Tropical forest losses rise in 2022 despite pledge to end them
Reuters The world lost an area of old-growth tropical rainforest the size of Switzerland last year, as deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon continued unabated, a forest monitoring project report said on Tuesday. Global Forest Watch, which is backed by the non-profit World Resources Institute and draws on forest data collected by the University of Maryland, […]
Wow!: Argentinian city wins global prize for urban farming project
FABIO TEIXEIRA, writing for Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how a two-decades old project has become a pillar of the the Argentinian city of Rosario’s climate adaptation efforts…
Pandemic likely made 2020 “another devastating year” for world’s forests
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation The rate of destruction of the world’s tropical forests is likely to have gathered pace last year, green groups warned, as the pandemic weakened environmental regulations, cut funding for protection work and forced city migrants back to rural areas. In 2019, tropical rainforests disappeared at a rate of one football pitch […]
Less consumption, more recycling needed to meet climate goals, ministers say
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation Countries worldwide will not meet their targets to slash planet-warming emissions unless they cut unnecessary consumption and shift urgently to circular economies that reuse resources, environment ministers and top executives said this week. In a circular economy, materials – such as metals, minerals and plastic – are recycled to cut back […]
Water-related conflicts set to rise amid demand growth and climate impacts
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation From Yemen to India, and parts of Central America to the African Sahel, about a quarter of the world’s people face extreme water shortages that are fueling conflict, social unrest and migration, water experts said on Wednesday. With the world’s population rising and climate change bringing more erratic rainfall, including severe droughts, competition […]
New platform matchmakes funders, tree planters to protect forests
Bogota, ColombiaThomson Reuters Foundation A new online platform aims to connect people who can plant trees with investors with millions of dollars to spend, its backers said, in a bid to stem deforestation worldwide. TerraMatch, launched last week, aims to boost efforts to protect forests and plant trees, critical tactics in the fight against climate […]
Asian pulp giants pressed to paper over rivalry to save rainforest
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Asia’s pulp and paper giants – which supply materials for stationery, tissues and toilet roll – are being urged by environmentalists to follow the palm oil industry in stepping up collaboration to tackle forest loss and fires in Indonesia. Singapore’s APRIL Group and its main rival Indonesia’s Asia Pulp & […]
“Creeping silent crisis” seen menacing world’s crops
Rome, ItalyThomson Reuters Foundation A “creeping, silent crisis” is menacing the world’s food supply as water shortages could jeopardise up to 40 per cent of all irrigated crops by 2040, a US thinktank said this week. Erratic rainfall caused by climate change also threatens the water supply for a third of crops that rely on […]
Palm oil giants double down on deforestation with new radar system
Kuala Lumpur, MalaysiaThomson Reuters Foundation Ten major companies that sell and use palm oil have teamed up on a new radar system to monitor forests across Malaysia and Indonesia more closely and speed up action to stop deforestation, a group leading the initiative said on Friday. The coalition of palm oil producers and buyers will […]
UK “farm lab” ploughs technology to help raise animals sustainably
North Wyke, UKThomson Reuters Foundation It is an idyllic countryside scene – an embrace of rolling hills dappled with Instagram-worthy bales of straw, as sheep and cows graze under a bright blue sky. Completing the picture, a stately manor graces the background. But this bucolic setting belies a research project that uses cutting-edge technology on […]