Month: June 2021

Top investors BlackRock, Vanguard, State Street, PNB, EPF, GPIF, and KWAP all amongst lowest scoring The world’s 50 largest banks and investors are driving deforestation through weak policies and major investments in commodities which are linked to tropical rainforest destruction, according to new research by Forests & Finance –– a coalition of research groups and civil society...

Farmlands now cover more than one-third of the Earth's land surface and are perhaps our most vital ecosystems to sustain humankind. As well as supplying us with food, fodder, and fibre, arable fields and pastures host a bewildering variety of organisms from bats and birds to beetles and worms as well as considerable tree cover. Marked by centuries of human effort and ingenuity, these modified...

Urban areas occupy less than 1% of the Earth’s land surface but house more than half of its people. Despite their steel and concrete, crowds and traffic, cities and towns are still ecosystems whose condition profoundly marks the quality of our lives. Functioning urban ecosystems help clean our air and water, cool urban heat islands, and support our well-being by shielding us from hazards and...

Forests and trees make Earth liveable. They provide us with clean air and water. By storing vast amounts of carbon and moderating the climate, they are a critical defence against global heating. They are home to most of the planet’s amazing #biodiversity. They provide shade, recreation and a sense of well-being. And they support the livelihoods of billions of people around the world. Forest...

We live on a blue planet, with oceans and seas covering more than 70% of the Earth. Oceans feed us, regulate our climate, and generate most of the oxygen we breathe. They underpin key sectors of the economy such as tourism and fisheries. And they harbour #biodiversity from whales to plankton in habitats from sun-lit reefs to polar oceans. Despite their importance, #oceans and #coasts face...

Today (5 June) is World Environment Day and this year’s theme is “Ecosystem Restoration”. Ecosystems support all life on Earth. The healthier our ecosystems are, the healthier the planet – and its people. From forests and farmlands to freshwater, oceans and coasts, the vitality and diversity of Earth’s ecosystems are the basis of human prosperity and well-being. Yet we are degrading...

The pandemic we are facing is becoming endemic, meaning that it may stay with us forever (hopefully in a more controllable and less virulent form). And we will have to learn to live with nature and its many furies. We are a part of nature, NOT apart from nature. We think we are humankind and have become very arrogant about our cleverness and our abilities to do so many things without thinking...