Nature Beat #5
Updates, stories, resources and opportunities
Welcome to the latest edition of the The 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
Wildlife trade: The Earth Negotiations Bulletin published its full report on what happened at the meeting of the Steering Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that ended on 10 November. The Environmental Investigation Agency was also at the meeting and has produced its own summary of highs and lows.
UK puts nature at heart of international development policy: On 20 November, the UK government published a White Paper outlining the UK’s plan “to accelerate progress to eliminate extreme poverty, and address climate change and biodiversity loss”.
Biodiversity credits: The International Advisory Panel on Biodiversity Credits (IAPBC), led by France and the United Kingdom, will this week launch a public consultation on a framework for an international market in biodiversity credits. The IAPBC will present its concept for a global biodiversity market in December at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai. It aims to finalize the framework in time for the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD COP16) in October 2024. Read all about it in Thomas Cox’s report for Carbon Pulse.
UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD): Parties to the CBD met to develop a work programme to enhance the participation of indigenous Peoples and local communities in the implementation of the CBD and its Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework. More talks are needed before the programme can be adopted at COP16 next year. See the press release. Parties also met to discuss a multilateral mechanism to share benefits from the use of digital sequence information on genetic resources. See the press release.
National Biodiversity Strategies and Action Plans (NBSAPs): A report published on 16 November says that countries are failing to align their NBSAPs with commitments to respect Indigenous and community rights. Last year, Parties to the CBD committed to updating their NBSAPs by October 2024. The report warns that countries must radically change their approaches to avoid harming Indigenous and other local communities as they implement the Global Biodiversity Framework. See the press release or the full report.
Crop diversity: The Global Crop Diversity Summit 2023 took place on 14 November. It focused on the role of gene banks, such as seed banks, in preserving and restoring crop diversity. The Earth Negotiations Bulletin (ENB) has a summary here. Staying on this topic, the governing body of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is meeting from 20-24 November. See the agenda, press releases and so on. ENB’s daily coverage is here.
In The Spotlight
Congratulations to Ainslie Cruickshank, biodiversity reporter for The Narwhal, who won a Webster Award for her story on efforts to stop invasive crabs damaging coastal ecosystems.
The Society of Environmental Journalists announced the winner of the 2023 Nina Mason Pulliam Award for Outstanding Environmental Reporting. Congratulations to Terrence McCoy, Júlia Ledur and Cecília do Lago, and photographers Raphael Alves and Rafael Vilela, for "The Amazon, Undone" in the Washington Post.
This special feature by Reuters Graphics beautifully lays out the arguments for and against deep-sea mining. It covers the growing demand for metals and minerals, attempts to regulate mining, and threats to marine life and ecosystems — great work by Daisy Chung, Ernest Scheyder and Clare Trainor. And they’ve made a video version too.
Environment journalist Peter Yeung has started a newsletter called Field Notes. His first edition gathers stories from his current journey through Peru.
Tips And Resources
Environment journalists Stephen Leahy and Christian Schwägerl are speaking at an online event on Protecting Biodiversity from the Impacts of Climate Change on 23 November. Find information on the event, speakers and how to register here.
Journalists from Brazil, Colombia, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Senegal will discuss challenges and risks they face when reporting on solutions to the climate crisis, in this webinar on 27 November.
The European Journalism Centre wants feedback about the kind of support and resources it could provide — complete the survey if you are based in Europe and you could win a trip to the International Journalism Festival in Perugia.
On 27 November, Julia Jones, Professor of Conservation Science at Bangor University, will give a talk called “Is conservation working?” — you can watch online here but must register. If you miss it, a recording will be available here.
Born Free invites journalists to its ‘Beyond Zoos’ event on 29 November. You can attend online or in person, at the Royal Geographical Society in London. Journalists can contact India Camm at india@bornfree.org.uk to register.
On 29 November, IUCN has a webinar on ocean defenders who are protecting the marine environment and human rights, often at great personal risk.
In Focus: Plastics Treaty Negotiations
Representatives of more than 160 governments met in Kenya last week for the third of five negotiating sessions aimed at developed a global treaty on plastic pollution. During the talks, the 'zero draft' of the treaty trebled in size to over 100 pages, as more options were added. As expected, oil-producing countries attempted to limit progress and ambition. Lobbyists from the fossil fuel and chemical industries were also present in force — they outnumbered government delegates from 70 countries combined, according to the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL).
CIEL says the talks “fell far short of the progress needed to deliver an ambitious treaty on an equally ambitious timeline” — see CIEL’s full statement. The meeting was meant to agree on work to take place before the next negotiating session, but failed to do so. WWF urges the ambitious majority of nations to “take the process in their own hands” in the coming months.
You can read the Earth Negotiations Bulletin’s coverage of the meeting here. The next negotiating session is in April 2024, in Ottawa, Canada. The aim is to complete negotiations by the end of that year. Find out more about the process here, or read an interview with Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, Executive Secretary of the Secretariat steering the negotiations.
What Caught My Eye
Questions abound about an Indonesian UN security officer’s conviction in Kenya for ivory trafficking.
Colombia’s environment ministry launched a Fund for Life and Biodiversity that will manage close to US$1 billion by 2026 — read about it in English or Spanish.
Canada, Mexico and the United States have committed to continue collaboration on conservation and sustainable use of protected areas.
The UK published a 2023 update to its national biodiversity indicators. Giving examples, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said the indicators “paint a bleak picture”.
WILDLABS published the State of Conservation Technology 2023 report.
Indonesia’s ‘orangutan capital’ faces ongoing deforestation for palm oil production.
Researchers used wildlife photos posted to Facebook to improve habitat maps and identify priority areas for conservation in Bangladesh.
“It's like fighting a ghost." — A secretive project of the Mexican government is building an industrial train route through habitat for jaguars, black bears and ocelots.
WWF launched Ocean Futures to provide early warnings of future hotspots of conflict and food insecurity relating to fisheries in the changing climate — see the press release.
Pangolin trafficking in the countries of Central Africa generates illicit trade worth nearly US$ 700 million each year according to this investigation by Data Cameroon.
Chatham House published a briefing on the rationale for putting climate and biodiversity finance directly into the hands of Indigenous Peoples and local communities — and how to make it happen.
The EU is criminalizing environmental damage ‘comparable to ecocide’.
Marine heatwaves can affect biodiversity in ways that cascade into economic and social impacts. The Economist joins the dots.
Jobs And Opportunities
The Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History is offering writing internships, with stipends, on ocean science and natural history — deadline 22 November.
Carbon Pulse is seeking a biodiversity correspondent to focus on emerging markets for biodiversity credits — apply here.
China Dialogue seeks an Asia-Pacific editor and so does The Third Pole — deadline for both positions is 1 December.
EJN is offering media organizations up to US$15,000 for projects that address environmental and climate news fatigue in the Asia-Pacific region, and has grants for journalists to cover environmental crime in the Amazon.
Mongabay is offering partially paid internships — deadline 28 November — and is hiring a newswire editor, a researcher on the solutions desk, and a video production coordinator.
GRID-Arendal has grants for journalists investigating environmental crimes such as poaching and illegal logging — deadline 4 December.
Apply to join the Pulitzer Center’s Rainforest Investigations Network — deadline 20 December — or apply for a grant from the Rainforest Journalism Fund.
The Pulitzer Center 's ocean initiative is also accepting proposals from journalists and will re-open applications for its Ocean Reporting Network in March-April 2024. Find out more here.
You can submit your work for the next edition of The Best American Science and Nature Writing, so long as it appeared in any North American publication in 2023 — deadline 20 December.
The Knight Science Journalism Program at MIT offers nine-month fellowships. I know a few journalists who have completed this program and they all loved it. Apply by 15 January 2024.
On The Horizon
30 November 2023: COP28, the 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), will take place in the United Arab Emirates and will run until 12 December. See the UNFCCC’s media page.
21-30 April 2024: The International Negotiating Committee developing a treaty to address plastic pollution will hold its fourth of five negotiating sessions in Ottawa, Canada.
May 2024: The UN Convention on Biological Diversity’s two subsidiary bodies will meet to finalize the approach for monitoring implementation of the Global Biodiversity Framework.
16-21 June 2024: The World Biodiversity Forum will take place in Davos, Switzerland.
18-20 June 2024: The Nature-Based Solutions conference will be in Oxford, United Kingdom, and online.
12-17 February 2024: The 14th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS COP14), will take place in Samarkand, Uzbekistan.
21 October 2024: COP16, the 16th Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, is due to take place on 21 October to 1 November.
Whose Eye Was It?
The eye belongs to a southern rockhopper penguin. Photo credit: Wade Tregaskis / Flickr — Creative Commons
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