The 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) concluded in Cali, Colombia, in early November 2024. While the summit achieved some notable advancements in Indigenous rights and benefit-sharing mechanisms, it fell short in critical areas such as establishing a global biodiversity fund (financing) and implementing effective monitoring frameworks (practice). What went well:…
One of the last in the series of coffee colloquies inspired by our now Late Lord Mayor, Alderman Professor Michael Mainelli, was to consider SDG 12. Like all these events it was held in partnership with a learned body – University College London with the Chair of the event, Professor Paola Lettieri, being the Pro-Provost of UCL East. Achieving SDG…
Would you try to cross a river if you only knew the average depth and not the maximum depth, the speed of the flow or whether there were other dangers such as crocodiles? The chances are you wouldn’t. Most people are risk averse and so is society. For example, we require insurance companies to be well enough capitalised to withstand…