Climate Action

Photo: Collage of images from the White House.

UN Chief Welcomes the US Move to Re-Enter the Paris Accord as Biden and Harris Are Sworn in as New Leaders

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has warmly welcomed President Joe Biden’s "steps to re-enter the Paris Agreement on Climate Change and join the growing coalition of governments, cities, states, businesses and people taking ambitious action to confront the climate crisis". Biden signed an executive order accepting the Paris accord "and every article and clause thereof on behalf of the United States of America" on January 20 after he and Vice President Kamal Harris were sworn in as America's new leaders.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Climate Action; 20 January 2021

Photo: Virtual One Planet Summit: Credit: First Channel of German TV

One Planet Summit on Biodiversity Pledges Action Commitments

By Jaya Ramachandran

PARIS (IDN) – The global health crisis of the COVID 19 came as a dramatic reminder of the importance of Nature for our daily lives and economies: biodiversity is our life insurance. Yet, the damage to ecosystems is unprecedented and will have major consequences on our lifestyles in the decades to come.

According to knowledgeable sources, reversing this trend is a major challenge for the coming decade. This global challenge requires concerted action at all levels (international, national, local) and by all actors (governments, international organizations, businesses, associations, citizens, etc.).

: Jaya Ramachandran; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 18 January 2021

Photo: Screenshot of UN Chief addressing the UN Open Summit on January 11. Source: France TV04 /YouTube

Humanity Needs to Take a Course That Does Not Conflict with Nature

By Kwame Buist

NEW YORK (IDN) – The process of recovery from the coronavirus pandemic offers the chance to change course and put humanity on a path which is not in conflict with nature, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said January 11, urging greater efforts by everyone to protect biodiversity and step up action to counter climate change.

Guterres was addressing world leaders at the virtual One Planet Summit hosted by France, which came in the run-up to the UN Climate Change Conference scheduled for November in Glasgow, Scotland.

: Phil Harris; UN INSIDER; 12 January 2021

A New UN Report Calls for Living in Balance with The Planet

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – As the UN Secretary-General António Guterres has repeatedly pointed out, humanity is faced with a "defining moment", a warning that is highlighted in the 30th-anniversary edition of the Human Development Report (HDR), The Next Frontier: Human Development and the Anthropocene. Though humankind has achieved incredible progress, we have taken the Earth for granted, destabilizing the very systems upon which we rely for survival.

: J Nastranis; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 10 January 2021

Photo: More soldiers committed suicide last year than were killed in combat. A new study suggests that multiple concussions may be contributing to suicide risk. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)

Ending Our Suicidal War Against Nature

Viewpoint by John Scales Avery*

COPENHAGEN (IDN) – "Our planet is broken," the Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has warned. Humanity is waging what he describes as a "suicidal" war on the natural world. "Nature always strikes back, and is doing so with gathering force and fury," he told a BBC special event on the environment. Mr Guterres wants to put tackling climate change at the heart of the UN's global mission, wrote BBC Chief Environment Correspondent Justin Rowlatt on December 2.

: Opinion Editor; OPINION; 06 January 2021

Ocean Threatened by Loss of Coral Reefs

Viewpoint by Vijay Prashad *

NORTHAMPTON, Massachusetts (IDN) – With a recent report titled “Projections of Future Coral Bleaching Conditions,” published by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) in November, Leticia Carvalho—head of the Marine and Freshwater Branch of UNEP—said on December 21 that coral reefs are the “canary in the coalmine for climate’s impact on oceans.”

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 05 January 2021

Photo: A view of the Mabwepande Green Village. Credit: Kizito Makoye.

Mabwepande Green Village: Model for a Sustainable Future

The Watumishi Housing Company’s model estate harnesses clean energy technologies to improve lives and reduce the carbon footprint.

By Kizito Makoye

MABWEPANDE | Tanzania (IDN) – As a warm breeze blows from the Indian Ocean, two men in dazzling outfits show up on the balcony of a home with flower-filled pots to convey a message to their community members about the future plans of their green village.

“In order to achieve our goals of establishing a successful green village, it is important to come together and exchange our ideas,” says Reeves Ngalemwa, the chairman of the Mabwepande green village in Tanzania’s largest commercial city.

: Kizito Makoye; THE WORLD; Africa; 22 December 2020

Photo: Some constructions at Xinzhuang, China. Credit: N509FZ, CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Welcome to the Anthropocene

Human Constructions Have the Same Mass as All Living Organisms

Viewpoint by Jan Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams*

LEICESTER, United Kingdom (IDN) – Our deficiencies have always driven us, even among our distant ancestors, back in the last Ice Age. Having neither the speed and strength to hunt large prey nor sharp teeth and claws to tear flesh, we improvised spears, flint knives, scrapers. Lacking a thick pelt, we took the fur of other animals.

As the ice receded, we devised more means of survival and comfort – stone dwellings, ploughs, wheeled vehicles. All these inventions allowed small oases of civilisation to be wrested from a natural wilderness that seemed endless.

: Phil Harris; OPINION; 17 December 2020

Climate Action: UN Insists on Developed Countries Meeting 100 Billion Dollar Annual Pledge

By Santo D. Banerjee

NEW YORK (IDN) – A new report by independent experts has proposed urgent actions to meet the pledge by developed countries to mobilize at least US$100 billion a year to support developing countries in mitigating and adapting to climate change. The study released by the United Nations on December 11 accentuates that "COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered the context for international climate finance".

: Santo D. Banerjee; COVID-19; 12 December 2020

Photo: Antarctic ocean waters are warming dramatically. Credit: Ceridwen Fraser [author provided]

The Southern Ocean an Ocean Like No Other

By Ceridwen Fraser, Christina Hulbe, Craig Stevens and Huw Griffiths*

In the run-up to the COP26 climate change conference scheduled for November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland, The Conversation has prepared a five-part series entitled Oceans 21 examining the history and future of the world’s oceans. This is the fifth article in the series which looks into the Southern Ocean’s ecological richness and significance for global climate. Click here for the previous article.

DUNEDIN | AUCKLAND | CAMBRIDGE (IDN) – In 2018, a map named after an oceanographer went viral.