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2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years
2052: A Global Forecast for the Next Forty Years
The race to fish: how fishing subsidies are emptying our oceans
The race to fish: how fishing subsidies are emptying our oceans
Fish numbers are rapidly dwindling globally, and fishery subsidies are one of the key drivers behind this decline. In 2009, these subsidies totalled about US$35 billion, creating incentives for fishers around the world to increase their catch. But this short-term “race to fish” is jeopardising the long-term environmental, social, and economic security that fisheries offer us all.
My group at the University of British Columbia recently cast our net into the troubling waters of fishery subsidies, to see how this ship might be turned around.
Overfishing: a major issue facing our oceans
According to the recently released World Wildlife Fund Living Blue Planet Report, our oceans are in a bad state. Climate change, habitat destruction, and deep-sea mining are wreaking havoc on marine biodiversity.
But overfishing is in a league of its own.
The WWF report found that population numbers of utilised fish (those species used by humans for subsistence or commercial purposes) have fallen by half in the four decades from 1970 to 2010. A full 90% of fish stocks globally are now classified as either overexploited or fully exploited. Common seafood choices such as tuna, shrimp, whiting, and salmon are among the worst affected.
Only the very deepest parts of the oceans are currently safe from the pressure of fisheries. But how long this remains the case is yet to be seen. The demand for fish is growing the world over, driven by population growth, increased wealth, and the continued mass subsidisation of the fisheries industry.
Fishing subsidies are a global problem
The US$35 billion of subsidies that we estimate that were handed out globally in 2009 is not trivial. In fact, this figure constitutes between 30% and 40% of the landed values generated by marine fisheries worldwide.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
Cameron Agrees ‘Rare Deal’ on Climate Change with Opposition Ahead of Election
Cameron Agrees ‘Rare Deal’ on Climate Change with Opposition Ahead of Election
Environmental leaders have welcomed a rare cross-party deal to tackle climate change struck between Britain’s leading political parties ahead of the general election.
Prime Minister David Cameron, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and opposition leader Ed Miliband of the Labour Party have jointly agreed to end the use of ‘unabated’ coal for power generation unless it uses new clean-up technology – and achieve a “fair, strong, legally binding” global climate deal.
John Sauven, Greenpeace UK executive director, said: “This pledge marks a turning point in the collective effort to take Britain’s energy system out of the Victorian age and into the 21st century.
“For the first time all of the UK’s main political parties have committed to ending carbon pollution from coal plants, giving this country a better chance of tackling climate change.”
Unusual Deal
This “highly unusual” deal was brokered by environmental think tank Green Alliance and supported by NGOs including WWF, Christian Aid and Greenpeace. It also sees the three parties promising to work together to transition to a “competitive, energy efficient low carbon economy” as well as set carbon budgets in line with the 2008 Climate Change Act.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
– Half Earth’s Wildlife Gone, Governments Meet to Save the Rest | Environment News Service
– Half Earth’s Wildlife Gone, Governments Meet to Save the Rest | Environment News Service.
PYEONGCHANG, South Korea, October 14, 2014 (ENS) – Global wildlife populations have declined, on average, by 52 percent in the 40 year period since 1970, reports the global conservation nonprofit WWF. Habitat loss and degradation are the greatest threats to biodiversity, with exploitation of wildlife and climate change close behind.
Released ahead of the ongoing 12th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP12) now taking place in Pyeongchang, the WWF’s Living Planet Report 2014 is based on the Living Planet Index, which measures more than 10,000 representative populations of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.
Freshwater species have suffered losses almost double that of land and marine species. Most of these biodiversity declines are happening in tropical regions, with Latin America enduring the most dramatic drop in species.
…click on the link above to read the rest of the article…
