The diversity of nature is essential to ensure our planet remains habitable. That is why we need to stand up to all those who endanger the global web of life – those who plunder the Commons for private gain.

Back in 1992, governments agreed to conserve and fairly share the global biodiversity we all depend on. Since then, 196 countries have signed on to the Convention on Biological Diversity (the United States being the most prominent exception). This year, from December 4 to 17, governments from all over the world will meet for the biannual “Summit for Life on Earth” in Cancún, Mexico.

They have work to do. Biodiversity is falling at an alarming rate, with a two-thirds decline in animal species forecast for 2020 (compared to 1970).

When governments met in 2010, they said that they...

I don’t speak tuna. And I fear my ability to sign in shark could be fatally misconstrued.

But next week when people from all around the Pacific and beyond meet in Fiji to discuss the future of fisheries in the region, our finned (and feathered and flippered) friends of the oceans desperately need a voice.

The Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission (WCPFC) is responsible for managing the tuna, shark, and billfish fisheries that operate here – to make sure that there are fish and healthy oceans for future generations. But WCPFC is failing to meet the requirements of its own Convention – the goals and rules it took its members 10 years to agree on. Falling so short of the mark, a more apt name for the commission would be, We Create Pacific Fisheries Crises.

Will the WCPFC give o... Read more >

I’m not sure we can win with logic. 

How do we reverse species loss, climate change, toxins, general overshoot of Earth’s generous habitats? We have the science, but humanity at the large scale does not appear to have the political will. We live in a pre-ecological political world, and public discourse seems corrupted by the mad clinging to those pre-ecological models of development and economics. 

The ecology headlines this year feel disturbing — 2/3 of mammals doomed; drought in Kenya, Mozambique, US, Sri Lanka; dry rivers and water wars; Zika virus spray killing bee colonies; methane releases higher than predicted; meteorologists forced to rewrite climate predictions, for the worse; Great Barrier Reef collapsing; and American soldiers serving as a security force for oil pipeline at S... Read more >

On a warming planet, forests hold the key to stopping climate change.

Forest landscapes and agricultural areas can absorb emissions like a sponge. They take carbon dioxide from the air through photosynthesis, and store it in wood and in the soils. Discussions about action against climate change has focused on rebuilding our energy infrastructure towards a 100% renewable energy future. But this is only one way to limit temperature rise to the 1.5° agreed by the climate change body of the the UN, the UNFCCC. The remainder of the solution lies in our forest and plant life.

Carpathian Forest in Romania, 20 Aug, 2016

We are moving ahead with building a 100% renewable future, but it will take time. If we end deforestation, forest degradation and the associated release of CO2 into the atmosphe... Read more >

Over the past week we've watched as thousands of people around the world joined our urgent call for Samsung to come up with a concrete plan to reuse or recycle 4.3 million Galaxy Note7s.

From Hong Kong to Washington DC, you called Samsung’s customer support number to ask exactly whether or not the devices will be disposed of environmentally; you tweeted #GalaxyNote7, which turned into a trending topic in Mexico and took the message directly to their HQ; and most of all you put pressure on Samsung to do the right thing!

A disassembled Samsung Galaxy Note 7

Thank you for calling Samsung

For centuries, Indigenous Peoples have been fighting to protect their lands and secure their rights in the face of colonisation, environmental destruction and violence. Today – with looming global environmental crises like climate change – Indigenous communities continue to lead the world in protecting the Earth. While Indigenous Peoples represent about 6% of the world’s population, their traditional lands hold about 80% of the world’s remaining biodiversity.

Yet Indigenous communities are often those first and most impacted by environmental destruction. Again and again, governments and companies put profit above Indigenous Peoples’ rights. When Indigenous Peoples stand up for their rights and their traditional lands, those in power often go to great lengths to suppress them – from leg...