International Conservation & Development

WWF has been elected to be the next northern country Civil Society Observer (CSO) at the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility (FCPF) and will begin the two year term immediately. The coming years will be a critical time for the FCPF and its efforts to support forest countries to build their capacity to address the drivers of deforestation and degradation, create a portfolio of pilot pay-for-performance conservation programs, and test ways to enhance livelihoods of local communities and conserve biodiversity.

"Conservationists in low-cost countries have to spend more time and effort overcoming bureaucratic hurdles and ensuring their work does not have negative impacts on local people," said lead author Erin McCreless with the University of California Santa Cruz, who notes that a more holistic approach to conservation priorities would be beneficial. Read more Read the PLOS ONE article

As countries negotiate a new international climate agreement for the post-2020 period—including at this week’s intersessional meeting in Bonn, Germany—the key choices for putting the world on a secure pathway to a low-carbon future should be front-of-mind. The new agreement will be essential for putting in place the policies beyond 2020 that ensure a shift from high-carbon to low-carbon and climate-resilient investments. To do this, the agreement will have to send the right signals to governments and businesses about the trajectory we need to be on.

From Dean James Stavridis of The Fletcher School at Tufts University: This month I speak with alumna Kelly Sims Gallagher, associate professor of energy and environmental policy at The Fletcher School, about her latest research, her upcoming book, and several exciting developments at the Center for International Environment and Resource Policy (CIERP), where she is the director.

A revolutionary University of Colorado Boulder toilet fueled by the sun that is being developed to help some of the 2.5 billion people around the world lacking safe and sustainable sanitation will be unveiled in India this month.

Surya Karki ’16 recently returned from London after attending the ceremony for the 2013 Unilever Sustainable Living Young Entrepreneur Awards, where he met His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Karki was one of seven finalists for the award.

Director and Lead Author Angel Hsu (2012) launched the 2014 Environmental Performance Index at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos. The press briefing addresses the best and worst performers on Yale and Columbia Universities’ 2014 Environmental Performance Index, a global ranking of national-level environmental performance, introduce a new Global Scorecard that gives insight into global environmental performance over the past decade.

Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) announced the completion of its first project in Mexico in alignment with its technical-scientific agreement signed in December 2012 with Mexico's federal environmental agency, the National Institute of Ecology and Climate Change (INECC). The three-week survey of beach contaminants for the State of Guerrero, an area that encompasses several major resorts including Acapulco, found strong evidence of environmental pollutants including plastics, mercury, and petroleum pollution along the coastline.