Latest news with #Bioeconomy
Arab News
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Brazil's moment to lead on forest conservation
With greenhouse gas emissions still rising globally and nature loss continuing apace, the Amazon rainforest is approaching a tipping point. To avert climate catastrophe, the world must make rapid and significant progress on protecting forests and building a sustainable, inclusive bioeconomy. And Brazil must lead the way, starting at this November's UN Climate Change Conference, known as COP30, in Belem. The Amazon represents one of the planet's most powerful defenses against climate change. It is more than a carbon sink; it is a reservoir of biodiversity, a regulator of rainfall across South America and a vital component of our planet's climate system. As the custodian of nearly 60 percent of the Amazon, Brazil has not only a responsibility to be a good steward, but also an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership at a pivotal moment for people and the planet. Brazil seems to recognize this. The government's renewed commitment to forest protection, under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's administration, is reflected in a sharp decline in deforestation rates. But this is just the beginning. Brazil is also working to deliver the bold ideas, scalable finance and robust partnerships that the global green transformation demands. Nature-based solutions — which simultaneously advance environmental imperatives and ensure sustainable economic growth — are central to this effort. Recognizing that the preservation of existing nature produces the fastest, most cost-effective results, these solutions are typically based on three pillars: protect, restore and manage. Brazil has an opportunity to demonstrate global leadership at a pivotal moment for people and the planet Keith Tuffley To protect forests, Brazil is advancing innovative approaches, both domestically and internationally. At home, the country is helping to pioneer a jurisdictional approach, which links carbon finance to state-level action to protect forests, as part of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change's framework for 'reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries,' known as REDD+. Brazil's jurisdictional REDD+ programs reward regions for reducing deforestation, enhancing forest carbon stocks and ensuring that benefits reach indigenous peoples and local communities. The state of Tocantins is a worthy example: its forest protection program, which aims to generate high-integrity carbon credits, has been shaped by inclusive public consultations and features strong governance. An initial issuance of jurisdictional REDD+ credits is expected early next year. At the international level, Brazil has proposed a $125 billion Tropical Forest Forever Facility, which would reward developing countries with historically low rates of deforestation and compensate them for upholding good stewardship. Unlike carbon markets, which focus on verified reductions in emissions, this facility would provide predictable, long-term payments to countries based on the number of hectares conserved. These two approaches are highly complementary. Jurisdictional programs address the imperative of reducing deforestation now through performance-based finance, while the Tropical Forest Forever Facility offers the steady, long-term support that is needed to sustain those gains. Together, they correct a critical market failure: the undervaluing of standing forests. Forest protection demands rigorous oversight, transparent benefit-sharing and unwavering community engagement Keith Tuffley Forest protection is not easy: it demands rigorous oversight, transparent benefit-sharing and unwavering community engagement. But when done right, it can unlock significant climate finance, catalyze private sector participation and drive sustainable development. The Race to Belem initiative, of which I am CEO, aims to make the most of this potential by mobilizing a huge amount of private sector investment for forest protection in advance of COP30. But protection is only the first pillar. Brazil is also making strides in nature restoration and sustainable land management. It has set a number of ambitious goals, including restoring 12 million hectares of forested areas by 2030; converting 40 million hectares of degraded pastureland into productive systems for food, biofuels and high-productivity forests over the next decade; and promoting a bioeconomy that respects nature and people. The Brazil Restoration and Bioeconomy Finance Coalition, which seeks to mobilize $10 billion in private investment by 2030, underscores the growing role of the business sector in this process. Far from just another diplomatic gathering, COP30 is shaping up to be a defining moment for climate action — and, in particular, forest preservation, restoration and management. With Belem located on the edge of the Amazon, delegates will be immersed in the landscape they seek to protect. More importantly, their host will present them with a menu of proven nature-based solutions — behind which political momentum and private sector support are already building — that address the many causes of forest loss. The foundations for transformative action are already in place. The challenge will be for Brazil to build on its success in harnessing national policy, subnational action and private sector engagement to accelerate progress and spearhead a new global model of climate action. Copyright: Project Syndicate
RNZ News
01-07-2025
- Business
- RNZ News
Canterbury's Lincoln to be new Bioeconomy Science Institute HQ, Scion to leave Christchurch
Plant and Food Research chief executive Mark Piper now holds the role at the helm of the new Bioeconomy Science Institute. Photo: SUPPLIED/PLANT & FOOD RESEARCH The board behind the new Bioeconomy Science Institute - which merges public research organisations has picked its new headquarters. AgResearch's Tuhiraki building at the Lincoln University Campus in Canterbury will become head office to the new institute, the board has decided. It comes as the science sector overhaul , considered one of the most significant reforms to the sector in decades, came into effect officially on Tuesday. The Bioeconomy Science Institute merges AgResearch, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Scion and Plant and Food Research. The institute's new chief executive Mark Piper said it shared the board of directors' decision with staff after several weeks of deliberation, on Tuesday. He said the decision was more of a legal formality, as it had many sites and facilities scattered across New Zealand, and all were important. "We will have a head office because we need to have one, but we will have distributed leadership," Piper said. "And so, when we looked through it, Lincoln is our largest site in the Bioeconomy Science Institute. It's co-located with an excellent university, and our biggest collection of scientists. So it makes a lot of sense that would be our representative head office." Further assessment of bringing together sites and facilities like laboratories of the former Crown Research Institutes was expected. Piper said 70 percent of the Institute's 2300 people were scientists, and 560 people were already at Lincoln. He said Scion would be leaving its Christchurch office, for Lincoln. "Within walking distance, AgResearch, Manaaki Whenua and Plant and Food all have facilities [there] today, and Scion is just down the road in Christchurch, and moving into Tuhiraki building down in Lincoln in the near term. "All four of the institutes that have come together today in the bioeconomy, we have some representation down there." Piper, the outgoing Plant and Food cihef executive, said Auckland or Wellington may host high profile visitors, while forestry work would likely remain in its Bay of Plenty hub. Speaking to the Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee on Monday, before the announcement, outgoing AgResearch chief executive Sue Bidrose said there had been a lot of discussion about the new head office location. "Lincoln is our largest campus with the beautiful new Tukaki building on site there, which is a location co-located with Lincoln University," Bidrose said, during the review briefing on its 2023/24 annual review. "The work being done to suggest that that head office or a proportion of the agency should be in the South Island was certainly heard by the people who were involved in making that decision, so it certainly got a good hearing." "These changes are about sharpening our focus and lifting performance," Minister Shane Reti says. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii But Bidrose said the organisation's previous work to understand the location choices for research found that "scientists aren't widgets" and any attempts to move the workforce had to be carefully considered. "They're people and they have children in the local schools and they have partners who work in the local businesses as well, and so on and so forth." Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research outgoing chief executive, James Stevenson-Wallace also told the select committee, Lincoln was its innovation hub. "For Landcare, our strategic base is and always will be in Lincoln, so there's a critical mass. There are particular anchor scientists who are highly competitive," Wallace said. "And likewise, there's very clear rationale for what we have anchored and Auckland, particularly around our biological collections, and there in Palmerston North where we have distinct capabilities around our geospatial." With 600 projects still currently running, Stevenson-Wallace said the key was about having researchers and scientists in the right places, and it would bring its many specialist facilities to the new entity. "There is no active downsizing of our offices. That hasn't been a campaign," he said. "The highly specialised nature of those labs drives the workforce that's actually attached to it. So there's an infrastructure and human capability component." Barry Harris, former chairman of NIWA (now Earth Sciences New Zealand) with extensive governance experience chaired the new Bioeconomy Science Institute board, alongside directors Kim Wallace and Andrew Morrison of AgResearch, Candace Kinser of Plant and Food, and Gray Baldwin of Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research. Science, Innovation and Technology Minister Dr Shane Reti said on Tuesday, the new organisations were designed to unlock innovation, drive economic growth, and improve the lives of hardworking New Zealanders. "These changes are about sharpening our focus and lifting performance," Minister Reti said. "By bringing together complementary research skills and infrastructure, we're enabling greater collaboration, better alignment with Government priorities, and stronger commercial outcomes. "These new organisations will be set up to deliver real-world value, creating jobs, boosting exports, and helping New Zealand compete globally." Tuhiraki was built on independently-owned land on the campus and was opened in September 2023.
