CA-COP-L Archives

Global Community of Practice on Conservation Agriculture

CA-Cop-L@LISTSERV.FAO.ORG

Options: Use Forum View

Use Monospaced Font
Show HTML Part by Default
Condense Mail Headers

Message: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Topic: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]
Author: [<< First] [< Prev] [Next >] [Last >>]

Print Reply
Sender:
Global Community of Practice on Conservation Agriculture <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Fri, 16 Sep 2022 08:54:25 +0100
Reply-To:
Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Subject:
MIME-Version:
1.0
Message-ID:
In-Reply-To:
Content-Type:
multipart/alternative; boundary="0000000000005dab4f05e8c6acc7"
From:
Amir Kassam <[log in to unmask]>
Parts/Attachments:
text/plain (14 kB) , text/html (35 kB)
*Global CA-CoP* *CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE COMMUNITY OF*

*for sustainable agriculture, land use and ecosystem management*


Dear Subscribers,

Please see some interesting items mentioned by David Duthie in his latest
post on publications and news related to climate change.

Apologies for any cross-posting.

*Amir Kassam *

*Moderator*

*Global CA-CoP*

e-mail: [log in to unmask]

URL: http://www.fao.org/conservation-agriculture



*Regional CA websites:*

URL: http://www.act-africa.org/

URL: https://ecaf.org/
URL: http://www.caa-ap.org/

URL: http://caapas.org/



---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: David Duthie <[log in to unmask]>
Date: Fri, 16 Sept 2022 at 08:07
Subject: Will we get hysterical about (climate) hysteresis?
To: bioplan <[log in to unmask]>


Dear BIOPLANNERS,


Whilst keeping my powder dry on our chances of ever getting to net-zero
emissions, most people implicitly think that, once there, our climate
problems are mostly over, including climate change as an ever bigger drive
of biodiversity loss.


A couple of articles in this month’s Nature Climate Change journal open a
Pandora’s Box of potential post net-zero problems that the authors argue
need to be given a good deal of attention and which made me think that
biodiversity planners also need to be thinking about the (possible)
shape(s) of the post net-zero world now also.


Here are the metadata of the two articles, plus a link to a useful summary
of their own research by the authors of the second piece.


King, Andrew D. et al. (2022) *Preparing for a post-net-zero world*. Nature
Climate Change; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01446-x
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41558-022-01446-x&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=H3ilUQs5oeggvyIEgZqUakS4%2FwETJ6PtrW1Db6G6Luc%3D&reserved=0>
(free access)

*Current greenhouse gas emissions will continue to affect the climate even
after we reach net-zero emissions. We must understand how and prepare for a
cooling planet.*


************

Kim, Soong-Ki  et al. (2022)  Widespread irreversible changes in surface
temperature and precipitation in response to CO2 forcing. Nature Climate
Change; https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01452-z
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41558-022-01452-z&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=p9uPFXIOxwn%2FlDHkMbV00eiLRmqkXDQyUNOUzi519LA%3D&reserved=0>
(OA)

 *Some climate variables do not show the same response to declining
atmospheric CO2 concentrations as before the preceding increase. A
comprehensive understanding of this hysteresis effect and its regional
patterns is, however, lacking. Here we use an Earth system model with an
idealized CO2 removal scenario to show that surface temperature and
precipitation exhibit globally widespread irreversible changes over a
timespan of centuries. To explore the climate hysteresis and reversibility
on a regional scale, we develop a quantification method that visualizes
their spatial patterns. Our experiments project that 89% and 58% of the
global area experiences irreversible changes in surface temperature and
precipitation, respectively. Strong irreversible response of surface
temperature is found in the Southern Ocean, Arctic and North Atlantic Ocean
and of precipitation in the tropical Pacific, global monsoon regions and
the Himalayas. These global hotspots of irreversible changes can indicate
elevated risks of negative impacts on developing countries. For some parts
of the climate system, the response to declining CO2 concentrations does
not mirror that during the preceding increase. Here the authors quantify
this effect for temperature and precipitation, and show that large areas of
the world show an asymmetric response to CO2 forcing.*


************

Kim, Soong-Ki & Soon-Il An Yonsei (2022) *Unravelling global patterns of
irreversible climate change. *Nature Climate Change;
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-022-01456-9
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nature.com%2Farticles%2Fs41558-022-01456-9&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=IJN%2FTswvzntwPhRHmWcT1qPDHY7GT28CgVGLXDnIw40%3D&reserved=0>
(free access)

*Even if greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere are reduced to
pre-industrial levels, the climate system might not return to its previous
state. Quantification of the spatial patterns of climate hysteresis and
reversibility reveals globally widespread irreversible changes in surface
temperature and precipitation in response to anthropogenic CO2 emissions.*

************

Both articles focus on the hysteresis
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FHysteresis&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=lrhIJqXiGzKvaT84gl4hFv8rv17oHXf%2BMiKW0yhKsyc%3D&reserved=0>
– path dependency – of possible climate futures and how some may prevent
any return to previous Holocene-like conditions, even with net-negative
emissions.  A prime example is the possible “savannisation” of the Amazon –
one of a range of looming tipping points recently reviewed here
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.science.org%2Fdoi%2F10.1126%2Fscience.abn7950&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=4Y4NqtM7AyQNZdbxL6SpR1SNfoU2PqRlYVRxcxkRRJk%3D&reserved=0>.



Additionally, and depending on how long it takes to get to net zero, all of
those species which managed to adapt by tracking their existing thermal
(ecological) niche during warming may be forced to keep tracking the same
during any anthropogenic cooling phase - arggh!


After perhaps too much staring into the hazy crystal ball of our future
anthropogenic world, here are a couple of other selections from my readings
this week.


First up, a poignant piece from The New Yorker about the “*índio do buraco*”
or “the Indian of the hole”, an uncontacted solitary Indigenous person who,
after 26 years living alone in the Amazon forest, has passed away -
the “*extinction
of a tribe, a language, and a culture that history never named*” as author
Monte Reel ends his article, which can be accessed (free) here
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.newyorker.com%2Fculture%2Fannals-of-inquiry%2Fthe-last-member-of-an-uncontacted-tribe&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=R%2FX4wwv5%2FCH6vkoufkMh88jmNPoZ%2FFx0wAG%2FOciF8TU%3D&reserved=0>.



Finally, although most of you will have probably heard about the remarkable
announcement made by Yvon Chouinard, the founder of outdoor clothing
company, Patagonia, to divert the company profits to climate action, I am
pasting below the free article from The Guardian, which provides more
details of the arrangement and some great quotes from Yvon and his CEO,
Charles Conn – do follow the link, in the article below, to his Fortune
piece, also worth reading.


Finally, something that smells really transformative and hopefully paves
the way for more companies to move towards a more steady-state economic
model.


Best wishes


David Duthie


 ****************

Bioplan is a list server run jointly by UNDP and UNEP. To join / leave
bioplan, email: [log in to unmask] with "subscribe" or "unsubscribe"
in the subject line. Please note: If you wish to reply to the sender only
you must create a new message addressed only to that individual, or forward
the message to that individual. Using the "reply" or "reply all" option
delivers your response to the list administrator.

****************

*Patagonia’s billionaire owner gives away company to fight climate crisis*

Founder Yvon Chouinard announced that all the company’s profits will go
into saving the planet

Erin McCormick



Thu 15 Sep 2022



https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/sep/14/patagonias-billionaire-owner-gives-away-company-to-fight-climate-crisis-yvon-chouinard
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2022%2Fsep%2F14%2Fpatagonias-billionaire-owner-gives-away-company-to-fight-climate-crisis-yvon-chouinard&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=m692DyabzvmSrV5NJmU3GKUrpRZMGEYesmbC4otlwSM%3D&reserved=0>


Setting a new example in environmental corporate leadership, the
billionaire owner of Patagonia is giving the entire company away to fight
the Earth’s climate devastation, he announced on Wednesday.


Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, who turned his passion for rock climbing
into one of the world’s most successful sportswear brands, is giving the
entire company to a uniquely structured trust and nonprofit, designed to
pump all of the company’s profits into saving the planet.


“As of now, Earth is our only shareholder,” the company announced. “ALL
profits, in perpetuity, will go to our mission to ‘save our home planet’.”


Chouinard, 83, worked with his wife and two children as well as teams of
company lawyers to create a structure that will allow Patagonia to continue
to operate as a for-profit company whose proceeds will go to benefit
environmental efforts.


“*If we have any hope of a thriving planet – much less a thriving business
– 50 years from now, it is going to take all of us doing what we can with
the resources we have,*” said Chouinard in a statement. “*This is another
way we’ve found to do our part.*”


Chouinard’s family donated 2% of all stock and all decision-making
authority to a trust, which will oversee the company’s mission and values.
The other 98% of the company’s stock will go to a nonprofit called the
Holdfast Collective, which “*will use every dollar received to fight the
environmental crisis, protect nature and biodiversity, and support thriving
communities, as quickly as possible*,” according to the statement.


Each year, the money Patagonia makes after reinvesting in the business will
be distributed to the nonprofit to help fight the environmental crisis.


The structure, the statement said, was designed to avoid selling the
company or taking it public, which could have meant a change in its values.


“*Instead of ‘going public’, you could say we’re ‘going purpose’,*” said
Chouinard. “*Instead of extracting value from nature and transforming it
into wealth for investors, we’ll use the wealth Patagonia creates to
protect the source of all wealth.*”


Patagonia’s new direction is designed to set an example that disproves the
old shareholder capitalism axiom that corporate goals other than profit
will just confuse investors, wrote
<https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Ffortune.com%2F2022%2F09%2F14%2Fpatagonia-chair-we-are-turning-capitalism-on-its-head-by-making-the-earth-our-only-shareholder-charles-conn%2F&data=05%7C01%7Cbioplan%40groups.undp.org%7Ca797060351b641ce617108da9762b7ba%7Cb3e5db5e2944483799f57488ace54319%7C0%7C0%7C637988747493161578%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=j4BfS91eNNM1N9ydKSMyCf%2FhonJNI3hi3c7329%2BIDRM%3D&reserved=0>
Patagonia board chair Charles Conn in an opinion piece in Fortune magazine
on Wednesday.


“*Instead of exploiting natural resources to make shareholder returns, we
are turning shareholder capitalism on its head by making the Earth our only
shareholder,*” he wrote.


Chouinard and Patagonia have long been groundbreakers in environmental
activism and employee benefits. In its nearly 50 years in operation, the
Ventura, California-based company has been known for extensive benefits for
employees, including on-site nurseries and afternoons off on good surf days.


In the 80s, the company began donating 1% of its sales to environmental
groups, a program formalized in 2001 as the “1% for the Planet Scheme”. The
program has resulted in $140m in donations for preservation and restoration
of the natural environment, according to the company.


Patagonia was one of the earliest companies to become a b-Corp, submitting
to certification as meeting certain environmental and social standards, and
recently it changed its mission to state: “We’re in business to save our
home planet.”

Chouinard, the famously eccentric entrepreneur who started his business
fashioning metal climbing pitons (or spikes to wedge into cracks while rock
climbing) and lived out of his van at climbing destinations for many years,
was horrified to be seen as a billionaire, he told the New York Times.


“*I was in Forbes magazine listed as a billionaire, which really, really
pissed me off,” he said. “I don’t have $1bn in the bank. I don’t drive
Lexuses.*”


The Chouinard family are at the forefront of charitable giving,
philanthropy and trust experts told the New York Times.


“This family is a way outlier when you consider that most billionaires give
only a tiny fraction of their net worth away every year,” David Callahan,
founder of the website Inside Philanthropy, told the newspaper.

########################################################################

To unsubscribe from the CA-Cop-L list, click the following link:
https://listserv.fao.org/scripts/wa-fao.exe?SUBED1=CA-COP-L


ATOM RSS1 RSS2