December 1, 2020 — With the World Trade Organization currently hosting last-ditch talks on ending harmful fisheries subsidies, there is increased worry among observers that a deal may not get done.
Delegations are working to close the gaps in a text circulated at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, according to Annabelle Bladon, a researcher on the blue economy at the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED).
September 26, 2019 — A new report has warned the rate and magnitude of changes to the ocean, glaciers, and ice sheets due to climate change are happening much faster than previously predicted.
In response to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) special report on “the ocean and cryosphere in a changing climate”, Andrew Norton, director of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) said:
“This report’s findings are staggering. The rate and magnitude of change to the ocean, glaciers and ice sheets are happening much faster than previously predicted. The climate emergency must be met with equally accelerated action.”
The science clearly shows the effects on the ocean will disproportionately hit tropical areas, which are home to the highest concentration of people living in poverty, he said. Their lives and livelihoods ― particularly small-scale fishers ― are at risk from rising sea levels, ocean warming, acidification and plummeting catches of fish.