Veille 2.1

Environmental pledges are being shredded to please agribusiness and appease extremists. It’s a terrible mistake, says environmental writer Arthur Neslen

Existing production destroys more value than it creates due to medical and environmental costs, researchers say

The damage functions in the models, which relate GDP to temperature and sea-level rise, account for impacts on agriculture, forestry, fisheries, floods, road infrastructure, energy supply and demand, and labor productivity. Using this novel approach, the researchers estimate that the avoided damages are 1.5-3.9 times higher than the costs of climate mitigation. In other words, one euro invested in climate solutions saves the world about 1.5 to 4 euros in effects from climate change.

The summary for policymakers (SPM) and the chapters of the Methodological assessment regarding the diverse conceptualization of multiple values of nature and its benefits, including biodiversity and ecosystem functions and services (referred to as the “assessment of the diverse values and valuation of nature”), were approved and accepted respectively by the IPBES Plenary during its ninth session, held from 3 to 9 July 2022 in Bonn, Germany. The background of this assessment dates to 2013, when at its second session (IPBES 2) in Antalya, Turkey, the IPBES Plenary approved the initiation of scoping for a methodological assessment. During the third session of the IPBES plenary, in Bonn, Germany in 2015, the expert group established for scoping the methodological assessment and developing a preliminary guide, was requested to revise the scoping report for the methodological assessment based on comments received following an open review by Governments and stakeholders. At IPBES 4, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia in 2016

As the world starts to seriously entertain the possibility of commercially mining the deep sea for valuable metals, it’s worth taking a closer look at the claims used to justify its potentially long-lived impacts.