The UNESCO World Heritage Committee has decided to remove Salonga National Park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo from the List of World Heritage in Danger. The decision follows clarification “provided by the national authorities that the oil concessions overlapping with the property are null and void and that these blocks will be excluded from future … [Read more...]
Restoring our ecosystems one change at a time
Life on earth is symbiotic; each component within the ecosystem plays a significant role. The decline of the bee population and its effect on food systems is a timely reminder of just how interconnected everything really is. However, as urbanization, intensive farming and resource extraction increases, so we are witnessing the fragmentation of the environment even further. … [Read more...]
Protecting biodiversity with better waste management
For the past 50 years, human activities have dramatically reduced biodiversity across the globe. We have, through our actions, extinguished our habitats and reduced populations of plants and wild animals by up to 60% so that today, our natural resources and the species on our planet are under threat – from us. In fact, the negative impact we have made is astounding. Just … [Read more...]
German bank funding deforestation in Cameroon
For the second time in 12 months, Deutsche Bank is about to violate its own Environmental and Social Policy Framework. By mid-2021, the bank is expected to transfer the second tranche of a 25m USD loan to Singapore-based rubber giant Halcyon Agri, knowingly overlooking its record of human rights violations, non-transparency, and some of the most devastating deforestation in … [Read more...]
Civil society calls for protection of the Congo Basin peatlands
In a petition addressed to Multilateral Development Banks, Member States of the African Union, Member States of the United Nations, and donor countries and partners of the Central African Forest Initiative, the African Climate Reality Project is calling for world leaders to save the Congo basin peatlands from oil exploration and corruption. The Congo Basin, home to the … [Read more...]
EU must tackle forest destruction to reduce the risk of pandemics
While the world continues to grapple with the devastating consequences of Covid-19, WWF is calling for urgent action to address the key drivers it has identified which will cause future zoonotic disease outbreaks. In a new report Covid-19: Urgent Call to Protect People and Nature, WWF identifies a number of environmental factors which drive the emergence of zoonotic … [Read more...]
The reemergence of Europe’s biggest wild cat
Here is some good news about humans learning to live in peace with nature. Indeed, both CAN thrive together. This is the only sustainable future. The Eurasian lynx was once quite common in most of Europe. However, their abundance has been dramatically reduced in the last two centuries due to hunting, landscape changes and deforestation. With the 11th of June celebrated as … [Read more...]
Let’s help make ecocide a crime
A growing number of people believe ecocide should be recognised as an atrocity crime at the International Criminal Court - alongside Genocide, War Crimes and Crimes Against Humanity. Ecocide is serious loss, damage or destruction of ecosystems, and includes climate and cultural damage. Any member state, however small, can propose an amendment to the International Criminal … [Read more...]
Meet the Brazilian tribe fighting to save the Amazon
Brazil's National Institute for Space Research has reported over 80,000 fires in the country as of Sunday night, with more than half of these in the Amazon region. This coupled with an 85% increase in deforestation this year compared to last, and a rate of deforestation at one and a half football pitches a minute, is threatening the future of the world’s largest tropical … [Read more...]
Sustainable palm oil-certified pies a step in the right direction
Most responsible consumers are worried about the environmental, animal and social destruction of palm oil plantations and wonder how to negotiate their shopping without adding to the damage. Woolworths pies are the first South African food products to be certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). Early in 2018, Woolworths launched South Africa’s first … [Read more...]
HSBC: what they’ve said about funding deforestation, and why it’s wrong
Over three weeks ago, we exposed how HSBC is funding palm oil companies that are tearing up Indonesia's forests. Since then, thousands of emails have been sent to the CEO. Now HSBC is responding to those emails, but what it's saying is at times misguided, and other times just plain wrong. More than 200,000 people across the world - including many HSBC customers - have … [Read more...]
New reserve possible game-changer for the Amazon
An ambitious project is underway to create the largest environmental reserve in the world, protecting 135 million hectares of Amazon forest. That’s more than twice the size of France! But it won’t happen unless Brazil, Colombia and Venezuela’s leaders know the public wants it. That’s where we come in. Colombia has just said it is on board. Now, if we create a huge global … [Read more...]
Nordic consumer giant commits to No Deforestation
Nordic consumer goods giant, Orkla, which also owns Indian brand MTR Foods, today committed to remove forest destruction from the palm oil it uses in its products. “This policy covers one of the biggest palm oil buyers in the Nordic countries and is the first to cover a major brand originating in India. People power is driving enormous change in the industry. This means … [Read more...]
