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Experts urge united global vision, definitions, targets for ‘responsible sourcing’ of minerals needed for green transition

World Resources Forum, St. Gallen, Switzerland Experts have delivered a sweeping prescription to governments, civil society and industry for a globally coordinated approach to the responsible sourcing of raw materials needed to achieve a circular green economy. In a report, the four-year EU-funded RE-SOURCING project proposes adopting the global vision of a circular economy and […]

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Sand and dust storm frequency increasing in many world regions: UN

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Bonn Two billion tons of sand and dust, equal in weight to 350 Great Pyramids of Giza, enter the atmosphere every year; UNCCD experts attribute over 25% of the problem to human activities; Wreaks havoc from Northern and Central Asia to sub-Saharan Africa; Health impacts poorly understood Sand and […]

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UN Warns of 6 Risk Tipping Points Threatening the Environment, Security

UNU Institute for Environment and Human Security A United Nations University report finds that drastic changes are approaching if risks to our fundamental socioecological systems are not addressed. The Interconnected Disaster Risks Report 2023 published by the United Nations University – Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS) warns of six risk tipping points ahead […]

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Leading scientists, philosophers identify nature’s missing evolutionary law

Carnegie Science, Washington DC Evolution of plants, animals: “A very special case within a far larger natural phenomenon.” Similar marvels occur with stars, planets, minerals, other complex systems; When a novel configuration works well and function improves, evolution occurs A paper in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today describes “a missing law of […]

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‘Invisible’ E-Waste: ~$10B in essential raw materials recoverable in world’s annual mountain of e-toys, cables, vapes, more

WEEE Forum, Brussels, Belgium Every year, unused cables, electronic toys, LED-decorated novelty clothes, power tools, vaping devices, and countless other small consumer items often not recognized by consumers as e-waste amount to 9 billion kilograms of e-waste, one-sixth of all e-waste worldwide.   This “invisible” category of e-waste in one place would equal the weight of […]

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Did life exist on Mars? Other planets? With AI’s help, we may know soon

Carnegie Science, Washington DC ‘Holy Grail of astrobiology’: Machine learning technique reveals a sample’s biological or non-biological origin with 90% accuracy Scientists have discovered a simple and reliable test for signs of past or present life on other planets – “the holy grail of astrobiology.” In the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a […]

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Invasive Alien Species: Major Global Threats to Nature, Economies, Food Security, Human Health

IPBES, Bonn, Germany Key role in 60% of global plant and animal extinctions; Annual costs now >$423 Billion – have quadrupled every decade since 1970; Report provides evidence, tools and options to help governments achieve ambitious new global goal on invasive alien species The severe global threat posed by invasive alien species is underappreciated, underestimated, […]

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Amid growing evidence of harm to child health and learning, advocates call for faster replacement of diesel school buses

Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment, Ottawa Health and environmental advocates today called on communities, school boards and governments at every level to accelerate the electrification of school buses, replacing tens of thousands of diesel-powered school buses spewing toxic fumes that can seriously harm child health and interfere with learning. Led by the Canadian […]

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Do fish bay at the moon? Can songs unmask mystery fish? Eavesdropping scientists create ocean soundscapes

The Rockefeller University, Programme for the Human Environment, New York Using hydrophones to eavesdrop on a reef off the coast of Goa, India, researchers have helped advance a new low-cost way to monitor changes in the world’s murky marine environments. Reporting their results in the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA), the scientists […]

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UN: Bottled water masks world’s failure to supply safe water for all, can slow sustainable development

UNU-INWEH: UN University Institute for Water, Environment and Health), Hamilton, Canada The rapidly-growing bottled water industry can undermine progress towards a key sustainable development goal: safe water for all, says a new United Nations report.   Based on an analysis of literature and data from 109 countries, the report says that in just five decades bottled […]

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Large dams’ capacity seen dropping 26% by 2050 due to sediment: UN

UNU Institute For Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada Trapped sediment has robbed roughly 50,000 large dams worldwide of an estimated 13% to 19% of their combined original storage capacity, and total losses will reach 23% to 28% by 2050, UN research warns. The global loss from original dam capacity foreseen by mid-century – from […]

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COP15: Nations Adopt 4 Goals, 23 Targets for 2030 in Landmark UN Biodiversity Agreement

UN Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal By 2030: Protect 30% of Earth’s lands, oceans, coastal areas, inland waters; Reduce by $500 billion annual harmful government subsidies; Cut food waste in half Nearing the conclusion of a sometimes fractious two-week meeting, nations of the world today agreed on a historic package of measures deemed critical to addressing […]

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UN Announces Satellite-Based Global Methane Detection System

United Nations Environment Programme, Paris / Nairobi As part of global efforts to slow climate change by tackling methane, the UN today announced a new satellite-based system to detect emissions of the climate warming gas and allow governments and businesses to respond. The Methane Alert and Response System (MARS), launched at the 27th United Nations Climate Change […]

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UN Biodiversity COP 15: What’s on the Table, What to Expect

United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, Canada Key negotiating issues defined and detailed: A COP15 Primer On Nov. 10, Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, David Cooper and David Ainsworth, respectively the Executive Secretary, Deputy Executive Secretary and Information Officer of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, conducted an interactive media briefing on the UN Biodiversity Conference […]

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~5.3 Billion Mobile Phones will Become Waste in 2022

WEEE Forum, Brussels 2022 International E-waste Day slogan: ‘Recycle it all, no matter how small!’ Despite world-leading e-waste management, ~30% of Europe’s stock of mobile phones no longer used; Most are long hoarded before becoming waste; #1 reason for hoarding end Experts expect roughly 5.3 billion mobile / smartphones will drop out of use this […]

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Decisions based on narrow set of nature’s market values underpin biodiversity crisis

IPBES, Bonn, Germany More than 50 methods and approaches exist to make visible the diverse values of nature The way nature is valued in political and economic decisions is both a key driver of the global biodiversity crisis and a vital opportunity to address it, according to a four-year methodological assessment by 82 top scientists […]

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50,000 wild species meet needs of billions worldwide; experts offer options to ensure sustainable use

IPBES, Bonn 1 in 5 people rely on wild species for income & food; >10,000 wild species harvested for human food; 2.4 billion (1 in 3) depend on fuel wood for cooking Billions of people in developed and developing nations benefit daily from the use of wild species for food, energy, materials, medicine, recreation, inspiration […]

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Crushed, zapped, boiled, baked, more: Nature used 57 recipes to make Earth’s 10,500+ ‘mineral kinds’

Carnegie Science, Earth & Planets Laboratory, Washington DC Water helped 80+% of mineral species to form Biology had a direct or indirect role in ~50% One-third formed exclusively through biological processes Pyrite (“Fool’s Gold”) formed in 21 ways — the most of any mineral; Diamonds formed in nine ways – from outer space to deep Earth […]

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The abundance of diverse “unconventional water sources”

UNU Institute for Water, Environment & Health, Hamilton, Canada Tapping a fraction can help meet fast-growing global freshwater needs UN and partner water experts say it is time to increase the tapping of Earth’s diverse and abundant unconventional water sources – the millions of cubic kilometres of water in deep land-based and seabed aquifers, in […]

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World “at a crossroads” in management of droughts, up 29% in a generation

United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), Bonn Humanity is “at a crossroads” when it comes to managing drought and accelerating mitigation must be done “urgently, using every tool we can,” says a new report from the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD). “​​Drought In Numbers, 2022,” released today to mark Drought Day at […]

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CEC Secretariat recommends factual record on vaquita porpoise

Commission for Environmental Cooperation, Montreal The Secretariat of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) has recommended developing a factual record to explore factors contributing to the near-extinction the vaquita porpoise – the world’s smallest cetacean and rarest marine mammal – in the Gulf of California in Mexico.  The recommendation responds to a submission on Enforcement Matters under Chapter 24 of the […]

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Mould, pesticides, toxic chemicals reported in survey of Canadian child care professionals

CDN Partnership for Children’s Health and Environment / Canadian Child Care Federation Nearly half of some 2,000 professionals in child care programs across Canada who responded to a survey report unhealthy conditions for children, according to data released on national Healthy Environments for Learning Day (HELD).   Educators, support staff, administrators and others in oversight roles replied […]

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