By Adrienne Sponberg ESA recently joined more than 6,000 ocean scientists from around the world at the bi-annual Ocean Sciences Meeting (OSM) in New Orleans. OSM is a joint meeting between the American Geophysical Union, Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography and the Oceanography Society. Executive Director Catherine O’Riordan and Director of Society Programs Adrienne Sponberg staffed the ESA…

By ESA President Shahid Naeem It’s now February and, as ESA’s President, I realize that my term is almost half over. It is a good time to reflect on our accomplishments from the past few months, while realizing that these have been possible because of the hard work of ESA members over many years. I’ve been with ESA since 1984,…

A visit to Belfast for the British Ecological Society’s Annual Meeting blends science, environmental stewardship, and a touch of Irish charm.

COP28 ended with the Parties reaffirming commitments to limit global temperature rise and transition away from fossil fuels. Conference deliberations are complex and nuanced, with a cumbersome but fair consensus decision process that balances all UN voices.

The word outside the closed negotiations rooms is that various positions were being held strongly dealing with positioning of fossil fuel phase out as part of the Global Stock Taking assessment; nationally determined contributions (NDC) derived from the Paris Agreement and is also associated with GST; financing mechanisms related to the various funds related to mitigation, adaptation, and loss-and-damages. These issues were seen as major points of contention…

The Opening session provided a recap and an update of the status of various policy statements and working papers being managed for decision by the UNFCCC. A number of issues were unresolved during the first week and being revisited during the second week of the conference.

I joined a hardy group of over 200 participants who persevered to participate in a full day workshop discussion called ‘The Development and Climate Day’ to informally discuss the links between climate change and development. This event was organized in partnership by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Anticipation Hub, the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group, the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank.

Blog Post by Malika El Mazhad Dec. 4, Day 5 of COP28 and we are nearing the end of the first week. I have a deep appreciation for the traditional performances from the many different indigenous peoples represented here at COP, but they travel here with important and urgent messages from their communities.  Indigenous peoples, rights, land, and traditions are…

Blog author: Malika El Mazhad  Dec. 2-3 Day 3 of COP28 and I dedicated today to learn more about the youth action movement by visiting the Youth Pavilion. Banners, artwork, music, and lots of young people sitting on the floor with their laptops, or gathered in breakout rooms debating, discussing, and sharing their knowledge, experiences, and current projects. It was a…

Today, December 1,  was the first say of the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) where world leaders descend on COP28 and the conference, country pavilions, and side events are in full swing.

As I sat watching with hundreds of other Observers and COP 28 participants from around the world in an huge overflow hall down the corridor, I felt the magnitude of the climate emergency before us greater than ever. Spontaneous applause erupts at different sections of the address as people listen intently peering over their laptops and gifted COP28 water bottles, there was not an empty seat to be found.

The Ecological Society of America (ESA) calls on world leaders attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference of Parties (COP28) in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), to pledge immediate action to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions to limit rising global temperatures initially to 2.0⁰ C and eventually below 1.5⁰ C above pre-industrial levels.