The new BBNJ (biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction) marine conservation agreement is impressive in scope but has since been rebranded by some as the “high seas treaty,” which risks biasing its interpretation by emphasizing the historical, but outdated, freedoms enjoyed by seafaring (and largely Western) nations.
Elizabeth Mendenhall of the University of Rhode Island joins this episode to discuss the treaty with co-host Rachel Donald, detailing the fascinating and complicated nature of ocean governance beyond the jurisdiction of states. The BBNJ agreement was designed to resolve some of these governance issues, but the text contains ample gray area in how the principles of “common heritage,” the concept that something belongs to all of humanity, will apply to the protection and extraction of resources from the water column and seafloor.
“The treaty design that we ended up with [from] my perspective is not really suited to achieve what it is we say we want to do, which is to create a big network of marine protected areas that's effective in terms of protecting biodiversity,” Mendenhall says.
To learn more and find links to the treaty documents, see the commentary Mendenhall co-authored for Mongabay about the topic earlier this year, here.
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Image Credit: Baleen whales (Megaptera novaeangliae). Image by ArtTower via Pixabay (Public domain).
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Timecodes
(00:00) Introduction
(02:51) How biodiverse are oceans?
(05:20) What's at stake?
(07:47) How are the oceans governed?
(10:47) How international ocean management organizations work
(17:13) What is the treaty for?
(21:21) Is it a marine protected area if you can still exploit it?
(27:55) BBNJ vs. 'High Seas'
(29:09) Principles of High Seas and Common Heritage
(35:35) Post-show
(40:13) Credits
Just prior to the latest world biodiversity summit (COP 16 in Colombia), a similarly-themed event was hosted by the Australian Government in Sydney: the Global ‘Nature Positive’ Summit featured Indigenous leaders, scientists and conservationists, but political leaders in attendance provided little insight into when key reforms to the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act would take place, which experts, lawyers, and activists have been calling for.
For this episode, Mongabay speaks with delegates to the summit including Barry Hunter, a descendent of the Djabugay people and the CEO of The North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance (NAILSMA), Éliane Ubalijoro, the CEO of CIFOR-ICRAF, and also Ben Pitcher, a behavioral biologist with the Taronga Conservation Society.
These guests share their expertise on the state of biodiversity, what kind of action they want to see from leaders, and what can be done to safeguard species while ensuring First Nations rights.
Image Credit: Barry Hunter on his Country (Djabugay Country) at Mona Mona. Image by Seth Seden.
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Timecodes
(00:00) Introduction
(02:05) A lack of government action
(04:04) Interview with Barry Hunter
(15:31) Interview with Eliane Ubalijoro
(20:24) Interview with Ben Pitcher
(28:16) Credits
The Mongabay Newscast recently traveled to San Francisco to join an event hosted by the popular radio show and podcast, Climate One, reflecting on both Mongabay’s 25th anniversary and Jane Goodall’s 90th birthday, for a live audience of 1,700.
First, Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler discusses the news outlet’s biggest successes and impact over a quarter of a century, and then Climate One founder and host Greg Dalton engages Butler and Goodall in conversation about the state of environmental news, the biggest issues they’re working on, their inspirations, and what Goodall wants more people to think about during what she calls a crucial election year.
Here's additional discussion of Mongabay’s 25th anniversary,
Mongabay at 25: A reflection on the journey and future
This is our previous episode where Goodall shares additional thinking on these issues:
Jane Goodall at 90: On fame, hope, and empathy
Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.
Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.
Image Credit: Rhett Ayers Butler and Jane Goodall in conversation in San Francisco. Image by Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo/Mongabay.
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Time Codes
(00:00:00) Introduction
(00:00:59) Rhett’s reflections on 25 years of Mongabay
(00:02:27) What makes for a successful newsroom?
(00:07:50) Looking to the future
(00:17:47) Jane Goodall and Rhett Butler in conversation with Climate One
(01:17:30) Credits
An array of top voices are interviewed or heard on this episode straight from Climate Week in New York, a global gathering of leaders and experts working in the climate and environmental sectors on proactive policies and practical initiatives.
The podcast speaks with several individuals on topics ranging from a fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty that’s gaining steam currently to ways of improving the financing of Indigenous communities and conservation organizations working in Africa, and many others. Here’s who appears on the show:
Allison Begalman, co-founder of the Hollywood Climate Summit
Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam International
Tzeporah Berman, chair of the fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
Luisa Castaneda, deputy director of Land Is Life
Paul Chet Greene, member of the House of Representatives of Antigua and Barbuda
Susana Muhamad, minister of environment and sustainable development of Colombia
Mohamed Nasheed, former president of the Maldives
Maria Neira, director of the Department of Public Health and Environment at the World Health Organization
Sam Shaba, CEO of Honeyguide
Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.
Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.
Image Credit: Indigenous activists during an End of the Fossil Fuels event during Climate Week 2023. Image courtesy of the Confederation of Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA).
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Time Codes
(00:00) Mongabay at Climate Week NYC
(01:34) Mohamed Nasheed
(04:35) Paul Chet Greene
(05:52) Amitabh Behar
(07:23) PLANETWALKER with Allison Begalman
(12:15) Funding justice with Luisa Castaneda
(18:19) Community-led conservation with Sam Shaba
(24:44) The fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty
(29:19) Juan Bay and the Waorani Nation endorsement
(36:49) Maria Neira from the World Health Organization
(38:39) Susana Muhamad on Colombia’s endorsement
(44:07) Tzeporah Berman talks treaty
(53:32) Rainforest reception and a song
Drylands are vast and home to a wide array of biodiversity, while also hosting a large portion of the world’s farmland, but they face continued desertification, despite many of them recently experiencing increased vegetation levels.
Five million hectares (12 million acres) of drylands, an area half the size of South Korea, have been desertified due to climate change since 1980, but elevated CO2 levels are also driving a regreening of some areas, which some argue is a positive effect of pumping CO2 into the atmosphere.
However, our guest on this episode says this isn’t necessarily good news: remote-sensing researcher Arden Burrell describes how the CO2 fertilization effect is greening some dryland ecosystems, and why this worries scientists who say it may mask land overuse and decreased water resources.
Read the study here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-024-01463-y
Like this podcast? Please share it with a friend and help spread the word about the Mongabay Newscast.
Subscribe to or follow the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify, and you can also listen to all episodes here on the Mongabay website, or download our free app for Apple and Android devices to gain instant access to our latest episodes and all of our previous ones.
Image Credit: Green areas saw a growth in foliage from 2000 to 2017, while brown areas represent a reduction. Image courtesy of Joshua Stevens/NASA Earth Observatory.
Time Codes
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(00:00) Introduction
(02:50) Drylands and desertification
(04:19) Impacts of climate change on drylands
(09:33) The CO2 fertilization effect
(23:34) Digging into the models
(30:16) Implications for land overuse
(35:54) Post-show
(41:42) Credits