The word outside the closed negotiations rooms is that various positions were being held strongly dealing with positioning of fossil fuel phase out as part of the Global Stock Taking assessment; nationally determined contributions (NDC) derived from the Paris Agreement and is also associated with GST; financing mechanisms related to the various funds related to mitigation, adaptation, and loss-and-damages. These issues were seen as major points of contention…
The Opening session provided a recap and an update of the status of various policy statements and working papers being managed for decision by the UNFCCC. A number of issues were unresolved during the first week and being revisited during the second week of the conference.
I joined a hardy group of over 200 participants who persevered to participate in a full day workshop discussion called ‘The Development and Climate Day’ to informally discuss the links between climate change and development. This event was organized in partnership by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Anticipation Hub, the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group, the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank.
Blog Post by Malika El Mazhad Dec. 4, Day 5 of COP28 and we are nearing the end of the first week. I have a deep appreciation for the traditional performances from the many different indigenous peoples represented here at COP, but they travel here with important and urgent messages from their communities. Indigenous peoples, rights, land, and traditions are…
Blog author: Malika El Mazhad Dec. 2-3 Day 3 of COP28 and I dedicated today to learn more about the youth action movement by visiting the Youth Pavilion. Banners, artwork, music, and lots of young people sitting on the floor with their laptops, or gathered in breakout rooms debating, discussing, and sharing their knowledge, experiences, and current projects. It was a…
Today, December 1, was the first say of the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) where world leaders descend on COP28 and the conference, country pavilions, and side events are in full swing.
As I sat watching with hundreds of other Observers and COP 28 participants from around the world in an huge overflow hall down the corridor, I felt the magnitude of the climate emergency before us greater than ever. Spontaneous applause erupts at different sections of the address as people listen intently peering over their laptops and gifted COP28 water bottles, there was not an empty seat to be found.
The Ecological Society of America (ESA) calls on world leaders attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to pledge immediate action to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions to limit rising global temperatures initially to 2.0⁰ C and eventually below 1.5⁰ C above pre-industrial levels.
Guest post by ESA Awards Chair Nate Sanders Do you know that feeling when one of your graduate students gets their first paper published? When a postdoc in your lab lands the job of their dreams? When a policy you’ve been working on finally gets implemented, and you can see it’s having positive effects on an environmental issue? Doesn’t that…
We are very excited to be adding new value to ESA membership for this coming year. In May, the Governing Board approved a plan to support programming geared toward the career development—scientific, practical and aspirational—of ecologists. A portion of our budget spent off proceeds from the strategic reserve now enables us to develop virtual content opportunities on a wide range…
Guest Post by Dr. Laura A. Meyerson For the last 4.5 years, I have had the honor of working with a core team of 86 experts from 47 countries to help produce a global assessment of invasive alien species. The report was launched on September 4, 2023, in Bonn, Germany by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services…
Dr. Steven Running is a Professor Emeritus of Ecosystem and Conservation Sciences at the University of Montana. Running received a Ph.D. (1979) in Forest Ecology from Colorado State University. His primary research interest is the development of global and regional ecosystem biogeochemical models integrating remote sensing with bioclimatology and terrestrial ecology. He has published over 270 scientific articles and two…