The National Biodiversity Authority has released a new set of rules to manage sharing of benefits generated through the use of biological resources. The Biological Diversity (Access to biological Resources and Knowledge Associated thereto and Fair and Equitable Sharing of Benefits) Regulation 2025 was approved by the Central government and …
This paper seeks to understand the potential for existing NBS-centered initiatives to better incorporate climate adaptation, thereby contributing to broader adaptation efforts needed to combat the climate emergency. It explores the barriers these initiatives face to offering enhanced adaptation support, as well as existing and new opportunities for accelerating adaptation …
Climate change is causing ecoregions to shift in the Hindu Kush Himalayas, threatening both ecosystem services and biodiversity in the region. As these ecoregions shift, important ecological processes may be disrupted and species ranges may begin to move outside the protected areas that were designed to conserve them. Although transboundary …
Commissioned by WWF and conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research, the report “Impacts of plastic pollution in the oceans on marine species, biodiversity and ecosystems'' notes that microplastic concentrations above a threshold level of 1.21 x 105 items per cubic metre have now …
The State of Finance for Nature in the G20 report attempts to capture the complete amount and future need for G20 country spending on nature-based solutions assets and activities. It reveals that current G20 investments in nature-based solutions are insufficient, at USD 120 billion/year, and G20 Official Development Assistance and …
This guide seeks to facilitate a common understanding and build a bridge between the health and environmental sectors on global environmental governance. The guide focuses on four main areas: biodiversity, climate change, pollution, and food systems. It aims to achieve multi-sectoral engagement and to advance multi-sectoral health governance by examining …
Cities are the engine of the global economy - contributing 80% of the world’s GDP – but their exponential growth in recent decades has come at the expense of nature. The built environment has grown by two-thirds in the first 12 years of the 21st century, leading to the degradation …
The Lok Sabha introduced the Biological Diversity (Amendment) Bill, 2021 on December 16, 2021 in which seeks to facilitate fast-tracking of research, encourage the Indian system of medicine, and decriminalize certain provisions for use of traditional knowledge of such resources including seeds by local communities, ‘vaids’, ‘hakims’ and registered AYUSH …
The new Global Wetland Outlook: Special Edition 2021 from the Convention on Wetlands shows wetlands offer unmatched opportunities for reducing emissions, adapting to climate impacts and reversing biodiversity loss. But in spite of this, wetlands remain the world’s most threatened ecosystem. With 35% of global wetland area lost since 1970, …
Recent global initiatives in ecosystem restoration offer an unprecedented opportunity to improve biodiversity conservation and human health and well-being. Ecosystems form a core component of biodiversity. They provide humans with multiple benefits – a stable climate and breathable air; water, food and materials; and protection from disaster and disease. Ecosystem …
Businesses can benefit substantially from climate-proofing infrastructure through reduced risks, lower costs, fewer stranded assets and new market opportunities, such as enabling diverse local industries. The brief reviews the impacts of climate change on infrastructure and the impacts of infrastructure on society and the environment (in particular, biodiversity loss and …
Humankind is facing a perfect storm of climate change, biodiversity loss, and multiple forms of malnutrition. This paper identifies entry points within agri-food systems to improve biodiversity and diets, two levers that can be used to enhance nutrition and optimize environmental sustainability while ensuring social equity, especially of the most …
Protected areas (PAs) and other effective area-based conservation measures (OECMs) are a cornerstone of biodiversity conservation that provide co-benefits for achievement of the SDGs, in support of a nature-positive future. This report presents the global status of PAs and OECMs and opportunities for action, focusing on coverage and quality elements …
This report is the second output of the joint NGFS-INSPIRE Study Group on Biodiversity and Financial Stability. The group was established to help central banks and financial supervisors fulfil their mandates in the face of financial risks stemming from biodiversity loss. The report is intended as a stocktake of the …
Africa is severely impacted by the triple crisis of debt, climate change and nature loss. The continent’s debt now stands at more than 70% of GDP. There is potential to address these crises through ‘general purpose’ debt financing linked to climate and nature key performance indicators (KPIs). For severely indebted …
Western Africa is rich in freshwater biodiversity and regional endemicity, supporting the entire global populations of many threatened freshwater species including fishes, molluscs, dragonflies, crabs, shrimps and aquatic plants. This report builds on a regional baseline assessment completed in 2009 as well as an assessment of freshwater Key Biodiversity Areas …
Alongside their contribution to biodiversity conservation, protected and conserved areas are increasingly recognised as important sources of a wide range of benefits, or ecosystem services, that humans gain from intact, natural ecosystems. Well-governed and well-managed protected areas are among the most effective tools for maintaining ecosystems – such as forests, …
Along with defining the measures needed to achieve ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), solid governance components are imperative to make it effective. Such governance must be flexible, participatory, multidimensional and include ecosystem-based approaches (maintain ecosystem structure and function to guarantee human well-being). The aim of this book is to reflect upon and …
Agriculture is the largest single source of environmental degradation, responsible for over 30% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, 70% of freshwater use and 80% of land conversion: it is the single largest driver of biodiversity loss (Foley et al. 2011, 2005; IPBES 2019; Willett et al. 2019). Agriculture also …
Nature is in freefall. This report discusses humanity’s addiction to burning fossil fuels and converting natural ecosystems for agriculture is changing the climate, degrading once-productive lands and driving plant and animal species to extinction. And it’s no coincidence that millions of people each year are killed by the direct consequences …
A recently published report, “State of protected areas in Central Africa: 2020,” explains the current condition of protected areas in Central Africa and provides recommendations for their improvement. It was published by the Central Africa Forest Observatory (OFAC), which gathers data on the ecosystems of the 10 member countries of …
