December

"Only by altering our habits, and by endeavouring to live less exploitatively, can we prevent the changes to the environment from becoming an unparalleled catastrophe, another Great Dying. (...) People are understandably worried that it might lower our quality of life in the short term, and involve some personal and societal effort." Yet, "without our action at the level of community, of the nation, of the globe, we will certainly suffer even more. (...) we must enter into a more mutualistic relationship with our global environment. Only then can we preserve not just their infinite variety, but also our place within them" and "we too will live in hope." Thomas Halliday (2022). Otherlands: A World in the Making.  Photos by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

Foodscapes

"The scale of the problem is so vast, complex and interconnected that inertia has plagued the issue. But, a foodscape-scale approach to planning and action can help drive swift progress that benefits both people and the planet." "(...) [W]idespread consensus that business as usual against a backdrop of accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss is not an option." (bold is mine) in The Nature Conservancy (2022). Regenerative Foodscapes: Accelerating A Global Food System Transition. Photo by Monica Pinheiro free to use if you respect the license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

February

 

"Emerging trends in adaptation place an emphasis on the need for more transformational changes, which has a distinct logic that differs from traditional strategies." Noble, I.R., S. Huq, Y.A. Anokhin, J. Carmin, D. Goudou, F.P. Lansigan, B. Osman-Elasha, and A. Villamizar (2014). Adaptation Needs and Options. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC ).

all shades of green

Between «all or nothing» there are thousands of green variations. Green washing, like inaction, is not green. Its a waste of time and resources that could be applied in more green. None of us can do everything, but each of us can do a lot of green different things. And we need more of these different green things to get the Planet back on track. To sustain all life. Our life, also. We must carry on with green and keep on doing whatever more green we can do. Reducing what we can reduce. Reusing, recycling, composting, gardening, planting, trying some veggies of your own, offering plants, and seeds. Slowing down consumption. Exchanging surplus and ideas with neighbours, family, friends, colleagues. All shades of green are beautiful, fun, healthy, fair and good for the environment. 

Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA ( CC )

Adaptation

"The aim of the Adaptation Support Tool (AST) is to assist policy makers and coordinators on the national level in developing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating climate change adaptation strategies and plans. The AST was developed as a practical guidance tool for national level actors for all steps needed to develop, implement, monitor and evaluate a national adaptation strategy." Climate ADAPT: The Adaptation Support Tool. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

August

 

European Environment Agency (2021). Nature‑based solutions in Europe: Policy, knowledge and practice for climate change adaptation and disaster risk reduction. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

July

 

"[T]he first study to assess oil and gas companies using the International Energy Agency’s (IEA) Net Zero Emissions by 2050 scenario (...) found that none of the 100 companies have committed to stopping exploration." World Benchmarking Alliance (WBA), Oil and Gas Benchmark (available rankings, methods and data). Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

March

 

"Halting land transformation and degradation could contribute 6.6 (range 2–11) GtCO2e per year to greenhouse gas emission reductions between 2020 and 2050, and land restoration-related activities could contribute a further 18.6 (range 1.8–35.5) GtCO2e per year over the same period, while simultaneously restoring ecological function and ecosystem services, and in some cases, biodiversity" p.73, United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Making Peace with Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

March

 

“(…) the analysis suggests that NCS [Natural Climate Solutions] have the potential to limit the pace of climate change significantly, delivering up to one-third of net emission reductions required by 2030. But what makes investments in nature especially attractive if done well is the enormous and varied array of “co-benefits” that can arise alongside directly addressing the biodiversity and climate crises – benefits that accrue to nature and to communities.” World Economic Forum (2021). Consultation: Nature and Net Zero.

March

"Achieving transformative change requires that the fundamental drivers of overconsumption are addressed, through changes in personal values, norms, economic and social operating rules, technologies and regulations. Given the interconnected nature of climate change, loss of biodiversity, land degradation, and air and water pollution, it is essential that these problems are tackled together urgently." (p. 107) United Nations Environment Programme (2021). Making Peace with Nature: A scientific blueprint to tackle the climate, biodiversity and pollution emergencies.

August

"The stories illustrate that biodiversity, climate and inequality are inseparable agendas. (...) The biodiversity community needs to move beyond the technocratic approaches that currently dominate ways of thinking about the future (...). This means that researchers have to acknowledge that imagining the future, whether in a model or a story, is political" Wyborn, C., Davila, F., Pereira, L. et al. Imagining transformative biodiversity futures. Nature Sustainability, number 8, volume 3. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

June

"A certain conception of «nature» has allowed the Moderns to occupy the Earth in such a way that it forbids others to occupy their own territories differently. (...) The current situation (...) is not simply a matter of economics but rather of civilization itself. (...) The new conflicts do not replace the old; they sharpen them, deploy them differently, and above all they finally make them identifiable." Bruno Latour (2020). Down to Earth: Politics in the new Climatic Regime. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

December

"Applying ourselves to minimize human suffering and the loss of species by making every efford to limit the coming chaos under rapid climate change is critical now and over the coming decades. The task is to first acknowledge the destructive power that human actions can have and then move rapidly to transform our energy and economic systems to limit the damage." Simon L. Lewis and Mark A. Maslin (2018). The Human planet: how we created the Anthropocene. A Pelican book. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

December

"This guide will help you to decipher the vast quantities of information you can glean from your local environment and especially your garden. (...) It will address many everyday questions that in the future you'll be able to answer for yourself; and many phenomena will suddenly be easier to understand when you know the background." Peter Wohlleben (2019). The Weather Detective: Rediscovering Nature's Secret Signs. Penguin. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Life in Syntropy

September

"If restoration is not possible for a disturbed ecosystem in an irreversibly changed environment, then rewilding is the adaptive tactic for regaining and maintaining functionality, perhaps with introduced components. (...) the rise of the rewilding concept is a sign that new approaches are urgently needed to conserve biodiversity and maintain ecosystem services under increasingly unpredictable global conditions, as traditional approaches on their own are demonstrably unfit for the challenges ahead." in Rewilding needs a conceptual framework. Is the adaptive cycle the answer? Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Territory of Life

"No matter how small, if you attend to the space you control with love you become part of the solution, not the problem! What can you plant? How can you tend it to encourage greater diversity of animal life? Who else can you invite to contribute? Can you grow a local network of flourishers? Vision the world you wish to create for yourself and the generations to come. Reinforce that vision every day and let it lead you! Make it a heart project – something that you do to enjoy the flourishing for its own sake. Invite others to join you. Enjoy the companionship of the other species and people that you share your space with, watch them grow and get to know them. Attend to the small details, enjoy the tiny as well as the large and flamboyant. Maybe your network can become a ‘Territory of Life’?" Flourishing Diversity: Learning from Indigenous Wisdom Traditions. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC).

Lightning speed

"(...) when workers in dirty sectors are offered good jobs in clean sectors (...), and are enlisted as active participants in a green transition, then progress can happen at lightning speed." Naomi Klein, 2015. This Changes Everything. Penguin books. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

Behaviours

"To the extent people prioritize values and goals such as achievement, money, power, status and image, they tend to hold more negative attitudes towards the environment, are less likely to engage in positive environmental behaviours, and are more likely to use natural resources unsustainably." Tim Cromptron & Tim Kasser, 2009. Meeting Environmental Challenges: The Role of Human Identity. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)

Forests and Climate

In the begining of 19th century, "Humboldt was the first to explain the fundamental functions of the forest for the atmosphere and the climate: the trees' ability to store water and to enrich the atmosphere with moisture, their protection of the soil, and their cooling effect. (...) The effects of the human species' intervention were already 'incalculable', Humboldt insisted, and could became catastrophic if they continued to disturb the world so 'brutally'. " in Andrea Wulf, 2016, The Invention of Nature. Image by Monica Pinheiro, license CC BY-NC-SA (CC)