Today, rather than interviewing a WWF expert in-dept on a specific topic, we’re trying something new. Seth will be joined by Hayley Lawton from WWF’s social media team for something we’re calling: Headlines & Trendlines. You’ll hear Seth and Hayley briefly summarize some recent news articles and talk about what they mean for climate and nature. This week they discuss two big issues that are driving headlines: this year’s devastating hurricane season, and the ongoing UN biodiversity conference. They also touch on the recent pygmy hippo craze that had everyone on Earth talking about baby Moo Deng.

Links for More Info:
New York Times, A Tale of Two Hurricanes Finds More That Differs Than Is the Same: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/13/us/hurricane-milton-helene-florida-north-carolina.html

Vox, We need $700 billion to save nature: https://www.vox.com/down-to-earth/378249/cop16-biodiversity-finance-gap-seven-hundred-billion

WWF pygmy hippo facts: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/why-are-pygmy-hippos-so-small-and-6-other-pygmy-hippo-facts

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:27 Intro

2:25 Hayley introduces herself

4:10 NY Times hurricane article

5:56 Hayley & Seth react to recent hurricanes

9:28 Vox nature finance article

10:36 $700b is a lot of money

12:28: COP16 outcomes

13:25 Moo Deng and pygmy hippo facts

15:23 Outro

Next week global leaders will convene in Cali, Colombia for an important meeting: the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the UN’s Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP16). You’re probably more familiar with the climate COP that happens every year, but the biodiversity COP is a critical forum for addressing the loss of nature. Two years ago, at COP15 in Montreal, the nations of the world agreed to a new Global Biodiversity Framework, which set a goal to halt and reverse nature loss by 2030. Next week’s meeting in Colombia is the first opportunity to take stock of progress and commit to implementation at scale.

Joining the show today to tell us more about COP16 and what’s at stake is Lucía Ruiz, WWF’s director for conservation areas. Lucía will be attending the conference in Colombia next week and is going to help us understand what needs to happen, and what success looks like, at this important meeting.

Links for More Info:

Lucía Ruiz bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/lucia-ruiz-bustos

CBD COP16 explainer: https://www.worldwildlife.org/stories/the-convention-on-biological-diversity-cop16-and-the-grand-plan-for-life-on-earth

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:29 Intro

2:17 Lucía’s background and personal story

6:54 History of the Convention on Biological Diversity

12:10 Importance of CBD COPs

13:59 Context for CBD COP16

17:20 What happened at CBD COP15 in 2022?

22:22 Explaining the 30x30 target

27:36 Role of PFPs

28:27 State of play heading into COP16

33:26 What does success look like?

36:11 Fun facts about Colombia

39:28 Outro

In today’s special bonus episode of Nature Breaking you’ll hear all about WWF’s 2024 Living Planet Report. This bi-annual report functions as a check-up on the health of the Earth. Underpinning the report is the Living Planet Index, which monitors populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish around the world. This year the report found that monitored wildlife populations declined by an average of 73% since 1970. Importantly, this year’s report also reveals that the Earth stands on the verge of tipping points for tropical forests and coral reefs that could have severe consequences for people and nature everywhere.

Joining the show to explain the Living Planet Report is Dr. Rebecca Shaw, WWF’s chief scientist. Rebecca will walk us through the methodology of the report, what its key findings really mean for wildlife and ecosystems, and what we all can do together to put our planet on a more sustainable pathway.

Links for More Info:

Rebecca Shaw bio: https://www.worldwildlife.org/experts/rebecca-shaw

2024 Living Planet Report: worldwildlife.org/livingplanetreport

Chapters:

0:00 Preview

0:23 Intro

2:09 LPR basics & key findings

4:42 Reasons for wildlife decline

5:51 Why should we care?

7:55 Tipping points explainer

10:21 Amazon rain forest tipping point

12:22 Rebecca’s story about living in the Amazon

13:49 Amazon tipping point continued

14:54 LPR species example: parrotfish

18:09 History of the LPR

20:56 How to reverse the loss of wildlife and nature

28:12 Message to leaders at CBD COP16

32:58 Outro