Topic: Nature

“At COP26, we ask you to speak out for the ocean as it has no spokesperson, no government, no pavilion or voice. Without a healthy ocean, we cannot hope to combat climate change. The two are fundamentally interlinked, it would be as if to ride a bike without wheels, or sail a boat without canvas. It just will not work.”

Scale for Resilience, a new initiative aimed at unlocking the capital needed to finance nature based solutions at scale, will be launched on September 14.

“In 2009, I was in my first semester in college when typhoon Ketsana struck the Philippines and nearly took my life. Many would look at supertyphoon Haiyan in 2013 as the turning point for climate action in my country,” climate campaigner from the Philippines, John Leo Algo’s letter to leaders.

There is a huge opportunity to better harness ocean resources in a responsible manner to provide nutritious, safe and nature-positive food, explains Sophie Ryan, CEO of the Global Salmon Initiative.

We need a new generation of financial backers from institutional investors to family offices, and from banks to insurers to put capital to work in the ocean, write Chip Cunliffe and Karen Sack, Ocean Risk and Resilience Action Alliance.

“She’s shouting. Howling at you! And so am I, so are all of us. That you presume to represent” – activist, author and founder of Planetari, Cindy Forde’s contribution to the Our World in Your Hands project.

The only way to reverse some of these catastrophic patterns, and to regain a kind of stability in climate and weather systems, is “climate repair”, argues David King & Jane Lichtenstein from the University of Cambridge.

“I’m not certain how much the natural world will have changed but I am certain that my children or grandchildren will ask me, who did this?” Kenyan climate activist, Elizabeth Wathuti’s letter to world leaders.

Today is Earth Overshoot Day. The date that tells us that we’ve once again used up all biological resources that our planet regenerates during a year. 

“Climate change isn’t about countries: it’s about people. It’s about the world we want to live in for generations to come and the species we share it with. In other words, it’s far too important to leave just to world leaders – this crisis requires all of us to step up” – Governor of California, Gavin Newsom explains what’s at stake.

“Please, reach into your dreams. Into a future that can be. And draw what you see.” – Peggy Liu, Chair of the Joint US-China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE).

“Africa for years has been experiencing the impacts of climate change and these are becoming more and more catastrophic. It has been our past, it is our present and might become our future if we don’t Act Now.” Ugandan Climate Activist, Evelyn Acham’s submission to the Our World in Your Hands project.

Every human and natural system — from oil extraction to the flight of a flock of starlings — can be seen as a set of repeating patterns. These patterns can be disrupted for good or for bad, says Nigel Topping, the High Level Climate Action Champion for COP26. He shares three rules of radical collaboration that could positively disrupt the patterns of the global economy and help humanity tackle the world’s greatest threat: climate change.

We know the problems, but we also know the solutions. The challenge is turning these solutions into actions, by swaying leaders at all levels of society to protect the mangroves still standing and restore what has been lost, argues a new report from the Global Mangrove Alliance (GMA)

Mangrove forests cover just 0.5% of the world’s coasts but account for an estimated 10-15% of coastal carbon capture. As we try to stop CO₂ levels rising and put the brakes on climate change, protecting mangroves for their blue carbon value is key, argues Adam Moolna, Keele University.

Mbaarak Abdalla from Mombasa County, Kenya, explains in his letter for Our World in Your Hands, why he is on a mission to restore and safeguard the mangroves.

Mangroves are a vital ecosystem that benefit our environment, economy, and communities. Yet they severely under threat. An estimated 67% of historical mangrove habitat has been lost or degraded worldwide, with 20% occurring since 1980. One of the biggest threats to mangroves is the tourism industry. Here’s how we can turn this ship around.

A new study that mapped the “blue carbon” uptake from marine and coastal ecosystems around the world highlights how natural sinks and climate change redistribute wealth around the globe.

Actions to conserve, restore, or improve the management of land and coastal ecosystems must be integral to corporate climate strategies, argues a new report from multistakeholder coalition, The Natural Climate Solutions Alliance.

If you could write a letter that would be read by the world’s leaders, what would you say?

The heathcare sector has a responsibility to train, educate, advocate and influence decision and policy-makers, collaborate widely through its research work, and engage the youth in inclusive programmes, according to Dr Claire Bayntun, Vice President of the Royal Society of Medicine.