Tomas Garcia Azcarate’s Post

A recent Green Finance Institute study – the first attempt to quantify nature risks to the UK #economy – concluded that continued environmental deterioration could result in a 6-12% reduction in GDP by the 2030s. With the new Government taking shape, RSPB reminds us of the regulatory gap that needs addressing to help ensure both the protection and restoration of nature and the long-term economic health of the UK. https://lnkd.in/eGr4JSq5

A Chatham House report a few months ago, warned us of a ''land crunch'' As the demand for land for sequestering carbon, supporting increased biodiversity increases, we will also need more land to produce more food and renewable energy. Humanity will face an acute crunch and warns that the agricultural land deficit (the difference between the amount of land needed and that available) will equal twice of India's land area. https://lnkd.in/eYVbNeM9 Another report more recently warns of the dangers of converting rangeland to cropland. Produced by the Unccd Convention, it warns of greater conflict because of the tension between rangelands that provide livelihoods to pastoralists, herders and ranchers. They are also most under threat of conversion, fragmentation and degradation. https://lnkd.in/e5SGnV5i A few weeks ago I was privileged to be speaking at the co-chair of the International Land Coalition at the The World Bank hosted land conference. https://lnkd.in/ewFdVg7W. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has been proud to support land initiatives, but clearly land related disputes will affect rural, vulnerable and the indigenous a lot. These documents and discussions highlight the importance of taking these tensions and conflicts strongly.

Jo Puri, Ph.D no better example of The Blended Capital Group’s Complex Convergng Systemic Risk (CCSR) thesis. We’ve been exploring and advocating it for over a decade. The nature of risk is changing through convergence of systemic risks. No historical data set reveals how risk is mestatisising and that’s why so many large asset owners, looking to protect pensions, insurance reserves, and sovereign wealth, for the long-term are wrong footed. When you view from above a massively overloaded, un-seaworthy, boat crossing the Mediterranean, you are not just seeing human tragedy. It is a lens into food insecurity, social and political instability, conflict, desertification, ecosystems destruction, climate change, water insecurity, and the lost hope of a Sahelian population of circa 220 million people with a huge percentage under 20. That population is estimated to grow to 500 million by 2050. So why should the G7/G20 universal investors care or even think about last mile communities? Because whether strategic minerals, agriculture, the deepest carbon assets ( read forests) or any form of extractive industries, these communities are at the very start of the value chain. It’s complex right? Great piece Jo - - it was a pleasure to work with and support the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) on sustainable finance a few years back. I still quote the IFAD-Dai-ichi Frontier Life Insurance innovative food bond, further backed now by Folksam , which if scaled and replicated will become a game-changer. https://lnkd.in/extpWzsE

Has the new Labour Government hit the ground running across the key departments with responsibility for #decarbonisation and #environmental sustainability? IEMA's Senior Public Affairs Officer Asim Ali examines this in his latest policy update, including: -> Who are the new Ministerial teams across DESNZ and DEFRA? -> What are they doing to reform the water sector? -> What is being done around the Environmental Improvement Plan? -> What is happening with Great British Energy? -> How will the new planning reforms affect efforts to achieve #NetZero and restore nature? Read more here: https://lnkd.in/efMaqbh5

🌊 Highlights from the roundtable on Delivering the #EuropeanGreenDeal: Towards a Coherent and Integrated EU #OceanPolicy Framework for Offshore Renewable Wind Energy and #Biodiversity 🌿   Join us as we explore the critical intersection of #offshorewindenergy and biodiversity protection under the #EUGreenDeal (EGD). This recent roundtable, organised by GreenDeal-NET, PERMAGOV EU, and CrossGovProject, shed light on how policy coherence and institutional integration can help achieve the EGD's ambitious objectives.   Here are the key takeaways:   🔧 Policy Coherence: Vital for integrating offshore wind energy with biodiversity protection. Understanding the complex governance landscapes is essential.   ⚡ Offshore Wind Energy: The EU's expansion goals for offshore wind energy play a significant role in energy transition and security, contributing to climate neutrality targets.   🌿 Biodiversity Protection: Policies like the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) and Birds and Habitats Directive are crucial for safeguarding #marinebiodiversity.   📊 Research Insights: The CrossGovProject and PERMAGOV EU projects are pivotal in navigating #marinegovernance complexities under EGD.   🔍 Diagnostic Tools: These tools have been developed to identify and assess institutional barriers in marine governance, facilitating better policy integration.   🌐 Regional Cooperation: Emphasised effective #MarineSpatialPlanning (MSP), involving collaboration between EU and non-EU countries to ensure comprehensive ecosystem-based management.   💡 Innovation and Stakeholder Engagement: Key to the sustainable deployment of offshore energy and the protection of marine biodiversity. Engaging diverse stakeholders leads to more robust and inclusive policies.   Expert Panel: -Eloïse COUFFON, Policy Officer at the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission - Antonia LEROY, Head of Ocean Policy at WWF European Policy Office  - Céline Frank, Policy Officer on Maritime Spatial Planning and the Blue Economy Sectors, DG MARE, European Commission - Alice Belin, Policy Officer, Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV), European Commission  - Thorjørn Larssen as moderator, Deputy Managing Director of Norsk institutt for vannforskning (NIVA) and leader of the EEA - European Topic Centres on Biodiversity and Ecosystems, a partnership with the European Environment Agency (EEA) - Froukje Maria Platjouw, Senior Researcher at Norsk institutt for vannforskning (NIVA) - Judith van Leeuwen, Associated Professor at the Environmental Policy group at Wageningen University & Research   Together, we can harmonise offshore wind development with marine biodiversity conservation, ensuring a greener, more sustainable future for our oceans. 🌎   #CrossGov #PermaGov #Sustainability #oceangovernance  

On 2 July, China's environment ministry released the draft allocation plan for national #Carbon market 2023-2024 I had the pleasure to share some comments on the plan with Bloomberg news in the story below. The draft rules aimed at reducing allowances oversupply via tighter benchmarks for thermal plants and conditional surplus carry over rules, which I think is a positive step! Launched in 2021, China national Emissions trading system cover power-generation sector only, with yearly emissions above 5 billion tons. It will soon expand to cover some industrial sectors too. A strengthened carbon pricing scheme will help China to achieve its climate goals #carbonneutral

On Monday, March 18, the Cabinet of Ministers approved the Reform Plan for the €50 billion Ukraine Facility, a European support program for Ukraine, with green transition as one of its cross-cutting areas. This funding is designed for four years. More information in the news👇🏻 #ecopolitic #ecology #environment #Ukraine #war #climate #EU #Europe #pollution #investments #energy #waste #reforms #climate #renewableenergy

As a last-minute power play by EU Member States threatens the #NatureRestorationLaw, here’s a Euractiv article explaining why playing politics with Nature now would cost us all… 👇🏽 Ministry of Foreign Affairs Belgium and all EU27 countries, we at The Nature Conservancy along with millions of citizens, businesses, scientists and others urge you to do everything in your power to get this vital Law over the finish line - the 196 country signatories to the new #GlobalBiodiversityFramework all over the world are all watching… Thanks to: Andras Krolopp Julia Boverhoff Marianne Kleiberg Dragana Mileusnić Tara Moberg Joshua Royte Eurelectric Kristian Ruby WindEurope Pierre TARDIEU SolarPower Europe Jonathan Bonadio Naomi Chevillard Jutta Paulus WWF European Policy Office Ariel Brunner BirdLife Europe and Central Asia Corporate Leaders Groups Ursula Woodburn European Landowners' Organization Aksel Mjøs Forum for the Future of Agriculture European Parliament European Central Bank and so many more who know the real costs of letting politics trump planet 💰 🌍 #Nature4Food #Nature4Climate https://lnkd.in/eWNg2ghi

We seek to commission research to collect information from local authorities on how the adaptation funding has been used to date, what the outputs/outcomes of the funding have been and what barriers there have been to planning for coastal change adaptation. With regard to coastal adaptation, the project should consider questions including, but not limited to: 🌊 To what extent are local authorities aware of the need for it in their area and the work involved in managing identified risks? 🔎 What decision making processes are involved in planning and executing it, and how is the impact of the adaptation work evaluated? 🛠️ What has been delivered to date and what is being planned? 📓 What proportion of the funding received to date, see table 1 in appendix A, has been allocated to coastal adaptation? 🚧 What are the barriers to planning and implementing it? 💷 To what extent have local authorities forecast their coastal adaptation funding needs? For further information on this and other project calls and how to submit your proposal by 27 May, please visit our Research calls page: https://lnkd.in/drjFSNca #ClimateChangeAdaptation #Scotland Lee Callaghan | Anne Marte Bergseng

Last year, EU leaders reached the final agreement on the #NatureRestorationLaw. They listened to over 1 million citizens, scientists & businesses asking them to secure a safer future! We are now at the very last step: @EUCouncil must endorse the carefully negotiated deal for both people and nature.