Restoring and protecting nature is one of the greatest strategies for tackling climate change, but not just for the obvious reason that it sucks carbon out the air. Forests, wetlands, and other ecosystems act as buffers against extreme weather, protecting houses, crops, water supplies and vital infrastructure. The strategy of …
In the past 50 years, Ethiopia has lost 98% of its forested areas. To mediate this, it planted an estimated 350 million trees in just a single day in 2019. Their success has inspired other countries, like Pakistan, India and China to do the same. Annually, 18 million hectares of …
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the Arbor Day Foundation announced the first cities to be recognized under the Tree Cities of the World programme, designed to help create more resilient and sustainable cities. Among the first-movers were capital cities such as Ljubljana, Quito, Paris, Yerevan, …
Attempts to solve the climate crisis by cutting carbon emissions from only cars, factories and power plants are doomed to failure, scientists will warn this week. A leaked draft of a report on climate change and land use, which is now being debated in Geneva by the Intergovernmental Panel on …
On July 29, humanity will have used nature’s resource budget for the entire year, according to Global Footprint Network, an international sustainability organization that has pioneered the Ecological Footprint. The Ecological Footprint adds up all of people’s competing demands for biologically productive areas – food, timber, fibers, carbon sequestration, and …
Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula is home to clear blue seas, golden sands and a glorious backdrop that includes ancient Mayan ruins. Millions flock to its resorts every year and tourism is vital to the area’s economy. But now much of the coast is covered in heaps of rotting seaweed, contributing to …
Humanity is devouring our planet’s resources in increasingly destructive volumes, according to a new study that reveals we have consumed a year’s worth of carbon, food, water, fibre, land and timber in a record 212 days. As a result, the Earth Overshoot Day – which marks the point at which …
