Today's episode marks International Day of Forests (March 21) by celebrating the 25th anniversary of a little-known but important US law: the Tropical Forest and Coral Reef Conservation Act, or TFCCA. At its core, the TFCCA was designed to facilitate debt-for-nature swaps, which enable developing countries to restructure the debt they owe to the US in a way that relieves their financial burden in exchange for redirecting a portion of the funds toward conservation. These swaps were conceptualized in the 1980s by Dr. Tom Lovejoy, WWF's first chief scientist, and proved to be remarkably successful and popular. Today's episode features a conversation with Esteban Brenes, WWF's senior director for conservation finance, about the history of debt-for-nature swaps (2:18), how conservation funds get disbursed under the TFCCA (4:25), and some examples of specific debt-for-nature swaps that have delivered results (8:01). Esteban also shares some lessons learned from the last 25 years of implementing this law, and how those lessons can be applied going forward (14:30).

LINKS:

COP28 Event: 25 Years of the TFCCA

2023 Peru Debt Swap Agreement

WWF Statement on 2023 Peru Debt Swap

WWF Statement on 2021 Congressional Reauthorization of the TFCCA

Tom Lovejoy Obituary

This week we're marking World Wildlife Day by exploring one of the key issues threatening global species: wildlife crime and the sale of wildlife products online. It's a big problem. Over 15,000 African elephants are killed every year for their ivory. Roughly three rhinos are killed every day in South Africa alone for their horns. And tigers are captured not just to become pets or ticketed attractions; they're also killed for their fur, claws, and teeth. And all of these products have sadly become widely available through online marketplaces on common websites and social media apps used by millions of people each day. But here's the good news: many of the tech companies that run those apps and websites have joined forces to put a stop to online wildlife trafficking. They've joined the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online. Today you'll hear from two fantastic guests: Crawford Allan (1:55), WWF's Senior Director for Wildlife Crime, and Traci Andrighetti (23:40), Global Regulatory Specialist for eBay (a member of the coalition). Their interviews touch on the origins of wildlife crime and how wildlife products become available online, the different industry-wide steps being taken to stop the sale of illegal wildlife products, and how eBay in particular is taking steps to stamp out this practice on its platform.

LINKS:

Crawford Allan Bio

Traci Andrighetti Bio

Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online

Buyer Beware: Shopping Smart to Protect Wildlife & Plants

Exotic Pet Suitability Guide

Report Suspicious Wildlife Sales Online

Food waste is a major contributor to the climate and nature crises. And food date labels are fueling the problem. Right now consumers might see upwards of 50 different terms used on food items: Use By, Sell By, Best By, etc. Confusion caused by this patchwork of terms leads many people to simply throw out food that may still be perfectly good to eat. Congress could help by passing the Food Date Labeling Act (FDLA), which would establish a simple, nationwide framework focused on just two terms: "Best If Used By," or "Use By." The bill would also provide clear guidance to consumers about how to interpret those terms. In this episode of the podcast you'll hear from Pete Pearson, WWF's Senior Director for Food Loss and Waste. Pete talks about just how big the problem of food waste is, how food date labeling plays into it, and how the FDLA and other federal policy actions could help.

LINKS:

Pete Pearson Bio

WWF Food Waste Page

Zero Food Waste Coalition

Food Date Labeling Act

NO TIME TO Waste Act

Climate Pollution Reduction Grants

What is green hydrogen? In short, it's hydrogen produced using entirely renewable electricity, which can then be used for industrial processes like creating cement or steel, among other things. That's important because those industrial processes are currently the third-largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States, after the transportation and electricity sectors. If we can power those processes with green hydrogen instead of fossil fuels, it could go a long way toward helping the US meet its climate goals. But getting there is pretty complicated. On today's episode, you'll hear from Cihang Yuan, WWF's Senior Program Officer for International Corporate Climate Partnerships. Cihang explains why hydrogen is so well suited for industrial settings as well as for heavy-duty transportation (2:30), how green hydrogen is produced (8:53), and how a new series of incentives created by the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law could help bring down the cost of green hydrogen so that it can be more widely deployed in key sectors (15:00).

LINKS:

Send Your Questions to Nature Breaking!

Cihang Yuan bio

Web Story: What is green hydrogen, and how can it help tackle the climate crisis?

Blog: Decoding Treasury's Proposed Guidance for the Clean Hydrogen Production Tax Credit

Renewable Thermal Collaborative

Namibia is an incredibly diverse place in southwestern Africa. It encompasses everything from coastal ecosystems, to savannahs, to floodplains and deserts. And Namibia is home to over 2.5 million people, and an incredible array of wildlife, from cheetahs, to elephants, to impalas, and rhinos. Aside from all that incredible biodiversity, one thing that makes Namibia stand out is its community-led approach to conservation. For nearly three decades, Namibians have been forming and leading communal conservancies, which are areas devoted to the protection of species and ecosystems, but which also enable the people in those areas to derive a livelihood from the protection of nature – primarily via tourism. In this episode you'll hear from Siphiwe Lutibezi, communications manager for WWF Namibia. Siphiwe talks about the history of Namibia's communal conservancies and what makes them successful (4:55), how the conservancies have contributed to the recovery of rhino populations (10:12), how WWF Namibia is engaging local youth to participate in conservation projects (17:47), and what a new initiative called Namibia for Life means for the future of conservation in the region (23:35).

LINKS:

WWF Namibia homepage

WWF Magazine Feature: Sharing Space – Communities Lead the Way to a New Era of Landscape-Scale Conservation

WWF Magazine Short: Moving Forward

Over the holidays we passed an important milestone: the 50th anniversary of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). This bill was signed into law by President Nixon on December 28, 1973. Over the last 50 years the ESA has proved a remarkable success, with 99% of the species covered by the Act avoiding extinction. To mark this occasion, WWF's Leigh Henry joins the podcast to talk about the circumstances that led to the passage of the ESA back in 1973 (1:21), how the law actually works in practice (4:42), and how the law has been utilized to save species like the bald eagle and the black-footed ferret here in the US (10:51). She also explains how the ESA helps to protect species in other countries, from tigers to giant pandas (16:55).

LINKS:

Web Story: Celebrating 50 Years of the Endangered Species Act

Leigh Henry Bio

For the last 12 days world leaders have convened in Dubai for COP28, the critically important UN climate summit. Important progress has been achieved on some issues, but negotiations have been more difficult in other areas, including on finalizing the Global Stocktake and determining whether it will include language about the need to "phase out" fossil fuels. As COP28 winds to a close this week, we spoke to Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, WWF International's Global Lead for Climate and Energy. In addition to spearheading WWF's global climate work, Manuel also previously served as the president of COP20 back in 2014. In this interview Manuel talks about what it takes to put on a successful climate summit (2:30), what COP28 has achieved so far (6:45), and the state of play on the negotiations heading into the closing days (11:45).

LINKS:

Make a Year-End Donation to WWF

WWF at COP28

Manuel Pulgar-Vidal bio

COP28 kicks off on November 30 in Dubai – that's the annual UN summit where national governments come together to assess global climate efforts. Today's episode is a two-part preview for this year's summit. In Part 1, you'll hear from Liz Georges, WWF's senior director for climate communications. Liz is going to tell us what it's like to be at a COP (2:15) and break down the top 5 issues and activities that we'll be watching heading into Dubai (8:35). Then, in Part 2, you'll hear from Shaun Martin, WWF's vice president for climate change adaptation, about ManglarIA, an exciting new initiative that WWF will be showcasing at COP28 aimed at deploying AI to protect and restore mangroves (25:45).

LINKS:

COP28 Website

WWF at COP28

WWF-BCG Report: Building a Nature-Postive Energy Transformation

America is All In

Local Climate Action Summit

ManglarIA web story

Liz Georges bio

Shaun Martin bio

The term "blue foods" refers to any food that comes from an aquatic source – whether that be the ocean, a river, or the like. These foods represent a staple for the diets of billions of people around the globe. Blue foods also matter against the backdrop of climate change because they produce far fewer greenhouse gas emissions compared to land-based food production. But in some situations, harvesting blue foods can upset delicate marine ecosystems. And, as global stocks of sought-after food items like tuna and cod become more scarce, we've increasingly seen competition for blue foods lead to conflicts between nations. In short, as much as we need blue foods to serve as a low-emissions food source for Earth's growing population, we also need to root out practices that harm freshwater and marine ecosystems, and global security. Joining the show today to talk about these issues are Johan Bergenas, WWF's Senior Vice President for Oceans; and Melissa Ho, WWF's Senior Vice President for Freshwater and Food. You'll hear Johan and Melissa talk about the role of blue foods in the context of global food systems (1:55), which factors are driving international conflict around blue foods (4:30), and how we can reduce that conflict by improving predictive capabilities (10:42) and scaling up practices like aquaculture to bolster food security (15:12).

LINKS: WWF Food Page

WWF Oceans Page

Oceans Futures Initiative

AquaInvest Platform

Johan Bergenas bio

Melissa Ho bio

Snow leopards are among the hardest animals to find in the wild, both because of how rare they are, and because their coats are adapted to provide camouflage that makes them hard to see against the rugged mountain landscape they call home. That's why they are sometimes call the "ghosts of the mountain." With an estimated 4,000-6,500 snow leopards remaining in the wild, conservationists have been working in snow leopard range countries across Asia to build a more stable future for these big cats. And recently, Bhutan reported some good news: the population of snow leopards in that country has increased by nearly 40% since 2016. In this episode, you'll hear from Dechen Dorji, Senior Director for Asia on WWF's Wildlife Conservation team. He talks about the many characteristics that make snow leopards unique (5:07), the threats that have caused snow leopard populations to decline (13:01), and what we can learn from Bhutan's recent success to help snow leopards thrive across all 12 range countries they call home (17:52).

LINKS:

WWF Snow Leopard page

Press Release: Bhutan National Snow Leopard Survey

Dechen Dorji bio