By Jeremy Jackson, senior scientist emeritus at the Smithsonian Institution and professor emeritus at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography
The oceans are alarmingly unhealthy and getting sicker fast. At first, crises were localised, as in the collapse of Newfoundland cod and the lifeless dead zone in the Baltic Sea due to runoff of agricultural waste. Now the problems are global.
Mohamed Ismail Yasin, originally from Mayle village in northeast Somalia, fled the region’s prolonged and severe drought with his six-member family and most of his livestock.
They had to travel 600km to the nearest dependable water source: a sand dam near Bandarbeyla in neighbouring Bari region.
Mohamed is one of 615,000 people currently displaced by the drought in Somalia.
Although the heavy seasonal rains have finally started, the long drought has already caused massive displacement and devastated herds.
At first glance, the Dzedokha village, located in the south-west of Bhutan might not seem to have the makings of a lucrative industry. With 2,672 residents, this mountainous village, like thousands of other communities in this largely rural kingdom, is off the beaten track; it is only accessible via a single farm road, mostly impassable during the monsoon season.
“I have lived here in these mountains for my whole life. Like my father, and his father before him, I am a herdsman and I graze my animals here in the Toolaylyg and Barlyk River valleys… Herding is the only lifestyle we know. Our animals provide us with our food, clothes, yurts, and fuel for cold winter nights. They are also our main source of income – without livestock, it would be impossible to survive here. So, when our flocks and herds are doing well, we are happy and confident.
Climate change portends bigger wildfires that are more difficult to control. As a result, wildfire management is becoming more important in order to reduce the damage to people, the economy and the environment.
By Jeremy Oppenheim, founder and managing partner, SYSTEMIQ
This week, business leaders from the world’s major economies – both developed and developing – meet in Berlin to consider a new industrial revolution. The B20 summit – mirroring the better known G20 meetings – will discuss issues that will decide whether the world achieves universal prosperity while safeguarding the global commons on which it ultimately and intimately depends.
Los bifenilos policlorados, o BPC, integraban la lista original de sustancias químicas conocidas como la "docena sucia" que son controladas por el Convenio de Estocolmo, un tratado internacional en materia ambiental cuyo objetivo es eliminar o restringir la producción y el uso de contaminantes orgánicos persistentes (COP). Si bien la producción de BPC se detuvo hace mucho tiempo, estas sustancias se siguen utilizando en sistemas de generación y transmisión de energía eléctrica hasta el día de hoy.
By Daniel C Esty, Hillhouse professor of environmental law and policy, Yale University; co-author, Green to Gold
Polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, were among the original so-called “dirty dozen” chemicals that are controlled by the Stockholm Convention, an international environmental treaty that aims to eliminate or restrict the production and use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs). While the production of PCB has long been stopped, it continues to be used in power generation and transmission systems even up to today.
By Elizabeth Yee, vice-president, City Solutions, 100 Resilient Cities
Ensuring the vitality of the global commons – the natural assets and ecosystems that form and sustain our world – has become urgent for planetary survival. Cities are poised to either accelerate the commons’ demise, or to provide innovative, scalable solutions that can restore natural assets and the value they provide.
