Our Scans · (LF.15) 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] The Merlin bird ID app will allow users to feed real-time bird identifications into one of the world's biggest citizen-science biodiversity projects in an update it is hoped will aid conservation of at-risk birds. The Guardian
• [New] Under Closing the Gap Targets 15 A and 15 B, Australia aims for a 15% increase in land and sea areas subject to First Nations legal rights by 2030. AIHW Indigenous HPF
• [New] The world land area harvested with wheat in 2023/24 is expected to rise +1.4% yr/yr to 223.0 million hectares (1 hectare equals 10,000 square meters or 2.471 acres). Barchart.com
• [New] The fragmentation of land borders and seaport deployment presents expansion opportunities for ABC solution providers targeting underserved infrastructure segments. Persistence Market Research
• [New] While ABC e-gates have achieved significant deployment penetration at major international airports, seaports, and land borders represent an emerging high-growth opportunity with substantially lower current infrastructure penetration. Persistence Market Research
• [New] The United Nations has launched an AI Environmental Transparency Initiative calling on AI companies to disclose the carbon, water, and land-use impacts of their data centers and transition to renewable energy by 2030. MarketingProfs
• [New] Launching the AI Environmental Transparency Initiative: Force major artificial intelligence companies to disclose the carbon, water, and land footprints of their operations, mandating that all data centers run on 100% renewable energy by 2030. Insights IAS
• [New] The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund is funding civil society organizations to improve the conservation status of Madagascar's threatened tree species. Impact Funding
• [New] New Forests launched a $750 million Global Landscape Opportunities strategy to meet growing institutional demand for natural capital investments. Agroforestry
• [New] As nations pursue ambitious decarbonization targets and energy resilience strategies, distributed energy generation is expected to become an increasingly important pillar of the global energy ecosystem. The AI Journal
• [New] Sentinel-1NG will offer improved resolution and quad-polarization, plus a sea-ice mode and AIS for maritime surveillance, enabling day-and-night, all-weather monitoring for climate, land, oceans, and emergency-management applications. Cyclop SpaceTech
• [New] The Land Transport Authority (LTA) aims to have the entire public bus fleet, now at about 6,000, run on cleaner energy like hybrid and electric power by 2040, with half going electric by 2030. ST
• A projected decline in the extent of permafrost will have a major impact on the Earth ecosystem, affecting global climate through the mobilization of carbon and nitrogen stored in permafrost. Arctic Portal - The Arctic Gateway
• A new Sembawang housing site will be scaled back to protect wildlife and preserve remnants of freshwater swamp forest, one of Singapore's most endangered ecosystems. ST
• As Mongolia faces mounting pressures from soil degradation, desertification and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns, agroforestry is emerging as a practical mechanism to restore ecosystem health, improve farm productivity and build resilience. Agroforestry
• Over 70% of England's land is farmed, which means the choices farmers make and the support they receive will be central to meeting statutory biodiversity targets. GOV.UK
• Land across England will be used for the outcomes it is best suited to deliver, guided by ongoing engagement with land managers on the LUF to balance food production, nature recovery and climate mitigation as well as demands from other sectors such as energy. GOV.UK
• With continued multidisciplinary effort, biodegradable plastics could transition from niche products toward mainstream materials if technical, economic, certification, and waste-management barriers are addressed, helping support global efforts in biodiversity conservation and climate mitigation. AZOM
• Plastic pollution is a critical environmental issue that threatens biodiversity and undermines global sustainable development goals. AZOM
• The crisis of marine plastic pollution has precipitated a multifaceted global emergency, incrementally degrading marine ecosystems, endangering human health, and inflicting devastating socioeconomic costs. IHR
• Researchers led by the University of Exeter, working with partners in Colombia and the United States, created a new computer model to examine how sea-level rise could affect carbon storage across entire mangrove forests. ScienceDaily
• The GBF significantly increases finance for biodiversity from all sources (domestic, international - both public and private) mobilising USD 200 billion per year by 2030. Environment
• Homebuilding is an important indicator of a housing ecosystem because it signals how affordable homes will be over time. Business Insider

Last updated: 06 July 2026