Publish World Outlook Learn

Life on Land

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss,

[New] To reduce greenhouse gases emissions and meet the goals of the Paris Agreement, Brazil will need to control deforestation induced by the expansion of the agricultural frontier in the Amazon, Cerrado and Pantanal biomes. / Frontiers
[New] A Texas-based group is pushing county governments in Colorado and other states to pass resolutions opposing Biden's goal of protecting 30% of U.S. lands and waters by 2030. / Los Angeles Times
[New] If successful, China will be the second country after the U.S. to land a rover on Mars, the nearest planet to Earth. / Nikkei Asia
[New] Two farmers stopped cultivating all or part of their land altogether, despite their fears that Israel may designate it as state land on the basis that Palestinians have not continuously cultivated it. / Human Rights Watch
[New] Climate change presents issues and threats worldwide, including rising temperatures, reduced air quality and loss of biodiversity. / Railway Technology
[New] Other longer-term goals remain in progress, though, such as putting forward a plan to conserve 30% of American lands and waters by 2030 and making progress on curbing hydrofluorocarbon greenhouse gases. / ABC News
[New] Immediate global protection of marine biodiversity habitat comes with losses of ~19% of total fisheries revenues, but international cooperation in concert with high seas protection improves economic losses for most countries, safeguards all species, and could save ~5 B USD annually worldwide. / bioRxiv
[New] Establishing woodland on high-quality arable land is problematic, as it increases the UK's reliance on food imports which could accelerate tropical deforestation to meet global demand, unless crop productivity is improved. / University of Glasgow
[New] Protecting existing terrestrial carbon stocks could secure 16,231 Megatonnes of CO2 equivalent, and an additional climate change mitigation of 75-123 Mt CO2e by 2030 and 278-492 Mt CO2e by 2050 could be achieved through restoration of degraded peatlands and creating new woodland. / University of Glasgow
[New] With global warming and with the increase in population around the world, cutting down of forests, desertifications, we are going to have more exposure to zoonoses. / Council on Foreign Relations
[New] Of the ~25,000 species that the IUCN has identified as threatened with extinction, 13,382 are threatened by agricultural land clearing and degradation alone. / Royal Society
[New] The fate of global biodiversity will depend as much on changes to the global food-system as on conventional conservation over the coming decades. / Royal Society
[New] Mastercard's collaboration with CBI will digitise Iraq's payment ecosystem in a bid to boost financial inclusion, encourage socio-economic development and mitigate the risks of a shadow economy. / The Fintech Times
[New] Grants of between £10,000 and £250,000 are available to not-for-profit organisations for projects that will restore, enhance and in some instances acquire land to create new community woodlands in Wales. / News
[New] NCCSP2 aims to address four major climate risks for Nepal: climate risks to infrastructure (resilience, loss and damage); quality and quantity of water; agricultural yield and food security; and biodiversity and natural resources. / Mott MacDonald
The Earth's most diverse ecosystems, the tropical and subtropical ecosystems of Asia, Africa and the Americas, will experience accelerating agricultural land clearing and habitat fragmentation, greatly increasing extinction risks for their mammals, birds, plants and other taxa. / Royal Society
Were current trajectories to continue, 13 Sub-Saharan countries would need at least 4-times their 2010 cropland by 2060: ~430 million hectares of additional cropland in total, comprising all remaining land suitable for agriculture in some countries. / Royal Society
The global food system threatens more species than any other area of human endeavour, through habitat destruction to create new farmland; overexploitation of marine and terrestrial species; and agricultural pollution of freshwater and marine ecosystems. / Royal Society
The food system emits 30% of global greenhouse gases, and climate change is likely to become a major extinction risk over the next century 1. / Royal Society
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory - Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory will receive up to $1 million to protect algal crops by developing probiotic bacteria to combat pond infestation and increase ecosystem functioning and resilience. / Energy.gov
Wild Pacific salmon are facing threats from climate change, contaminants, and changes in land and water use. / BUDGET2017

Last updated: 02 May 2021

Life on Land

Login