In a press release by the G7 ministers responsible for climate and the environment, the countries involved undertake to conserve or protect at least 30 per cent of the land and at least 30 per cent of the oceans by 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss and tackle climate change, while urging indigenous peoples and local communities to be included in this process. 

According to a recent survey of around 6,600 people in China, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam and the United States, wild animals are seen as the leading cause of the coronavirus outbreak by nearly 60 percent of respondents. The survey, conducted by WWF, shows that nearly 30 percent of people surveyed said they will reduce or stop their consumption of wildlife products. 

In a video published to mark World Biodiversity Day, the Swedish activist calls for a change in the food production system to reduce emissions, improve animal welfare and avoid future pandemics. Thunberg says the spread of disease from animals to humans is caused by current farming systems, adding that switching to a plant-based diet could save up to 8 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year. 

Plants are threatened by new pathogens and this could undermine the global food supply. The alarm is raised by a group of scientists in the scientific journal PNAS, in an article in which they explain how important it is to monitor and stop new outbreaks affecting plant species globally. 

Thanks to a citizen science initiative in which thousands of volunteers from all over the country participated, more than 200,000 bees and hoverflies have been counted. That is an average of 18-20 bees and hoverflies in each garden, numbers the researchers say have remained stable over the years, indicating that there has been no decline in urban gardens scattered across Dutch cities. 

Almost half of the Central African Republic's population - 47 percent - are suffering from high and growing acute food insecurity as the country faces the impacts of the ongoing conflict and COVID-19. This means that over 2.2 million people, most of whom live in rural areas, will face severe levels of food insecurity in the coming months.