Digital technologies for biodiversity protection and climate action: Solution or COP out?


Digital technologies like drones are being heavily promoted to address the threats of climate change and biodiversity loss. (Unsplash)


THE CONVERSATION
Published: December 12, 2022

With biodiversity declining at unprecedented rates and less than a decade remaining to avert the worst effects of climate change, world leaders and policymakers are on the hunt for new and innovative solutions. In the halls and meeting rooms of global COP conferences, digital technologies have been heavily promoted to address these interrelated threats to our ecosystem.

At the recent COP27 climate conference in Egypt, the Forest Data Partnership — a global consortium co-ordinated by the World Resources Institute (WRI) in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, NASA, Google and Unilever — called for a “global alliance to unlock the value of land use data to protect and restore nature.” The WRI promoted its Land and Carbon Lab to measure carbon stocks associated with land use.

Nature4Climate — a coalition of 20 environmental organizations — revealed a new online platform to help implement natural climate solutions. They also exhibited a report on the “nature tech market.” At the COP15 biodiversity conference in Montréal, NatureMetrics, a provider of nature intelligence technology, launched a new digital dashboard to enable standardized measurements of the health of ecosystems.

Many, however, see such efforts as a dangerous push to get untried and untested corporate technologies accepted as “nature-positive solutions” in the Convention on Biological Diversity and climate negotiations.

As researchers examining the role of technologies in biodiversity monitoring and protected area management, we find that these digital technologies have the potential to yield positive results, if co-developed and used ethically with Indigenous Peoples.
Conservation and Big Tech

The influence of the tech industry in environmental governance has grown considerably over the past decade. Tech giants like Microsoft, IBM, Google and Amazon, as well as philanthropic counterparts like the Bezos Earth Fund, have invested significantly in technologies to address global environmental issues.Today, technologies are transforming the world’s forests and oceans into new frontiers of digital commoditization and investment. (One Earth/Wageningen University & Research), CC BY-NC-ND

Microsoft’s $50 million “AI for Earth” program, for instance, aims to “transform the way we monitor, model and ultimately manage Earth’s natural resources through grants, technology and access to data.” Such programs, including the Forest Data Partnership, have helped establish partnerships involving philanthropic, academic, non-governmental, public and private sector institutions.

They not only transform conservation, but natural environments as well. The deployment of digital technologies throughout natural environments, from satellites and aerial sensors to drones, camera traps and wearable sensors, has transformed the Internet of Things into an internet of trees, oceans and wildlife.

In our new economic context, in which data is the new oil, such technologies also transform the world’s forests and oceans into new frontiers of digital commoditization and investment.
Climate action or corporate greenwashing?

Critics warn, however, that these techno-centric solutions are simply corporate greenwashing and that they actually intensify biodiversity loss and climate change. While Microsoft, Amazon and Google tout the use of their technologies for environmental good, they continue to sell cloud computing and artificial intelligence services to oil companies around the world.

Research on Microsoft’s AI For Earth program shows that its cloud computing and AI products help oil companies better extract and distribute oil. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

Research on Microsoft’s “AI For Earth” program shows that it greenwashes Microsoft’s corporate reputation, while its cloud computing and AI products are promoted to help oil companies better extract and distribute oil. Its vast data centres also use significant amounts of electricity, much of which comes from fossil fuels.

While Microsoft does attempt to offset its emissions by investing in California’s Klamath East project, a stretch of protected woodland managed by a forest products company, its carbon offsets have literally gone up in smoke in recent wildfires.

Similar claims have been made about Amazon and its environmental programs. While Amazon Web Services advertises its support for conservation and climate action, the company continues to drive greenhouse gas emissions by offering its cloud computing and AI services to the oil and gas sector.

In a critique of the Forest Data Partnership, the environmental organization Greenpeace argued that it is “nothing but a green light for eight more years of forest destruction, with little respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.” It also argued that this allows polluters to do more business as usual through “carbon trickery instead of advancing true climate action.”
Technology for a just and sustainable future

At COP15 there has been a critical parallel movement to support Indigenous-led conservation to meet global biodiversity and climate change commitments.

Making up just five per cent of the global population, Indigenous Peoples steward 36 per cent of our remaining intact forests and 80 per cent of the world’s biodiversity.

Digital technologies, however, often marginalize local and Indigenous communities in conservation by supporting a shift toward more militarized and coercive approaches to conservation that position communities as targets of surveillance and policing.

Can these digital technologies truly support community and Indigenous-led conservation? (James Stinson), Author provided

Given these concerns, it is important to think critically about the role of digital technologies in global biodiversity and climate frameworks. Can these digital technologies truly support Indigenous-led conservation, climate action and reconciliation with the Earth?

The first step to this would include monitoring new technologies in the new biodiversity and climate frameworks. Digital tools must not be used to maintain the status quo by securing carbon credits and corporate profits. Instead, they need to be co-developed ethically and used with Indigenous Peoples and land defenders to protect their rights to — and control over — the environments they cultivate, care for and protect.

Authors

James Stinson
Postdoctoral Fellow, Dahdaleh Institute of Global Health Research and Faculty of Education, York University, Canada

Disclosure statement

James Stinson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). He is Principle Investigator of the SSHRC-funded project "Smart Conservation and the Production of Nature 3.0 in Belize."

Lee Mcloughlin
PhD student Global Sociocultural Studies, Florida International University

Disclosure statement
Lee Mcloughlin receives funding from Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). He is a research assistant for the SSHRC-funded project "Smart Conservation and the Production of Nature 3.0 in Belize".

COP15’s Global Biodiversity Framework must advance Indigenous-led conservation to halt biodiversity loss by 2030

The Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity adopted their new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework on Dec.19, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

THE CONVERSATION
Published: December 20, 2022 

In the early hours of Dec. 19 — the last day of the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) conference in Montréal — the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) adopted their new post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework.

The goals and targets agreed within this framework, including the widely discussed Target 3, will guide conservation policy and investment for years to come. Target 3 — also known as the “30x30” target — calls for the conservation of 30 per cent of global land and sea areas by 2030.

The CBD has long promoted the creation of protected areas (parks) for the protection of both terrestrial and marine environments. The “30x30” target is a significant increase from the Aichi targets, set during the COP10 conference in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, which called for 17 per cent terrestrial and 10 per cent marine areas to be protected by 2020.

As researchers who study conservation governance, we have closely followed the four years of negotiations that led to this historic agreement. We believe that as protected and conserved areas increase under the framework, an equity-based approach, which respects Indigenous rights and title, is essential to help bring the transformative changes we need to halt and reverse biodiversity loss.

Challenges of ‘30x30’

In 2019, scientists called for a global deal for nature to save biodiversity, including a minimum of 30 per cent of Earth to be formally protected. The High Ambition Coalition — a group of more than 100 countries including Canada — has advocated for the “30x30” target since its launch in January 2021.

Such area-based targets, however, raise concerns. Protected areas have perpetuated colonial ideologies and violated Indigenous rights.



Some international organizations, like Survival International, campaigned against “30x30,” fearing that it would lead to further land grabs, human rights violations and dispossession of Indigenous Peoples globally, such as the recent eviction of the Maasai from the Ngorongoro Nature Reserve in Tanzania.

At COP15, many countries insisted that the ambitious “30x30” target must be matched by similarly ambitious funding. The Democratic Republic of the Congo initially rejected the framework on Monday, arguing that promised financial transfers from developed to developing countries were still insufficient. Although Congo later agreed to the framework, the tension during the meeting was high. The delegate from Namibia summarized it saying colonial injustice underlies all problems encountered in the CBD.

These concerns — regarding colonialism, global injustice and human rights violations — informed the negotiations of the Framework at COP15.

One sticking point was whether Indigenous and traditional territories should be included in Target 3 as a distinct category of conservation, separate from protected areas. The International Indigenous Forum on Biodiversity argued that incorporating Indigenous and traditional territories into existing conservation policies, like government-led protected areas, undermines Indigenous self-determination.

Ultimately, the final framework fell short of recognizing Indigenous territories as a distinct category of protection.

Some organizations are concerned this will put Indigenous Peoples at greater risk of human rights violations, while others welcomed the strong language in the framework regarding respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities.

Canada’s role in ‘30x30’

Despite the concerns raised, the Global Biodiversity Framework creates opportunities to further Indigenous-led conservation. For example, following international guidelines, the creation and management of Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCAs) can count towards the 30 per cent target.

Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas are Indigenous-led, represent a long-term commitment to conservation and elevate Indigenous rights and responsibilities.

According to the Indigenous Circle of Experts, IPCAs are Indigenous-led, represent a long-term commitment to conservation and elevate Indigenous rights and responsibilities.

In Canada, there is growing recognition of the role of IPCAs in meeting conservation goals while also supporting reconciliation efforts. In August 2021, for example, the Government of Canada announced an investment of up to $340 million in new funding over five years to support Indigenous leadership in nature conservation. Over $166 million of this will be dedicated to supporting IPCAs.

During the opening ceremony of COP15, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced funding of up to $800 million to support Indigenous-led conservation initiatives over seven years. Later in the summit, Minister of Environment and Climate Change, Steven Guilbeault, jointly announced a new First Nations National Guardians Network with Valérie Courtois, the Director of the Indigenous Leadership Initiative.

Prime Minister Trudeau announced funding of up to $800 million to support Indigenous-led conservation initiatives over seven years during the opening ceremony of COP15 on Dec. 6, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson

The federal, provincial, territorial and Indigenous governments have also announced work towards establishing new IPCAs, including one in the Seal River Watershed in Manitoba and another one around Great Bear Lake (Tsá Tué) in the Northwest Territories.

These investments demonstrate a growing recognition that Indigenous-led stewardship has equal or better conservation outcomes than government-led conservation efforts. It also shows the need for innovative forms of conservation governance beyond traditional protected areas. IPCAs present an important opportunity for transformative change, where Indigenous Peoples’ rights and responsibilities are upheld, rather than undermined, while working toward global conservation goals.
Beyond COP15

In response to the CBD’s previous Aichi targets, the percentage of the Earth’s surface covered by protected areas increased from 14.1 to 15.3 per cent on land and from 2.9 to 7.5 per cent in the marine environment between 2010 and 2019. The implementation of Target 3 could increase protected area coverage much further in the coming years.

According to COP15’s final agreement, the implementation of the Framework must follow a human rights-based approach, acknowledging the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment as recognized by the UN.



Here in Canada, the federal government only recently passed the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Act, which recognizes and legally upholds the rights of Indigenous Peoples. The outcome of COP15, therefore, coincides with the national implementation of UNDRIP, informing the role that Indigenous rights will play in Canada’s conservation agenda.

Canada cannot meet its global commitments without centring Indigenous leadership and working in collaboration with Indigenous peoples.

This can be achieved by following the recommendations of the Indigenous Circle of Experts to provide continued — and increased — support for Indigenous-led conservation initiatives, like IPCAs. Supporting Indigenous-led conservation can help improve biodiversity outcomes while upholding our responsibility to human rights and reconciliation.

Authors

Noella Gray
Associate Professor of Geography, University of Guelph

Victoria Hodson
PhD Student, University of Guelph

Disclosure statement

Noella Gray receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

Victoria Hodson receives funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).

How Indigenous philosophies can improve the way Canadians treat animals

An orangutan and a human share a moment and touch hands. Indigenous philosophies regard animals as human’s close relations deserving of respect, kindness and gratitude from birth to the end of their lives. (Shutterstock)


THE CONVERSATION
Published: December 14, 2022 

Indigenous perspectives view the relationship between humans and animals much differently than modern western societies. Weaving Indigenous perspectives into how Canadians regard animals could greatly benefit the well-being of animals on several fronts, including agriculture, research, and those kept as pets.

Teaching such views could also transform university curricula, especially in animal science and biomedical programs, as well as climate change activism and sustainability as we pursue reconciliation.

The Campbell Centre for the Study of Animal Welfare (CCSAW) is a group of faculty, students and staff at the University of Guelph promoting the welfare of animals through research, education and outreach.

The CCSAW hosted a speaker series this past spring with Canadian senators, academics and Indigenous thought leaders to discuss Indigenous perspectives towards animal use in Canada. In particular, they spoke about how animal species are regarded as human’s close relations deserving of respect, kindness and gratitude from birth to the end of their lives.

Captive wild animals

How can viewing animals as close relations have an impact on current animal use in Canada? One way — currently being considered by the Senate — is by improving the lives of captive wild animals.

First introduced in 2020 by Sen. Murray Sinclair (Anishinaabe and member of Peguis First Nation) and reintroduced in March 2022 by Sen. Marty Klyne (Cree Métis), the Jane Goodall Act hopes to provide some of the strongest legislation for wild animal protection in the world.

Supported by Coastal First Nations, the act aims to deliver new legal protections for captive big cats, bears, wolves, seals, sea lions, walruses, certain monkeys and reptiles. These protections include ending the commercial trade, breeding and acquisition of these species.

The Jane Goodall Act is named after renowned English primatologist Jane Goodall.

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh

It will also work to phase out elephant captivity and roadside zoos in Canada.

A driving factor in support for the act is the Indigenous consideration and recognition that animals and humans, and the environment surrounding us, are interconnected.

Currently in its second reading with the Senate, this highly anticipated legislation has the potential to make huge strides toward the protection of wild animals by advocating for their welfare through a lens of mutual respect.

‘All my relations’

Where do these values come from?

During the CCSAW event, Jesse Popp, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Environmental Science from Wiikwemkoong Unceded Territory, described the concept of “all my relations.” This cross-cultural Indigenous philosophy is based on the foundation of respect for all living things through co-existence and inherent responsibilities and obligations for all ways of knowing.

There is a disconnect between the hierarchical top-down relationships between humans and animals in modern settler societies and Indigenous perspectives that incorporate a holistic and circular interconnection among humans, animals and the environment.

A dairy cow stands in a farm pasture in Surrey, B.C. Indigenous values like respect and responsibility could better protect the autonomy of livestock animals. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The view that humans are separate from nature went against Popp’s desire to work with animals, prompting her to incorporate Indigenous views into western ways of knowing to advance environmental and ecological science that contributes to animal conservation, sustainability and the movement of the natural sciences toward reconciliation.

Maintaining an “all my relations” perspective, many Indigenous cultures also have strong family ties to animals. For Elder Wendy Phillips — Bald Eagle Clan, Potawatomi and Ojibwa, and member of Wasauksing First Nation — ceremony and knowledge translation from one generation to the next are key to her practice.

Within the clan system, animal ties provide clan members with roles within the community. For the Bald Eagle Clan, this is a role of leadership and teaching. Carried over generations, these teachings allow the continuation of ceremonial practice through sustainable management and companionship.

Mutual respect and reciprocity

But does this go far enough? In terms of animals raised for agricultural purposes, Indigenous philosophies of respect, responsibility and reciprocity are all but lost in modern practices.

Agriculture animals experience a lack of agency toward living a natural life by being forced to live in unnatural social groups and often without the ability to even turn around, let alone fly or run. They also suffer during transport between farms and slaughterhouses and experience shortened lifespans.

During her CCSAW talk, Margaret Robinson, Canada Research Chair in Reconciliation, Gender, and Identity who is Mi’kmaq from Lennox Island First Nation, described how modern intensive agricultural practices go against key Mi’kmaq values.

A chicken drinks water in a poultry barn in Abbotsford, B.C. in November 2022. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck

The Mi’kmaq value of non-interference directly contradicts modern agriculture by not respecting the autonomy of the animal. Animals are forcibly caged and their bodies are altered.

The Mi’kmaq value of respect for mothers as matriarchal and community leaders is also violated for many agriculture species as pregnancy is commonly forced and mothers are separated from their young offspring, often very shortly after birth.
Reconnecting with animals

Robinson also spoke of the disconnect between the food we buy from the grocery store and the Mi’kmaq tradition of giving gratitude at the end of an animal’s life. Incorporating these values into current agricultural practices could better protect an animal’s autonomy through respect and responsibility.

Ethnobotanist Robin Wall Kimmerer also discusses this disconnect in our food systems in her book Braiding Sweetgrass. She writes:

“Something is broken when the food comes on a Styrofoam tray wrapped in slippery plastic, a carcass of a being whose only chance at life was a cramped cage. That is not a gift of life; it is a theft.”

Indigenous views and ways of knowing should be applied to the way we keep, use and kill animals and in how we teach future generations about animal use and their care, particularly within animal agriculture. Animal welfare researchers are on the right track as they strive to understand our impact and treatment of the animals we use and live with.

Instead of separating ourselves from the world around us, we should remind ourselves that we are intertwined with animals, and therefore should uphold respect and responsibility for them. As Kimmerer says: “Sustain the ones who sustain you and the Earth will last forever.”

Author 

Courtney Graham
PhD Candidate in Epidemiology and Animal Behaviour, University of Guelph
Disclosure statement
Courtney Graham received a small stipend from the University of Guelph's Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Enhancement Fund for her time to write this piece.
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https://libcom.org/article/mutual-aid-factor-evolution-peter-kropotkin

Mutual aid: a factor of evolution - Peter Kropotkin - Libcom.org 

Russian anarchist Peter Kropotkin's massively influential work on mutual aid and co-operation as a factor in evolution, written in 1902.

https://libcom.org/article/beasts-burden-antagonism-and-practical-history

Beasts of burden - Antagonism and Practical History | libcom.org 

Mar 26, 2017 ... An attempt to rethink the separation between animal liberationist and communist politics.

http://www.stafforini.com/docs/Singer%20-%20Practical%20ethics.pdf

Practical Ethics 

Peter Singer's remarkably clear and comprehensive Practical Eth- ... "Peter Singer has provided us with a good example of the fruits.

https://personal.lse.ac.uk/robert49/teaching/mm/articles/Singer_1972Famine.pdf

Famine, Affluence, and Morality Author(s): Peter Singer Source - LSE 

PETER SINGER. Famine, Affluence, and. Morality. As I write this, in November Ig7I, people are dying in East Bengal from lack of food, shelter, and medical ...

https://spot.colorado.edu/~heathwoo/phil1200,Spr07/singer.pdf

All Animals Are Equal 

In TOM REGAN & PETER SINGER (eds.), Animal Rights and Human Obligations. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1989, pp. 148-. 162. Page 2. men are; dogs, on the other ...

https://grupojovenfl.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/peter-singer-animal-liberation-1.pdf

Peter Singer, Animal Liberation - WordPress.com 

That's an important step forward, and a sign that over the next forty years we may see even bigger changes in the ways we treat animals. Peter Singer. February ...

COP15: A call to action for investors to help us meet vital biodiversity goals

Businesses and investors have a critical role to play in biodiversity and conservation efforts and need to invest in sustainable production and extraction methods. (Shutterstock)

THE CONVERSATION
Published: December 15, 2022 

The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, opened the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) in Montréal with a stark message: “Without nature, we are nothing. Nature is our life-support system, and yet humanity seems hell bent on destruction.”

The summit brought together delegates from over 190 countries to negotiate the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework, the implementation of which will require a transformation in the way we produce, consume and trade goods and services that rely on and impact biodiversity.

Companies and investors have, therefore, been paying close attention. Businesses and investors have a critical role to play in biodiversity and conservation efforts and need to invest in sustainable production and extraction methods.

On Dec. 14, the Finance and Biodiversity Day of the summit, speakers across the financial sector discussed various ways of aligning financial investments with the new biodiversity framework. In anticipation of these finance talks, a new global engagement initiative, Nature Action 100 was launched to drive investors’ action on nature-related risks and opportunities.

As a scholar in sustainable finance, I believe that while these initiatives and discussions are important, we need more targeted and urgent investments in nature-friendly solutions to reverse biodiversity loss.

“Without nature, we are nothing”

Numerous scientific studies point to alarming statistics on the rates of biodiversity loss. The Living Planet Report 2022 shows an average decline of 69 per cent in wildlife populations since 1970, thus emphasizing the dual crises of biodiversity loss and climate change driven by human activities.

Ecosystem services from biodiversity, such as flood protection and carbon sequestration, are worth an estimated US$125-140 trillion per year. (AP Photo/Al-emrun Garjon)

Unlike the climate crisis that led to the signing of the Paris Agreement, biodiversity loss has received little attention until now. However, the risks from biodiversity loss are enormous.

According to an OECD report, ecosystem services from biodiversity, such as crop pollination, water purification, flood protection and carbon sequestration, are worth an estimated US$125-140 trillion per year. About US$44 trillion per year of this global output is dependent on nature .
Bending the curve of biodiversity loss

The Convention on Biological Diversity’s fifth Global Biodiversity Outlook summary report for policymakers, published in 2020, suggests a portfolio of actions to restore biodiversity.

These actions include the restoration of landscapes and marine and coastal ecosystems, redesigning agricultural systems through innovative productivity-enhancing approaches, deploying green infrastructure, enabling sustainable and healthy diets, rapidly phasing out fossil fuel use, and many more.

The Global Biodiversity Outlook report offers climate actions that could halt and reverse the rate of biodiversity decline (bend the curve), potentially leading to net biodiversity gains after 2030. (CBD/Global Biodiversity Outlook 5, Summary for Policymakers)

Businesses and investors have a critical role to play in each of these action domains, especially when it comes to shifting to more sustainable production and manufacturing processes, investing in energy efficiency and waste reduction, conservation of natural resources, and investing in climate solutions that also support biodiversity.

Biodiversity awareness in the world of finance

The awareness about biodiversity risks remains very limited within the finance community. This year, the non-profit CDP, which runs the world’s environmental disclosure system, included new questions to assess firms’ approaches to biodiversity.

The results show that three-quarters of 7,700 respondent companies do not assess their impact on biodiversity. Most companies in nature-damaging sectors, such as apparel and manufacturing, are still failing to take meaningful action to stop biodiversity loss and environmental degradation.

According to a 2021 OECD report, nature-related dependencies, impacts and risks are poorly understood and almost entirely uncompensated for in the financial sector. This leads to capital misallocation that ultimately undermines the wellbeing of society.

There are, however, positive signs. Thirty-one per cent of companies in the CDP survey have made a public commitment and/or endorsed biodiversity-related initiatives, and 25 per cent of respondents are planning to do so within the next two years.

The growing awareness is confirmed by the 2022 Global Risks Report, which found that biodiversity loss ranks third among the top 10 global risks by severity over the next 10 years.

Integrating biodiversity in financial decisions

One of the key challenges for investors and lenders is getting the relevant data to make evidence-based decisions to allocate funds. This is in line with the ever-increasing demand for environmental, social and governance (ESG) data disclosure.

The newly launched international initiative Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures is developing a risk management and disclosure framework for organizations to report and act on evolving nature-related financial risks.

Biodiversity is also attracting the attention of financial policymakers. In March 2022, the Network for Greening the Financial System, a coalition of more than 120 central banks and supervisors, published a new statement, acknowledging that biodiversity loss could lead to significant macroeconomic and financial stability risks.



The new investor-led initiative Nature Action 100 builds on similar initiatives to help investors engage with companies that are contributing to biodiversity loss. Engaging with companies to reduce their negative impact on nature can be a powerful tool for change, especially when coming from large investors and asset owners.

The International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB) is now considering biodiversity in the development of new ESG disclosure standards. Addressing COP15 delegates, Emmanuel Faber, chair of the ISSB, announced the appointment of two special advisors to provide strategic counsel on issues relating to natural ecosystems and ‘just transition.’

The future lies in impact investing

While these initiatives are crucial, focusing on data disclosure is not sufficient. Even if we quickly agree on disclosure frameworks and measurements around biodiversity, disclosures that are voluntary and not supported by regulation are vulnerable to greenwashing which is widespread in the ESG space.

We need to encourage more targeted investments in nature-positive solutions that reverse biodiversity loss. Impact investing — investing money with the intention to benefit society and the environment — offers a framework for this.

Impact investing starts with identifying a societal challenge and then screens for investment opportunities that provide measurable solutions. But impact investments remain very small relative to other responsible investment strategies. Many impact investors use the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to set their impact goals and measure outcomes.

To tackle biodiversity loss, we need more investments in SDG14 (life below water) and SDG15 (life on land). Despite the importance of ocean ecosystems for local livelihoods, food security and carbon sequestration, SDG14 receives the least amount of funding of any of the SDGs.

Canada is a global leader in clean tech innovation. 

THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan

Canada is a global leader in clean tech innovation and many companies at the nexus of nature and climate are emerging across the country, including innovation in ocean tech, clean marine transportation and regenerative agriculture.

But financing remains a challenge, especially at early stages when risk is high and scale is lacking to attract large investors. More innovative financing mechanisms and instruments are needed to fill this gap.

Investing in Indigenous-led projects can also advance both reconciliation and biodiversity goals, because Indigenous lands contain 80 per cent of the world’s remaining biodiversity.

The Finance and Biodiversity Day at COP15 stimulated important discussions on how to align financial flows with the new biodiversity framework, but real actions remain to be seen. We need action now, as time is not on our side.

Author

Basma Majerbi
Associate Professor, Peter B. Gustavson School of Business, University of Victoria
Disclosure statement
Basma Majerbi receives funding from Canada's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), Mitacs and the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions (PICS) at the University of Victoria. She's a volunteer Board member with the South Island Prosperity Partnership and a member of the Research Advisory Council of the Institute for Sustainable Finance.
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Arctic Report Card 2022: The Arctic is getting rainier and seasons are shifting, with broad disturbances for people, ecosystems and wildlife


Rainier winters make life more difficult for Arctic wildlife and the humans who rely on them. Scott Wallace/Getty Image


THE CONVERSATION
Published: December 13, 2022 

In the Arctic, the freedom to travel, hunt and make day-to-day decisions is profoundly tied to cold and frozen conditions for much of the year. These conditions are rapidly changing as the Arctic warms.

The Arctic is now seeing more rainfall when historically it would be snowing. Sea ice that once protected coastlines from erosion during fall storms is forming later. And thinner river and lake ice is making travel by snowmobile increasingly life-threatening.

Ship traffic in the Arctic is also increasing, bringing new risks to fragile ecosystems, and the Greenland ice sheet is continuing to send freshwater and ice into the ocean, raising global sea level

In the annual Arctic Report Card, released Dec. 13, 2022, we brought together 144 other Arctic scientists from 11 countries to examine the current state of the Arctic system.

Some of the Arctic headlines of 2022 discussed in the Arctic Report Card. 

NOAA

 Climate.gov

The Arctic is getting wetter and rainier

We found that Arctic precipitation is on the rise across all seasons, and these seasons are shifting.

Much of this new precipitation is now falling as rain, sometimes during winter and traditionally frozen times of the year. This disrupts daily life for humans, wildlife and plants.

Roads become dangerously icy more often, and communities face greater risk of river flooding events. For Indigenous reindeer herding communities, winter rain can create an impenetrable ice layer that prevents their reindeer from accessing vegetation beneath the snow.

NOAA Climate.gov

Arctic-wide, this shift toward wetter conditions can disrupt the lives of animals and plants that have evolved for dry and cold conditions, potentially altering Arctic peoples’ local foods.

When Fairbanks, Alaska, got 1.4 inches of freezing rain in December 2021, the moisture created an ice layer that persisted for months, bringing down trees and disrupting travel, infrastructure and the ability of some Arctic animals to forage for food. The resulting ice layer was largely responsible for the deaths of a third of a bison herd in interior Alaska.

There are multiple reasons for this increase in Arctic precipitation.

As sea ice rapidly declines, more open water is exposed, which feeds increased moisture into the atmosphere. The entire Arctic region has seen a more than 40% loss in summer sea ice extent over the 44-year satellite record.

The Arctic atmosphere is also warming more than twice as fast as the rest of the globe, and this warmer air can hold more moisture.

NOAA Climate.gov

Under the ground, the wetter, rainier Arctic is accelerating the thaw of permafrost, upon which most Arctic communities and infrastructure are built. The result is crumbling buildings, sagging and cracked roads, the emergence of sinkholes and the collapse of community coastlines along rivers and ocean.

Wetter weather also disrupts the building of a reliable winter snowpack and safe, reliable river ice, and often challenges Indigenous communities’ efforts to harvest and secure their food.

When Typhoon Merbok hit in September 2022, fueled by unusually warm Pacific water, its hurricane-force winds, 50-foot waves and far-reaching storm surge damaged homes and infrastructure over 1,000 miles of Bering Sea coastline, and disrupted hunting and harvesting at a crucial time.

NOAA Climate.gov

Arctic snow season is shrinking

Snow plays critical roles in the Arctic, and the snow season is shrinking.

Snow helps to keep the Arctic cool by reflecting incoming solar radiation back to space, rather than allowing it to be absorbed by the darker snow-free ground. Its presence helps lake ice last longer into spring and helps the land to retain moisture longer into summer, preventing overly dry conditions that are ripe for devastating wildfires.

Snow is also a travel platform for hunters and a habitat for many animals that rely on it for nesting and protection from predators.

A shrinking snow season is disrupting these critical functions. For example, the June snow cover extent across the Arctic is declining at a rate of nearly 20% per decade, marking a dramatic shift in how the snow season is defined and experienced across the North.

Even in the depth of winter, warmer temperatures are breaking through. The far northern Alaska town of Utqiaġvik hit 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4.4 C) – 8 F above freezing – on Dec. 5, 2022, even though the sun does not breach the horizon from mid-November through mid-January.

NOAA Climate.gov

Fatal falls through thin sea, lake and river ice are on the rise across Alaska, resulting in immediate tragedies as well as adding to the cumulative human cost of climate change that Arctic Indigenous peoples are now experiencing on a generational scale.
Greenland ice melt means global problems

The impacts of Arctic warming are not limited to the Arctic. In 2022, the Greenland ice sheet lost ice for the 25th consecutive year. This adds to rising seas, which escalates the danger coastal communities around the world must plan for to mitigate flooding and storm surge.

In early September 2022, the Greenland ice sheet experienced an unprecedented late-season melt event across 36% of the ice sheet surface. This was followed by another, even later melt event that same month, caused by the remnants of Hurricane Fiona moving up along eastern North America.

International teams of scientists are dedicated to assessing the scale to which the Greenland ice sheet’s ice formation and ice loss are out of balance. They are also increasingly learning about the transformative role that warming ocean waters play.

NOAA Climate.gov

This year’s Arctic Report Card includes findings from the NASA Oceans Melting Greenland (OMG) mission that has confirmed that warming ocean temperatures are increasing ice loss at the edges of the ice sheet.
Human-caused change is reshaping the Arctic

We are living in a new geological age — the Anthropocene — in which human activity is the dominant influence on our climate and environments.

In the warming Arctic, this requires decision-makers to better anticipate the interplay between a changing climate and human activity. For example, satellite-based ship data since 2009 clearly show that maritime ship traffic has increased within all Arctic high seas and national exclusive economic zones as the region has warmed.

NOAA Climate.gov

For these ecologically sensitive waters, this added ship traffic raises urgent concerns ranging from the future of Arctic trade routes to the introduction of even more human-caused stresses on Arctic peoples, ecosystems and the climate. These concerns are especially pronounced given uncertainties regarding the current geopolitical tensions between Russia and the other Arctic states over its war in Ukraine.

Rapid Arctic warming requires new forms of partnership and information sharing, including between scientists and Indigenous knowledge-holders. Cooperation and building resilience can help to reduce some risks, but global action to rein in greenhouse gas pollution is essential for the entire planet.

Authors  

Matthew L. Druckenmiller
Research Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder

Rick Thoman
Alaska Climate Specialist, University of Alaska Fairbanks

Twila Moon
Deputy Lead Scientist, National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC), Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), University of Colorado Boulder

Disclosure statement

Matthew Druckenmiller receives research funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Rick Thoman receives funding from NOAA/Arctic Program

Twila Moon receives research funding from the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Adjusting the intensity of farming can help address climate change


A productive but moderate range of farming intensity is ideal for preserving the soil, its carbon content and biodiversity. (Unsplash/Red Zeppelin)

THE CONVERSATION
Published: December 20, 2022 

We have little chance of tackling climate change and reducing biodiversity loss without a redesign of the world’s largest industry: agriculture and food.

While shifting to more plant-based diets and reducing food waste will be critical steps, what occurs at the farm level will matter more. There, it will be the choices made around technology and intensity that will matter.

Agricultural practices, like regenerative farming, can help address climate change.

Agricultural intensity

With crops grown in farm fields, more intensive management means a reduction in the diversity of crops grown, combined with increased application of nutrients and use of mechanical soil tillage on the farm.

In eastern Canada, cropping has intensified by becoming less diverse.

Common cash crops, such as soybean, leave very little residue (which is mostly carbon) to add to the soil to help reverse CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere. This intensification has led to a continuing decline in the amount of carbon in soil.

Read more: How soil carbon can help tackle climate change

Canadian farmers, with support of federal and provincial programs, are responding to the climate change challenge with a host of cropping interventions, all of which fall under the umbrella of “nature-based climate change solutions.”

These new practices aim to improve soil health, return more carbon to soil, improve nitrogen efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas losses.

While zero-tillage (avoiding disturbing the soil for planting) does not enhance soil carbon in Eastern Canada — unlike in Western Canada — cover cropping, crop diversification and maintaining perennial pastures are recommended.

Cover crops — that help the soil recover — can also enhance cash crop productivity by supplying nutrients.

Maintaining ecosystem biodiversity

What about maintaining biodiversity? Should we maximize farming intensity and farm land efficiency to preserve more natural lands as reservoirs of biodiversity? Gauging a farming system on the basis of how productive it is alone, risks not sparing land from losses of soil carbon and soil.

Less intensive cropping systems can benefit biodiversity both above and below ground on farmed land. Opting for a productive but moderate range of farming intensity is thus ideal for preserving both soil, its carbon content and biodiversity.

As we have recently shown, a spectrum of intensity of cropping management is also found within regulated farming systems that follow an operating standard such as certified organic farming.

While organic farms are, in general, less intensive due to a greater diversity of crops grown and reduced nutrient application, they differ widely in the diversity of cropping and the level of nutrients added to the soil.

Managing nitrogen and carbon

Improving the retention of carbon and management of nitrogen are important, and there are various management approaches.

Led by the fertilizer industry, a 4-R approach to nitrogen fertilizer nutrient management uses the right fertilizer source, at the right rate, at the right time and at the right place. This approach is being widely promoted across Canadian agriculture with the goal of improving nitrogen use efficiency on farms and reducing nitrogen-derived greenhouse gas emissions.

Read more: The federal government's plan to cut fertilizer emissions will not threaten food security

But what about carbon? Half of the land on earth is now devoted to agriculture, and so reversing CO2 accumulation in the atmosphere through redesigning cropping systems is essential.

A recent standardized global framework for measuring and monitoring soil carbon on farms outlines the approaches needed for soil sampling and analyses to effectively measure what are often slow changes in soil carbon in response to improved cropping practices.

Nitrogen-based fertilizers are commonly used in agricultural practices. (Shutterstock)

But for most farmers, closely managing soil carbon is a recent endeavour, and an unfamiliar element — it is now even possible to farm carbon as a source of revenue.

Other than broad recommendations to sustain organic matter in soil, which is 50-55 per cent carbon, carbon seldom appears in long-established farm nutrient or resource management guidelines.

Changes in soil carbon are the net balance between carbon added (like crop residues and manures) minus carbon lost through organic matter decomposition. We can conceive a parallel 4Rs framework for its management that takes into account: rotation of crops, residue management, return of manure, and rate of tillage intensity. Rotation refers to the sequence of crops and cover crops.

Residue management acknowledges that benefits to soil carbon of diverse crop rotations can be lost if most of the crop residues are removed. Type and frequency of disturbance through tillage determines how much added decomposition of soil organic matter occurs.

The role of agriculture

Agriculture plays a central role in employing nature-based solutions to climate change. Developing climate-smart agriculture requires understanding the intensity at which all farms operate. Innovative economic programs, incentives and credits are needed to support farms aligning their practices with climate-related goals.

Author

Derek Lynch

Professor of Agronomy and Agroecology, Dalhousie University
Disclosure statement

Derek Lynch receives funding for his research from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
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