Today, the Treaty of the High Seas was adopted by consensus and standing ovation during the United Nations meeting in New York. This Treaty is key to protect the ocean, promote equity and fairness, tackle environmental degradation, fight climate change, and prevent biodiversity loss in the high seas.  The UN’s 193 Member States adopted a landmark legally binding marine biodiversity agreement on Monday following nearly two decades of fierce negotiations over forging a common wave of conservation and sustainability in the high seas beyond national boundaries – covering two thirds of the planet’s oceans. Here are…

The Dutch asphalt sector can reduce emissions by 30% to 60% by using biobased asphalt in which fossil bitumen has been replaced by lignin and other components from plant residues, according to new figures from Wageningen Food & Biobased Research. The potential savings are huge, since 10 million tonnes of asphalt containing 300,000 tonnes of bitumen are produced annually in the Netherlands alone. In traditional asphalt, bitumen is used as a binder. It binds the gravel in the asphalt mixture together and gives strength. However, bitumen is a crude oil product that is becoming…

Republished from: https://www.undp.org/philippines/blog/japan-undp-and-denr-push-philippines-transition-circular-economy Representatives from both the public and private sectors convened last 17 October in a national forum to amplify the call for the Philippines to transition to circular economy, amid the country’s efforts to recover from the compounded impacts of the pandemic and the recurring climate-related disasters. The forum was organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the Government of Japan, and in partnership with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). “Our collaboration with the UNDP and the DENR, through the ‘Accelerating Nationally Determined Contributions through…