World squanders over 1 billion meals a day – UN report
Nairobi – Households across all continents wasted over 1 billion meals a day in 2022, while 783 million people were affected by hunger and a third of humanity faced food insecurity. Food waste continues to hurt the global economy and fuel climate change, nature loss, and pollution. These are the key findings of a UN Environment Programme (UNEP) report...
Nuclear life extension not needed to decarbonise Europe
Renewables, energy savings, and flexibility options are positioned to replace nuclear power in the EU’s energy mix. A new EEB report highlights the feasibility of phasing out Europe’s ageing nuclear fleet and achieving climate neutrality by 2040.
Building new nuclear power plants remains an unrealistic strategy for decarbonisation due to high cost overruns and lengthy construction times. However, the debate over...
Why Are Companies Reneging On Emissions Reductions?
In February 2024, three major investment companies stepped back from efforts to limit climate-damaging emissions. JPMorgan Chase’s and State Street’s investment arms have both quit a global investor alliance encouraging companies to avoid emissions, and BlackRock has largely limited its involvement. These companies aren’t the only ones backing out on climate agreements. In 2023, Amazon dropped an effort to...
Transforming food systems could create multi-trillion dollars of economic benefits every year
Transforming food systems around the world would lead to socio-economic benefits summing up to 5 to 10 trillion USD a year, shows a new global policy report produced by leading economists and scientists of the Food System Economics Commission (FSEC). The most ambitious and comprehensive study of food system economics so far underlines that food systems are currently destroying...
One of the World’s Most Iconic Lowland Gorillas, Kingo, of the Republic of Congo, Has Died of Old Age
Djéké Triangle Forest, Republic of Congo – One of the world’s most iconic lowland gorillas, Kingo, who was featured in international news media and inspired three decades of conservation, was found dead on Dec. 26, 2023. Lowland gorillas are listed as Critically Endangered by IUCN. Kingo's age is estimated to be 45 years. The cause of his death is...
Antarctic krill head south
Some populations of Antarctic krill are shifting south, closer to Antarctica, as ocean warming and sea-ice changes alter their habitat.
Scientists fear the movement of krill will have a negative impact on predators like whales, seals and penguins, and alter broader ocean ecosystem functions.
The finding, published in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment today, comes after an international scientific team, led...
Lost tap-dancing spider rediscovered barricaded in a burrow in a small Portuguese town after 92 years
An expedition team, led by the Global Center for Species Survival at the Indianapolis Zoo, has rediscovered a species of trapdoor spider that had been lost to science since it was first described by a pioneering female entomologist in 1931. Fagilde’s trapdoor spider (Nemesia berlandi) is the 12th most wanted lost species to be rediscovered since Re:wild’s Search for...
Future floods: Global warming intensifies heavy rain – even more than expected
The intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall increases exponentially with global warming, a new study finds. The analysis by researchers from the Potsdam Institute of Climate Impact Research (PIK) shows that state-of-the-art climate models significantly underestimate how much extreme rainfall increases under global warming – meaning that extreme rainfall could increase quicker than climate models suggest.
“Our study confirms that...
Global efforts show progress on plastic pollution is possible – but world remains off track
United Kingdom – The biggest global voluntary effort to tackle plastic pollution and waste shows it is possible to make progress on a pressing environmental issue, yet tougher measures are now needed to curb the crisis, according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation.
Since 2018, more than 1,000 organisations have given their backing to the Global Commitment, led by the Foundation...
Everyone is likely overexposed to BPA – EU
Our exposure to a common plastic additive linked to breast cancer and obesity likely exceeds health thresholds set by governments worldwide.
The European Environment Agency, citing updated research data, said the new findings raise "significant health concerns" for the entire European population – and, by extension, anyone who comes into frequent contact with plastic.
The agency cited a study that found...
Biden Designates Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument
GRAND CANYON NATIONAL PARK, Ariz.— President Biden used the Antiquities Act today to designate the Baaj Nwaavjo I’tah Kukveni – Ancestral Footprints of the Grand Canyon National Monument in northern Arizona, permanently protecting nearly 1 million acres of public land surrounding the iconic national park. Proposed to the Biden administration by the Grand Canyon Tribal Coalition, Baaj Nwaavjo means...
Amazon in the firetrap: Deforestation and warming lock rainforest in dry and damaged grassland state
Global warming and drastic deforestation could dry out the Amazon rainforest faster and enforce the risk of keeping it downright fire-trapped. A new study published in Nature Communications Earth and Environment shows: Fire can be a decisive factor for a potential tipping of the Amazon rainforest, as it is capable of locking large parts of the Amazon in a...
