With so much of our land taken up for farming and producing food for our growing population, wildlife has suffered as a result. Interventions to balance the needs of humanity and nature are often implemented on farmland, and a new study aims to show which measures could be more favourable to wildlife while also being better for your bank account. 

Climate change is drastically altering the ocean, with major consequences both for its ecosystems and for the services they provide us – from food and medicine to employment. A new study has predicted just how climate change will affect important fish populations, whilst identifying essential actions we can take to address the problem.

Last year, nearly a hundred thousand flocked to the Conference of Parties, while every year the UN Convention on Biodiversity receives only a tiny fraction of the attention, funding, and media coverage. The biodiversity crisis lacks the kind of coherent public discourse that has developed for the climate crisis, and as a result, our society has failed to galvanise a strong moral response to it or any clear messaging surrounding it.

I want to offer you some of what I learned as a virtual delegate to the conference back in December. Whereas the previous articles relied upon peer-reviewed papers and official documents, this one shall be more of a collection of my own thoughts, opinions and reflections. I hope that, perhaps in some small way, it shall be of interest to you.

COP28 took place in Dubai between the 30th of November and the 13th of December 2023. Hosted by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the conference had long been a source of controversy: the UAE is a major producer of fossil fuels and a member of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

Climate change is the greatest and most urgent challenge facing humanity. Our consumption of fossil fuels has emitted enormous quantities of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, enhancing the greenhouse effect which traps solar radiation therein.

Plastic pollution poses a grave and growing threat to Earth’s oceans – and to coral reefs in particular. Between 9 and 23 million tons of plastic waste enter marine and freshwater environments every year, where they can cause irreparable harm.