Nature Beat #43

Updates, stories, resources and opportunities

Sep 21, 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

New York, New York: It is a busy time in New York City. The UN’s Summit of the Future takes place there on 22-23 September — see the press kit or the Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s preview. The Summit will start with world leaders adopting a negotiated ‘Pact for the Future’. Thin Lei Win has been tracking the pact’s evolution through several drafts — here is the latest — and I recommend her analysis.

The World Economic Forum's Sustainable Development Impact Meetings also take place in New York, from 23-27 September. They will focus on climate change, nature and the energy transition —see the preview here. Overlapping both events is Climate Week NYC, on 22-29 September. Nature4Climate has a preview of what to expect at the Nature Hub, including ten planned announcements.

Whaling moratorium: The 69th Meeting of the International Whaling Commission takes place on 23-27 in Lima, Peru. Among the more contentious resolutions that members will vote on, is one that concerns moves towards lifting the moratorium on whaling and “orderly development of the whaling industry”. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin has a useful preview of the meeting and background on the IWC, whose former chair recently said it risks becoming a ‘zombie’ and should close down.

Climate and nature diplomacy: The United Kingdom is putting climate change and nature loss at the heart of its foreign policy, according to Foreign Secretary David Lammy. In a speech on 17 September, he said the impacts of climate change "are failures of politics, of regulation, and of international cooperation", and pledged that "action on the climate and nature crisis will be central to all that the Foreign Office does". Lammy announced that the UK will appoint a Special Representative for Nature and a Special Representative for Climate Change.

Countdown to COP16: The sixteenth conference of parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) — or COP16 — takes place next month. The agenda for the high-level segment is now available — ministers will focus on implementation, finance and climate change, and Colombia will launch a Coalition for Peace with Nature.

In The Spotlight

Denise Hruby spent the past year as a Nieman fellow studying how journalists can improve reporting on climate change and biodiversity — listen to her talking about her work on the CARC podcast, or read the transcript here.
Shuimo Trust Dohyee wrote about journalists in Cameroon getting to grips with ocean reporting for the first time, prompted by the European Union banning imports of the country’s fish because of concerns about illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
On the Mongabay podcast, Mike DiGirolamo spoke with features writer Gerry Flynn about his recent story with freelancer Nehru Pry that exposed how a well-connected mining company had seized a community forest in Cambodia.

Tips And Resources

On 23 September, Covering Climate Now is holding an online press briefing, with Christiana Figueres, Tim Lenton and Mark Hertsgaard discussing positive tipping points that can change the climate story — register here.
Reporting on plastic in the ocean? The Pulitzer Center and GRID-Arendal have a webinar for you on 26 September — register here to join journalists Yogi Tujuliarto and Aryn Baker, and GRID-Arendal expert Lars Stordal.
On 23 September the CBD Secretariat is webcasting a press conference on what to expect at COP16. The speakers are Astrid Schomaker, the Executive Secretary of the CBD, and Susana Muhamad, the COP16 President and Colombia’s Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development — full details are here.
On 1 October, IUCN is holding a webinar to outline its priorities for COP16 — register here.
On 3 October, SEI-Asia will host a webinar on nature-based solutions to biodiversity loss, climate change and land degradation in South and Southeast Asia.

See past editions for more tips and resources.

In Focus: Fortress Conservation

As countries act to expand protected areas, there are concerns that this will mean more ‘fortress conservation’ that excludes or evicts local people, and often results in human rights abuses at the hands of park guards. This is very much a live issue. The following stories are all from the past week:

Adivasi people in India have held mass protests against forced evictions from their forests to make way for tiger reserves — see Survival International’s press release.
Batwa people in the Democratic Republic of the Congo celebrated the recent ruling by the African Commission of Human and Peoples Rights that their eviction from ancestral lands to create a national park had violated their rights. The Commission called on the DRC government to act to restore the Batwa people’s rights to their land. In a new story, Fred Pearce reports in depth on the case, the wider implications of the ruling, and doubts over whether it will be implemented in the DRC.
In Tanzania, Bobby Bascomb reported on the plight of Maasai women evicted from their ancestral land in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
Ashoka Mukpo reported that a review by the US Government Accountability Office found that US government agencies funding conservation projects overseas are not doing enough to address the risk of human rights abuses.
On 18 September, Catholic bishops in Africa urged the European Union to ensure that biodiversity projects it funds uphold the rights of indigenous people.

Is India’s forest cover in steep decline or rising fast? It all hinges on how the government defines forest and, as Bhasker Tripathi reports, the country’s environmental court is investigating.
The US Global Change Research Program seeks public comments on the proposed themes and topics of the first US National Nature Assessment.
A court has ordered the Forest Department of Tamil Nadu state in southern India to destroy its stockpile of 1.83 tonnes of elephant ivory, reports SV Krishna Chaitanya.
TRAFFIC published research on bushmeat supply chains and zoonotic disease risks in Cameroon.
Dialogue Earth interviewed scientist Thomas Davies about the overlooked impacts of light pollution on marine ecosystems.
A study showed that protected areas largely fail to prevent forest loss, reports Sergio Colombo.
The head of the World Resources Institute, Ani Dasgupta, outlines what he thinks the major intergovernmental meetings in the next three months must achieve for people, nature and climate.
Focusing on species loss overlooks the loss of wildlife populations, say ecologists Paul Ehrlich, Rodolfo Dirzo and Gerardo Ceballos — interviewed here about their new book on the topic.
Facing drought and food shortages, Zimbabwe has ordered a cull of 200 elephants.
An overview of trends in rhino poaching, horn seizures and convictions of traffickers — by Olivia Swaak-Goldman for the Wildlife Justice Commission.

In Focus: Finance For — And Against — Nature

Development finance: On 18 September, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported that development finance for biodiversity provided by the 32 members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee reached a record high of US$7.1 billion in 2022 — an 8 percent increase since 2015. Total development finance for biodiversity from a range of sources including the private sector increased by 112 percent over that period, to US$15.4 billion. See the OECD press release or full report.

Impact investment: On 20 September, Climate Asset Management announced that it had raised more than US$1 billion to invest in natural capital projects including regenerative agriculture and sustainable forestry.

Harmful subsidies: Meanwhile, state subsidies to economic activities that harm nature or contribute to climate change are growing fast, according to research from Earth Track. In 2023, they reached US$2.6 trillion — a real-terms increase of US$570 billion since 2021

Tools new and old: Audrey Tan and David Fogarty reported on some of the new tools for financing conservation – from rhino bonds to biodiversity credits. Nature4Climate assessed the potential of 14 sources of finance to keep forests standing.

From The Journals

The proposed UK law to ban imports of hunting trophies could do overall harm to wildlife whereas a ‘smart ban’ would exempt hunting that benefits local people and wildlife — read the full paper.
A new threat to conservation: land grabs by large tourism developers inside public protected areas — read the full paper.
Antarctic krill can lock away similar levels of carbon as seagrass and mangroves — read the press release or the full paper.
After 20 years, there is adequate evidence of risks from microplastics for global action, and research into solutions is now needed — read the press release or the full paper.

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Jobs And Opportunities

The Solutions Journalism Network and the European Journalism Centre invite media leaders to join a 10-month fellowship programme aimed at revolutionizing how climate issues are reported across Europe — deadline 6 October.
Nature has a 6-9 month vacancy for a features editor for stories on biological research — deadline 6 October.
Dialogue Earth has a year-long fellowship programme for Indigenous journalists to produce stories and attend the COP30 climate change conference in Brazil next year — deadline 13 October.
EJN has grants to Indigenous and tribal journalists reporting on environmental and climate issues — deadline 16 October.
UNESCO invites funding proposals for projects that enhance the legal protection of journalists covering the environment and reduce impunity for crimes against them — deadline 18 October.
The Washington Post is hiring an ‘accountability reporter, climate and environment’.
The University of Colorado, Boulder is hiring a professor of environmental journalism — deadline 31 October.
Dialogue Earth invites journalists aged 18-25 in Southeast Asia to enter its Instagram reel contest for climate stories — deadline 31 October.
Investigative Reporters & Editors are offering fellowships for a day-long training on climate and environment reporting on 25 October in New York City.

Bonus content: There are 25 jobs, grants, fellowships and other opportunities listed here for Global Nature Beat’s paying supporters. Paid subscriptions are less than £1 per week. A free seven-day trial is available.

On The Horizon

23-26 September 2024: A CITES dialogue meeting on trade in live African elephants will take place in Maun, Botswana.

27-28 September 2024: The European Solutions Journalism Summit 2024 takes place in Prague, Czech Republic.

30 September-3 October 2024: IUCN's Europe, North and Central Asia Regional Conservation Forum takes place in Bruges, Belgium.

1-2 October 2024: IUCN's Canada Regional Conservation Forum takes place in Ottawa.

Bonus content: The full calendar for Global Nature Beat’s supporters includes 45 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 Panamanian golden frog. Photo credit: Brian Gratwicke / 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.