Global Scans · Life on Land · Weekly Summary

---

In September 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development. If these Goals are completed, it would mean an end to extreme poverty, inequality and climate change by 2030.
Goal 15: Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss,

• [New] Annual NbS investments must almost triple by 2030 to meet global goals on biodiversity, climate and land. Mirage News
• [New] Shifting focus to terrestrial impacts, biodiversity is facing unprecedented threats, as outlined in the ERM and GlobeScan research, which identifies climate change as the top sustainability priority for 2025. WebProNews
• [New] Africa holds some of the richest biodiversity on Earth, but that also means we face higher risks if we keep losing natural habitats. Businessday NG
• [New] Global land degradation affects over 3.2 billion people and increases vulnerability to emerging pathogens. Businessday NG
• [New] The global production of 460 million tonnes of plastic annually, with 20 million leaking into the environment, is expected to grow sharply by 2040, causing climate change and loss of biodiversity, and ecosystems. ET Edge Insights
• [New] With climate change and unchecked development threatening the fragile ecosystems of the Hindu Kush Himalaya, a new action plan grounded in Bhutan's philosophy of regenerative development has won regional consensus. The Frontier Manipur
• [New] Feeding a projected 10 billion people by 2050 will require bold and smarter choices in how the world manages its land, soil and water. Secretary-General
• [New] Analysts highlight Mercado Pago's ecosystem advantages but warn Brazil's 50% revenue concentration and macroeconomic risks could disrupt margins. Ainvest
• [New] In Georgia, the national land registry has experimented with blockchain to record property transactions, aiming to give citizens greater confidence in ownership records and reducing opportunities for fraud. Tony Blair Institute
• [New] Roughly 70% of global supply comes from South Africa - an ecosystem defined by load shedding, labour instability, deep-level mining risks, declining grades, rising costs, and chronic underinvestment. investing.com
• [New] Local authorities threatened to exercise their power of eminent domain, or taking land for public benefit, to forcibly uproot King and proceed with construction on a $100 billion campus where US tech giant Micron plans to make memory chips for use in a variety of electronics. Wired
• [New] From a travel retail perspective, the China-Japan rift is not just a geopolitical story - it's an abrupt re-wiring of where Chinese luxury and duty-free spend will land over the next 12-18 months. DFNI
• [New] Even with the Roadless Rule in place, the Forest Service already has over 350,000 miles of logging roads in national forests - an amount that could circumnavigate the globe 14 times. The Wildlife News
• [New] The upcoming Dencun upgrade, expected in early 2026, will lower transaction costs through EIP-4844, and could significantly enhance scalability for rollups and L2 ecosystems. investing.com
• [New] The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has finalised minor amendments to its prudential and reporting framework while simultaneously releasing an inaugural System Risk Outlook that outlines key vulnerabilities in Australia's financial ecosystem. Insurance Business
• [New] Bangladesh's vulnerability is worsened by vertical land motion, the rising or sinking of land relative to the sea. Dhaka Tribune
• [New] By 2100, 12-18% of coastal land could be permanently submerged. Dhaka Tribune
• [New] Tree canopy cover must reach 16.5% of England's land area by 2050. Edie
• [New] New biodiversity targets include halving the establishment of invasive non-native species by 2030 compared with the year 2000. Edie
• [New] The Land Use Framework will help ensure that England's landscapes meet society's future needs, as the setting for people's lives, for growth, for food, energy and timber production, for recovering nature, managing climate change and for people's enjoyment and connection with nature. GOV.UK
• [New] Ecosystem degradation and collapse abroad will directly impact the UK. GOV.UK
• [New] In the water sector, 2024 price review final determinations will see new investment in the water sector over the next 5 years, with water companies planning £3 billion of investment by 2030 into nature-based solutions and increasing biodiversity. GOV.UK

Last updated: 14 December 2025