza Mendes & Maximilian Rösgen
Can satellites and blockchain technology solve the woes of the beleaguered carbon market? Although challenges abound, there’s potential ahead, according to a new report. Published as a collaboration between Earth…
Reforestation to capture carbon could be done much more cheaply, study says
Trees are allies in the struggle against climate change, and regrowing forests to capture carbon may be cheaper than we thought. According to new research published in Nature Climate Change,…
As waterbodies lose oxygen, are we breaching a potential planetary boundary?
The Earth is in crisis — a reality made increasingly clear by intensifying heat, drought and storms, worsening pollution, land stripped of forests, and the ramping up of the sixth…
Can nations ever get artisanal gold mining right?
Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) is a pillar of stability and opportunity for at least 16 million people worldwide, particularly in rural, impoverished communities. But with these pros also…
Cloud brightening over oceans may stave off climate change, but with risk
Regional deployment of marine cloud brightening off the U.S. West Coast would be far less effective in the warmer world of 2050, and if implemented, could unleash higher temperatures in…
‘Polycrisis’ threatens planetary health; UN calls for innovative solutions
Environmental, technological and social challenges are colliding to create a global polycrisis. This confluence of issues is in turn placing increased pressure on the already existing environmental challenges of rapid…
Animal apocalypse: Deadly bird flu infects hundreds of species pole-to-pole
Brown skuas and south polar skuas, two gull-like species that nest in Antarctica, are sometimes called the “pirates of the Southern seas.” These migratory seabirds are fierce, competitive predators that…
Resilient giants: How the world’s oldest trees stand tall against climate change (commentary)
Have you ever stood beneath a towering tree and gazed up at its expansive canopy? As you tilt your head back, have you considered the profound history embedded in its…
Ants perform life-saving amputations on injured nestmates, study finds
Ants perform amputations on injured nestmates to save their lives, according to a new study. The research published in the journal Current Biology found that Florida carpenter ants (Camponotus floridanus)…
Geoengineering gains momentum, but governance is lacking, critics say
As climate change rapidly advances, with 2023 and 2024 vying for the hottest year on record, solar radiation modification (SRM) geoengineering strategies are gaining momentum as short-term climate fixes. These…
WTO negotiations flounder — again — over banning unsustainable fishing subsidies
Hopes for closure on a fair deal to stop governments bankrolling overfishing flopped yet again at the recent General Council meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Geneva. Scheduled…
Most ‘compostable’ bioplastics are anything but, says new report
Plastic trash has become one of the most visible global environmental crises of our time. Single-use plastics make up nearly half of all plastics produced, with 15 million metric tons…
The Inventory, a Wiki for wild tech: Interview with Jake Burton & Alex Rood
Figuring out what technology to use to monitor a species you’re studying? Or maybe you’re developing a new tech product for conservation and are in need of some help? There’s…
Don’t even study it: Geoengineering research hits societal roadblocks
This is Part Two of a two-part story. Find Part One here. In April, researchers from the University of Washington sprayed sea salt particles into the air off the California…
Animal welfare advocacy must include wildlife & invertebrates (commentary)
Over recent decades, animal advocacy efforts have been mainly geared towards domesticated animals – including farmed, laboratory and companion animals – and with good reason. Every year across the globe,…
Sun block: The promise and peril of solar geoengineering
This is Part One of a two-part story. Find Part Two here. A 2023 study published in JGR Atmospheres found that implementing a global solar geoengineering project could slow the…
‘Fungibility’ could sink Convention on Biodiversity’s funding mechanism Decision 15/9 (commentary)
That common sense is anything but common is a truism. Professors of economics often invoke common sense to explain resource allocation. The fungibility problem is exemplary. This esoteric term comes…
Special series
Forest Trackers
- Satellite data show bursts of deforestation continue in Indonesian national park
- Fires rip through Indigenous territories in Brazilian Amazon
- Monitoring group cracks down on deforestation in Cameroon gorilla sanctuary
- Western Kenya’s most important water-capturing forest is disappearing, satellites show
Oceans
- Conservationists see progress for swordfish, problems for sharks at Atlantic fisheries summit
- As tidal power rides a wave of clean energy optimism, pitfalls persist
- Plan for close season rings alarm bells for Liberia’s artisanal fishers
- Lab-grown corals resisted bleaching during Caribbean’s worst marine heat wave
Amazon Conservation
- ‘World’s largest’ carbon credit deal in the Amazon faces bumpy road ahead
- New conservation model calls for protecting Amazon for its archaeological riches
- Brazil dredges Amazon rivers to ease drought isolation, raising environmental concerns
- ‘We need white men on our side to save the Amazon from destruction,’ 92-year-old Indigenous Chief Raoni says
Land rights and extractives
- Brazil sets a date to remove illegal miners from Munduruku land, more details await
- Peruvian logger loses FSC label after latest clash with isolated Mashco Piro
- A national park and its rangers in Bolivia endure persisting road construction, illegal mining
- Can nations ever get artisanal gold mining right?
Endangered Environmentalists
- Vietnam sentences yet another energy expert over renewables research
- Mother Nature Cambodia activists sentenced to prison — again
- Mongabay video screening at Chile’s Supreme Court expected to help landmark verdict in Brazil
- Indonesian activist freed in hate speech case after flagging illegal shrimp farms
Indonesia's Forest Guardians
- On a Borneo mountainside, Indigenous Dayak women hold fire and defend forest
- Fenced in by Sulawesi national park, Indigenous women make forestry breakout
- In Borneo, the ‘Power of Mama’ fight Indonesia’s wildfires with all-woman crew
- Pioneer agroforester Ermi, 73, rolls back the years in Indonesia’s Gorontalo
Conservation Effectiveness
- How effective is the EU’s marquee policy to reduce the illegal timber trade?
- How sharing and learning from failures can transform conservation (commentary)
- Is planting trees as good for the Earth as everyone says?
- Failure in conservation projects: Everyone experiences it, few record it
Southeast Asian infrastructure
- An ‘ocean grab’ for a property megaproject leaves Jakarta fishers grounded
- Study: Indonesia’s new capital city threatens stable proboscis monkey population
- Indonesia’s new capital ‘won’t sacrifice the environment’: Q&A with Nusantara’s Myrna Asnawati Safitri
- Small farmers in limbo as Cambodia wavers on Tonle Sap conservation rules
