International news

On the opening day of the CMS COP, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, UN Environment Goodwill Ambassador, was among the keynote speakers of the ceremony opening formal proceedings.
The celebrated film maker, journalist and environmental activist and founder of the GoodPlanet Foundation, pointed out that over his lifetime while the human population has increased threefold, wildlife numbers have fallen dramatically.

Governmental representatives from more than 30 Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) today concluded proposals that will pave the way for greater recognition of the role of wildlife in achieving global sustainable development goals. The Manila Declaration on Sustainable Development and Migratory Species will be considered for adoption to the Twelfth CMS Conference of the Parties (COP12), which opens in the Philippines tomorrow.

At an award ceremony held on the eve of CMS COP12, the year’s prime intergovernmental wildlife summit, the commitment of five governments and institutions to the cause of migratory species conservation was celebrated. UN Goodwill Ambassador, actor and model Nadya Yuti Hutagalung presided over the event, at which the Governments of Germany, Monaco, the Philippines, the European Commission and the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi were presented with certificates attesting to their long-term support for projects in support of the aims of the CMS Family.

The development and deployment of new technologies to deliver the world’s energy needs from renewable sources are essential if we are to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. To stop or reverse climate change and to provide the world’s growing human population with the energy it needs, then hydro-, oceanic, wind and solar power must to be part of the mix.

Government Ministers, business leaders and senior representatives from international organizations met today in the Philippines for frank talks on mitigating the detrimental impact of pollution on wildlife and ecosystems. The outcome - delegates pledged to step up efforts to combat pollution - will send a powerful signal to other leaders, ahead of the Third Session of the UN Environment Assembly (UNEA3), which takes place in December, in Nairobi, Kenya. It will also stimulate debate at this week’s Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Migratory Species (COP12).

Dubbed the ‘Serengeti of the North,’ Central Asia stretches from the Caspian Sea in the west to China in the east and from Afghanistan in the south to Russia in the north. The vast deserts, semi‑deserts, grasslands and high mountains of Central Asia and adjacent regions, support some of the world’s last remaining large mammal migrations. Yet, unlike its African counterpart, it has been largely overlooked by conservation efforts.

The effects of climate change are being felt with extreme weather events such as the wildfires in British Columbia, floods in Eastern Canada and hurricanes of unprecedented severity battering North America and the Caribbean. Wildlife is also suffering the consequences, and migratory animals already at greater risk because of their dependence on a fragile chain of sites to sustain them are more vulnerable than sedentary species.

Two influential UN-related wildlife bodies are proposing to join forces on a new initiative to halt the serious decline of Africa’s great carnivores. The Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) will submit their plan to the CMS COP12 wildlife summit in Manila later this month. Proposals for inclusion of the Lion and Leopard on CMS Appendix II will also be discussed at the meeting.

A new intergovernmental task force to curb the illegal killing of birds crossing one of the world’s greatest migration paths will be high on the agenda at this year’s largest wildlife summit, which takes place in Manila next month. The East Asian-Australasian Flyway spans 22 countries from the Russian Federation to Alaska in the USA in the north, through much of Eastern Asia to the Western Pacific and Australia and New Zealand in the south.

Results from the first global scientific review of the impacts of wind farms on bird and bat populations could help guide the design and location of such facilities to reduce animal mortality from collisions. The study, published in September 2017, related collision rate to species-level traits and turbine characteristics to measure the potential vulnerability of 9,538 bird and 888 bat species globally.