Down to Earth

The illegal trade in rare insects is booming across Africa, Asia and Latin America. Exotic ants, spiders and beetles are collected and sold as pets. Some species are worth a fortune on the global black market. But scientists are raising alarm bells, as many of these insects are vital to local ecosystems. Our France 2 colleagues report.

Every year, the world throws away 1 billion tonnes of food and households are responsible for 60 percent of it. As we mark the International Day of Awareness of Food Waste, FRANCE 24 is looking at solutions to curb the problem. Ordinary citizens, businesses and even zoos have found surprising ways to save food. We take a closer look in this edition of Down to Earth.

It’s a sacred sanctuary for bisons, wolves and countless birds. The Białowieża Forest is the last untouched forest in Europe. Not a single tree has ever been cut down there. Located between Poland and Belarus, it fascinates scientists and nature lovers alike. Our France 2 colleagues report.

World leaders will convene at a climate summit hosted by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday in New York. Countries face mounting pressure to set more ambitious emission reduction targets for 2035 ahead of COP30 in Brazil. Governments were invited to submit their updated pledges by February 2025. Of the 195 Paris Agreement signatories, only 13 countries have met the deadline, while a total of 37 have submitted new plans. FRANCE 24’s Valérie Dekimpe explains.

From carrot flowers to potting soil made of concrete waste – could local, organic and eco-friendly bouquets be the future of floristry? In France, nine out of 10 flowers are imported, but that's starting to change. After decades of being overshadowed by the Netherlands, fierce global competition and strict regulations, the country's flower industry is bouncing back. We met with French florists, farmers and scientists who are behind a blooming revolution to revive "les fleurs françaises". 

As human-induced climate change intensifies, waters are warming and the sea life within is beginning to change its behaviour. For the past couple of years, the Mediterranean Sea – one of the fastest warming areas in the world – has been attracting a litany of invasive fish prone to more tropical climates, such as toadfish, rabbitfish and the extremely invasive Lionfish. In Greece, the Lionfish has become a headache for the local fishing industry. Researchers say it can eat up to six times its weight and reduce the number of native fish in its vicinity by 80 percent in just over a month. But a solution exists. With a bit of gastronomic ingenuity, it could become a new restaurant favourite. We take a closer look.

The Mediterranean is thought to be the most polluted sea on Earth. The equivalent of 34,000 plastic bottles are dumped into it every minute. This unprecedented level of pollution is devastating for both humans and marine life, half of which are found nowhere else on the planet. FRANCE 24's Down to Earth team met with volunteers and scientists fighting plastic waste on the island of Corsica, one of the worst affected locations in the world.

For the past six years, Morocco has endured a severe drought that has drastically affected agriculture and water availability. Olive groves and vineyards have withered, and wells in remote mountain villages are drying up. Accessing groundwater by drilling deeper is expensive and often out of reach for many communities. In response, scientists in southern Morocco have implemented a pioneering solution: large fog-harvesting nets installed at altitudes above 1,200 metres. These nets capture moisture from coastal fogs, collecting water droplets that flow into storage tanks. 

Summer holidays are in full swing, but how can we travel without polluting? One option is sailing across the Mediterranean. A French cooperative is offering an alternative to flying or taking the ferry with a new sailboat route between mainland France and Corsica. It's a long, slow and expensive adventure, but it's the greenest way to get there. Aurore Cloé Dupuis and Alexandra Renard tested "slow travelling" for us in this edition of Down to Earth. 

In the UK, an ongoing crackdown on environmental activists is becoming ever tighter. Those who cause "public nuisance" by sitting on a road to block it, or spraying paint on a building or work of art can now be punished not by a simple fine, but a prison sentence of up to 10 years. It's part of the 2022 Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act. Over the past three years, more than 3,000 members of Just Stop Oil and other groups have been arrested. The British government has justified this crackdown by saying that the groups' actions cost tens of millions of pounds in public spending every year. The Down to Earth team takes a closer look.