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Newsletter 10 Nov 2025

Environment: What’s Up in GENeva | 10 – 16 November 2025

The Geneva Environment Network’s weekly newsletter includes the latest information on the global environmental agenda, main events, job vacancies, as well as other useful resources and updates. The Geneva Environment Network is not responsible for the content of any linked site or any link contained in a linked site. Stay tuned and follow us on X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Bluesky, and Youtube, or visit our website regularly for additional updates.

Image of the week | At the opening plenary of the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-6), Swiss State Secretary Katrin Schneeberger emphasized Geneva’s role as a global hub for chemicals, waste, and pollution governance. She noted that the Minamata Convention demonstrates what can be achieved when nations unite, are guided by science and a shared sense of responsibility. This was echoed by UNEP Deputy Executive Director Elizabeth Mrema, urging delegates to show that mercury — once a measure of carelessness — can become a symbol of care. The Convention Executive Secretary, Monika Stankiewicz, stressed that the heart of the Convention lies with those most affected. And finally, COP‑6 President Osvaldo Álvarez of Chile invited participants to build on past efforts and confront challenges with optimism and determination, while respecting all perspectives, before formally opening the Conference. → Read the outcomes of the negotiation

International Geneva at the UN Climate Change Conference in Belém

The UN Climate Change Conference COP30 gets underway this week in Belém, Pará, Brazil. The Conference marks 20 years since the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol and 10 years of adoption of the Paris Agreement. This edition will put the emphasis on implementation. Among the main deliverables in terms of negotiated outcomes, negotiators will have to decide on indicators to measure progress of the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA) and set a roadmap for scaling up climate finance. Another key focus will be the third round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement, with potential discussions on an action package aimed at addressing the expected shortfall in collective ambition. Additional issues on the agenda will include the development of a new gender action plan; progress on the just transition work programme; negotiations on technology and capacity-building; discussions on how to enhance the efficiency of the UNFCCC process; and the synthesis report on the first round of biennial transparency reports.

→ To dive into COP30 negotiations, watch the live webcast, catch up with the UNFCCC updates, COP30 Presidency News, follow the Earth Negotiations Bulletin daily coverage, read the Climate Action Network International (CAN) ECO Newsletter @ COP30, access the Carbon Brief resources, or UN News special coverage.

Key resources issued by IISD to prepare for COP30 include: Inside COP30 | What to Expect at COP 30 | What’s at Stake for Climate Change Adaptation at COP 30? | What’s at Stake for Transition Away from Fossil Fuels at COP 30 | COP30: Key issues on trade and climate agenda

Reports published last week informing negotiations about the most urgent gaps to be discussed and addressed during COP30 include:

  • UNEP 2025 Emissions Gap Report: “Off Target” was launched on 4 November 2025. It finds that available new climate pledges under the Paris Agreement have only slightly lowered global temperature rise over the course of this century, leaving the world heading for a serious escalation of climate risks and damages. It stresses that this overshoot must be limited through faster and bigger reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to minimize climate risks and damages and keep returning to 1.5°C by 2100 within the realms of possibility – although doing so will be extremely challenging. Every fraction of a degree avoided means lower losses for people and ecosystems, lower costs, and less reliance on uncertain carbon dioxide removal techniques to return to 1.5°C by 2100. → Read UNEP Press Release and the dedicated article on UN News
  • WMO State of the Climate Update for COP30 was launched on 6 November 2025. It finds that 2025 is set to be second or third warmest year on record. It provides update on how record greenhouse gas concentrations drive record heat, the continued retreat of sea ice and glaciers, on the socio-economic impacts of extreme weather events and the role of early warning services to save lives. → Read WMO Press Release
  • The Baku-to-Belém Roadmap Report for $1.3 Trillion, prepared by Azerbaijan’s COP29 and Brazil’s COP30 Presidencies, is a blueprint to mobilize at least US$1.3 trillion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2035. Presidents Mukhtar Babayev and André Corrêa do Lago emphasized at the launch on 5 November that this target is within reach — but will require significant effort from traditional sources as well as the development of new and innovative financial mechanisms. The report calls for dismantling barriers such as investment treaty clauses that let corporations sue governments over climate policies. Those disputes have already cost governments $83 billion across 349 cases. → Read the news release

The Tropical Forest Forever Facility was officially launched last week, at the COP30 Leader’s Summit, in Belém, with leaders of more than thirty countries – both tropical forest nations and sponsor countries – and the UN Secretary-General. With recent reactions to the launch including:

The UN Climate Change Conference will see strong inputs from international Geneva. As the world capital for multilateralism, Geneva is at the center of numerous debates and negotiations in the fields of climate, science, health, human rights, development, trade and green finance, employment, peacebuilding and security, disaster risk reduction, humanitarian response, nature conservation, chemicals and pollution, as well as new technologies and innovation. This interdisciplinarity allows International Geneva to have unique cross-disciplinary expertise on climate, and be a global hub and a key catalyzer of climate action. → Find more on how Geneva contributes to COP30.

Geneva stakeholders will be engaging in hundreds of events, thematic days, and in pavilions led or co-led by Geneva stakeholders: Business Pavilion | Food and Agriculture Pavilion | Forest Pavilion | Health Pavilion | Employers’ Green Skills Pavilion | Just Transition Pavilion | Ocean Pavilion | “Science for Climate Action” Pavilion | Standards Pavilion | COP30 Global Sustainable Insurance Summit

Additional news and reports include:

Events taking place this week in Geneva and online:

Countdown to World AMR Awareness Week

Ranking among the top ten threats to global health, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites change in ways that render ineffective the medications used to cure the infections they cause. Although AMR occurs naturally, it is facilitated by the misuse and overuse of antibiotics in human health, food-animal production and agriculture, alongside environmental factors such as pollution and poor waste management. With an estimated 10 million annual deaths by 2050 due to AMR, the 2024 Political Declaration on AMR adopted at the UN General Assembly has set in motion the establishment of a scientific panel on AMR, that will support evidence-informed policymaking on AMR.

To improve awareness and understanding of AMR, and encourage best practices, the World AMR Awareness Week (WAAW) is celebrated annually, from 18 to 24 November. Ahead of its 2025 edition, the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) is organizing in collaboration with UNEP a Symposium on Wastewater Technologies to Address One Health AMR, bringing together policymakers, researchers, and international partners to explore how innovation, intellectual property (IP), and partnerships can accelerate the adoption of wastewater technologies to mitigate AMR risks across human, animal, and environmental sectors. → Register to join on 14 November 2025 from 14:00 to 17:00 CET at WIPO Headquarters in Geneva.

Various events will be held in Geneva from next week to celebrate WAAW, including:

  • As part of the Health Diplomacy Alliance 7-7-7 Campaign, engaging seven stakeholders on seven key actions over seven days, various activities will take place around Geneva:
    • Awareness content display in Gare Cornavin – 18 November 2025
    • Geneva’s Jet d’Eau Blue Illumination – 23 November 2025
    • Display of flags on the Pont du Mont-Blanc – 17–19 November 2025
    • Partner-led Activities (Global / Online) – 18–24 November 2025
  • Infection Prevention to Control AMR: How to Pave the Way Forward? | Geneva Health Forum | 19 November, 09:00-13:00 CET | Campus Biotech
  • The Global Intergenerational Dialogue on AMR organized by the Health Diplomacy Alliance and the Geneva Environment Network to close WAAW celebration in Geneva, will take place on 24 November 2025 from 14:30 to 15:45 CET at Palais des Nations, Room H.313 and online. → Register to join in person or online

UN80 Reforms | Coordination on Environmental Matters

In September, UN Secretary-General António Guterres shared a progress report on structural reforms and programme realignments under the UN80 Initiative — the United Nations’ system-wide reform effort launched by the UN Secretary-General in March 2025 on the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the United Nations. The report, Shifting Paradigms: United to Deliver, outlines possible adjustments in how the UN is structured, how its entities collaborate, and how it operates. It is the third major output of the Initiative, following earlier reports on efficiency measures and on mandate implementation review. Issued just before the General Assembly’s High-Level Week, the document was intended to inform Member States’ deliberations.

Statements and reports on coordination on environmental matters referring to UN80 include:

  • In the second part of her report to the 7th session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA-7) “Priorities for advancing sustainable solutions for a resilient planet“, released in September, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen refers to the discussions ongoing under the UN80 Initiative reform banner, suggesting for example that Member States consider ways to enhance synergies among multilateral environmental agreements. She pointed to the example of the joint secretariat for the Basel, Rotterdam and Stockholm conventions, which continue to operate as separate conventions while holding their conferences of the parties in parallel, and being managed by that single secretariat. → Read the report
  • In a statement delivered in October at the Committee of Permanent Representatives Subcommittee, UNEP Executive Director, Inger Andersen, stressed that the upcoming UN Environment Assembly, to be held in Nairobi next month, will convene amid ongoing UN80 reform, offering Member States the opportunity to shape the future of environmental action within a reformed system. The Executive Director mentioned that UNEP has actively contributed to this process under the Secretary‑General’s leadership. She emphasized the environment as a cross‑pillar of the UN, underlining its role in development, peace, security, and human rights. Highlighting the UN80 workstreams — efficiencies, mandate review, and structural realignments — she encouraged Member States to strengthen UNEP’s coordination functions, broaden the Environmental Management Group’s scope, and improve efficiencies in servicing conventions to keep environmental governance central to the UN80 reform. → Read the statement
  • A draft resolution to UNEA-7 proposed by Mexico on strengthening UNEP’s Nairobi headquarters also references the UN80 Initiative, encouraging exploration of a Joint Knowledge Hub on the environment, as envisioned by the UN Secretary-General.
  • The Stakeholder Forum for a Sustainable Future (SF) released on 24 September the report “UN80: Reform of the Multilateral Environmental Agreements – Around the Triple Planetary Crisis of Pollution, Biodiversity, and Climate Change“, focusing on the opportunity for “clustering” the UN treaties on pollution. It also examines how the relevant science bodies for these three clusters can cooperate more effectively and proposes that the Global Environment Ministers Forum be re-established to meet in the year the UN Environment Assembly does not convene.

This week, the Permanent Mission of Indonesia is hosting A stakeholder discussion on the UN 80 Initiative – Environment Pillar. The session, open to Member States, is taking place on Monday, 10 November at 14:00 CET, at Palais des Nations, Room H.307.2. Those interested in joining the session can contact sofia.nurul@mission-indonesia.org.

Minamata Convention COP-6 Marks Historic Milestone in Reducing Mercury Pollution

Held in Geneva from 3 to 7 November 2025, the Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Minamata Convention on Mercury (COP-6) convened over 1,000 in-person participants and attracted nearly 4,000 online viewers. The meeting marked an important milestone in global efforts to curb mercury pollution. Throughout the week, Parties adopted 22 decisions aimed at advancing the Convention’s mission to safeguard human health and the environment from mercury pollution. The meeting was marked by a spirit of collaboration, resolve, and shared purpose, with closing remarks spotlighting the COP President’s leadership in guiding the process to a successful outcome. → Read the final press release and Earth Negotiation Bulletin summary report. Follow COP-6 press conference on 10 November, from 10:30 CET, at the Palais des Nations, Press Room, and online via UN TV, to share the major outcomes of COP-6.

Various outcomes from COP-6 include:

  • Dental amalgam | Establishes a global phase-out of dental amalgam by 2034 and provides several phasedown measures for Parties to adopt in the meantime. The decision is a historic milestone for the Convention and marks a decisive step toward the total elimination of mercury use in dentistry and a safer future for all.
  • Mercury-added cosmetics | Steps up global efforts to eliminate mercury-added skin-lightening products, enhancing enforcement and cooperation with the World Health Organization and other partners to curb illegal trade and protect public health.
  • Artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) | Recognizes the importance of providing alternative livelihoods for mining communities, particularly those in vulnerable situations, when moving away from mercury use. Requests the Secretariat to explore how supply-chain transparency and certification can reduce mercury use and enhance accountability of buyers and intermediaries across the gold trade.
  • Indigenous Peoples | Developed with input two representatives of Indigenous Peoples, urges Parties to provide support for the effective participation of Indigenous Peoples as well as local communities in work and meetings under the Convention.
  • Mercury waste | Asks Parties and relevant stakeholders to submit any proposed updates to the lists of wastes covered by paragraph 2 (definition) of Article 11 on waste.
  • Mercury and Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) | Requests Parties and relevant stakeholders to undertake the actions suggested in the Road Map for enhancing co-benefits from implementation of the Minamata Convention and the GBF by 2030. It also encourages Parties to integrate actions on reducing mercury pollution from artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) into national biodiversity strategies and action plans.
  • COP-7 Date and Venue | Decides to hold COP-7 in Geneva from 14 to 18 June 2027, with preparatory meetings to be held on 13 June 2027.
  • Supply sources and trade | Encourages Parties to consider creating an additional Convention annex to regulate such trade; invites Parties and stakeholders to submit information by 31 March 2026 on mercury compound supply, trade, and potential candidates for listing in the annex; and establishes an open-ended expert group to analyze all submitted information and make recommendations ahead of COP-7.
  • International cooperation | Calls for seeking partnership with the new Intergovernmental Science-Policy Panel on Chemicals, Waste, and Pollution (ISP-CWP); enhancing cooperation with the Global Framework on Chemicals; and seeking membership in the Inter-Organization Programme for Sound Management of Chemicals (IOMC).
  • Follow-up to the Gender Action Plan | Requests the Secretariat to carry out activities to address the health concerns of women and children during the biennium 2026–2027 and propose to COP-7 other activities for the 2028–2029 biennium.
  • Capacity-building and technical assistance | Having considered the limited availability of information on the needs of parties with respect to alternative technologies (as presented in the desk study conducted by the Secretariat), requests the Secretariat to to further collect and analyze information on existing initiatives and progress made in relation to alternative technologies, as well as related needs and challenges.
  • Financial mechanism | Provides additional guidance to the Global Environment Facility, asks the Secretariat to finalize its analysis of staffing and funding needs of the Specific International Programme to support Capacity-Building and Technical Assistance (SIP), and for COP-7 to consider a SIP extension for an additional period not exceeding seven years.
  • Upcoming effectiveness evaluation | Underscores the importance of Parties submitting their second full national report by 31 December 2025 for ensuring that the most recent information is available for the evaluation due to be considered by COP-7.
  • Knowledge management | Asks the Secretariat to continue the implementation of the Convention’s digital strategy; work with the Global Mercury Partnership to advance shared knowledge initiatives concerning mercury-related issues; collaborating with the secretariats of other multilateral environmental agreements on knowledge management, digitalization, and information exchange; developing the Minamata Exchange Platform for information exchange.
  • Cooperation and collaboration with the Basel, Rotterdam, and Stockholm (BRS) Conventions | Calls for the Secretariat to explore ways of further strengthening cooperation and collaboration with the BRS Conventions.
  • The establishment of the International Indigenous Peoples Forum on Mercury, the launch of the Minamata Convention’s Women’s Caucus, and the Youth Declaration.

Reactions to the outcomes included:

Championing for the Earth | Recent Awards and Prizes

Every year, a series of prestigious international awards and recognitions underscore the growing momentum of global efforts to protect the planet, advance scientific innovation, and strengthen environmental governance. They celebrate achievements across diplomacy, science, youth engagement, and innovation, while reminding the world of the urgent need for collective action in addressing the interconnected crises of climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution. Recent awards and prizes include:

  • The Earthshot Prize 2025 winners were announced in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 5 November 2025, and include re.green, The City of Bogotá, The High Seas Treaty, Lagos Fashion Week, and Friendship. The prize supports and celebrates those who turn bold ideas into solutions for our planet. The 2025 Winners – running to receive five £1 million prizes across five categories; Revive our Oceans, Fix our Climate, Build a Waste-free World, Protect and Restore Nature and Clean our Air. → Read more in the press release
  • TIME magazine announced on 30 October its 100 Most Influential Climate Leaders of 2025. This year’s TIME100 Climate celebrates business leaders that have globally pushed forward to fill the gaps and to help unlock the necessary funding and resources needed for successful and equitable climate action. The list includes Geneva experts, such as the World Trade Organization Director-General Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala for her leadership in landing the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement, Salvatore Vinci a Technical Lead of Health-care Facilities Electrification at the World Health Organization, and the Executive Director for Social and Environmental Sustainability of UEFA Michele Uva.
  • The 2025 World Restoration Flagship Awards were announced mid-October at the World Food Forum in Rome, Italy. Led by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN (FAO) and UNEP under the UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration, the award spotlights some of the most ambitious and promising large-scale restoration efforts to halt land degradation and ensure healthier, more resilient agrifood systems:
  • Eight pioneering laws and policy frameworks have been named winners of the 2025 World Future Policy Vision Award on 9 October. The Award presented by the World Future Council in partnership with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) carried this year the title “Living in Harmony with Nature and Future Generations” and honored under the category “Vision Award” the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement or High Seas Treaty). The winners were celebrated on 11 October at a high-level awards ceremony at the IUCN Congress, in an event to pay tribute to Jane Goodall, Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. → IUCN Press Release
  • The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced on 8 October that the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2025 was awarded to Susumu Kitagawa, Richard Robson and Omar M. Yaghi “for the development of metal–organic frameworks”. The Nobel Prize laureates in chemistry 2025 have created molecular constructions with large spaces through which gases and other chemicals can flow. These metal–organic frameworks, can be used to harvest water from desert air, capture carbon dioxide, store toxic gases or catalyze chemical reactions. → Read more
  • The Right Livelihood Award, also known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize”, recognizes the courageous and visionary achievements of leading change-makers around the world. The 2025 Laureates, announced on 1st October, included the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change and Julian Aguon “for carrying the call for climate justice to the world’s highest court, turning survival into a matter of rights and climate action into a legal responsibility”. The awardees will be celebrated on 2 December in Stockholm. → Read the Press Release
  • The Young Champions of the Earth — the flagship youth engagement initiative of the UNEP, awarding ambitious young people from around the world with outstanding ideas to protect and restore the environment — announced on 23 September three environmental entrepreneurs from India, Kenya and the United States as the 2025 Young Champions of the Earth. → Read the press release

Forthcoming Events on Recent and Upcoming Environmental Negotiations

In the coming weeks and months, various events are proposed to unpack decisions taken at recent negotiations and prepare upcoming conferences. These include this month:

Another important announcement is the convening in Geneva of the third part of the fifth session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment (INC-5.3), on 7 February 2026 at CICG. → Registration for delegates attending INC-5.3 is opening on 10 November 2025 and the deadline for registration is 16 January 2026, 23:59 EAT.

More Happening Abroad

9th Session of the Meeting of the Parties to AEWA | The 9th Session of the Meeting of the Parties (MOP9) to the African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement (AEWA) is taking place on 11-14 November 2025 in Bonn, Germany. The theme of the meeting, “United for Flyways”, reflects the core mission of AEWA to bring countries and the wider conservation community together to safeguard migratory waterbirds and their habitats along the African-Eurasian Flyways.

Enjoying a Green Autumn in Geneva

Suggestions of activities to enjoy a Green Autumn in Geneva this week include:

  • Les Automnales | 7 – 16 November 2025 | Palexpo
    More vibrant, inspiring, and festive than ever, Les Automnales is reinventing itself. Prepare to be amazed by the new scenographic itineraries, a vibrant program, and highlights to enjoy together. 
  • Conférence de Olivier Hamant à la Maison de l’Avenir | 11 November 2025 | Régénérer.ch | Maison de l’Avenir
    By drawing inspiration from living beings, we could learn another way of inhabiting the Earth. While modern human societies have emphasized efficiency and effectiveness in the service of individual comfort, life is built more on vulnerabilities, slowness, inconsistencies… in other words, underperformance, in the service of group resilience. A counter-program?
  • Conférence par le KarchGE: Situation d’un amphibien à Genève | 11 November 2025 | Société Zoologique de Genève | Aula du Collège de Saussure (Lancy)
    The conference will update on the status of the spotted salamander in Geneva and will be followed by presentations by students supported by the Geneva Zoological Society in their final year projects.
  • Autumn colors and plant structures | 12 November 2025 | Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques
    In autumn, a wealth of fruit in a variety of shapes, textures and colors stimulates our creativity. We’ll discover colors in the garden before creating ephemeral works of art.
  • Spectacle: D’arbre en arbre | 14 November 2025 | Bibliothèques municipales de la Ville de Genève | Bibliothèque de la Cité
    This session will bring back from the mists of oblivion the tales that came from the deep forests. 
  • Pourquoi les orangs-outans n’aiment pas le dentifrice ? : Rencontre avec Emmanuelle Figueras, autrice et journaliste | 15 November 2025 | Bibliothèques municipales de la Ville de Genève | Bibliothèque de la Cité
    The album Pourquoi les orangs-outans n’aiment pas le dentifrice (Why Orangutans Don’t Like Toothpaste) deciphers the repercussions that simple everyday actions can have on nature, both close to home and on the other side of the world. Emmanuelle Figueras raises awareness and encourages constructive discussion on the themes of ecology, consumption, respect, and the preservation of nature and animal species.
  • Genève sous la glace, frissons garantis! | 16 November 2025 | Musée d’histoire des sciences
    20,000 years ago, the Rhône Glacier covered our region. It was cold in Geneva, very cold. However, in the 19th century, most scientists believed that the Earth had been warmer in the past. Based on their naturalist observations in the Alps, Swiss scientists played a decisive role in the development and international dissemination of glacial theory. Join organizers as they revisit the time when Geneva was covered in ice.
  • Le jardin des roses | Until 28 November 2025 | Aylin Elçi | Le Grain
    Have you ever noticed the old ladies who meet up at the “rose garden” or the “chess park” on Sundays and improvise reunions amid a babble of Turkish and Bulgarian? They found themselves in Geneva through a curious set of circumstances. These photos document the story of these resourceful women.
  • Notre Biodiversité | Until 30 November 2025 | Conservatoire et Jardin botaniques
    In line with the new Municipal Biodiversity Strategy of the City of Geneva, an itinerary through the heart of our garden invites us, through short texts printed on sails, to question ourselves on this burning subject and to reflect on our roles as citizens, public authorities, scientific institutions such as ours and civil society.
  • Léman : L’éveil d’un peuple | Until 14 December 2025 | ASL | Espace Léman
    Through a wealth of documents, testimonials, objects, and audiovisual archive footage, this exhibition traces the decisive action taken by associations, scientists, fishermen, journalists, and institutions that helped turn the tide. At a time when new threats are looming over the lake, the exhibition also aims to remind us that every one of us can play a part in bringing about change.

What (Else) to Read Next?

  • UNEP Executive Director statement to the United Nations Security Council Briefing on Climate and Security | UNEP | 6 November 2025
    As world leaders gather at COP30, the impacts of the climate crisis are contributing to conflicts across the world. UNEP Executive Director briefed the UN Security Council on these risks, collective priorities to address them and opportunities to secure greater peace and prosperity.

  • 2025 Forest Profile for Europe, North America, the Caucasus and Central Asia | UNECE | 5 November 2025
    The report paints a stark picture: decades of progress in forest expansion and sustainability are being undermined by climate-driven crises. Over the past 30 years, forest area in the region has increased by 60 million hectares, yet this success is now under threat from record wildfires, droughts, and pest outbreaks. The report warns that, without urgent policy action, forests could shift from a carbon sink to a carbon source, undermining global climate goals.
  • Make your courts respect environmental protest rights, UN experts tell states | Wave | 5 November 2025
    New guidelines for states, published in October by UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention Michel Forst, outline how environmental protest is already protected under existing international treaties and court rulings and urge states to shield and even support people who practice it.
  • Coalition for Multilateral Action against Crimes that Affect the Environment | Government of Brazil | 4 November 2025
    The Coalition, proposed by Brazil, aims to promote multilateral action against crimes that affect the environment and to establish a binding legal framework under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) to address this challenge. 
  • The State of Food and Agriculture 2025 | FAO | November 2025
    The 2025 edition examines the implications of human-induced land degradation for agricultural production, producers of all scales and vulnerable populations. The report presents new findings on how cropland degradation contributes to the yield gap worldwide against a backdrop of broader degradation processes on other land cover types and even land abandonment. 
  • Resilience Science Must-Knows | Stockholm Resilience Centre | 4 November 2025
    With contributions from over 120 experts and 162 decision-makers across 134 organizations, the report bridges science, policy, and practice and defines how nature, societies, and economies can thrive within planetary boundaries.
  • World Annual Fresh Water Losses Could Supply 280 Million People | World Bank | 4 November 2025
    The report, Continental Drying: A Threat to Our Common Future, provides the most detailed picture yet of global freshwater decline, and offers a roadmap for reversing the trend through smarter policy and investment.
  • How India and Pakistan’s co-operation over water has avoided conflict | Vision of Humanity | 3 November 2025
    The 2025 Ecological Threat Report (ETR) finds that South Asia remains one of the world’s regions of greatest ecological strain. Among the four inter-locking threats analysed – water risk, food insecurity, demographic pressure and the impact of natural events – water emerges as both a driver of vulnerability and an area where cooperation has prevented conflict.

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23 Aug 2026

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