Nature Beat #19

Updates, stories, resources and opportunities

Mar 06, 2024

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

UN Environment Assembly: At the sixth session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-6) last week, nearly 200 countries adopted 15 resolutions, 2 decisions and a Ministerial Declaration. The resolutions covered a range of issues including pesticides, chemical waste, air pollution, land degradation and restoration, and ocean action.

But as the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) reports: “Many called some of the resolutions ‘weak from the beginning’, even before they were watered down even further in efforts to reach consensus.” For a full summary and analysis, see the ENB’s final report.

Some draft resolutions were dropped entirely as Member States could not agree — for example, on circular economies, climate justice and standards and guidelines for nature-based solutions. As Joe Lo reports, they also failed to agree on a resolution to regulate or research solar radiation management, a controversial approach to limiting global heating by reducing how much sunlight reaches Earth.

Environmental defenders: The UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, Michel Forst, published a report on state repression of environmental protest in Europe, which he says is a threat to democracy and human rights. He urges governments to: address the root causes of protests; counter narratives portraying protestors as criminals; not use protests as a pretext for closing civic space; comply with their international obligations; and stop using measures designed for organized crime and terrorism against environmental defenders.

Big cats: India's cabinet approved the establishment of the International Big Cat Alliance (IBCA) to protect and conserve tigers, lions, leopards, snow leopards, pumas, jaguars and cheetahs — and the landscapes they inhabit. Nearly 100 countries with one or more of these species are eligible to join the new intergovernmental body. The IBCA will be based in India with a budget of US$18 million for the next five years — see the official press release for details.

Fishing subsidies: The World Trade Organization’s 13th Ministerial Conference last week failed to agree on new limits to subsidies that encourage overfishing, reports Sergio Colombo. “If we continue this foolish race to catch the last fish there will be no winners,” said Anna Holl-Buhl, who leads work on fisheries subsidies for WWF, in a press release. “We will all be losers.”

In The Spotlight

Fanny Pigeaud reported from Cameroon, where wealthy foreigners hunt wildlife but local people see few benefits.
Humberto Basilio interviewed Brazilian journalist Sofia Moutinho about how she spent ten days in the Amazon covering efforts by an indigenous community and scientists to document ecological damage caused by a hydroelectric dam.
Ayaskant Das and Paranjoy Guha Thakurta covered alleged illegal transfers of elephants to the world’s largest private zoo, which has just hosted a pre-wedding party for the son of one of the richest men in the world.
Sarah Sax and Maurício Angelo exposed pension firms whose investments are behind the destruction of the world’s most biodiverse savannah — Brazil’s Cerrado.
Tracy Keeling wrote about the role wildlife plays in mitigating climate change and why legal trade in wild species is often falsely assumed to be sustainable.
Benji Jones wrote about new research highlighting the huge impact of predators — from spiders to birds — that control crop pests and so boost our food supplies.
Orla Dwyer and Yanine Quiroz wrote a Q&A explaining the EU Nature Restoration Law, its scientific basis and what it means for climate and biodiversity.

Tips And Resources

From biodiversity to zoonotic spillover — 20 tips from the Earth Journalism Network’s webinars.
Covering Climate Now’s 10 climate change myths debunked is now available in Spanish.
Wanjira Mathai of the World Resources Institute is giving a seminar on ‘Africa’s untold climate change stories’ — hosted by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism on 13 March — register here.
Climate Tracker has a webinar on ‘lithium, climate change and journalism in Latin America’ on 21 March — register here.

See past editions for more tips and resources.

Australia has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to eradicate invasive fire ants but the insects are still spreading, reports Daisy Dumas.
A new report by TRAFFIC highlights the scale of online illegal trade in live cheetahs.
Francis Vorhies and Wiseman Ndlovu wrote about how voluntary standards and technology can help ensure that the use of wild species benefits people and supports conservation.
Brian Roewe reported that leading Muslim scholars have urged Islamic countries and businesses to transition swiftly from fossil fuels, in a text called Al-Mizan: A Covenant for the Earth.
More than 400,000 songbirds were trapped and killed in Cyprus last autumn, reports Phoebe Weston.
Business leaders in Sweden and members of parliament in Finland are calling for the establishment in law of a new international crime of ecocide via the International Criminal Court.
Michèle Hamers says Canada must increase its number of wildlife enforcement officers and address the lack of data on commercial wildlife trade.
A report from WWF and partners says the Mekong River has more than 1,100 fish species, with a quarter of them found nowhere else and a fifth of those assessed being threatened with extinction.
BirdLife International published a 2024 update to its State of the World’s Birds report.
Human Rights Watch alleges that indigenous people in Cambodia have been forced off their ancestral land for a forest carbon offset project — see press release or the full report.
Giada Ferraglioni reported on a study that showed how debt-for-nature swaps can boost marine protected areas.
Journalists and editors have formed the Indonesian Reporters Alliance for Climate (INRACE).
The Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) published a report on how to close the funding gap for African elephant conservation.
Europe’s biggest pension fund plans to invest 1 billion euros in biodiversity by 2030.
UNEP published the Global Resources Outlook 2024 — forecasting that natural resource extraction will increase by 60 percent by 2060, with rich countries taking most of the spoils.

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From The Journals

In case you missed it, my latest round-up of new research included papers on: Bionic jellyfish. Climate change and African apes. Dodgy meat science. Fishing in marine protected areas. And much more… Read the summaries here.

Jobs And Opportunities

The Pulitzer Center is providing grants for journalists who want to report on rainforests in the Amazon, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia — rolling deadline.
The Indigenous Journalists Association’s 2024 Indigenous Media Awards are open for submissions — apply by 8 March.
Carbon Pulse is seeking a feature writer / sub-editor in North America to cover carbon and other environmental markets — apply here.
Carbon Pulse is seeking a correspondent in Latin America to cover carbon and other environmental markets — apply here.
The Gecko Project — a nonprofit doing investigative environmental journalism on rainforests, climate, corruption and more — is hiring an investigations editor. Apply by 29 March.
Journalismfund Europe’s Fossil Fuel Grant Programme supports cross-border teams of journalists to investigate and document unreported and unregulated wrongdoing by European fossil fuel companies — deadline 25 April.
The National Academies Eric and Wendy Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications are open for applicants — deadline 31 March.
The MIT Environmental Solutions Journalism Fellowship 2024 supports freelance and staff journalists associated with U.S. local/regional newsrooms — apply by 28 April.
The Bloomberg Green Docs contest for climate documentaries is open to all filmmakers and has a US$25,000 prize — deadline 26 April.

Bonus content: There are 32 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

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.

3-7 April 2024: The Society of Environmental Journalists holds its annual conference in Philadelphia, United States.

10-12 April 2024: The UN Ocean Decade Conference takes place in Barcelona, Spain.

15-17 April 2024: The 9th Our Ocean Conference takes place in Athens, Greece.

Bonus content: The full calendar for The Nature Beat’s supporters includes 57 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.

Whose Eye Was It?

The eye belongs to a southern lesser galago. Photo credit: Wade Tregaskis / 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.