Australia failing to meet nature protection targets, UN finds

Australia is failing to meet international targets to protect nature in parts of the country where land clearing and habitat destruction are widespread, according to data in a major new United Nations report.

The UN says Australia is not meeting its obligation for
 a system of parks that protects 17% of all regions. 

The UN report on protected areas, released at the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties in Egypt, examines progress by countries to meet global conservation targets.

Conservation groups said the report showed that Australia was “far from meeting” international targets that require countries to develop well-connected and ecologically representative protected areas for nature.

While 19% of Australia’s total land area has conservation protections in place, this is largely due to an increase in Indigenous protected areas in inland Australia.

Read the story from The Guardian by Lisa Cox - “Australia failing to meet nature protection targets, UN finds.”

Climate Change Act must set 'net zero' emissions target by 2020, experts say

Britain's climate change targets must be strengthened by 2020 in order to meet stringent international targets, a new report  has warned.

A new report states the UK must set new targets to ensure
 greenhouse gas emissions are balanced by the removal
of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere.

The nation must strive to cut its emissions to “net zero”, the point at which annual greenhouse gas emissions are balanced by the removal of greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, the experts at the London School of Economics (LSE), stated. 

Achieving such a target could require anything from planting more trees to developing new technologies that suck carbon dioxide from.”

Read the story from the Independent by  Science Correspondent, Joe Gabaritiss -  "Climate Change Act must set "net zero" emissions target by 2020, experts say."