Nature Breaking

This week marks the start of the annual UN climate conference, known as COP29, in Baku, Azerbaijan. COP29 is being dubbed the “finance COP” because one of the main focuses of this year’s conference will be to set a new goal for global climate finance and to lay out a plan for achieving it. The last time countries set a climate finance goal was 2009, at COP15 in Copenhagen, where wealthy nations committed to provide $100 billion annually to help developing nations deal with climate change. 15 years after the $100 billion target was established, we now know a lot more about the effects of climate change and how much it costs to address. Estimates vary on how much funding is now needed, but suffice to say that it’s a lot higher than we thought it was back in 2009. So, where will this funding come from? And what’s a reasonable new goal for countries to work toward in the years ahead? Joining me today to talk through these and other questions is Tim Juliani, WWF’s director of US corporate climate engagement. Tim is a veteran of previous climate COPs and he’ll tell us what he’s keeping an eye on heading into Baku.

Links for more info:

Tim Juliani bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/tim-juliani

WWF’s COP29 Expectations Paper: https://wwfint.awsassets.panda.org/downloads/cop29_expectations_24oct24.pdf

Tim Juliani’s Substack, “Yet Another Climate Substack”: https://timjuliani.substack.com/

Chapters:

0:00 Program note

1:07 Intro

3:00 COP29 context in global process

4:59 COP15 in Copenhagen story

7:02 Definition of NDCs and stocktake

7:43 COP29 is the “finance COP”

10:17 Climate finance challenges

14:04 Finance goals at COP29

16:55 Role of companies

24:53 Goals for NDCs at COP29

28:07 Closing call to action

29:46 Outro

Today, rather than interviewing a WWF expert in-dept on a specific topic, we’re trying something new. Seth will be joined by Hayley Lawton from WWF’s social media team for something we’re calling: Headlines & Trendlines. You’ll hear Seth and Hayley briefly summarize some recent news articles and talk about what they mean for climate and nature. This week they discuss two big issues that are driving headlines: this year’s devastating hurricane season, and the ongoing UN biodiversity conference. They also touch on the recent pygmy hippo craze that had everyone on Earth talking about baby Moo Deng.

Links for More Info: New York Times, A Tale of Two Hurricanes Finds More That Differs Than Is the Same: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/13/us/hurricane-milton-helene-florida-north-carolina.html 

Vox, We need $700 billion to save nature: https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/378249/cop16-biodiversity-finance-gap-seven-hundred-billion

WWF pygmy hippo facts: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/why-are-pygmy-hippos-so-small-and-6-other-pygmy-hippo-facts 

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:27 Intro

2:25 Hayley introduces herself

4:10 NY Times hurricane article

5:56 Hayley & Seth react to recent hurricanes

9:28 Vox nature finance article

10:36 $700b is a lot of money

12:28: COP16 outcomes

13:25 Moo Deng and pygmy hippo facts

15:23 Outro

Next week global leaders will convene in Cali, Colombia for an important meeting: the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16). You’re probably more familiar with the climate COP that happens every year, but the biodiversity COP is a critical forum for addressing the loss of nature. Two years ago, at COP15 in Montreal, the nations of the world agreed to a new Global Biodiversity Framework, which set a goal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. Next week’s meeting in Colombia is the first opportunity to take stock of progress and commit to implementation at scale.

Joining the show today to tell us more about COP16 and what’s at stake is Lucía Ruiz, WWF’s director for conservation areas. Lucía will be attending the conference in Colombia next week and is going to help us understand what needs to happen, and what success looks like, at this important meeting.

Links for More Info:

Lucía Ruiz bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/lucia-ruiz-bustos 

CBD COP16 explainer: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-convention-on-biological-diversity-cop16-and-the-grand-plan-for-life-on-earth 

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:29 Intro

2:17 Lucía’s background and personal story

6:54 History of the Convention on Biological Diversity

12:10 Importance of CBD COPs

13:59 Context for CBD COP16

17:20 What happened at CBD COP15 in 2022?

22:22 Explaining the 30x30 target

27:36 Role of PFPs

28:27 State of play heading into COP16

33:26 What does success look like?

36:11 Fun facts about Colombia

39:28 Outro

In today’s special bonus episode of Nature Breaking you’ll hear all about WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report. This bi-annual report functions as a check-up on the health of the Earth. Underpinning the report is the Living Planet Index, which monitors populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the world. This year the report found that monitored wildlife populations declined by an average of 73% since 1970. Importantly, this year’s report also reveals that the Earth stands on the verge of tipping points for tropical forests and coral reefs that could have severe consequences for people and nature everywhere. 

Joining the show to explain the Living Planet Report is Dr. Rebecca Shaw, WWF’s chief scientist. Rebecca will walk us through the methodology of the report, what its key findings really mean for wildlife and ecosystems, and what we all can do together to put our planet on a more sustainable pathway.

Links for More Info:

Rebecca Shaw bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/rebecca-shaw

2024 Living Planet Report: worldwildlife.org/livingplanetreport

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:23 Intro

2:09 LPR basics & key findings

4:42 Reasons for wildlife decline

5:51 Why should we care?

7:55 Tipping points explainer

10:21 Amazon rain forest tipping point

12:22 Rebecca’s story about living in the Amazon

13:49 Amazon tipping point continued

14:54 LPR species example: parrotfish

18:09 History of the LPR

20:56 How to reverse the loss of wildlife and nature

28:12 Message to leaders at CBD COP16

32:58 Outro

Global food production is a key driver behind both climate change and the loss of species and ecosystems. In fact, it’s responsible for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions and over two-thirds of global habitat and biodiversity losses. That’s because unsustainable food production too often leads to the destruction of forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems in order to produce more food. So how do we create a more sustainable food system? Joining the show today is Dr. Jason Clay, Executive Director of WWF’s Markets Institute. Jason has decades of experience working with companies to find innovative ways to make their supply chains more sustainable, and today he’ll be explaining his latest initiative: Codex Planetarius. In short, Codex Planetarius aims to establish global environmental standards to limit the harm caused by the production of globally traded food. The idea draws inspiration from Codex Alimentarius, the international code of health and safety standards for food established in the mid-20th century. It makes sense: If the world can adopt standards to protect human health and safety, why can't we do the same for the health and safety of the planet? In this interview, Jason explains how his career journey evolved from human rights to conservation (with help from the Grateful Dead and Ben & Jerry’s along the way), and how Codex Planetarius could establish new global norms for food production that help us feed the world without destroying it. 

Links for More Info:

Jason Clay bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/jason-clay

Codex Planetarius homepage: https://codexplanetarius.org/ 

WEB STORY: Codex Planetarius: Increasing Global Food Sustainability and Resilience: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/codex-planetarius-increasing-global-food-sustainability-and-resilience 

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:21 Intro

2:09 Jason’s childhood

4:13 Saving the rain forest with the Grateful Dead and Ben & Jerry’s

8:08 Tracy Chapman story

9:13 How the global food system works

12:06 Sustainable vs. unsustainable food production

15:16 Codex Planetarius basics

17:56 Growth of the global food trade

21:05 Limits of voluntary standards

24:08 How to pay for Codex Planetarius

28:59 How to implement Codex Planetarius

35:58 Addressing cost concerns

38:49 What comes next?

40:51 Outro

Note: This interview was originally published on September 5, 2023. It's being re-released with a new intro for Amazon Day 2024. To our new subscribers: thanks and welcome!

September 5 is World Amazon Day, and we’re celebrating with an episode about the many things that make the Amazon rain forest so special. For example, did you know that the Amazon is the largest rain forest in the world? It covers an area nearly the size of the entire continental United States, and it’s home to about one in 10 known species on Earth. It also helps stabilize the local and global climate. But it also faces challenges from deforestation, climate change, and more. In this episode, you’ll hear from Dr. Meg Symington, WWF’s vice president for the Amazon. Meg talks about how she first fell in love with the rain forest (3:11), why the Amazon matters so much to both local communities and the world at large (4:59), the many threats it faces (7:40), and what solutions are needed to keep it intact for future generations (14:08). Later, for our Supporters Sound Off segment, you’ll hear from Marianne Spindel, a WWF Hero from Florida, about what inspires her passion for nature (25:40).

Links for More Info:

WWF Amazon Page

Meg Symington Bio

Become a WWF Hero

2023 Thomas Lovejoy Science for Nature Symposium

Today’s episode revisits the climate catastrophe that hit Pakistan two years ago this month in the form of historic floods. In July and August of 2022, Pakistan received nearly double its typical rainfall nationwide, with some localized areas receiving over four times the usual amount. Simply put, the water had nowhere to go. A third of the country was submerged underwater. Two million homes were destroyed and four million acres of agricultural land were ruined. Millions were left without access to drinking water, and the loss of crops led to food shortages. It was a humanitarian disaster of the highest order. In today’s interview you’ll hear from Hammad Naqi Khan, Director General of WWF Pakistan. Hammad talks about the impacts of the 2022 floods (2:33), and how a new initiative called Recharge Pakistan aims to make his country more resilient to future flood events (11:09).

Links for More Info:

Recharge Pakistan web page

In this episode of WWF's Breaking Waves podcast, Johan speaks with US Representative Jimmy Panetta of California's 19th Congressional district. The Congressman discusses the beauty and bounty of his district, emphasizing the balance needed between economic growth and environmental preservation. The conversation covers stressors such as fishing regulations, renewable energy projects like offshore wind, and bipartisan efforts as key to advancing pragmatic environmental policies amidst political challenges.

Ahead of World Elephant Day on August 12, today’s episode is all about Asian elephants. Did you know that there are actually three different kinds of elephants? Our planet is home to Asian elephants, African savanna elephants, and African forest elephants. You’ll learn more about the difference between these species today, but for starters, Asian elephants and African forest elephants are slightly smaller than their savanna brethren. And Asian elephants are the most endangered of the three species. Asian elephant populations have decreased from some 100,000 at the start of the 20th century to under 50,000 today.

On today’s episode, you’ll hear from Nilanga Jayasinghe, WWF’s manager of Asian species conservation, about the features that make Asian elephants unique (2:27), the threats they currently face (7:14), and how a new initiative called Elly Allies aims address them – focusing specifically on driving progress in Southeast Asia and China (24:04).  

Links for More Info:

WWF Asian Elephants page: https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/asian-elephant

Nilanga Jayasinghe bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/nilanga-jayasinghe

Elly Allies blog post: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/tackling-critical-threats-facing-asian-elephants

Diplomacy and business have a big impact on our environment, particularly our oceans. On this episode of Breaking Waves, Johan speaks with Sanda Ojiambo, the CEO of the United Nations Global Compact, on the challenges and opportunities of sustainable ocean business practices. They touch on how the UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) influence the ocean industry (1:23), how marine renewable energy sources like offshore wind can scale with an eye toward environmental justice (7:30), and the importance of small actions in achieving global impact for ocean conservation (19:54).

Links for More Info:

Sanda Ojiambo bio

UN Global Compact

UNDP Blog: What is a Just Transition?