News from a Changing Planet -- This Week on Earth #15
Good news from the UN and the White House, and outrages from Central Appalachia and coastlines all over the world.
BBNJ, ACC: AN ALPHABET SOUP OF GOOD NEWS: The U.S. makes two big commitments to climate action and biodiversity. (New York Times, Washington Post)
This week, during the U.N. General Assembly in New York, the U.S. signed the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (or High Seas) Treaty, which is a significant step in protecting the international oceans from exploitation and preserving their biodiversity, their ability to sequester carbon, and help maintain a habitable planet.
(Speaking of ocean biodiversity, check out these amazing images of whales, sharks and other sea life from above off Long Island)
Last month, I interviewed public service/climate action icon Monica Medina, former assistant secretary of state for oceans and international environmental and scientific affairs under President Biden and the current president and chief executive of the Wildlife Conservation Society, about this treaty and why it’s so important.
QUOTE OF THE DAY:
Former national climate advisor and EPA administrator Gina McCarthy:
I’m tired of arguing about greenhouse gas emissions. The issue is that people are unhealthy.
That interview was published Wednesday, the same day the U.S. signed the treaty. Now it’s in Congress’s hands to ratify it, but I’m not sure exactly what that means, since the U.S. has never adopted the original treaty (the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea) under which this new provision exists… we can all find out together!
And also Wednesday, huge exciting news: President Biden signed an executive order to create
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