By Allison Lampert, Isla Binnie and Virginia Furness
MONTREAL (Reuters) – A landmark deal to protect nature will put biodiversity on the to-do list for businesses and financial firms – creating some red tape but also new opportunities.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, agreed at U.N. talks in the Canadian city, aims to set ground rules to stop and reverse the destruction of ecosystems that support all life on Earth.
Struck in the early hours of Monday morning, it sets out goals including protecting 30% of the world’s land and sea by 2030, as well as finding $200 billion a year to pay for it, much of it from the private sector.
The governments pledged to cut at least $500 billion a year of subsidies that lead to biodiversity degradation by the end of the decade and subsidize more conservation efforts.
Among the wins, asset managers said, was a commitment to align public and private finance flows with the goal of reducing nature loss over the next decade, seen as key to unlocking much-needed capital flows and encourage companies to invest in nature.
Another was the requirement for companies to assess and disclose their impact and reliance on nature, despite the word “mandatory” being dropped from the final deal.
“The reason this is extremely important, apart from (the) 30-by-30 target, is that you will see national-level regulation and legislation, which should be very positive for investors to identify businesses that are monitoring and assessing their risk,” said Ingrid Kukuljan of Federated Hermes.
But in the absence of quantifiable mandatory targets, “this time around we actually need implementation,” Kukuljan added.
Anne Dekker, who works on environmental issues for BHP, the world’s largest mining company, added that the slight softening of language would not stop change, due in part to pressure from investors: “I think it will happen anyway.”
While protecting nature comes at a cost, those companies that step up will attract more investors.
“The big losers across the board will be ‘business as usual’,” said Eurasia Group senior analyst Franck Gbaguidi.
Among the sectors most exposed to tightening rules and oversight are those with a large physical footprint, such as farming, as well as mining and energy or those using dangerous chemicals.
Referring to an agreed target to cut pesticide risk, CropLife International, a trade group whose members include BASF and Bayer, said it should be achievable by making the application of the chemicals more precise.
A body representing some of the world’s largest mining companies, including Glencore and Newcrest, said disclosure would lead to a level playing field between sectors.
“It’s so important that everybody has that understanding of how mining, agriculture, food, retail, oil and gas, how all of our impacts and dependencies stack up against each other,” said Ro Dhawan, chief executive of the International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM).
$30 BILLION-BY-30
Talks were almost derailed by disagreement on how – and how much – developed countries should pay for conservation in less developed countries. The bill was ultimately calculated at $20 billion per year by 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.
Sophie Lawrence, stewardship and engagement lead at Rathbone Greenbank Investments, said “significant concerns” remained over whether this would be enough.
Countries including the densely forested Democratic Republic of Congo also took issue with the existing environmental financing mechanisms, calling for something less bureaucratic.
While pressure for more government money will increase, focus will now shift to how quickly asset managers and banks, and the companies they finance, change their investment decision-making and capital expenditure plans.
The agreement encourages private investors to partner more with public development institutions to increase the flow of finance to nature-friendly projects and for more nature-focused market instruments to be created, such as biodiversity credits.
Doing so will help plug a wide gap: the U.N. environment watchdog said recently that investments to protect and better manage nature need to more than double to $384 billion a year by 2025.
The scope for more money to move in retail funds is also large. Data firm Morningstar shows just 907.6 million euros ($962.8 million) to be invested in the 10 largest equity funds it tracks with biodiversity in their name.
Amid the rush, some sounded a note of caution given the current lack of consensus around what terms like “nature-positive” even mean, creating the risk of “greenwashing”, where firms exaggerate the significance of their activities.
“We all have to be very concerned about nature positive becoming the new vector for greenwashing,” said Tony Goldner, who heads a group developing a framework for companies to report on nature-related risks and opportunities.
($1 = 0.9431 euros)
Read more:
YEARENDER-Pace of new climate, sustainable business rules will not let up
GRAPHIC-ESG funds set for first annual outflows in a decade after bruising year
FACTBOX-Biodiversity finance options grow, but pace of investment still slow
(Reporting by Allison Lampert and Isla Binnie in Montreal and Virginia Furness in London; Additional reporting by Tom Polanesk in Chicago, Timothy Gardner in Washington and Simon Jessop in London; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
VOSS, Norway (AP) — Chunks of ice float in milky blue waters. Clouds drift and hide imposing mountaintops. The closer you descend to the surface, the more the water roars — and the louder the “CRACK” of ice, as pieces fall from the arm of Europe’s largest glacier.
READ MORE: Already shrunk by half, study shows Swiss glaciers are melting faster
The landscape is vast, elemental, seemingly far beyond human scale. The whole world, it seems, lies sprawled out before you. Against this outsized backdrop, the plane carrying the man who chases glaciers seems almost like a toy.
“No one’s there,” the man marvels. “The air is virtually empty.”
This is Garrett Fisher’s playground — and, you quickly realize, his life’s work.
He is traveling the world, watching it from far above, sitting in the seat of his tiny blue-white “Super Cub” aircraft. It’s here that he combines his two longtime passions — photography and flight — in a quest to document every remaining glacier on the face of the Earth.
On one level, the 41-year-old Fisher does it for a simple reason: “Because I love them.”
But he does it, too, because of weightier things. Because the climate clock is ticking, and the planet’s glaciers are melting. Because Fisher is convinced documenting, archiving, remembering all of this serves a purpose.
Because, in the end, nothing lasts forever — not even ancient glaciers.
___
Glaciers aren’t static. In a world that’s getting warmer, they’re getting smaller.
“In 100 or 200 years, most of them will be gone or severely curtailed,” Fisher says. “It is the front line of climate change … the first indication that we’re losing something.”
According to data from the European Environmental Agency, the Alps, for example, have lost about half their volume since 1900, with the most evident acceleration of melting happening since the 1980s. And the glacier retreat is expected into continue in the future.
Estimates from the EEA say that by 2100, the volume of European glaciers will continue to decline by between 22% and 84% – and that’s under a moderate scenario. More aggressive modeling suggests up to 89% could be lost.
“We have a record of observations of small glaciers in settled areas, particularly in the Alps and Norway and New Zealand,” says Roderik van de Wal, a glacier expert at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. That record, he says, shows glaciers retreating even more. “That’s a consequence of climate change.”
WATCH: Food waste is contributing to climate change. What’s being done about it?
The slow demise of glaciers, of course, is a problem that transcends aesthetics or even the glaciers themselves. A rise in sea level of about 15 centimetres around the globe during the past century is due in large part to glacier melt.
Which sets that ticking clock running. And which has gotten Garrett Fisher moving.
For Fisher, it started – as so many things do for so many people – in childhood.
He grew up in a quiet rural community in upstate New York, the child of local business owners and grandson of a scrappy pilot who introduced him early to aviation. He lived next door to a private airport.
Fisher was only a toddler when his grandfather Gordon plopped him in the back of his plane. The boy wasn’t happy about it, but the dismay quickly turned to delight. By age 4, he was hooked on flight.
Fisher recalls endless hours spent gazing out of his bedroom window, waiting for the barn door to his grandfather’s airplane hangar to open. The older man would tell him: “Whatever you set your mind to, you can do.”
Then, as a young man, he took up photography. Two of the three parts of his obsession were in place.
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Sometime in the late 1990s, a friend told Fisher that the world’s glaciers were disappearing. It has haunted him ever since, so much so that it added the third piece of the triangle: the urgency to beat the clock.
He saw them disappearing, and he wanted to make sure these pieces of the world – pieces he saw as indescribably beautiful – were preserved, if only in pixels.
“When I’m high up, I see these forbidden views,” he says. “They’re views you can’t have on the ground, that don’t really exist for anyone else.”
He aims his efforts squarely at posterity. Any documentation he makes of the glaciers before their demise, he believes, could be invaluable to future generations. So, he has launched a glacier initiative, a non-profit to support and showcase his work, and he plans to open his archive to the public for research – some now, the rest when he is gone.
Fisher is hardly the first to feel the archival instinct when it comes to glaciers. Since the invention of photography in the early decades of the 19th century, glaciers have been documented with fascination by everyone from passing travelers to scientists.
Norwegian photographer Knud Knudsen, one of his nation’s founding art photographers, delved into the landscape with an obsession similar to Fisher’s. He traveled around Norway’s west coast, photographing nature: fjords, mountains, waterfalls … and glaciers.
But in an era where everything related to photography was heavy, unwieldy, and slow, Knudsen was earthbound, traveling on wagons and boats. On one trip, he brought about 175 pounds in gear – including glass negatives. Unlike Fisher, he could not soar – and could not capture the feeling of looking down upon the vast and magnificent natural formations that he was chronicling in his homeland.
For Fisher, Norway is only the latest glacier frontier. He spent years documenting them in other places, including the American West, before shifting his focus to the Alps and Europe. He has photographed thousands of glaciers and is hungry for more.
Never, though, even amid the silence and beauty of his flights, does Fisher lose the sense of documenting the “decisive moment” – the inflection points of a glacier that is still here but in the process of disappearing.
He knows, with every flight, that he is documenting a slow-moving tragedy as it unfolds.
___
The Piper Super Cub is a small two-seater. Fisher squeezes in. He is about to ascend into skies of crystal and cotton in hopes of photographing Nigardsbreen.
“There’s about a 30% chance we get to see the glacier,” he says. “There’s a bunch of clouds sitting right there.”
The Piper feels – and rumbles – like an old car. It smells of oil and fuel and everything is manual. Fisher brings in his iPad for navigation, but his aviation software doesn’t have GPS information on glaciers. So he flies using a mix of instinct, observation and Google Maps.
The aircraft’s huge glass windows serve up incredible views. When he’s aloft, the houses start to feel like Monopoly pieces. Anxiety dispels into moments of profound peace. It’s as if the altitude – the distance from the world we know – makes all that’s happening on the planet below seem a little more manageable. And yet he knows: One false move would end all this.
“The weather’s bad, extremely cold, the winds are very strong and the flying’s extremely technically challenging,” Fisher says. “And to photograph glaciers, we’re getting very close to all of this action. So, it requires a lot of skill, time and determination.”
Lots of people are afraid of flying, especially in small planes. When news hits of a plane down, it’s usually a small craft.
He adds: “I’ve been told by many pilots that I’m crazy.”
Many glaciers are remote and hard to reach or document – except by satellite or by air, making the tiny Super Cub the perfect vehicle for this photographic journey. It is built to navigate the blustery winds and dangerous environments necessary for his work.
Why risk it? Fisher believes satellite images will never capture glaciers effectively – not aesthetically and not scientifically. The glow of a glacier at “magic hour.” The way shadow falls on the ice, revealing an unending, undefinable blue. The sheer epic presence of these ice goliaths that are in a constant state of unbecoming.
Will the engine quit? He has detailed plans in case of a crash on a glacier. He has calculated that he can survive for about 24 hours if he goes down and has measured the tail of the plane to be sure he can fit into it and stay out of the elements while he waits for help. Not for the faint of heart.
Fisher moves around a lot: The United States, Spain, Norway. He rarely stops. His wife, Anne, his friend since childhood, drags him to bed most nights; left to his own devices, he says, he would hardly sleep. This is what happens to people so bent on something that everything else starts to fall away.
Until now, Fisher has paid for his passion with his own money, but it’s not cheap; he is running out of funding and looking for backers.
He positions the work carefully. It is, in many ways, science. In other ways, it is public service. But he always comes back to one thing: beauty.
“Science has all of the data we need. They have tons of datasets, which will be available in the future,” Fisher says. “The problem is, it’s not beautiful.”
What he does, he says, is something whose aesthetics are not only pleasing but might encourage people to change their ways.
He adds: “It’s not a dataset. It’s a very motivating, emotionally compelling rendition of these glaciers while they’re here. Because these views will not come back.”
___
Glaciers are a window to our past. Photography, too, is a window to our past. Garrett Fisher has combined these pursuits to ensure many views to this moment are available – and that whatever disappears will be remembered.
In the end, so much of his work is about memory. But what about the here and now? Can a photograph communicate the profound experience of being in front of something that is soon to be lost forever? In many ways, that is what his work is trying to figure out.
The archive is the thing he has poured everything into, dedicating countless hours. And beyond the archival dreams, he dares to hope for change.
If he finds the right light, the right angle, the right moment, then maybe people will care more. He’s chasing the perfect image; one so beautiful it can make people and policymakers act. And if it isn’t one image, then maybe an entire archive convinces people to come, to look, to get close, to pay attention.
“We can live without them. We will live without them,” Fisher says. “However, it hurts us to lose them.”
Everything disappears. But not yet. There is still time, and Garrett Fisher has an airplane and a camera and is not turning away.
Associated Press journalist Bram Janssen reported from Voss.
Internet users were left intrigued by the pictures
Snakes are one of the deadliest and scariest reptiles existing on earth. However, their unique and amazing abilities often make them fascinating creatures. There are over 3,000 different species of snakes and they can survive in a wide range of habitats throughout the world. Recently, Indian Forest Service officer Parveen Kaswan, who is well-known for sharing intriguing wildlife content, posted another interesting picture leaving internet users fascinated.
On Monday, he tweeted a picture of a Green Pit Viper nestled between wild mushrooms. The tiny and green snake stands out amidst the mushrooms because of its bright colour, and it definitely looks beautiful. Mr Kaswan wrote, “I was just observing the mushrooms. Suddenly found this beauty. They look so unreal and colourful. Can stay for hours like this. During a long field walk. Called as Green Pit viper.”
In a follow-up tweet, he shared more pictures of the snake and wrote, ” Sharing some more pictures. As I said they look so unreal.”
Needless to say, internet users were left intrigued by the pictures and left a variety of comments. Many commented that the pictures look like a ”work of CGI”, while others couldn’t believe that it was real.
A Twitter user wrote, “Looks like a work of CGI. It’s so unreal that it looks like it is placed on the mushroom through photoshop.” Another commented, ” Wow..it’s so amazing. Mind blowing. Looks like a photoshopped image.. (though I know it’s not).” A third said, ” Wow.. that’s so beautiful..I wish someday I get a chance to meet you & be with you on your field trip and be able to see such beauty of nature and learn from you.” A fourth said, ”Wao.. it’s really fascinating,” while a fifth added, ”Is it real?’
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Bellevue is a city in King County within western Washington.
Its name is from the French term “belle vue,” meaning “beautiful view.”
European Americans were the first settlers in this city.
Bellevue is nestled between Lake Washington on the west and Lake Sammamish on the east.
It has grown into one of Eastside’s best high-tech and retail centers.
Due to its incredible location, the majestic views of the Olympic Mountains and Cascade Mountains can also be seen from the hilltops of this city.
Beyond that, the place has so much more to offer.
The best thing about it is you won’t have to spend a dime to experience this city and create new memories.
Here are free things to do in Bellevue, Washington:
Feel Closer to Nature at Bellevue Botanical Garden
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Bellevue Botanical Garden is a 53-acre urban refuge located on Main Street.
It opened in June 1992 and has since been home to restored woodlands, cultivated gardens, and natural wetlands.
Bellevue Botanical Garden was created through the partnership of the City of Bellevue Parks and Community Services and the Bellevue Botanical Garden Society.
This is where you can find many plants that thrive in the Pacific Northwest.
Amehime / Shutterstock.com
Aside from plant species, Bellevue Botanical Garden also features several artworks donated by the public, which include sculptures, stone benches, and more.
Once you’re here, visit the Rill Plaza, Rock Garden, Iris Rain Garden, Fuchsia Garden, and Yao garden.
You can also do some nature photography in its Shorts Ground Cover Garden, Waterwise Garden, and Nature Discover Garden.
Mariusz S. Jurgielewicz / Shutterstock.com
Go on a Picnic at Bellevue Downtown Park
Mariusz S. Jurgielewicz / Shutterstock.com
Bellevue Downtown Park is a 21-acre oasis on Northeast 4th Street.
This is the perfect spot if you’re looking for a place to have a picnic with your family while surrounded by beautiful scenery.
Set up your picnic blanket on its 10-acre lawn and enjoy the view of the city skyline and Mount Rainier.
Bellevue Downtown Park is also filled with lush trees and has a stepped canal.
Chamomile_Olya / Shutterstock.com
Your little ones will have a great time in this park’s well-kept playground, which features slides, monkey bars, swings, and more.
Children of all abilities can also access this playground.
Bellevue Downtown Park also has over 140 benches where you can sit back and relax after minutes or hours of walking and running.
Don’t miss its formal garden and see the public art.
Nadia Yong / Shutterstock.com
Challenge Yourself to a Trail Run at Mercer Slough Nature Park
marcsanchez / Shutterstock.com
Mercer Slough Nature Park is situated on Southeast Avenue.
It measures 320 acres and is a popular destination for hikers.
Other activities here are biking, running, canoeing, and blueberry picking.
Aside from being an outdoor adventure spot, Mercer Slough Nature Park also serves as a safe habitat for more than 170 wildlife species.
marcsanchez / Shutterstock.com
It features interconnected boardwalks, asphalt paths, and trails leading you to the park’s most scenic and picture-perfect spots.
Mercer Slough Nature Park features old greenhouses and gardens.
This is also where you can find the famous Frederick W. Winters House, which reflects the city’s rich agricultural past.
You’ll easily recognize the house through its Spanish-Eclectic architectural style.
Spend the Day at Meydenbauer Bay Park
Mariusz S. Jurgielewicz / Shutterstock.com
Meydenbauer Bay Park is a beach park nestled on Northeast Avenue.
It has a viewing terrace, beach house, play area, and hillside woodland, perfect for a day out with the whole family.
Meydenbauer Bay Park is an ideal destination if you want to feel refreshed and cool off from the summer heat.
Another Believer, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
You can bring your food and have a snack in its designated picnic areas.
This park’s sand and gravel beach is also a nice area where you can sunbathe while reading a book.
Meydenbauer Bay Park boasts other amenities, such as a boat launch, a natural ravine, and walking paths.
Danita Delimont / Shutterstock.com
See Some Osprey at Hidden Valley Park
Hidden Valley Park is a 17.31-acre park on Northeast Avenue.
It features three softball fields, tennis courts, a sports court, and picnic areas.
Hidden Valley Park is famous for being the home of large fish-eating bird osprey.
You can identify this bird through its brown back and white to cream-colored heads, bellies, and chest.
These birds can catch their prey 130 feet above the water.
Aside from bird watching, Hidden Valley Park is also a favorite destination for families, especially because of its playgrounds and relaxing walkways.
Picnic tables and exercise areas are also available within the park.
Appreciate Nature at Kelsey Creek Farm
knelson20 / Shutterstock.com
Kelsey Creek Farm is a 150-acre of natural land on Southeast Plaza.
You’ll learn to love and appreciate nature more through this farm’s forest, wetlands, and meadows.
A visit here at Kelsey Creek Farm will take you to the city’s rich rural past.
You’ll find two historic barns on the crest of a hill that overlook some shallow valleys.
knelson20 / Shutterstock.com
These barns used to be the Twin Valley Dairy which was included in the State Heritage Barn Register.
Aside from sightseeing, you can also do some hiking, jogging, and nature tripping on this farm.
You can also take a break in its picnic areas.
Kelsey Creek Farm also houses some animals.
Michael J Magee / Shutterstock.com
Beat the Heat at Newcastle Beach Park
Mariusz S. Jurgielewicz / Shutterstock.com
Newcastle Beach Park is the largest beach park in the city, located on Southeast Lake Washington Boulevard.
It is one of the best places to beat the summer heat and bond with the whole family.
You can swim, sunbathe, or explore its nature trails.
Mariusz S. Jurgielewicz / Shutterstock.com
Newcastle Beach Park also has picnic facilities available for reservation and a non-motorized watercraft launch site.
This grassy park also features play areas for kids and well-maintained restrooms.
A three-day photo exhibition by city-based Bhavnish Jain was held at Punjab Agricultural University (PAU) here recently. He displayed 25 pictures captured during his treks and expeditions. A hosiery manufacturer, Bhavnish, loves to travel and explore new places and never forgets to take his camera along.
Snow-capped mountains, lush green meadows, valleys, seas and beautiful skies — all colours of the nature — have been depicted in the pictures.
“The pictures have been captured by me during expeditions across Himachal, Uttarakhand and Nepal. These also include my solo expedition to Nepal,” he said.
During the off season, he plans the treks. He does not wait for the company of his friends, but goes on solo expeditions and sometimes engages in group travels arranged by some company. Hence, this way he also gets to meet new people as well,” he said.
“Kalandi Khalis is the next place on my bucket list and will soon turn into a reality. The reason why I chose PAU as the venue for my exhibition is that I want young people to know that there is a world, other than the routine,” he said.
Former Army servicewoman, Jean Macdonald, from Shropshire, UK, finally feels she belongs to a military family 40 years after being forced to leave the Army due to her sexuality – when it was illegal to be gay in the Armed Forces.
Jean has recently won a competition to have her stunning photography featured in the charity Help for Heroe (opens in new tab)s’ new 2023 calendar. Jean is one of six amateur photographers from the Armed Forces community to have her talents showcased in the calendar, which celebrates the outdoors and is on sale now (opens in new tab).
There are many reasons why taking photos improves your mental health, and below, Jean shares the profound impact photography has and has had, on her mental health journey.
Jean Macdonald is an award-winning nature and landscape photographer, having featured in multiple photography publications and exhibited throughout Shropshire, with the proceeds going to charity. She is the co-author the book ‘Secret Shropshire’, was Highly Commended in Garden Photographer of the Year 2009, in the ‘Trees’ category and was highly commended in the British Wildlife Photography Awards, 2013.
When I was nine years old, I borrowed my mum’s Kodak box camera for a school trip to the zoo. I remember staring through the viewfinder, captivated by a lion that had starred in the film ‘Born Free’. That was the moment I discovered my love for photography, I was hooked!
At age 19, I joined the Army as a physical training instructor and my ambition was to join the Operations and Intelligence Corps as I knew this would allow me to combine my two passions, my military career and my love of photography. Sadly, I never realized this dream because by age 24, despite exemplary service, I was discharged from the career I loved, just for being gay.
My military discharge was traumatic, and it had a profound effect on my life resulting in years of mental health difficulties, shame, and low self-esteem. I was later diagnosed with complex PTSD.
One of the biggest symptoms of PTSD is the horrors of the past intruding into your everyday life, and for me, that often means dissociating and not being connected with my sense of self. Photography enables me to connect with the landscape and nature, it is the ultimate form of mindfulness. I am in the moment. It’s about the process of creating the image.
Nature has no bias, it does not discriminate and as a result, any injustices that have hurt me, disappear when I am behind my lens. When I focus through the viewfinder, the world becomes a smaller, less scary place. I can cross boundaries, and break conventions, with the freedom to express and be my authentic self.
(Image credit: Jean Macdonald)
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My mental health journey has mirrored my photography journey, with many of my pinnacle moments involving my camera. My returning passion for photography has always been a sign that the darkness is lifting. In difficult times I have climbed mountains, camped in the wild and connected with my surroundings. In those moments of focusing on the light and nature before me, I have never felt more alive.
About Help for Heroes
(Image credit: Help For Heroes)
Help for Heroes is the leading Armed Forces and veterans’ charity in the UK, set up to help people live well after service. As well as running sporting and social activities across the UK, the charity also organizes photography workshops, and online courses, as well as producing a charity calendar each year.
Visit Help For Heroes for more
I’ve been fortunate to win competitions that have resulted in commissions, and I’ve held exhibitions with the proceeds going to charity, giving me a sense of purpose. I’m able to give back by selling greeting cards to help fund a women’s mental health group that I attend. I was thrilled to have five photographs selected for the ‘Help for Heroes’ calendar competition. It has taken me a long time to reconnect with the Armed Forces and call myself a ‘veteran’.
When I contacted Help for Heroes, I felt accepted. I’ve taken part in several activities through the charity, which aims to improve the lives of veterans and I am looking forward to attending more of their photography courses.
(Image credit: Jean Macdonald)
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(Image credit: Jean Macdonald)
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Photography can be a place to reflect your own values, thoughts, and desires, and to manifest the kind of world you want to see. In short, you can choose what you focus on and what you leave out of the frame.
Immersing yourself in creative pursuit is also a scientifically-proven way to lower your stress hormone levels, which in turn lowers feelings of anxiety, improves sleep, elevates your mood, and reduces your overall likelihood of developing certain diseases down the line.
Mindfulness and photography go hand in hand. To get good landscape pictures, you have to be totally present in the moment and in the location that you’re working in. By default, you’re being mindful, even if you’re not aware of it.
Mindfulness is actually just shooting your photos purely for you. It’s about not worrying about whether people will like it, whether they won’t like it, even if the image works. It’s about the process.
My favorite quote from photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt sums it up: “When I have a camera in my hand, I know no fear.” It sounds like a cliché to say ‘photography saved my life’ but in a world full of so much judgment, it has given me the freedom to express the beauty and the diversity of the world as I see it.
Read more:
Photography is good for your mental health in more ways than one (opens in new tab) These are the best cameras for landscape photography (opens in new tab)
MONTREAL (Reuters) -A United Nations summit approved on Monday a landmark global deal to protect nature and direct billions of dollars toward conservation but objections from key African nations, home to large tracts of tropical rainforest, marred the final passage.
The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, reflecting the joint leadership of China and Canada, is the culmination of four years of work toward creating an agreement to guide global conservation efforts through 2030.
The countries attending the U.N.-backed COP15 biodiversity conference had been negotiating a text proposed on Sunday and talks addressing the finer points of the deal dragged on until Monday morning.
Delegates were able to build consensus around the deal’s most lofty target of protecting 30% of the world’s land and seas by the decade’s end, a target known informally as 30-by-30. However, questions around the funding contributions from developed nations to developing countries appeared unresolved as the delegates gathered to consider adoption of the text.
With China holding the COP15 presidency, Minister of Ecology and Environment Huang Runqiu appeared to disregard objections from the delegation of the Democratic Republic of Congo, lowering the gavel and declaring the deal passed only minutes after they said they were not able to support the deal.
“The parties which are developed nations should provide resources to parties which are developing,” the Congolese representative said through a translator.
Huang then acknowledged Mexican remarks supporting the final agreement and declared shortly after 3:30 a.m. (0830 GMT) that the deal was adopted, drawing outraged comments from other African delegations.
A representative from Cameroon said through a translator that the agreement was passed by force of hand.
A Ugandan representative declared that they did not accept the spirit and the manner at which the gavel fell and requested to put on record that Uganda did not support the procedure, invoking fraud.
A closing meeting will be held later on Monday.
WHAT’S IN THE DEAL
In addition to supporting 30-by-30, the deal also directs countries to allocate $200 billion per year for biodiversity initiatives from both the public and private sectors
Developed countries will provide $25 billion in annual funding starting in 2025 and $30 billion per year by 2030.
The deal, which contains 23 targets in total, replaces the failed 2010 Aichi Biodiversity Targets that were intended to guide conservation through 2020. None of those goals were achieved, and no single country met all 20 of the Aichi targets within its borders.
Unlike with Aichi, the deal contains more quantifiable targets — such as reducing harmful subsidies given to industry by at least $500 billion per year — that should make it easier to track and report progress.
More than 1 million species could vanish by century’s end in what scientists have called a sixth mass extinction event. As much as 40% of the world’s land has been degraded, and wildlife population sizes have shrunk dramatically since 1970.
Investment firms focused on a target in the deal recommending that companies analyse and report how their operations affect and are affected by biodiversity issues.
The parties agreed to large companies and financial institutions being subject to “requirements” to make disclosures regarding their operations, supply chains and portfolios – but the word “mandatory” was dropped from previous drafts.
(Reporting by Isla Binnie; Editing by Christian Schmollinger)
Every month, there are hundreds of national and international celebrations dedicated to raising awareness and support for meaningful causes.
For those working to bring attention to important topics, it can be challenging to keep track of the next relevant awareness event. We’re here to help.
At Good Good Good, we aim to help people feel more hopeful and do more good. For years we’ve privately curated a comprehensive list of important cause-themed holidays that we’ve used for creating content on our good news Instagram, our Goodnewsletter, our Goodnewspaper, and on this very website.
We’ve organized this list of observances and events by month — and are making them public for the first time. Our hope is that this will help you or your organization bring attention to important issues.
Where applicable, we’ve included resources (usually good news around particular topics, action steps on how to make a difference, or relevant quotes) — and encourage you to share them if you find them helpful.
The main days and months you should know about for June are:
Pride Month
June 1
Alzheimer’s Awareness Month
June 1
Gun Violence Awareness Day
June 3
World Oceans Day
June 8
World Sea Turtle Day
June 16
Juneteenth
June 19
World Refugee Day
June 20
Helen Keller’s Birthday
June 27
Stonewall Uprising Anniversary
June 28
Explore our comprehensive list of national and international months, weeks, days, and birthdays for the month of June:
June Celebrations:
Awareness Months
There are several awareness months celebrated in June — though the five that often get the most attention include LGBTQ+ Pride Month, Men’s Health Awareness Month, Gun Violence Awareness Month, Alzheimer’s Awareness Month, and Immigrant Heritage Month.
Alzheimer’s and Brain Awareness Month
Read about this music program supporting people with Alzheimer’s
Audiobooks are a great accessibility tool — check out our recommendations for the best audiobook platforms (that aren’t Amazon’s Audible)
Cancer Immunotherapy Awareness Month
Cancer Survivors Month
Read the good news about how cancer deaths are rapidly decreasing
Carribean-American Heritage Month
Great Outdoors Month
Learn about this year’s fee-free days at national parks and read the best quotes about national parks
Gun Violence Awareness Month
Take action to prevent gun violence in the United States
Hemiplegic Migraine Awareness Month
Immigrant Heritage Month
Migraine and Headache Awareness Month
National Men’s Health Awareness Month
National Pollinators Month
National Rose Month
National Zoo and Aquarium Month
Pride Month
Read the ultimate guide on ideas for how to thoughtfully celebrate Pride Month — and explore this curated list of the best LGBTQ+ pride quotes
PTSD Awareness Month
Listen to our podcast conversation with Richard Casper, a veteran using art to help other veterans recover from PTSD
Awareness Weeks
National Zoo and Aquarium Month
Celebrated in early June
Oceans Week
Week-long event in June
National Mosquito Control Awareness Week
Week-long event in June
National Black Family Cancer Awareness Week
Week-long event in June
Infant Mental Health Awareness Week
June 10 to 16
Bed Bug Awareness Week
1st full week of June
Pet Appreciation Week
1st week of June
Learning Disability Week
Week-long event in June
Animals Rights Awareness Week
3rd week of June
National Insect Week
Last week of June
Fish Are Friends Not Food Week
Last week of June
Rabbit Awareness Week
Last week of June
Helen Keller Deafblind Awareness Week
Last week of June
Awareness Days
National Trails Day – 1st Saturday of June
National Black Bear Day – 1st Saturday of June
National Cancer Survivors Day – 1st Sunday of June
Learn about Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green changing the way America treats cancer
World Reef Day – June 1
Meet the all-women conservation group working to protect our coral reefs
National Say Something Nice Day – June 1
Global Day of Parents – June 1
World Eating Disorders Action Day – June 2
National Gun Violence Awareness Day – June 3
Read and share quotes about gun violence
International Corgi Day – June 4
Tiananmen Square Anniversary – June 4
Seaweed Day – June 4
Read the good news story about Maine harvesting more seaweed instead of lobster
National Animal Rights Day – 1st Sunday of June
HIV Long-Term Survivors Day – June 5
World Environment Day – June 5
International Day for the Fight Against Illegal Unreported and Unregulated Fishing – June 5
Anniversary of MMWR: The first cases of HIV – June 5
June Bug Day – June 7
World Oceans Day – June 8
Intersectional Environmentalist’s Birthday – June 8
Learn more about intersectional environmentalism and dive into the whole topic in The Intersectional Environmentalist Edition of the Goodnewspaper, guest-edited by Leah Thomas
International Day of Action for Elephants in Zoos – June 8
World Brain Tumor Awareness Day – June 8
Listen to our podcast interview with cancer survivor and Olympic figure skater, Scott Hamilton
Coral Triangle Day – June 9
International Lynx Day – June 11
Pulse Night of Remembrance – June 12
National Cougar Day – June 12
World Day Against Child Labor – June 12
Pulse Day of Remembrance – June 12
International Albinism Awareness Day – June 13
World Blood Donor Day – June 14
Nature Photography Day – June 15
Global Wind Day – June 15
Nature Photography Day – June 15
World Sea Turtle Day – June 16
Read this good news story about sea turtles
World Crocodile Day – June 17
World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought – June 17
CDKL5 Worldwide Awareness Day – June 17
Autistic Pride Day – June 18
World Sickle Cell Day – June 19
Juneteenth – June 19
Get ideas for how to thoughtfully celebrate Juneteenth
World Refugee Day – June 20
Learn about the organization Rainbow Railroad is helping LGBTQ+ refugees
National American Eagle Day – June 20
Ugliest Dog Day – June 20
While not exactly dog-focused, check out this collection of ugly animals (and learn how to protect them)
World Giraffe Day – June 21
Global Day of Recognition of ALS/MND – June 21
World Camel Day – June 22
World Rainforest Day – June 22
Read these good newsstories aboutIndigenous activistsprotectingrainforests
Dravet Syndrome Awareness Day – June 23
Neuropathy Action Awareness Day – June 23
World Kidney Cancer Day – 3rd Thursday of June
First Use of LGBTQ+ Pride Flag – June 25
World Vitiligo Awareness Day – June 25
LGBTQ+ Equality Day – June 26
Anniversary of the Legalization of Same-Sex Marriage in the U.S. – June 26
World Drug Day – June 26
National HIV Testing Day – June 27
PTSD Screening Day – June 27
Stonewall Uprising Anniversary – June 28
World Scleroderma Awareness Day – June 29
Arthrogryposis Awareness Day – June 30
Notable Birthdays
Birthdays of leading activists, nonprofit leaders, and other world-changers born in the month of June:
Brandi Carlile’s Birthday – June 1
Abby Wambach’s Birthday – June 2
Troye Sivan’s Birthday – June 5
Read about Troye Sivan’s acting debut in a film that fights HIV/AIDS stigma
The Dalai Lama’s Birthday – June 6
Michael J. Fox’s Birthday – June 9
E.O. Wilson’s Birthday – June 10
Learn about biologist E.O. Wilson’s contributions to our planet by reading his most famous quotes
Abigail Harrison’s Birthday – June 11
Lou Gehrig’s Birthday – June 19
Larry Kramer’s Birthday – June 25
Helen Keller’s Birthday – June 27
Michael Phelps’ Birthday – June 30
Explore More Events:
Is this list missing a holiday or awareness week/month? Let us know. We want to ensure this list is comprehensive and inclusive.
“The tattooed woman” by photographer Tran Viet Van (Photo: laodong.vn)
According to the newspaper, the photo contest organiser on December 16 announced two silver awards for the Vietnamese photographer, namely the “Connection” taken in Vietnam’s Central Highland province of Dak Lak in the category of Black and White, Travel and “The tattooed woman” taken in Myanmar for the category of Fine Art, Open Theme for professional photographers.
Previously, “Connection” won the third position at Spain’s EPEX Photography Trophy 2022 in Malaga and went to the final round of Switzerland’s Lugano Award and the US’s Nature Conservancy. Meanwhile, “The tattooed woman” won a bronze medal at India’s One Eyeland and went to the final round of Austria’s World Master.
The New York Photography Awards honor the world’s outstanding photographers who share their vision with the world, redefining and expanding the boundaries of photography, where every aspect of a photograph is focused to meet international standards.
This year, its Grand Prize for Photographer of the Year went to British photographer Pete Muller for “Save” [that seizes the moment a goalkeeper made a great save] and Germany’s Peter Voss for “Young Eagle Champion”./. VNA
A boy taking a close look at a photo of a dog in pain while being pecked at by two crows, displayed as part of a nature photo exhibition at Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery, Kottakkunnu, Malappuram, on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: SAKEER HUSSAIN
An exhibition of two select photographs of 30 nature photographers being held at Lalithakala Akademi Art Gallery at Kottakkunnu, Malappuram, has become an instant hit with the holiday crowds reaching the tourist destination.
The exhibition has everything to make a viewer stand agape at the unfathomable depth of nature. From extra close-up shots of animals to nature’s hidden abstractness, the photos on display have something for everyone.
“Ooh… I can’t stand this. So sad,” sighed an 11-year-old boy after taking a close view of a photo by Saji Cherukara depicting an injured dog whining when being pecked at by two crows.
Each photo on display speaks a lot. “That’s the specialty of nature. When a photographer with some skills and passion approaches nature, they often get wonderful results,” said Haris T.M., a member of the Lightsource Camera Walkers, the group that organised the exhibition.
The exhibition titled Exposure 2022 has been the 10 th edition of the annual event by the Lightsource Camera Walkers, a collective of nature photographers from across the State. “We have been doing it every year both in Malappuram and Kozhikode,” said Mr. Haris.
A gathering of photographers, writers and artists held on the courtyard of the Art Gallery discussed various approaches being adopted by those involved in nature photography.
When leading lepidopterist Balakrishnan Valappil described how he ignored and circumvented many larger objects while focusing on butterflies, senior photographer Sabari Janaki shared his experience of approaching nature with careful attention to small details.
“It all depends on our approach and attitude. A photographer with a passion and will can shift his lens from micro to macro in seconds,” Mr. Janaki said.
Cinematographer Prathap Joseph, a leading figure of the Lightsource group, said that different people would observe different things in a single location. “Some might miss the wood for the trees. That’s the case with nature photography. A photographer who focuses on a small animal might miss even a tiger,” he said.
M.A. Latheef, K.P.A. Samad, Sreeni Elayoor and P. Somanathan spoke about their travel life. “At first, I carried a camera as part of my travel. Now I travel along with my wife Fayroos for the sake of photography,” said Mr. Latheef.
“Travel helps us a lot in shaping our personality and perspectives,” said Mr. Samad, who travelled widely across the country. According to Mr. Elayoor, photography, travel and writing are three specialty departments with potential to contribute to each other’s strength.
