As with the IPBES report published 2 years ago, the recent IPCC report is a stark reminder that we are heading into a much less livable world, not just for humans, but for most living species. With the release of both reports (and the many others that have the same conclusions) we need to be honest that the result is nothing has been actioned. The question is why? As governments, industries and businesses blame each other and wait for the other to do something, this ongoing blame game undermines the collective action needed. Those who should be shouldering the blame have perfected the art of distraction. Like the magician they misdirect the eye and give themselves another term [...]

For two decades, or more, some of the world’s leading scientists have been telling us to expect a pandemic. They knew that humans are vulnerable because the line between us and exotic animals has long been breached for trade. Too few people were listening. As a result, and with no real monitoring, a trillion-dollar trade in birds, animals and plants flourishes. According to the United Nations, before the pandemic this trade was growing at two to three times the rate of the global economy. The scale of legal, unchecked over-exploitation, which has been going on for decades, means we have walked blindly into the High Risk Zone of Uncertainty, outlined in the Planetary Boundaries model. This model [...]

Out Today: New Nature Needs More Report Modernising CITES – A Blueprint for Better Trade Regulation. The report outlines a comprehensive strategy for regulating the trade in all species of wild flora and fauna. CITES has failed in its stated objective of protecting endangered species from over exploitation from the legal trade, with trade being the primary extinction driver for marine species and the second most important driver for terrestrial and freshwater species. Whilst the lack of funding to enforce CITES provisions has long been known as a key reason for this, blaming the illegal trade is a convenient excuse to ignore the crucial design flaws in the current CITES model. Since the release of our [...]

Kodak was founded in 1888 and, during most of the 20th century, it held a dominant position in photographic film. Although Kodak developed the first handheld digital camera in 1975, fear of losing its dominance in the global market for its traditional camera, and film, business meant the product was dropped. By the mid-2000s, it had become very clear that Kodak failed to anticipate how consumers allegiance had shifted to a digital world. In 2012, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Has CITES now reached its Kodak Moment, where its lack of responsiveness to a changing world, compounded by a pandemic triggered by the inherent biosecurity risks of the legal trade in wildlife, mean it cannot [...]