Nature Beat #49

Updates, stories, resources and opportunities

Dec 03, 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

Biodiversity: The COP16 biodiversity conference ran out of time to complete its agenda last month, and will resume from 25-27 February in Rome, Italy. Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) will meet there to complete negotiations on agenda items including a strategy for raising US$200 billion by 2030 — see the CBD Secretariat’s press release.

Climate in court: From 2-13 December, the International Court of Justice will consider the legal obligations of states to protect the climate system and the legal consequences for states that fail to do so. The court will hear oral arguments from more than 100 states and international organizations. For background, see Meena Menon’s primer. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin has daily reports from the court.

Plastics treaty: Last week’s international negotiations that were intended to agree a global treaty on plastics collapsed. Countries including Saudi Arabia and Russia that are major producers of oil — the source of most plastics — blocked agreement on curbs on plastic production and said the treaty should focus instead on dealing with plastic waste. Opposing this stance were more than 100 countries demanding a more ambitious treaty. The talks will resume in 2025, using the latest ‘Chair’s Text’ as the basis for negotiations. Researchers Steve Fletcher and Samuel Winton explain three key issues that negotiators must resolve.

Desertification: The 16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) takes place from 2-13 December 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin has a preview and daily coverage and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature has published its recommendations here. As Simon Jessop and Pesha Magid report, the head of the UNCCD, Ibrahim Thiaw, says that restoring the world's degraded land and stopping the spread of deserts will require US$2.6 trillion in investment by the end of the decade — that’s about one billion dollars per day.

In The Spotlight

Arathi Menon reported from a hotspot of human-tiger conflict in India, where climate change and other factors are increasing the number of tiger attacks and local people’s anxiety and grief.
Gustavo Faleiros — with an archived guest appearance from Thom Yorke of Radiohead — shared his thoughts on whether journalists should embrace the madness of the annual climate change negotiations — also available in Portuguese.
Karl Mathiesen told the inside story of the COP29 climate conference and explored the prospects for a multilateral process whose future is in doubt.
Zhang Yiyi interviewed scientist Gao Jixi about how China’s conservation system of ‘ecological redlines’ could help other countries to protect their biodiversity.

On 6 December, conservation biologist Joe Roman will discuss his book, Eat Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World, on the role of animals in the nitrogen, phosphorous, and carbon cycles — register here to join online.
The new season of Nature Insight, the podcast from the Intergovernmental Panel on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, begins on 4 December.
The Journalism Centre on Global Trafficking and Wildlife SOS invite South Asian journalists to a webinar on 10 December on wildlife trafficking for the exotic pet trade, and a chance to apply for reporting grants — register here.
For analysis of the outcomes of the COP29 climate change conference that relate to food, forests, land and nature, see the Carbon Brief team’s detailed roundup or Nature4Climate’s summary.

See past editions for more tips and resources.

What Caught My Eye

Cambodian authorities arrested five environmentalists for investigating illegal logging in a national park, reports Sebastian Strangio.
After 46 years of tree planting, China has completed a 3,000-km-long green belt around its biggest desert to stop the sand from spreading.
International demand for the aromatic ‘wood of the gods’ puts rare trees at risk, according to research from TRAFFIC.
Siripannee Supratya wrote about the use of strategic lawsuits to deter environmental activists and journalists in Thailand.
In Brazil, 80 percent of croplands and pastures rely on rainfall generated by forests in Indigenous lands in the Amazon, according to a new study summarized here by Cristiane Fontes.
Norway has cancelled its first licensing round for deep-sea mining in the Arctic following pressure from activists and a small political party, reports Shanna Hanbury.
An investigation by Global Witness and Kalikasan highlights threats to biodiversity and Indigenous communities in the Philippines from mining for minerals critical to the green energy transition.
Global demand for shark meat has doubled since 2005, according to a huge new report from IUCN that warns of extinction threats for a third of all shark and ray species.
A luxury yacht building company in the United Kingdom was fined more than £350,000 for using teak imported illegally from Myanmar.
Car tyres — or tires for North American readers — shed a quarter of all microplastics in the environment.
UNESCO launched the International Decade of Sciences for Sustainable Development — see press release.

From The Journals

Artificial intelligence can help countries align national biodiversity targets with global goals — read the full paper.
Wildfires threaten the sustainability of California’s forest carbon offset program — read the full paper.
The sudden deaths of 350 elephants in Botswana in 2020 may have been caused by toxic algae that bloomed as a result of climate change — read the press release or the full paper.
Major factors for success and failure of conservation programs in Europe — read the full paper.
Feeding cattle seaweed cuts their emissions of climate-changing methane by almost 40 percent — read the press release or the full paper.

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Jobs And Opportunities

The Earth Journalism Network is hiring senior journalists and media trainers to mentor journalists producing stories on environmental issues in the Mediterranean region — deadline 31 December.
EJN also has grants of US$5,000–10,000 for media outlets, NGOs, academic institutions and other groups to support journalism activities related to environmental crimes in the Amazon Region in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru — deadline 6 February.
The Logan Science Journalism Program at the University of Chicago's Marine Biological Laboratory invites US-based environment journalists to apply for intensive workshops — deadline 15 January.
Journalismfund.eu has grants for investigative environmental journalism — deadline 23 January.

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

10-16 December 2024: The 11th Session of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services plenary will take place in Windhoek, Namibia. The provisional agenda is here.

10-13 December 2024: The annual meeting of the British Ecological Society takes place in Liverpool, England.

Bonus content: The full calendar for Global Nature Beat’s supporters includes 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 pied shag. Photo credit: Bernard Spragg / Flickr — Creative Commons

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