Nature Beat #15
Updates, stories, resources and opportunities
Welcome to the latest edition of Global Nature Beat. If you are new here, read my About page to find out what this newsletter is, who I am and why I am doing this. Or just dive in. You’ll find news, reporting resources, job postings, links to some great stories and a look ahead to what’s coming up in the world of biodiversity and nature policy.
Taking The Pulse
Migratory species: The 14th Conference of Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species takes place next week (12-17 February) in Uzbekistan. Among other things, Parties will adopt a new Strategic Plan for Migratory Species for 2024-2032. Also on the agenda are global guidelines on light pollution and proposals to adjust the lists of species the convention covers. The first ‘State of the World’s Migratory Species’ report will be launched at the conference.
Trade in endangered species: No country has yet offered to host the next conference of parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). If none steps forward, it will take place in Switzerland. The CITES Standing Committee has recommended all Parties to suspend trade in all CITES-listed species with three countries — Dominica, Libya and Oman — because they have not done enough to update national laws in order to implement the Convention.
Finance for nature: The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) is a large multilateral fund that supports progress under environmental treaties on climate, biodiversity, and so on. Its Council is meeting this week (5-9 February), and it has already agreed on a new work plan with a US$916 million budget. This will support programs on the ocean, food systems, transportation, wildlife conservation and forests — and a wide range of projects — in 77 countries.
The GEF says this will contribute to 21 of the 23 targets in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. It expects to generate more than US$ 7.5 billion in co-financing. The GEF also administers the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund, whose board meets for the first time on 8-9 February. Carbon Pulse has a preview by Sergio Colombo.
EU climate action: The European Commission presented its recommendation for a 90 percent cut in the EU’s carbon emissions by 2040 from 1990 levels. Karl Mathiesen and Eddy Wax report that the European Commission had removed earlier wording on cuts to fossil fuel subsidies, encouraging consumers to reduce meat intake and a 30 percent cut in agricultural pollution.
In Focus: Mining and Minerals
Arthur Neslen got his hands on the forthcoming UN Global Resources Outlook, a five-yearly assessment of the state and impacts of natural resource extraction. It shows that extraction has grown by 400 percent since 1970, with significant impacts on the climate, biodiversity and human health. With extraction predicted to rise by another 60 percent by 2060, there are many stories to tell. Here are three from the last week or so:
Plans for Western Europe’s largest open-pit lithium mine are raising concerns for biodiversity and livelihoods in Portugal, reports Marta Vidal.
In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Jonas Kiriko reported for Oxpeckers on how cobalt mining is harming nature reserves, and went undercover to explore links with wildlife trafficking.
A US mining firm sued Mexico for billions for trying to protect its own seabed — a sign of things to come elsewhere, reports Laura Paddison.
In The Spotlight
Jim Robbins wrote about scientists assessing the threat that a deadly ‘zombie deer disease’ could spill over to infect humans who hunt or eat the animals.
Want to know what progress countries have made, a year since they agreed the new Global Biodiversity Framework and more? Carbon Brief has all the answers — This is a valuable summary by Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne, Orla Dwyer, Yanine Quiroz and Giuliana Viglione.
In Argentinian Patagonia, indigenous people, farming cooperatives, government agencies and scientists are working together to manage a landscape in a state of water emergency, reports Natalia Concina. This is in Spanish and worth translating with Google if you need it.
How can climate change and deforestation be halted when international funding meant to address these problems disappears into individual’s pockets?” — ZAM magazine published a statement of intent for 2024 from the Network of African Investigative Reporters and Editors calling out corruption and oppression.
Tips And Resources
Covering Climate Now launched a newsletter to help journalists and editors make climate change key to their coverage of this year’s US elections.
If you’re interested in the science of invasive species, IPBES has a webinar on 11 March about knowledge gaps and how to fill them.
On 13 February, the Pulitzer Center will hold a webinar for journalists on climate change and health in South Asia.
The Solutions Journalism Network shared tips for telling stories about climate solutions.
See past editions for more tips and resources.
From The Journals
Eight ways biodiversity builds food security: Policymakers often see protecting biodiversity and boosting food security as conflicting goals, rather than goals that support each other. In this article, scientists present eight arguments for why biodiversity is important for food security — and say it is not sustainable to “stop hunger first, then worry about [bio]diversity afterward”. Read the full article in People Plants Planet.
The changing shape of Europe’s marine footprint in the Atlantic Ocean: Researchers analyzed data from the period 1500–2019 to assess patterns and trends in how 14 European countries have been using and consuming marine life from the Atlantic Ocean. Read the full paper in Ambio.
Climate change and human-elephant conflict: This study concludes that, as climate change alters where people in Africa and Asia live and grow crops, there will be an increased risk of human-elephant conflict. Read the full paper or Conservation International’s story.
What Caught My Eye
Phoebe Weston reported on the customs authorities and scientists trying to stem the vast flow of bushmeat from Africa to consumers in Europe.
India designated five more wetlands as Ramsar sites of international importance, reports Simrin Sirur.
Terry Slavin assesses prospects for tropical rainforests as companies and countries act, to varying degrees, on pledges to address deforestation.
Jason Anthony wrote about the environmental harm a return of Trump would cause.
Scientists Bryce Stewart and James Boon suggest ways to make trophy fishing sustainable.
Data scientist Hannah Ritchie shows that wind farms kill far fewer birds than other hazards, and identifies ways we can make them even safer for wildlife.
Marine conservation biologist Rick Steiner says Joe Biden’s 30X30 conservation plan doesn’t go far enough.
Indonesia plans to protect 30 percent of its marine area by 2045.
Singapore has sent a rhino horn smuggler, who was in transit from South Africa to Laos, to jail for two years. It is the strongest sentence that Singapore has ever issued for wildlife trafficking, and the country’s biggest ever seizure of rhino horn.
Scientists expect that sika deer and wild boars will occur across nearly all of Japan by 2050.
Two Mexican scientists — Gerardo Ceballos and Rodolfo Dirzo — won a BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award for documenting the scale of biodiversity loss caused by human activity.
Research shows how China can make a big difference in mobilizing capital for climate action and conservation.
Ayaz Khan reports on how Pakistan has trebled its area of mangrove forests since 1986.
Warren Cornwall wrote about the remarkable ecological transformation that happened when sea otters returned to their former habitat…
… meanwhile, scientists have cast doubt on a more famous example of top predators shaping an ecosystem they have returned to after a long absence — Yellowstone National Park in the United States.
In Focus: Europe’s Protesting Farmers
Farmers across Europe are protesting, but about what? Much of the media coverage has framed the protests as being “anti net-zero” or “far-right adjacent”. How true is that?
Thin Lei Win reported from a protest in Brussels and found that the situation is far more nuanced — and the protesters more politically diverse — than most coverage suggests.
Orla Dwyer analyzed the demands of farmer groups in seven countries to see if and how they relate to greenhouse gas emissions, climate change, biodiversity or conservation.
Patrick Schröder and Tim Benton, from the Chatham House think tank, say the protests show that moves to transform food systems and reduce carbon emissions must be just — and get the backing of people whose livelihoods will be most affected.
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Jobs And Opportunities
The Center for Biological Diversity is hiring an editor for its online news site The Revelator.
The Miami Herald is hiring a climate reporter.
Carbon Pulse is hiring an environmental markets correspondent in Latin America — deadline 10 February.
The Narwhal is hiring a politics and environment reporter — deadline 11 February.
Maine Public is hiring a climate reporter — deadline 18 February.
The Reuters Institute is taking applications for its journalist fellowship programme — apply by 19 February.
Climate Tracker is offering fellowships for journalists in Brazil and Colombia to report on environmental issues in urban areas in the Amazon — apply by 19 February.
The Hawaii-based National Tropical Botanical Garden is accepting applications for its Environmental Journalism Program — deadline 21 February.
The 2024 Covering Climate Now Journalism Awards are open for entries — deadline 1 March.
Bonus content: There are 27 jobs, grants, fellowships and other opportunities listed here for The Nature Beat’s paying supporters. Paid subscriptions are less than £1 per week. A free seven-day trial is available.
On The Horizon
26 February – 1 March 2024: The Sixth Meeting of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) will take place in Nairobi, Kenya.
3 March 2024: World Wildlife Day.
11-13 March 2024: The 11th Annual World Ocean Summit & Expo takes place in Lisbon, Portugal.
11-15 March 2024: The Global EverGreening Alliance’s conference on Accelerating Nature-based Solutions takes place in Livingstone, Zambia.
Bonus content: The full calendar for The Nature Beat’s supporters includes 51 nature-related intergovernmental negotiations, scientific conferences, report launches, and other events up until 2026. Paid subscriptions are less than £1 per week. A free seven-day trial is available.
In Case You Missed It
A story I published last week…
Whose Eye Was It?
The eye belongs to a koala. Photo credit: Dev WR / Flickr — Creative Commons
Thanks for reading. For past editions, see the Archive. If you found it interesting or useful, please share and subscribe. If you want to get in contact, you can reach me at: thenaturebeat@substack.com.