Global Scans · Life on Land · Weekly Summary

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss,

• [New] The decade between 2020 and 2030 has been designated by the United Nations as the Decade of Ecosystem Restoration - an era in which humanity has committed, at least in principle, to reversing the degradation of hundreds of millions of hectares of land and ocean. ClockZone
• [New] By 2030, enhanced regional and catchment-scale water planning will involve more land managers and planning authorities to tackle water pollution, reduce flooding and water supply risks, and support growth. GOV.UK
• [New] A well-resourced, well-enforced protected area will safeguard vital ecosystems and help secure the livelihoods and food security of millions of Ghanaians. Positive News
• [New] Growing numbers of visitors bring risks including disease, invasive species and pollution to the delicate ecosystems of Antarctica and the remote sub-Antarctic islands that teem with bird life, sea lions and whales. gCaptain
• [New] While biodiversity exists everywhere - from urban parks to polar tundra - certain regions are recognized as biodiversity hotspots: areas with exceptionally high concentrations of endemic species (found nowhere else on Earth) that are also under significant threat. ClockZone
• [New] Policy-based models, such as the EU's Green Deal, which aims to have 25% of agricultural land under organic farming by 2030, have accelerated the adoption of organic agriculture. PubMed Central (PMC)
• [New] Taiwan's semiconductor ecosystem previously faced drought-related concerns that threatened chip production, highlighting how water security increasingly affects technology supply chains. Kalkine
• [New] Labour's proposed exemption for small sites could lead to the collapse of the entire system of biodiversity net gain provision. Property Week
• [New] More than 10 million acres of land will be needed for utility-scale solar by 2050. Farm Progress
• [New] The threat to the British Columbia hotspot comes from expansion of mortality in dense pine forests caused by the native mountain pine beetle. Center for Invasive Species Prevention
• [New] From Queensland, where new open cut coal projects threaten fragile bushland ecosystems and endangered koalas, to Canada's Elk Valley, where mining pollution has been linked to fish with deformed skulls and twisted spines, the impacts are immediate and lasting. Banktrack
• [New] Global land and sea temperatures are forecast to be above normal nearly everywhere. Through my Asian lens
• [New] Up to half of the world's rangelands are degraded or at risk, with serious consequences for food and water security, biodiversity, climate resilience and rural livelihoods. United Nations
• [New] The Swedish Energy Agency seeks to strengthen Sweden's competitiveness and security of supply in the European battery ecosystem by funding research that makes battery value chains more resource-efficient, scalable, and resilient to disruption. Impact Funding
• [New] The New South Wales government has routinely delayed environmental flows to critical wetlands in the state's north-west in favour of farming, despite admitting it could harm the breeding cycles of frogs and endangered birds and damage local ecosystems. The Guardian
• [New] The Recovering America's Wildlife Act will help safeguard habitats and biodiversity, slow extinction rates and secure a brighter future for people and nature. The Nature Conservancy

Last updated: 17 May 2026