06/03/2025 We have a belated Cop16 agreement to protect biodiversity – but is it enough? Patrick Greenfield March 6 Last week, countries signed off a hard-won compromise on nature finance after marathon negotiations in Rome, finally bringing biodiversity Cop16 meetings to an end. In November, the UN nature summit was suspended in disarray after negotiatorsContinue reading “Down to Earth for March 2025”
Tag Archives: Patrick Greenfield
Abnormally warm temperatures, extreme weather events and Cop16
27/02/2025 Abandoned citizens and conspiracy theories – what I saw in hurricane-ravaged North Carolina Nina Lakhani Last August, abnormally warm temperatures in the Gulf of Mexico fuelled Hurricane Helene, before it made landfall and unleashed catastrophic winds and rainfall across the south-eastern United States. The hurricane was the third deadliest in American history, after KatrinaContinue reading “Abnormally warm temperatures, extreme weather events and Cop16”
Down to Earth for January 30, 2025
09/01/2025 How flora and fauna are evolving before our eyes, in the face of climate adversity Patrick Greenfield During Britain’s industrial revolution, the peppered moth became one of the most famous examples of rapid evolution. The black and white insect, widespread in the northern hemisphere, largely disappeared from urban areas in England as its habitatContinue reading “Down to Earth for January 30, 2025”
About the future of the planet
Damian Carrington For the past 16 years I have had the privilege of speaking regularly to the world’s top climate experts, but over the past year or so something started troubling me. Many appeared to have increasingly little faith in the world’s ability to keep global heating to 1.5C – and yet this remained theContinue reading “About the future of the planet”
Further essential reads for the first half of February 2024
Why 2024 could be the year the Amazon gets the help it needs For decades, the world’s rainforests have been cleared at a relentless pace, mostly destroyed by humans for agriculture. It is a familiar tale accompanied by images of orangutans confronting loggers and cattle ranchers expanding further into the Earth’s most biodiverse places. ButContinue reading “Further essential reads for the first half of February 2024”
Climate Hero – Christiana Figueres
The Costa Rican diplomat who oversaw the Paris agreement deserves the award many times over, but this week’s warning about a potentially calamitous Cop28 deserves special recognition. Figueres said the UAE, who are hosting the summit in Dubai, are playing a “very dangerous” game that threatens the survival of vulnerable nations. The meeting is beingContinue reading “Climate Hero – Christiana Figueres”
The days of making billions with misleading ‘climate-friendly’ products may be over
Patrick Greenfield The era of vague environmental claims is over, advertising executives declared this week, as the marketing meets the science. Terms like environmentally friendly, nature positive and carbon negative are facing scrutiny from regulators in London and Brussels, with offsetting the subject of special attention. “Misleading environmental claims are under the microscope from advertisingContinue reading “The days of making billions with misleading ‘climate-friendly’ products may be over”
‘Carbon offsets’ claim to help the planet
26/01/2023 ‘Carbon offsets’ on flights, food and even TV claim to help the planet – what if they don’t? Patrick Greenfield Our investigation into rainforest offsets approved by Verra, the organisation that operates the world’s leading carbon standard, was driven by a simple question: are the carbon credits trustworthy? Protecting the world’s remaining tropical rainforestsContinue reading “‘Carbon offsets’ claim to help the planet”
Culling invasive animals isn’t pretty, but it rescues species in need
The scale and complexity of invasive species eradication programmes is growing, and with it, a real chance to undo some of the damage humans have done to islands ecosystems around the world.
Guardian Headlines concerning our Climate 2022 July 11- July 17
July 14 Avian flu is plaguing our birds – when will this crisis hit home? Phoebe Weston The pandemic turned many of us armchair epidemiologists. We learned the boring basics of disease prevention, keeping two metres apart in public places, washing our hands a lot and staying at home watching TV. But as the worstContinue reading “Guardian Headlines concerning our Climate 2022 July 11- July 17”
Some View on the World 