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2,230 results
The risks of relying on tomorrow’s ‘negative emissions’ to guide today’s mitigation action
The paper argues that relying on future large-scale negative emissions to 'undo' current carbon emissions is a high-risk strategy that may lead to insufficient near-term decarbonization. It identifies three primary risk types: technological/biophysical infeasibility, unacceptable social and ecological impacts, and the potential for sequestered carbon to be re-released or for climate impacts to become irreversible. The authors evaluate four land-based options, concluding that while ecosystem restoration and reforestation may provide some viable negative emissions, high-reliance scenarios (e.g., those requiring 1,000 Gt CO2) are likely unachievable. BECCS is highlighted as particularly risky due to unproven commercial scale and extreme land and resource requirements. The paper advocates for a 'zero fossil carbon' goal over 'net zero' to ensure aggressive immediate mitigation.
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Document type: Research paper
Vote for the environment
Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica calls on 750,000 supporters to vote for candidates who prioritize environmental values. He argues that an environmental majority in the US government is necessary to repeal fossil fuel and nuclear subsidies, protect pollinators from chemicals, and uphold the Clean Power Plan.
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Document type: Statement
A STITCH IN TIME: PREVENTIVE DIPLOMACY AND THE LAKE MALAWI DISPUTE
The document examines a long-standing boundary dispute between Malawi and Tanzania, which escalated in 2012 due to the discovery of potential oil reserves. It analyzes the failure of formal legal mechanisms, such as the SADC Tribunal, and the limitations of current preventive diplomacy tools within SADC and the African Union, arguing that a lack of political will and funding hampers regional conflict resolution.
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Document type: Policy brief
Living Amazon Report 2016
The Living Amazon Report 2016 provides a comprehensive overview of the Amazon biome, highlighting its immense biodiversity and critical role in global climate and hydrological regulation. It identifies primary threats including large-scale agriculture, cattle ranching, hydropower dams, and extractive industries, while advocating for a coordinated, biome-wide conservation approach. The report emphasizes the importance of protected areas and indigenous territories, which currently cover over 50% of the biome, and recommends strategies for enhancing climate resilience and securing water connectivity.
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Document type: Report
DOCUMENT D’INFORMATION : Les néonicotinoïdes, les abeilles domestiques et la sécurité alimentaire
The document examines the systemic nature of neonicotinoids and their toxicity to arthropods and vertebrates, linking them to honeybee colony losses in Canada and biodiversity decline in Europe. It highlights the economic importance of pollinators in Ontario and Quebec and argues that the widespread use of these pesticides often provides negligible agricultural benefits while threatening human nutrition and global food security.
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Document type: Fact sheet
Marco de Manejo Ambiental y Social para el proyecto Manejo Integrado Transfronterizo con Enfoque de la Cuenca al Arrecife para el Sistema Arrecifal Mesoamericano
The document provides an Environmental and Social Management Framework (ESMF) for a project aimed at conserving freshwater, marine, and coastal resources in the Mesoamerican Reef System (MAR). It defines the institutional roles of the Central American Commission on Environment and Development (CCAD) and partner NGOs, establishes a project classification system (Categories A, B, and C) based on risk, and outlines procedures for Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIAs). The framework identifies priority river basins—including the Hondo, Motagua, Belice, Chamelecón, and Ulúa—and details the threats facing the reef, such as agricultural runoff, deforestation, and urban waste. It also sets strict safeguards for indigenous peoples, involuntary resettlement, and the use of hazardous pesticides, while proposing various 'ridge-to-reef' interventions like agroforestry and habitat restoration.
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Document type: Report
Mexican Gray Wolf: What You Need To Know
The Mexican gray wolf (Canis lupus baileyi) is one of North America's most endangered mammals, with a wild population of only 113 individuals as of February 2017. Historically found across the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, the subspecies was nearly eliminated by the livestock industry and government agents. Current recovery efforts are hampered by poor genetic diversity, as all existing wild wolves descend from just seven captive ancestors. Earthjustice argues that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's 2017 Recovery Plan is flawed because it limits wolves to inadequate habitats, fails to provide sufficient wild releases, and ignores scientific recommendations to establish three interconnected populations totaling at least 750 individuals across Arizona, New Mexico, the Grand Canyon, and southern Colorado.
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Document type: Guide
Re: Ontario’s Draft Pollinator Health Action Plan - #EBR 012-6393
The Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment (CAPE) supports Ontario's draft Pollinator Health Action Plan, particularly its focus on protecting pollinators from stressors like pesticide exposure and habitat loss. CAPE emphasizes the link between pollinator health and human food security, citing research that a total loss of animal pollinators could increase annual human deaths from nutrition-related diseases by 1.42 million. While welcoming the plan's strategic outcomes, CAPE recommends adding specific targets, budgets, and timelines, creating an independent scientific advisory body, providing farmer incentives for pollinator-friendly practices, and conducting a cumulative assessment of pesticide exposures in Ontario.
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Document type: Statement
Quantifying the Challenges of Adopting Sustainability Criteria for Biofuel Production
The report identifies significant barriers to the adoption of sustainability certifications for biofuels, particularly for producers using agricultural or forest feedstocks and those operating in developing countries. Key challenges include a lack of flexibility in indicators to meet local conditions, high certification costs without guaranteed market premiums, and auditor inexperience with new social requirements. Conversely, producers using non-agricultural or non-forest wastes find the process simpler. The study recommends regional adaptation of standards and the creation of secure, large-scale markets to incentivize certification.
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Document type: Report
The Restoration Diagnostic Can Help Bring Commitments into Action on the Ground
The World Resources Institute has developed the Restoration Diagnostic to help countries and landscapes move from restoration commitments to action. By analyzing 16 global case studies, WRI identified three essential themes for success: clear motivation, enabling conditions, and capacity/resources for sustained implementation. The Diagnostic and its accompanying Excel-based Assessment Tool allow stakeholders to identify missing success factors and determine the policies and incentives needed to trigger restoration at scale.
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Document type: Briefing
« RESISTE » : des familles travaillant ensemble pour construire l’agroécologie au Chiapas, Mexique
The document details the work of the RESISTE network in Chiapas, Mexico, which promotes agroecology, seed saving, and soil conservation to counter a national policy favoring export-oriented agribusiness and land privatization. Through horizontal community capacity building, the initiative supports eight family groups in transitioning away from chemical inputs toward sustainable food systems and the defense of territorial rights.
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Document type: Case study
Migration and Conservation: A toolkit for conservation and development practitioners
The Migration and Conservation Toolkit is designed to help practitioners integrate migration dynamics into conservation interventions to prevent the exacerbation of social tensions and institutional failures that threaten ecosystems. Developed using research from the Great Lakes region of Africa, the toolkit serves as a non-prescriptive roadmap for designing activities sensitive to how migration affects natural resource use and livelihoods in host communities. Specifically, in the Bale Mountains ecosystem, migration is identified as a significant driver of land conversion and the overexploitation of natural resources.
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Document type: Guide
Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa
The report examines the relationship between human migration and ecosystem health in the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa, specifically focusing on the Bale Mountains in Ethiopia, the Misotshi–Kabogo ecosystem in the DRC, and the Lake Albert ecosystem in Uganda. It highlights how migration drives land conversion and resource overexploitation, particularly in the Bale Mountains, and introduces a toolkit designed to help practitioners implement migration-sensitive conservation interventions.
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Document type: Report
Human Migration and Ecosystems: Insights from the Great Lakes Region of East and Central Africa
The report examines the relationship between human migration and ecosystem degradation in the Great Lakes Region of Africa, focusing on case studies in Uganda, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It argues that while migration is not the primary cause of environmental pressure, it acts as an exacerbating factor that increases habitat destruction and unsustainable resource use. The document provides a framework for conservationists to integrate migration trends into land-use planning and natural resource governance.
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Document type: Report
Connecting Local Farmers and Large-Scale Food Buyers to Create Jobs and Revitalize America’s Heartland
The document examines the decline of midsize family farms in the U.S., using Iowa as a primary case study, and proposes a national food policy to connect these farms with institutional buyers to create jobs and improve environmental sustainability.
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Document type: Policy brief
Bridging Science and Policy to Mitigate and Adapt Cities to Climate Change: Challenges and Opportunities in the Context of the Basque Declaration
The document examines the intersection of science and urban policy, identifying that while research can provide robust data to validate decision-making and increase citizen trust, significant gaps exist due to differing timeframes, technical languages, and motivations. It argues that co-creating solutions and bridging the gap between researchers and practitioners is essential for the successful implementation of the Basque Declaration's sustainability goals.
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Document type: Policy brief
THE GREEN ECONOMY BAROMETER 2016
The Green Economy Barometer 2016 reports that while the transition to green economies is accelerating—marked by record investments in renewables and a maturing international policy architecture—it remains insufficient in depth and breadth. The report highlights a significant shift in investment toward developing countries and the emergence of ambitious national sectoral targets. However, it argues that structural reform is lacking, as most national plans ignore the informal economy and the needs of the poorest populations. The document concludes that the green economy remains politically fringe and requires a more inclusive narrative to achieve large-scale societal transformation.
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Document type: Report
FINDING COMMON GROUND
The document argues that the 'commons'—resources managed by autonomous citizens through cooperation and reciprocity—offer a necessary third way between the state and the market. It explores various applications, from urban 'commoning' in Italy and France to seed-saving in India and the legal challenges of space mining. The text highlights how neoliberal privatisation has driven a 'third wave' of collective action and calls for EU policy to shift from a growth-centric model to one that supports stewardship and social-ecological sustainability.
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Document type: Report
Review of Current and Planned Adaptation Action in Pakistan
The document provides a comprehensive review of Pakistan's vulnerability to climate change, focusing on the gap between national policy goals and actual implementation. It identifies critical risks to water, food, and energy security, and notes that while the government has established a National Climate Change Policy and an implementation framework, progress is hindered by weak governance, limited funding, and a lack of capacity at the provincial level following the devolution of responsibilities under the 18th Amendment. The report also catalogues 26 discrete adaptation projects, noting a heavy focus on research and water management, while highlighting significant gaps in health, forestry, and gender-sensitive adaptation.
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Document type: Research paper
The risky promise of ‘negative emissions’: Why we should not assume that land-based measures will save the climate
The document argues that relying on future negative emissions to offset current insufficient climate action is a high-risk strategy. It identifies three primary risks: technological and biophysical infeasibility, unacceptable social and ecological impacts, and the potential for these measures to be less effective than expected due to reversals or irreversible climate tipping points. The authors conclude that while some land-based sequestration is possible, it cannot reach the scales often assumed in climate models without severe trade-offs.
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Document type: Policy brief