Environmental Justice Foundation (EJF)

Today is #SharkAwarenessDay 🦈 Sharks are incredible, ancient creatures that are critical to ocean ecosystems. As predators, they keep marine animal populations at sustainable levels so vital ecosystems like seagrass meadows are not overgrazed. They also possess unique traits, such as Greenland sharks, which can live for at least 270 years, or lantern sharks, which can glow in the dark. However, these amazing animals are at risk from a number of human threats, including illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, deep-sea mining, global heating, and habitat loss. In our extensive research into illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing, we have uncovered cruel practices like shark-finning. Sharks are deliberately or inadvertently caught, have their fins removed and are then often thrown overboard while still alive. We need to act globally to give shark populations the chance to recover, safeguarding them and the marine ecosystems which depend on them. All countries must adopt and enforce protections for sharks, and take action to enforce strong marine protection laws. This also requires working towards creating transparency in fisheries, to bring those illegally finning sharks out of the shadows. Read our 2021 article to learn more: https://lnkd.in/eFjVe7uQ #Shark #IUU #IllegalFishing #OceanAction #SharkFinning #Conservation #MarineProtection

Women are the backbone of coastal fishing communities. While it is men who haul in the nets on Liberia's beaches, fishing is an industry that is largely driven by women. Women lead the post-harvest activities by processing, marketing, and preserving the catch. They are also the leading distributors of fish and hold traditional ecological knowledge on processing and preserving fish, which is invaluable for fisheries management. In Liberia, despite making up 60% of the fisheries workforce, women are too often left out of decisions on how to manage fisheries and excluded from leadership positions. To combat this structural inequality, we are implementing an EU-funded project called Communities for Fisheries. We set up women’s community-run savings associations called ‘Village Savings and Loans Associations’ (VSLAs). Under the system, people can pool their savings and borrow from the shared pot. Some of the investments people have made include building fish-smoking sheds to add value to their products, buying a mattress, and replacing canoes lost in accidents. The change has been dramatic - between 2021 and 2023, over $300,000 was saved across the associations. The financial freedom which the VSLAs provide has also given women the foundation they need to run for fisheries management positions - we’ve seen a 50% increase of women in leadership positions. https://lnkd.in/dhbbvaPn #WomensEmpowerment #VSLA #CommunitiesForFisheries #EU #FishingCommunities

Opaque, global supply chains are driving environmental destruction and human rights abuses at sea – we need more transparency to ensuring we know where the fish on market shelves is coming from. The Global Charter for Transparency sets out 10 key, low-cost, and readily available principles for states to implement. These include: ➡️ Publishing comprehensive and up-to-date fishing vessel license lists ➡️ Making public beneficial ownership of vessels ➡️ Stop the use of flags of convenience and at-sea trans-shipment ➡️ Ratify and comply with international instruments that set clear standards for fishing vessels and the trade in fisheries products Read it here: https://lnkd.in/eF4QnPNe

The UK needs a Special Representative for Climate Change and Biodiversity - we have added our name to the list of organisations calling for an integrated approach to both the #ClimateCrisis and #biodiversity loss.

The UK is one of the world's most nature-depleted countries, with one in six species now threatened with extinction. Today, 24 NGOs call on Keir Starmer to expand the role of Special Representative for Climate Change to include #BiodiversityProtection. Our global climate and biodiversity crises are fundamentally interconnected – in the UK, the loss of peatlands has transformed this carbon sink into a net source of carbon emissions. This calls for bold action to stop this vicious cycle of global heating and biodiversity loss. We are calling for a transformative step: expanding the title and function of the role to Special Representative for Climate Change and Biodiversity. This will revolutionise the UK’s position as representatives of climate and biodiversity on the international stage and help foster effective ‘whole of government’ approaches. We welcome Labour’s ambition to make the UK a global environmental leader. It’s time to protect our natural world, together. https://lnkd.in/e5sw4SpR 🎥: Kogia Oceanic Library/Karim Iliya RSPB The Wildlife Trusts Greenpeace UK WWF-UK The Pew Charitable Trusts Wildlife and Countryside Link The Nature Conservancy Oceana UK Cool Earth Whale and Dolphin Conservation Zero Hour Global Witness River Action UK Earthsight Blue Marine Foundation The ICCF Group Groundwork Marine Conservation Society The Bat Conservation Trust Chester Zoo Pesticide Action Network UK National Federation of Parks and Green Spaces (NPFGS) Uplift

Our investigations have found the 🇨🇳 fishing fleet is responsible for systemic illegal fishing & human rights abuses in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). Fish caught with these abuses in the SWIO may end up in the US, EU, Korea, Japan, and Taiwan. We need more scrutiny of China's investments in the SWIO, including from market states who risk importing their products. Our consumption must no longer drive environmental destruction and human rights abuses – transparency is key to ensuring we know where the fish on market shelves is coming from. The Global Charter for Transparency sets out 10 key, low-cost, and readily available principles for states to implement: https://lnkd.in/eF4QnPNe

Ongoing fires in the Pantanal have reached the highest levels since 2020, where catastrophic fires destroyed ⅓ of the wetland. Experts predict this year’s fires will be the worst in decades. “The impact is devastating. Animals are dying, wildfires are vanishing huge areas,” says Gustavo Figueirôa of SOS Pantanal. The Pantanal is the world’s largest tropical wetland, and is home to incredible wildlife. It also provides critical services, including flood protection and freshwater for the 8 million people living within and around the region and is a vast carbon store, essential to global climate regulation. Most of the Pantanal is privately owned, largely for cattle ranches. While natural fires occur in the Pantanal, the large majority are set by humans clearing their land for cattle. Agribusiness, along with the climate crisis, the expansion of monoculture, mining, road construction, and hydropower all pose massive threats to this critical wetland. There needs to be greater international support to put an end to these fires, as well as stronger legal protections to secure the Pantanal for the future. This will reduce land conversion, protect Indigenous peoples and reduce the risk of devastating wildfires. It is not too late to save it, but we cannot wait any longer. https://lnkd.in/e4BRTu8K

Blue carbon ecosystems cover only 0.2% of the ocean’s surface, but contain 50% of carbon sequestered in marine sediments. A Mediterranean seagrass called Posidonia oceanica can sequester carbon at up to 70x the rate of tropical forests while a single great whale can sequester 33 tonnes of CO2, which is safely sequestered on the seafloor when it dies and sinks. Despite their importance to the future of our planet, these ecosystems are being destroyed at concerning speeds by human activity – we must do more to protect and restore them. Approximately 35% of the world’s mangroves and 30% of all seagrass meadows have been lost or degraded over the last century. We are facing a worsening #ClimateCrisis, yet we are failing to protect the very ecosystems which could help us avert it. The role of blue carbon ecosystems in fighting the climate crisis should also be recognised in national climate commitments, integrating them into broader efforts to cut emissions and boost carbon sequestration. Climate finance can then be used to support ocean protection and restoration at the community level. Ocean ecosystems like blue carbon sustain us all, and its future will be determined by how boldly and urgently we act now. https://lnkd.in/e5qEfMvd #BlueCarbon #Ecosystems #OceanAction #ClimateAction #Whales #Seagrass #Mangroves #KelpForests #SaltMarshes

"Temperatures between July 2023 and June 2024 were the highest on record", with the Earth 1.64C above preindustrial times, according to new data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service. Every fraction of a degree matters if we want to avoid the worst of the climate crisis. Rapid, sustained action to upgrade to clean energy and reach zero carbon, across the whole of every government, is the only way to do so: https://lnkd.in/dW42Ma-4

Building on our extensive investigations into the Chinese distant-water fishing fleet, a few months ago we recently released the report, “Tide of injustice: Exploitation and Illegal Fishing on Chinese Vessels in the Southwest Indian Ocean”, which revealed the activities of the fleet in the Southwest Indian Ocean (SWIO). We found that despite China’s claims that their investment in SWIO has contributed to sustainable development and has been a win-win for them and the region, the benefits of this in the fishing sector are rarely shared, if at all, by coastal communities. Chinese vessels were linked to 86 unique cases of IUU fishing or human rights abuses within the SWIO region between 2017 and 2023. This has had devastating impacts on fish populations, the health of marine ecosystems, and crew on board vessels. While the Chinese distant-water fleet is not the only culprit for unsustainable fishing activities in the SWIO, the high percentage of Chinese vessels that are linked with illegal activities, paired with China’s financial and political presence in the region, indicates that closer attention to their activities is required. This must involve enshrining transparency measures throughout relevant fisheries regulations and frameworks. https://lnkd.in/eus-Figf #ChineseDistantWaterFleet #OceanAction #BlueEconomy #SouthwestIndianOcean #FishingIndustry #Transparency