A coalition of more than 150 BP shareholders, including Church of England and the UK’s Environment Agency, filed a resolution today requiring the company to assess and manage its climate risk.
"BP and Shell hold our financial and environmental future in their hands. They must do more to face the risks of climate change. Investors can help them by voting for these shareholder resolutions."
In the resolution, shareholders are asking the oil giant to no longer reward climate-harming activities, stress-test its business model against the requirement to limit greenhouse gas emissions in accordance to the UN Climate Change Conference in 2010, and commit to reducing its carbon emissions and investing in renewable energy. The resolution will be voted on at BP's 2015 annual general meeting in April.
The same group filed an identical resolution with Shell last month putting increased pressure on Big Oil to act now to mitigate climate risks.
The BP resolution was orchestrated by co-filers ClientEarth and ShareAction.
"Climate change is a major business risk," said ClientEarth CEO James Thornton who helped to orchestrate the resolution. "BP and Shell hold our financial and environmental future in their hands. They must do more to face the risks of climate change. Investors can help them by voting for these shareholder resolutions."
“The financial risks of climate change are greater in scale and closer in time than most investors realize," said Howard Covington, former chief executive of New Star Asset Management and ClientEarth Trustee. "These resolutions help contain those risks at minimal cost. Investors have every reason to support them.”
The filing of this resolution comes on the heels of President Obama's State of the Union address last night where he said, “No challenge—no challenge—poses a greater threat to future generations than climate change. 2014 was the planet’s warmest year on record. Now, one year doesn’t make a trend, but this does—14 of the 15 warmest years on record have all fallen in the first 15 years of this century.”
Also this week, UN climate chief Christiana Figueres acknowledged that the carbon bubble is now a reality and volatility in oil prices is one that "incrementally and gradually makes investment in oil and gas more risky than investment in renewables, where it is very predictable what the upfront cost of infrastructure is, and then the price of fuel from then on is very predictable and certain.”
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eBay is still selling ivory products despite a company ban in 2009. JohanWElzenga / Getty Images
New research found that elephant ivory is still being sold on the online marketplace eBay, despite a company ban in 2009.
<p>In 2008, eBay conducted the vast majority of online trade in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/endangered-species" target="_self">endangered animals</a>, the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/21/us/21animals.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New York Times</a> reported. After intense pressure from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/conservation" target="_self">conservationists</a> over elephant poaching, the popular online shopping site banned selling ivory via its Animal and Wildlife Products policy, <a href="https://e360.yale.edu/digest/ebay-bans-ivory-sale-after-pressure-over-elephant-poaching" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Yale Environment 360</a> reported.</p><p>However, illegal goods are still being trafficked on the website today through vague or mislabeled listings, researchers from the <a href="https://research.kent.ac.uk/dice/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology at the University of Kent</a> found. Code words like "bone" are used as a cover description to disguise and misrepresent illegal listings as non-restricted materials, the study noted. Also complicating enforcement is the fact that "ivory" can be used to describe the color of any product, making enforcement searches using the word unproductive, <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/05/business/ebay-ivory-sales-continue-scli-intl/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">CNN</a> reported.</p><p>Study co-author David Roberts is well versed in the illicit <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ivory-trade" target="_self">ivory trade</a>. He previously developed an <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/cs-10/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">algorithm identifying illegal elephant ivory</a> on eBay with a 93 percent accuracy, studied the <a href="https://peerj.com/articles/3048/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">behaviors of ivory sellers</a> on the online platform and examined the <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/oryx/article/code-word-usage-in-the-online-ivory-trade-across-four-european-union-member-states/55F53864C8288E0689245BD9FBAE6E8C" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">use of code words</a> across four European Union countries.</p><p>In his most recent research, published in the journal <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1940082920974604" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tropical Conservation Science</a>, Roberts and his team investigated the discrepancy between how vendors described the objects in their listings versus what the study's authors identified as the actual materials, which they achieved by studying the images provided in the listings.</p>
<p>The researchers focused on listings for netsuke, carved objects attached to the cord of Japanese kimonos, which are offered on eBay UK, a <a href="https://www.kent.ac.uk/news/environment/27536/elephant-ivory-continues-to-be-disguised-and-sold-on-ebay" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">University of Kent statement</a> said. Netsuke are often made of ivory, and the researchers found that authentic elephant ivory was most frequently — and misleadingly — described as bone in netsuke listings, the statement said.</p><p>The authors identified mislabeled ivory by looking for Schreger lines in netsuke listing images, Roberts told EcoWatch. Schreger lines are a unique overlapping pattern found in elephant ivory. This pattern allowed them to identify authentic ivory without having to obtain the physical items for analysis, which would be ethically undesirable, the Kent statement said.</p><p>According to Keith Somerville, a professor at the <a href="http://commonwealth.sas.ac.uk/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Institute of Commonwealth Studies at the University of Kent</a> and author of "Ivory: Power and Poaching in Africa," certain elephant populations around the world are being hunted for their tusks. Globally, the world's largest land animal has also suffered due to habitat loss, poaching and confrontation with humans.</p><p>"<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/elephants-poaching-africa-botswana-2601907339.html" target="_self">Illegal ivory trade is a major threat</a>," Somerville emphasized. There is no accurate estimate for how many animals are killed each year for ivory because "it is all underground." Somerville estimated that as many as 20,000 elephants might be killed annually for the black market.</p>
<p>"They have to kill the elephant. No other way to remove the ivory. They are shot or poisoned and the tusks hacked out," he told EcoWatch.</p><p>In late 2019, an eBay trader was jailed after being repeatedly caught selling ivory on the site, <a href="https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news/local-news/ebay-elephant-tusk-3439291" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Lincolnshire Live</a> reported. The trader shipped ivory products mislabeled as jewelry and wood carvings. During sentencing, the presiding judge said, "Without an illegal ivory market there would be no need for the capture of elephants in the wild. That market feeds the destruction of elephants," reported Lincolnshire Live.</p><p>In addition to ivory, Roberts' team also saw "all sorts of illegal wildlife or <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife" target="_self">wildlife</a> that violates their terms and conditions for sale on sites such as eBay, including a case of rhino horn, traditional Asian medicines, rare orchids and cacti, exotic skins, [and] shells to name a few," Roberts told EcoWatch. While ivory buyers and sellers use code words and disguise their trade with closed group communications, trade in "less charismatic species happens out in the open with no code words" on these websites, Roberts warned.</p><p>An eBay spokesperson told CNN that the company is a founding member of the Coalition to End Wildlife Trafficking Online and works with the World Wildlife Fund and the International Fund for Animal Welfare.</p>
<p>"We have global teams dedicated to upholding standards on our marketplace, and over a recent two-year period we blocked or removed over 265,000 listings prohibited under our animal products policy," the spokesperson told CNN.</p><p>Still, Roberts and fellow researchers returned to eBay a month after their initial search and found that only 1.3 to 6.9 percent of genuine ivory netsuke listings had been removed by eBay. More than half were already sold, and half of the unsold items were re-listed.</p><p>"If eBay was effectively enforcing its policy... on ivory, these items would have been removed," CNN reported the researchers saying.</p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/illegal-wildlife-trade-facebook-2640791262.html?rebelltitem=5" target="_self">eBay is not the only commerce service</a> facilitating online <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife-trafficking" target="_self">wildlife trafficking</a>, but it is a major site on which ivory can be found relatively easily, Roberts told EcoWatch. "While detecting illegal sales of ivory items can be particularly difficult, companies like eBay have the resources and data that could be mobilized to tackle the challenge of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/illegal-wildlife-trade" target="_self">illegal wildlife trade</a>," Roberts said in the Kent statement.</p><p>He suggested tackling the illegal <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wildlife-trade" target="_self">wildlife trade</a> online by making items more difficult to find, removing illegal listings and enforcing existing bans. Ultimately, Roberts called upon eBay and other technology companies to help develop algorithms for automating illegal product identification, he told EcoWatch. He also advocated for better reporting mechanisms that result in illegal listings actually being removed.</p>
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By Jessica Corbett
In an example to the rest of the scientific community and an effort to wake up people — particularly policymakers — worldwide, 17 scientists penned a comprehensive assessment of the current state of the planet and what the future could hold due to biodiversity loss, climate disruption, human consumption and population growth.
<p>"Ours is not a call to surrender — we aim to provide leaders with a realistic 'cold shower' of the state of the planet that is essential for planning to avoid a ghastly future," according to the perspective paper, co-authored by experts across Australia, Mexico, and the United States, and <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419/abstract" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">published</a> in the journal Frontiers in Conservation Science.</p>
<p>Co-author Paul R. Ehrlich of Stanford University's Center for Conservation Biology — who has raised alarm about overpopulation for <a href="https://climateone.org/audio/population-bomb-50-years-later-conversation-paul-ehrlich" target="_blank">decades</a> — told Common Dreams his colleagues "are all scared" about what's to come.</p><p>"Scientists have to learn to be communicators," said Ehrlich, citing James Hansen's warning about the consequences of "<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/0703220" target="_blank">scientific reticence.</a>" Hansen, a professor at Columbia University's Earth Institute and former director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2018/06/23/30th-anniversary-famous-climate-testimony-james-hansen-called-paul-revere-we" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">testified</a> to Congress about the climate crisis in 1988.</p><p>Ehrlich was straightforward about how "extremely dangerous things are" now and the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/06/04/existential-risk-climate-crisis-could-lead-civilizational-collapse-2050-warns-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">necessity</a> of a "World War II-type mobilization" to prevent predictions detailed in the paper: "a ghastly future of mass extinction, declining health, and climate-disruption upheavals (including looming massive migrations), and resource conflicts."</p><p>"What we are saying might not be popular, and indeed is frightening. But we need to be candid, accurate, and honest if humanity is to understand the enormity of the challenges we face in creating a sustainable future," said co-author Daniel T. Blumstein of the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability at the University of California, Los Angeles, in a statement about the paper.</p><p>"By scientists' telling it like it is, we hope to empower politicians to work to represent their citizen, not corporate, constituents," he said in an email to Common Dreams.</p><p>The paper, Ehrlich and Blumstein pointed out, comes in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic — which, <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to</a> Johns Hopkins University, has killed nearly two million people. Over the past year, the Co-19 crisis has <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/06/03/jane-goodall-warns-humanity-will-be-finished-after-covid-19-without-ending-absolute" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">provoked</a> calls for humanity to end its destruction of the natural world to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/10/29/seismic-shift-worlds-approach-land-use-wildlife-and-climate-action-needed-avoid-new" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">prevent</a> future public health catastrophes.</p><p>"We're all seeing the shocks to our global systems now from Covid and the rise of authoritarian leaders," Blumstein said. "Because our current ways of life are ecologically unsustainable (we're living in an ecological Ponzi scheme), we fully anticipate more — and more deadly — pandemics in the future. We expect civil unrest, wars, and famines. We are all shaken by the likelihood of the collapse of civilization as we know it."</p>
<div id="25da8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="bf8a63f9cc8cc4813996d6e1fbd213fa"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349181889240854540" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">From extreme hurricanes to droughts to wildfires, the climate crisis killed 262 people and cost $95 billion last ye… https://t.co/RwowWVlBZ9</div> — Friends of the Earth (Action) (@Friends of the Earth (Action))<a href="https://twitter.com/foe_us/statuses/1349181889240854540">1610505003.0</a></blockquote></div><p>The new warning from scientists, Blumstein noted, cites over 150 other papers "documenting the diverse and shocking decline in biodiversity and planetary 'health' and their consequences." Among the cited sources is a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report that in September <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/09/10/nature-unraveling-new-wwf-report-reveals-alarming-68-plummet-wildlife-populations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">revealed</a> an "average 68% decrease in population sizes of mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and fish between 1970 and 2016."</p><p>"In the midst of a global pandemic, it is now more important than ever to take unprecedented and coordinated global action to halt and start to reverse the loss of biodiversity and wildlife populations across the globe by the end of the decade, and protect our future health and livelihoods," WWF International director general Marco Lambertini said at the time.</p><p>The co-authors — including William J. Ripple of Oregon State University, who last year led thousands of scientists in <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/11/05/warning-untold-human-suffering-over-11000-scientists-around-world-declare-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">declaring</a> a climate emergency and earlier this month led a <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/07/one-year-after-declaring-climate-emergency-scientists-say-massive-scale-mobilization" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">call</a> for "a massive-scale mobilization to address the climate crisis" — echoed Lambertini's message while also underscoring the importance of increasing awareness about what's actually needed.</p><p>"Humanity is causing a rapid loss of biodiversity and, with it, Earth's ability to support complex life. But the mainstream is having difficulty grasping the magnitude of this loss, despite the steady erosion of the fabric of human civilization," the paper says.</p>
<div id="c7dd4" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="309107b64c42fab5e69a1c0bace9d47b"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1347817383919022080" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Biodiversity is the thread of life on Earth.
🦠️🦩🐜🍄🌱🦧🌽🍂🥦🐦🌺🐇🐝🌴🦒🌿🐋🌏
Learn more about what #biodiversity is and why… https://t.co/I5kht3RYnj</div> — UN Biodiversity (@UN Biodiversity)<a href="https://twitter.com/UNBiodiversity/statuses/1347817383919022080">1610179680.0</a></blockquote></div><p>"In fact, the scale of the threats to the biosphere and all its lifeforms is so great that it is difficult to grasp for even well-informed experts," said lead author Corey Bradshaw of Australia's Flinders University in a statement. "The problem is compounded by ignorance and short-term self-interest, with the pursuit of wealth and political interests stymieing the action that is crucial for survival."</p><p>The paper explains that "while suggested solutions abound, the current scale of their implementation does not match the relentless progression of biodiversity loss and other existential threats tied to the continuous expansion of the human enterprise." According to its authors, "That we are already on the path of a sixth major extinction is now scientifically undeniable."</p><p>"With such a rapid, catastrophic loss of biodiversity, the ecosystem services it provides have also declined," the paper explains. Consequences include "reduced carbon sequestration, reduced pollination, soil degradation, poorer water and air quality, more frequent and intense flooding and fires, and compromised human health."</p><p>Highlighting estimates that the human population will near 10 billion by 2050, the scientists lay out how "large population size and continued growth are implicated in many societal problems," from food insecurity, soil degradation, biodiversity loss, and an increased chance of pandemics, to crowding, joblessness, deteriorating infrastructure, and bad governance.</p><p>The paper also details the planetary impacts of dirty energy and carbon-intensive food production, and says that "while climate change demands a full exit from fossil fuel use well before 2050, pressures on the biosphere are likely to mount prior to decarbonization as humanity brings energy alternatives online."</p><p>A section on failed international goals declares that "stopping biodiversity loss is nowhere close to the top of any country's priorities, trailing far behind other concerns such as employment, healthcare, economic growth, or currency stability."</p><p>"The dangerous effects of climate change are much more evident to people than those of biodiversity loss, but society is still finding it difficult to deal with them effectively," the scientists note, while decrying "utterly inadequate" efforts by governments to even try to meet the targets of the landmark Paris climate agreement.</p><p>They further decry the recent rise of right-wing, anti-environment agendas in countries including Australia, Brazil, and the United States — which recently denied President Donald Trump a second term. Ehrlich expressed hope that President-elect Joe Biden will work to <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/08/no-more-excuses-senate-majority-reclaimed-progressives-demand-bold-agenda-biden" target="_blank">deliver</a> on the climate promises he made as a candidate.</p><p>Biden's vow to rejoin the Paris agreement "is positive news," but "it is a minuscule gesture given the scale of the challenge," Ehrlich said in a statement.</p><p>The president-elect "is moving in the right direction," Ehrlich told Common Dreams, pointing to the <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/23/alarming-red-flag-something-we-can-work-campaigners-respond-kerry-biden-climate" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="">selection</a> of former Secretary of State John Kerry as his climate envoy. However, "the Paris goals are increasingly looking inadequate," and "Biden's political opportunities to do anything major may be greatly constrained," he added.</p>
<div id="0ea0e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="eb14cb1c288cecbbf85ec2be96b17c28"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349123864245239811" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">What can Joe Biden do on climate change once he takes office?
@DashaBurns looks into what he can accomplish with e… https://t.co/wBn29Ms1UX</div> — NBC News NOW (@NBC News NOW)<a href="https://twitter.com/NBCNewsNow/statuses/1349123864245239811">1610491169.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Blumstein stressed that "recycling, using less plastic, eating less meat, taking public transportation, and flying less, while all important, will simply not create the rapid change we need now to save much of the Earth's biodiversity and our lives."</p><p>According to Blumstein, "We need rapid political change."</p><p>He urged voters to elect leaders who will end fossil fuel use as well as "eliminate perpetual economic growth and properly price externalities so that the environmental costs are built into the price of a product." He also emphasized the importance of access to education and reproductive control, and the need to rein in corporate lobbying and enact campaign finance reform so politicians serve citizens' needs.</p><p>"Ultimately," Blumstein added, "we must focus on making equity and well-being society's goals — not the constant accumulation of more junk."</p><p>In their paper, the UCLA scientist and his 16 co-authors "contend that only a realistic appreciation of the colossal challenges facing the international community might allow it to chart a less-ravaged future."</p><p>It is "incumbent on experts in any discipline that deals with the future of the biosphere and human well-being to eschew reticence, avoid sugar-coating the overwhelming challenges, ahead and 'tell it like it is,'" they conclude. "Anything else is misleading at best, or negligent and potentially lethal for the human enterprise at worst."</p><p><span></span><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/13/dire-assessment-scientists-warn-humanity-denial-looming-collapse-civilization-we" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>. </em></p>
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A gorilla and baby in San Diego. Mohamed Abdelrazek / EyeEm / Getty Images
Gorillas at California's San Diego Zoo Safari Park have tested positive for the new coronavirus, the zoo announced on Monday.
<p>While studies have shown that primates can be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19, this is the first time the virus has been passed to great apes, as far as scientists are aware.</p><p>"Aside from some congestion and coughing, the gorillas are doing well," San Diego Zoo Safari Park executive director Lisa Peterson said in the press release. "The troop remains quarantined together and are eating and drinking. We are hopeful for a full recovery."</p>
<div id="48f1e" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="07ae85abcb5d8869a6cddab4bbced806"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1348721392624168960" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Members of our gorilla troop tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Aside from some conges… https://t.co/8nzpISp7qm</div> — San Diego Zoo Safari Park (@San Diego Zoo Safari Park)<a href="https://twitter.com/sdzsafaripark/statuses/1348721392624168960">1610395212.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Zoo staff first became concerned about the gorillas Jan. 6 when two of them began coughing. So they sent fecal samples to the California Animal Health and Food Safety Laboratory System (CA HFS) to test them for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Preliminary tests did show that the virus was present in the troop Jan. 8. The United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) National Veterinary Services Laboratories (NVSL) then <a href="https://www.aphis.usda.gov/aphis/newsroom/stakeholder-info/sa_by_date/sa-2021/sa-01/ca-gorillas-sars-cov-2" target="_blank">confirmed</a> the presence of the virus in three gorillas on Monday. However, Peterson told <a href="https://apnews.com/article/gorillas-test-positive-coronavirus-728944350363be5d4b0bc907f31f3b8d" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> Monday that eight gorillas who live together are all believed to be infected.</p><p>The zoo suspects the infection first passed to the gorillas from a member of their care team, who also tested positive for the virus. The individual was asymptomatic and wore a mask around the gorillas at all times. The zoo has been closed to the public since Dec. 6, <a href="https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/san-diego-zoo-says-gorilla-troop-positive-with-sars-cov-2-marking-1st-known-transmission-to-apes/2492954/" target="_blank">NBC7 San Diego reported</a>.</p>
<p>"There is some question: Did it come human-animal? That's being determined and want us to respect that process," California Gov. Gavin Newsom said, as NBC7 San Diego reported. "But nonetheless, that's long been a concern – human to animal transmission – but our beloved gorillas, obviously, we are concerned about."</p><p>The zoo noted it is unclear how the gorillas will react to the virus, since it has never been observed in apes before. However, conservationists have been <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/coronavirus-great-apes-2645576034.html" target="_self">concerned</a> since the pandemic started that the disease might spread to great apes. Gorillas have been known to die of human respiratory viruses like the common cold. In March of 2020, 27 experts from the Great Ape Health Consortium wrote an open letter calling for all great ape tourism to pause and for field work to be reduced to protect wild gorillas from catching the new disease.</p>
<p>The gorillas in San Diego are western lowland gorillas, according to The Associated Press. Poaching and disease have decreased this type of gorilla's population by more than 60 percent in 20 years, the World Wildlife Fund said.</p><p>For now, the San Diego gorillas are receiving vitamins, fluids and food, but they are being monitored by veterinarians and the zoo is talking to experts who have treated coronavirus in humans in case the gorillas get worse. Any information the zoo officials acquire will be shared with scientists, health officials and conservationists to protect gorillas in the wild.</p><p>While no other great apes have contracted the virus, it has spread to other zoo animals, mostly large cats, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/11/gorillas-san-diego-zoo-coronavirus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Guardian reported</a>. All of them have recovered. The virus has also been reported in <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/denmark-mink-coronavirus-2648633663.html" target="_self">farmed</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/utah-mink-coronavirus-2649520996.html" target="_self">wild minks</a> and some <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pets-coronavirus-2645784937.html" target="_self">cats and dogs</a>.</p>
<p>The USDA said that the risk of animals passing the virus to people is currently considered low, but encouraged those who are infected or think they may be infected to stay away from pets or other animals.</p><p>Director of viral diagnostics at the University of California San Francisco Charles Chiu <a href="https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/Two-gorillas-test-positive-for-coronavirus-at-San-15862229.php" target="_blank">told the San Francisco Chronicle</a> that the important thing to determine from a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-health" target="_self">public health</a> perspective was if the gorillas had all contracted the virus from one person or spread it amongst themselves. The latter would be much more serious.</p><p>"Then you can have an ongoing source of infection, and ongoing source of new variants that in turn can be transmitted back to humans," Chiu said. "It's very worrisome."</p>
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Mountain goats roam the streets of LLandudno on March 31, 2020 in Llandudno, Wales during the COVID-19 outbreak and quarantine measures. Christopher Furlong / Getty Images
By Marie Quinney and Gabriela Martinez
This article is part of The Davos Agenda.
During 2020, many of us saw images of deserted urban areas being reclaimed by animals and heard reports of carbon dioxide emissions plummeting as transportation ground to a halt. A new analysis shows that the U.S. had reached its lowest level of emissions in three decades.
<p>It would be easy to assume that COVID-19 allowed nature to thrive. However, we must not prematurely celebrate nature's comeback.</p><p>Far from downplaying glimmers of hope and beauty that were welcomed interruptions to an otherwise difficult year, acknowledging that these have little impact in the long run will serve us better to achieve meaningful progress.</p><p>The outlook on the coming decade may be bleak if we do not seize the narrowing window of opportunity that we have to make systemic changes. By doing this, we can both prevent similar crises in the future and create sustainable, healthy and equitable jobs, societies and economies. The pandemic made an unquestionably strong case for a shift towards a<a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/09/what-does-net-zero-emissions-mean-6-common-questions-answered" target="_blank"> </a><a href="https://www.wri.org/blog/2019/09/what-does-net-zero-emissions-mean-6-common-questions-answered" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">net-zero</a>,<a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_Of_Nature_And_Business_2020.pdf" target="_blank"> </a><a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_Of_Nature_And_Business_2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nature-positive</a> global economy and, thankfully, we have the knowledge and the tools to make it happen.</p>
<h3>Nature Bouncing Back?</h3><p>Amidst the tragedies of the COVID-19 pandemic and the economy entering a global recession, you could be forgiven for thinking that it wasn't all bad news.</p><p>We were inundated with delightful images of previously unseen animals strolling through city streets. <a href="https://www.insider.com/shaggy-mountain-goats-welsh-town-lockdown-2020-4" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Mountain goats explored Welsh towns</a>,<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/22/animals-cities-coronavirus-lockdowns-deer-raccoons" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/22/animals-cities-coronavirus-lockdowns-deer-raccoons" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">deer were spotted congregating outside metro stations in Japan</a> and<a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200403-pumas-in-santiago-wildlife-takes-to-cities-amid-coronavirus-lockdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200403-pumas-in-santiago-wildlife-takes-to-cities-amid-coronavirus-lockdown" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pumas took to the streets of Santiago, Chile</a>.</p><p>Many ecosystems also appeared to have been given time to regenerate, being temporarily spared humanity's polluted hand. The<a href="https://www.insider.com/venice-canals-clear-city-residents-self-isolate-prevent-coronavirus-spread-2020-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.insider.com/venice-canals-clear-city-residents-self-isolate-prevent-coronavirus-spread-2020-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">canals of Venice famously turned clear</a> and plants started to make a comeback in built-up areas such as<a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">parks</a> and<a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/news/picture/nature-reclaims-public-spaces-during-loc-idUSRTX7EJ1H" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">city squares</a>.<br></p><p>Similarly, due to the slowdown of economic and social activities, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/08/covid-19-lockdowns-global-air-quality-india-london-uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">air quality</a> improved in many places around the world, including megacities including <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720326036" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Delhi</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/08/covid-19-lockdowns-global-air-quality-india-london-uk" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">London</a>, <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51944780" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New York</a> and various cities in <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11869-020-00963-y" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China</a>. Global CO2 emissions and total nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions decreased by as much as 30% and, as car traffic plummeted and industrial production slowed down, the<a href="https://www.sciencenews.org/article/covid-19-coronavirus-greenhouse-gas-emissions-climate-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> reduction of greenhouse gas emissions</a> followed. It seemed that at least the atmosphere was benefiting from the global pandemic.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0ODUzMy9vcmlnaW4uZ2lmIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0NzQ5ODI0MX0.NaCx18e_NCBB5SnFxwxI7L_sZclIuFAR6YlnpIxl1eg/img.gif?width=980" id="902a5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="adef5c711181422b7e367aeb853ca9a7" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="640" data-height="474" />
NO₂ levels in the air above India (U.S. date format). World Economic Forum
<p>Lockdowns also highlighted both a fundamental human need for nature and the divisions between those who had access to it and those who did not. For those with a balcony, view of nature or a garden, the lockdowns may not have felt as oppressive. People craved their own patch of green and marvelled at the sight of animals roaming around freely. Nature, we may have thought, was healing.</p><p>Sadly, however, the breather that nature appeared to get is not only temporary but is extremely localized. Other areas have not been having the same luck.</p>
<h3>Nature Loss and Climate Change on the Rise</h3><p>If not for COVID-19, the year 2020 would have been remembered for environmental disasters that continued despite scattered improvements. COVID-19 news domination was punctuated by reports of <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/california-exceeds-4-million-acres-burned-wildfires-2020-n1242078" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">wildfires</a>,<a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54433904" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-54433904" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">flooding</a>,<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-was-a-record-breaker-and-its-raising-more-concerns-about-climate-change-150495" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-was-a-record-breaker-and-its-raising-more-concerns-about-climate-change-150495" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">tropical storms</a> and the<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/19/highest-recorded-temperature-ever-death-valley" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/aug/19/highest-recorded-temperature-ever-death-valley" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">highest temperature ever recorded</a> on Earth.</p><p>As pollution levels decreased in many cities, the effects were countered by <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972033059X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increased emissions from home activities</a>. Although nitrogen dioxide <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-020-0883-0" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">declined sharply</a> in <a href="https://cen.acs.org/environment/atmospheric-chemistry/COVID-19-coronavirus-quarantines-cause/98/i11" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Italy</a>, <a href="https://www.earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/146362/airborne-nitrogen-dioxide-plummets-over-china" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">China</a> and <a href="https://www.stats.govt.nz/indicators/nitrogen-dioxide-concentrations" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">New Zealand</a>, COVID-19 responses triggered the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004896972033059X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">increase of global ozone concentrations</a>, which contributes to climate change.</p><p>Lockdowns in countries with high levels of biodiversity also restricted the ability of governments and communities to protect wildlife. Incidences of illegal poaching and deforestation increased in<a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/covid-19-lockdown-precipitates-deforestation-across-asia-and-south-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/covid-19-lockdown-precipitates-deforestation-across-asia-and-south-america/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">South America</a>,<a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-deforestation-idUSL8N2BJ12Z" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-deforestation-idUSL8N2BJ12Z" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Asia</a> and<a href="https://www.conservation.org/blog/poaching-deforestation-reportedly-on-the-rise-since-covid-19-lockdowns#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPoaching%20and%20deforestation%20are%20unfortunate,humans%20in%20the%20first%20place." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://www.conservation.org/blog/poaching-deforestation-reportedly-on-the-rise-since-covid-19-lockdowns#:~:text=%E2%80%9CPoaching%20and%20deforestation%20are%20unfortunate,humans%20in%20the%20first%20place." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Africa</a>. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-environment-idUSKCN21S1I1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Deforestation</a> in the Brazilian Amazon increased by 30% in March 2020 compared to the previous year and <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2020/07/double-blow-to-colombian-amazon-and-indigenous-groups-from-armed-militants-covid-19/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">forest fires</a> lit by land grabbers broke records in Colombia. <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/illegal-fishing-philippines-2646162839.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self" rel="noopener">Illegal fishing</a> is also on the rise in many areas, with fishermen taking advantage of a drop in enforcement capacity.</p><p>COVID-19 has also halted the <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-1275-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">nature-based tourism industry</a>. In many countries, communities relied on this as a source of income, in addition to these funds being used to protect nature. For countries like the <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/seychelles/overview#:~:text=Tourism%20accounts%20for%20approximately%2030,decline%20by%20more%20than%2050%25" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Seychelles</a> and <a href="https://data.adb.org/media/4411/download" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Vanuatu</a>, tourism accounts for 30% and 45% of their GDP, respectively. The economic crisis may prevent such tourism from returning for quite some time, while conservation is unlikely to be perceived as a priority for government spending.</p><p>The improvements witnessed in biodiversity and emissions during the lockdowns are unlikely to remain, and the situation is on course to get worse than before the pandemic. For the climate, there is historical precedent for this. There were also <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17387-financial-crisis-may-have-been-good-for-the-climate/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">dips in emissions during the 2008 financial crisis</a>, yet emissions bounced back as <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/27/opinion/sunday/coronavirus-climate-change.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">economies recovered</a>.</p><p>Today, experts are concerned that global emissions in 2021 <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/global-carbon-project-coronavirus-causes-record-fall-in-fossil-fuel-emissions-in-2020" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">will rise beyond 2019 levels.</a> In addition, many countries have been <a href="https://in.boell.org/en/2020/11/24/environmental-regulation-and-post-covid-19-economic-recovery" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">loosening environmental regulations </a>and, in some countries, early recovery packages were targeted towards bailouts for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/nov/09/revealed-covid-recovery-plans-threaten-global-climate-hopes" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">oil and high-carbon infrastructure</a>.</p>
<img lazy-loadable="true" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTQ0ODU0OS9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY2NTg2NDYwNH0.9fcY_k1mLyDQDdv0FvUlonL0Z-lt7yYOocof6Tw2h4Q/img.png?width=980" id="bbe9a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="63b2896e84d3e53a93eee3818daa4aea" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-width="1522" data-height="1012" />
Human activity is destroying our natural world. World Economic Forum Nature Risk Rising
<h3>Towards a Net-Zero, Nature-Positive Recovery</h3><p>While the lockdowns provided a glimpse of how life could be different for our planet, this will only be the case through decisive and deliberate action. It shouldn't take a pandemic, with devastating consequences on millions of lives, to let nature reappear and emissions drop. Rather than being good for the environment, COVID-19 only showed us how unsuitable our current socioeconomic systems are.</p><p><a href="https://www.vivideconomics.com/casestudy/greenness-for-stimulus-index/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Some stimulus packages</a> are acknowledging the importance of placing nature at the heart of our recovery, and in September world leaders<a href="https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?893466/Leaders-Pledge-for-Nature-World-leaders-commit-to-reversing-nature-loss-by-2030" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a><a href="https://wwf.panda.org/wwf_news/press_releases/?893466/Leaders-Pledge-for-Nature-World-leaders-commit-to-reversing-nature-loss-by-2030" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">pledged to reverse nature loss</a> by 2030. However, on average, the pandemic is likely to reinforce negative environmental trends with stimulus packages in only <a href="https://news.trust.org/item/20201217092751-wk5b9" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">seven of 25 major economies</a> estimated to have a net positive impact for the climate and nature.</p><p>As world leaders discussed stimulus and recovery packages to keep the economy afloat, milestone global meetings to decide how to address biodiversity loss and climate change had to be postponed to 2021. These are critical opportunities to reset our economies and societies for the better. Governments and businesses must focus on addressing some of the increasingly indefensible realities of our societies and economies that this pandemic has uncovered. For example, they must ensure that economic activity is regenerative, rather than destructive, to nature, that businesses reduce their carbon footprint, and that there are sustainable, equitable jobs.</p><p>As the World Economic Forum's recent reports have found, <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_New_Nature_Economy_Report_2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">more than half of the world's GDP</a> is highly or moderately dependent on nature, and opting for a nature-positive economy in key sectors could create <a href="http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_The_Future_Of_Nature_And_Business_2020.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">395 million jobs by 2030</a>. We are likely to, therefore, pay a high price in the future for overlooking its importance in decisions made today.</p><p>Similarly, in the <a href="https://www.hacfornatureandpeople.org/" target="_blank">High Ambition Coalition</a>'s <a href="https://www.highambitioncoalition.org/statements/green-recovery-statement-2020" target="_blank"><em>Statement on Resilient Recovery</em></a>, it stressed the importance of aligning <a href="https://www.carbonbrief.org/coronavirus-tracking-how-the-worlds-green-recovery-plans-aim-to-cut-emissions?utm_campaign=Carbon%20Brief%20Daily%20Briefing&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Revue%20newsletter" target="_blank">green measures</a> from stimulus packages with climate ambitions. The UN's 2020 <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/green-pandemic-recovery-essential-close-climate-action-gap-un-report" target="_blank">Emission Gap Report</a> highlighted that recovery investments in climate action could cut up to 25% off the emissions projected for 2030. Countries need effective policies to <a href="https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/12/1079602" target="_blank">support zero-emissions technologies and infrastructure, reduce fossil fuel subsidies, stop new coal plants and promote nature-based solutions</a>.</p>
<p>The pandemic transcended borders in more ways than one. We saw unprecedented levels of international cooperation, with information sharing and the deployment of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-52431627" target="_blank">healthcare personnel</a> and <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/20200410-donating-masks-and-shipping-gear-vietnam-promotes-its-own-coronavirus-diplomacy" target="_blank">equipment</a>. It also taught us that, when we work together, we can enact great change. This needs to be channelled into the fight against nature loss and climate change too.</p><p>COVID-19 offered many the chance to stop and reflect on the sort of world we belong to. If nothing else, the pandemic revealed that our economies are inherently vulnerable to shocks. Images of animals reclaiming once-bustling city streets, and a dip in greenhouse gas emissions were a relief during a time of such angst, but they are exceptions that are likely to be long forgotten unless we work towards a better future. Designing net-zero, nature-positive stimulus packages is key in preventing future outbreaks, improving economic and environmental stability and enabling people to live healthier, more fulfilling lives.</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/01/davos-agenda-environment-net-zero-emissions-nature-positive-recovery/" target="_blank">World Economic Forum</a>.</em></p>From Your Site Articles
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Former Michigan Governor Rick Snyder is seen testifying on Flint, Michigan's tainted water scandal on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, March 17, 2016. Saul Loeb / AFP / Getty Images
Former Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and other state officials face new charges over the Flint water crisis, The Associated Press reported on Tuesday.
<p>Snyder governed Michigan in 2014, when a state-appointed special manager of Flint, Michigan, switched the majority Black city's water supply to the Flint River. The river's highly corrosive water was not treated, enabling it to leach <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a> from aging pipes that contaminated the water system. Bacteria in the water was also blamed for an outbreak of Legionnaires' disease that sickened at least 90 and killed 12.</p><p>"The very fact that people are being held accountable is an amazing feat," LeeAnne Walters, a Flint mother of four who is credited with exposing the contamination, told The Associated Press. "But when people's lives have been lost and children have been severely hurt, it doesn't seem like enough."</p><p>Walters wanted more details about the charges, which are so far unclear. The Associated Press learned from two people with knowledge of the investigation that the state attorney general's office had informed defense lawyers about pending charges and court appointments.</p><p>A source told <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/01/12/flint-water-probe-snyder-charges/6642737002/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Detroit News</a> Tuesday that Snyder, top aide Rich Baird and former health director Nick Lyon would face criminal charges. Former Flint public works director Howard Croft will likely be charged as well, his lawyer confirmed. Indictments of up to 10 people could be announced as soon as Thursday. But the attorney general's office has said it is not ready to release more information.</p>
<p>"It's an ongoing investigation," Courtney Covington, the attorney general's office spokeswoman, told The Detroit News. "The team is working diligently, though and we do hope to have an announcement on the status of that investigation soon."</p><p>The new charges would be part of an investigation into the Flint water crisis instigated by prosecutors working for Attorney General Dana Nessel. A previous investigation launched by former Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette had already charged Lyon, among others, but Nessel's office <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-crisis-criminal-charges-2638815965.html" target="_self">decided to drop</a> all previous charges in 2019 and start over, arguing that there were major problems with the initial investigation.</p><p>Snyder's lawyer spoke out against any potential charges, arguing they were politically motivated.</p><p>"It is outrageous to think any criminal charges would be filed against Gov. Snyder. Any charges would be meritless," attorney Brian Lennon said in a written statement reported by <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/01/13/us/michigan-former-governor-snyder-flint-water-charges/index.html" target="_blank">CNN</a>. "Rather than following the evidence to find the truth, the Office of Special Counsel appears to be targeting former Gov. Snyder in a political escapade."</p>
<p>However, there is already some evidence Snyder knew more about the crisis than he claimed. In mid-January 2016, he told reporters he had just learned about the Legionnaires' outbreak, The Associated Press reported. But his urban affairs adviser Harvey Hollins later told a judge that Snyder had been informed on Christmas Eve 2015.</p><p>Flint politicians and activists spoke out in favor of Snyder's conviction.</p><p>"It's just wonderful. It's finally here. It's hitting me right now," former Flint Mayor Karen Weaver told The Detroit News. "It's about time. All evidence pointed to him that he knew, that he knew what was going on. It was a cover-up for 18 long months that something was going on with Flint and the water."</p><p>The criminal investigation is separate from a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-michigan-water-crisis-settlement-2647038028.html" target="_self">$600 million settlement</a> that the state of Michigan reached with victims in August 2020.</p><p>In the meantime, Flint is still repairing its infrastructure. Current Flint Mayor Sheldon Neeley told the<a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/01/12/former-michigan-governor-charges-flint-water-crisis/6644125002/https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2021/01/12/former-michigan-governor-charges-flint-water-crisis/6644125002/" target="_blank"> Detroit Free Press </a>that a project to replace all lead home service lines was almost finished, with less than 500 left to be excavated.</p><p>"Our community has been through a tragedy it never should have faced, but Flint is strong and we will continue moving forward," Neeley told the Detroit Free Press.</p>
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