Leaves 27(7) July 2025

        Newsletter of the
         INTERNATIONAL ENVIRONMENT FORUM
         Volume 27, Number 7 --- 15 July 2025

Website: iefworld.org
Article submission: newsletter@iefworld.org Deadline next issue 10 July 2025
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This newsletter is an opportunity for IEF members to share their experiences, activities, and  initiatives that are taking place at the community level on environment, climate change  and sustainability. All members are welcome to contribute information about related  activities, upcoming conferences, news from like-minded organizations, recommended  websites, book reviews, etc. Please send information to newsletter@iefworld.org.

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REPORT FROM 29th ANNUAL IEF CONFERENCE
Building Capacity for Sustainability Discourse and Action

Following is a brief account of the conference events, with a more detailed report available on the IEF website at https://iefworld.org/conf29. Alongside the group studies, discussions and reflections, there were throughout the conference devotionals, prayers, chants, sing-alongs, music, instrumentals, games, and nature walks, not to mention just plain heart-to-heart fellowship.

Day 1 began with a welcoming where Dr. Arthur Dahl, founder and president of the International Environment Forum (IEF), stated the purpose of IEF with its two focus areas of 1) public discourse on environment and sustainability as well as 2) inspiring its members to contribute to social and environmental action around the world. Then, Dr. Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuizen presented a study session to take place the next morning on understanding the environmental reality.

The study session on Day 2 began by Dr. Dahl by summarizing the present day environmental challenges; namely, the complex risks to communities from issues that are environmental: climate change, drought, floods, wildfires, agricultural failures; social: pandemics, fragmentation, political manipulation, misinformation and disinformation; economic: recession, inflation, overwhelming debt, extremes of wealth and poverty, unemployment, bankruptcies; and political: oppression, conflict, war. He stated that science gives us some direction on these matters as do the Baha’i Writings. He acknowledged that the spiritual precedes the material, and that communities should build capacity to read their own local reality, consult on their options and resources available, and strengthen their resilience to live through the challenges ahead, offering community solidarity as the best insurance in difficult times.

Day 2 continued in nature with a walk in the woods or a gardening session, followed by a workshop on applying Baháʼí teachings to environmental problems with discussions on how spiritual concepts could assist in solving them. In the evening, 12 case studies illustrated environmental initiatives in the UK and around the world including London, Fiji, China, Scotland, Germany, Northern Ireland, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, and Sarajevo.

Day 3 was a full day beginning with a session on “Contributing to Action and Discourse” where Dr. Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen gave a brief overview of some key characteristics of community environmental social action, including that communities 1) should be vibrant and outward-looking; 2) should be concerned with material and spiritual development; and 3) should contribute to discourses that influence the direction of action. Afterward, several groups including urban, rural, university, young professionals, and global conversations, were formed to study and reflect on several quotes provided that related to social action.

Early afternoon activities consisted of three main events: a nature walk in Whitecross Green Wood, a gardening service activity on the grounds of the conference venue (the Baháʼí Training Centre in Bicester), and a discussion for and by youth. Later, Dr. Victoria Thoresen led a discussion game about the interconnectedness of environmental and social issues. The game used the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to demonstrate the complexities of creating policies and implementing the goals.

In the evening, there was a hybrid panel with five inspiring examples of Transformative Change. The first presenter was Dr. Michael Richards whose presentation was “Tropical Deforestation – Causes and Solutions.” The second presentation was by Kristian Kroll from the London School of Economics who shared his experiences in his “Motivating Transformative Change Requires a New ‘Why’”. Afterward, Monica Maghami’s topic was “Women and the Environment,” where she identified three main crises: climate change, pollution, and biodiversity loss. Next, Ash, a high school geography teacher, told how he used his life experiences to motivate and inspire his students in his presentation “Changing the World vs. Worlds.” Finally, in Dr. Victoria Thoresen’s “Aiming at Well-Being for All,” she explained that the Sustainable Development Goals were the first global collective steps towards constructive change that embraced environment, economics, and well-being. A detailed report of the panel is at https://iefworld.org/conf29-1.

On Day 4 the final session asked: Where do we go from here? How can we integrate the environment in public discourse, social action, and community building? Topics included a request by the UK Office of Public Affairs to brainstorm on the Global Ethical Stocktake which was to be discussed at the climate change COP30; the use of social media, video, and the IEF website; and youth discussing the IEF youth team.

In closing, there was appreciation for being able to meet physically after several virtual conferences, renewing old friendships and making new ones. Also, the environment, being an umbrella topic that unites all, brings the scientific and spiritual together, and links a global vision with local action in our communities, was utilized to illustrate, through a diversity of incredible case studies, what action could accomplish. Thus, experience of the elders and empowerment of the youth, could replace hopelessness with energy and inspiration so as to build together a more balanced way of life and to offer hope for humanity.

For detailed report about the conference sessions, visit the conference website: https://iefworld.org/conf29

We Are What We Build - Material Ecology and Belonging

The Association for Baha’i Studies will offer a webinar about We Are What We Build - Material Ecology and Belonging on Sunday, July 27, at 10:00am PST / 1:00pm EDT / 7pm CEST.

Description:
A vibrant community is grown, crafted, and nurtured by and with all of its components.

As we at Healthy Materials Lab examine materials at the ingredient level, asking "What is it made of?", we observe our ecosystems and cultures similarly. Our material assessment mirrors how we must approach community. Indigenous teachings remind us that the natural world is as integral to the community as the people. Nature has deep significance, across the USA, Europe and globally.

“In many societies, the cultural and spiritual significance of nature is part of broader value systems and worldviews that also generate unique ethics of living. The inspiration and spiritual empowerment that connectedness with nature creates can support broader sets of values, such as respect for the cultural and biological diversity of the planet, and ethical care for sustainability and planetary future”, says the International Union for Conservation of Nature. By prioritizing non-toxic, biogenic materials, we can transform how we design spaces to foster inclusivity — for both people and the natural world. In this session, we’ll present research and together with our Project Partner Petra Marinko from Slovenia show how material choices shape health and vitality in communities and examine the role of craftsmanship and collective knowledge. From building products to entire neighborhoods, we must ask: How do we design thriving communities with nature, rather than in spite of it?

Join us in reimagining material health as community health — because vibrant spaces are made of more than just people; they are made of everything around us.

Speakers: Leila D. Behjat is a Dipl. Ing Architect and brings expertise in material ecology and renovation using healthier building materials to architecture and design projects globally.

Petra Marinko is an architect and founder of Non Tox Uni Kum, an initiative transforming the construction and design industry by advancing non-toxic materials and sustainable practices.

How to join the webinar: Subscribers to the ABS Agriculture Group Mailchimp page will receive an announcement with the link the week before presentations. People are free to unsubscribe at any time. Sign up here to receive a link: https://agriculture-working-group.mailchimpsites.com/

Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen
at Bonn Climate Change conference

Climate Strategies organised an official side event on 16 June 2025 at the Bonn Climate Change conference, co-hosted by Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Planning, Economic Affairs and Development and Transparency International. The speakers explored whether equitable and people-centred climate solutions can help bridge divides in an increasingly fractured world, and explored the role that Just Transitions can play in rebuilding trust in multilateral cooperation.

Opening remarks from seasoned environmental diplomat Kishan Kumarsingh, and a research presentation by IEF board member Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen set the stage for a dynamic panel discussion.

Panelists addressed the challenge of Just Transitions and multilateralism from several perspectives:
• Brice Böhmer highlighted questions around accountability and governance reform
• Alexia Faus Onbargi shared views on sustainable development and economic resilience
• Joel Muhinda, MBA, LLM, MSc explored how to align financial systems with the goals of Just Transitions

Source: LinkedIn 16 June 2025  https://www.linkedin.com/company/climate-strategies/posts/

Dr. Amanda Nasse
Tanna, Vanuatu

May 2025

Dr. Amanda Nasse made history earlier this month as the first woman from Tanna, Vanuatu, to earn a PhD. Graduating from Massey University, Aotearoa, with a PhD in ethnobotany, Dr. Nasse’s research focused on the interaction between indigenous cultures and plants, specifically examining the role of sweet potato in local food systems. Her thesis explored how the cultivation of sweet potato can support food security and resilience in subsistence farmer communities. Through her study, she demonstrated how the revitalisation of sweet potato, along with the integration of traditional farming knowledge and modern agricultural practices, can help strengthen local resilience, especially in the face of extreme challenges such as climate change.

Dr. Nasse’s journey into horticulture and ethnobotany has been deeply influenced by her personal experiences, growing up as a Bahá'í in Tanna and learning from her parents of the importance of education as a tool for both individual growth and social transformation. Her academic path was shaped by a commitment to community development, and her fieldwork in Tanna involved working closely with local communities, blending local culture with scientific research.

Source: Facebook https://www.facebook.com/philippe.gerling/posts/pfbid025hWFkbVE5z7QJaBv…

Accountability in Environmental Governance

On 28 May 2025, the Global Governance Innovation Network at the Stimson Center, Washington, DC, published an important issue brief on Options for Strengthening Accountability Mechanisms in Global Environmental Governance by Sylvia Karlsson-Vinkhuyzen and Arthur Lyon Dahl, both IEF board members. The 13 page issue brief was commissioned by the Climate Governance Commission and co-sponsored by the International Environment Forum, Wageningen University and the One World Trust.

While states have adopted major international conventions on climate change, biodiversity, desertification and hundreds of other Multilateral Environmental Agreements (MEAs), degradation of the environment continues to accelerate. Current approaches to implementation are insufficient, lacking accountability mechanisms that could improve performance. When present, existing follow-up mechanisms are explicitly facilitative and exclude sanctions. This issue brief outlines three principal options for strengthening accountability mechanisms, and thereby the implementation of MEAs:

1) increase the effectiveness of current facilitative mechanisms in the short-term;
2) increase the use of ‘coercive’ informal and formal accountability mechanisms outside the individual MEA; and
3) persuade states to agree to stronger sanctions-based mechanisms in the long-term.

Addressing the long-standing criticism that international negotiations lack teeth and allow for open-ended commitments without accountability, the paper first reviews current trends and four reasons for the failure of environmental agreements:

1. Poor treaty design;
2. Insufficient compliance and implementation of MEA obligations;
3. Effective accountability mechanisms strengthen action; and
4. Few, if any, MEAs have effective accountability mechanisms.

This is because of states’ general unwillingness to stigmatize violations of obligations — let alone impose sanctions.

Making accountability mechanisms work

Some of the categories of contexts that influence state behavior are those that are only power-driven, join when it serves their short- or long-term interests, care about their interests but also about their identity, are willing but not able, or change by doing, learning as they go. They respond differently to mechanisms that are coercive (supranational or outside MEAs), or facultative: incentive based, enabling learning, or providing capacity.

There is currently no supranational enforceable accountability mechanism that could make power-driven states to either be part of a MEAs or act on its obligations. Facilitative accountability mechanisms could include:

- Shared accountability (beyond formal) based on ethical concern;
- Broad accountability focusing on inputs (efforts), processes and outcomes;
- Dynamic accountability with learning as a major outcome.

Recommendations

The issue brief makes recommendations concerning all these accountability mechanisms:

1. Mechanisms outside MEA regimes or with supranational characteristics:
a.) Use more unilateral trade sanctions.
b.) Build support, over the long term, for the gradual acceptance of supranational authority.

2. Incentive-based mechanisms:
a.) Strengthen existing quasi-accountability mechanisms in MEAs by expanding the mandate to include more tangible sanctions.
b.) Give the mandate to existing MEA mechanisms to award very tangible material rewards for high performance/high willingness to perform.
c.) Strengthen the soft pressure for implementation and compliance through stronger reputational sanctions and/or rewards from peer states, the UN, civil society, and domestic institutions.
d.) Support states’ process to self-allocate their fair share of responsibility for the collective goals set out in MEAs.
e.) Support the institutional infrastructure and resources for monitoring states’ implementation of international obligations.

3. Enable learning:
a.) Strengthen shared accountability by supporting analysis of and discourses for States and other actors that frame the implementation of MEAs as their moral responsibility.
b.) Strengthen broad accountability by encouraging formal and informal accountholders to monitor inputs, process, and outcomes.
c.) Strengthen learning outcomes of accountability mechanisms.
d.) Providing relevant capacity.

Finally, the paper suggests some ways forward in the face of strong state resistance. For the deeper institutional changes, sudden disasters could open a policy window for fast change. It might help to modify the interpretation of what consensus means, since the consensus rule allows any one country to block agreement. The deficit in trust for both governments and the UN due to past failures in implementing commitments can, in part, be addressed by creating transparent accountability mechanisms. The Pact for the Future makes a number of calls for accountability mechanisms. Some effort is needed to overcome the barrier raised by national sovereignty.

Download pdf
Source: https://www.stimson.org/2025/options-for-strengthening-accountability-m…

Health benefits of nature

Walking in nature improves heart health and muscle strength, and its sustained rhythmic motion produces brain waves linked to improved memory, cognition and mood. Interval walking over undulating terrain can also help to control type 2 diabetes. A short 20-minute walk in green space is enough to change stress hormones. For more lasting benefits, six hours walking in pine forest over 3 days can increase natural killer cells and reduce stress hormones for more than a week. Long-distance walking provides time for reflection with a flow state that deactivates prefrontal cortex regions responsible for making plans and actioning thoughts, promoting focus and calm.

Being in nature boosts mental well-being, green spaces reduce depression, and being near water is more restorative. Focusing on tasks produces fatigue, low self control, obesity and depression, where attention restoration theory shows that the soft fascination in nature reduces stress and restores cognitive reserves. A min-fractal landscape like an open savanna or meadow with a few scattered trees is better for mental and physical well-being, since it increases alpha and beta brainwaves associated with calm feelings and focus. In an urban area, a garden walk is better than a cityscape, but dramatic architecture and history associations can provide some compensation. Non-urban environments are consistently better, with farmland walks, wildlife and biodiversity increasing well-being.

Our sense of smell is another avenue for nature to have an impact. Plants release volatile organic compounds. Pinene from conifers has anti-inflammatory effects, lowers blood pressure and reduces stress hormones, while raising natural killer cells that fight infections and cancer. It has a protective effect against stroke, seizure and heart disease. Olefactory enrichment from many odours can reduce symptoms of dementia, and at night can bolster cognition and memory, protecting against Alzheimer's. Coastal air with sea aerosol influences gene expression to protect against tumours and inflammation and strengthen metabolism, while providing vital nutrients like manganese, vitamins A and B12, and essential fatty acids, as well as iodine from seaweeds.

There are also special benefits in nature for neurodivergent people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or on the autism spectrum. The natural world can provide them a refuge with many kinds of stimulation, with a strong response reducing symptom severity and providing recovery from attention fatigue. Neurodivergence is more common in sustainability and nature-related fields, where identifying visual patterns, focussing for extended periods, and obsessive interests can be advantageous. This has real value in efforts to document, engage with, and protect the natural world.

Sources: based in part on Helen Thomson, "Take a hike", New Scientist, 3 May 2025, pp. 39-41; and Chloe Martinez, "Oh, Look! A Bird!", Sierra Magazine, Spring 2025, pp. 56-58.

Climate Migrants in Legal Limbo

The Global Governance Forum has published a paper by Carly Kabot, "No Status, No Safety: Climate Migrants in Legal Limbo", that highlights the significant gap in international law concerning those forced to migrate because they are displaced by climate change. Such people do not legally qualify as refugees because there is little or no chance that they could go back home, for example if their island or country is drowned by sea level rise. Many are displaced internally, with significant impacts on receiving communities, but as hundreds of millions are potentially affected, this problem of forced migration cannot be ignored.

The paper can be consulted at No Status, No Safety: Climate Migrants in Legal Limbo

Source: https://globalgovernanceforum.org/legal-status-climate-migrants-gap-in-…

Cultural Ecosystem Services

The Routledge Handbook of Cultural Ecosystem Services provides an overview of Cultural Ecosystem Services (CES), which are the nonmaterial aspects of benefits that people derive from nature. These diverse and multifaceted contributions can include experiences, capabilities, and identities, among others. The Handbook addresses how these CES are valued, how they reflect human-nonhuman relationships, and what roles they can play in improved human well-being, ecosystem management, and trajectories towards sustainability.

This Handbook presents a wide array of perspectives on the roles CES can play in understanding relationships to nature, and on how those relationships might translate into policy. The Handbook includes philosophical approaches to CES, typologies and classifications of types of CES, and case studies of places, people, policies, and projects engaging CES. Across seven distinctive Parts, the chapters deliver a number of important practical lessons on how to understand, measure, and value CES, and use examples and applications from around the world, including how CES apply across different biomes. The Handbook also includes a selection of compelling artworks that represent CES in different cultural contexts. The 91 authors represent 19 different countries, providing a rich range of experiences, including a strong focus on the Global South.

This book can serve as a comprehensive guide to researchers who are new to CES and wish to understand more about the field, and as a set of go‑to instructions for experienced CES researchers. It can also inform policymakers who wish to better incorporate CES into their work (from the preface).

While this is clearly an academic book full of references and detailed diagrams, it does touch on many issues of interest to IEF. In defining cultural ecosystem services, it highlights the place-based specificity of such services, aligning with the local community culture and traditional ecological knowledge. It also warns about the political dimension and the risks that a superficial treatment can permit or hide continuing injustices. It explores different categories of such services, from the psychological dimension when people feel better in nature, to the role of natural capital, and even tourism and leisure.

It further develops the concept of place and identity, through examples of sacred landscapes in Tibet, sacred groves, more general connections to place, and even wildlife conservation. It explores the services generated by different ecologies, such as wetlands, forests, agricultural landscapes, coastal and marine ecosystems, and climate impacts in cities in the Global South.

For the practitioner, there are chapters on methods and valuation, for instance of human/wildlife interactions, measuring techniques for values, the use of art, situated practice, mapping, urban gardening, monetary evaluations and deliberative methods. The book then discusses CES in management and policy, such as human well-being indicators, values, socio-cultural valuation, disaster impacts, environmental policies in South-East Asia, paying for such services, carbon credits and plural values. It concludes with some new directions to explore such as Indigenous invisible forest beings, the relationship to well-being and action, and possible ways forward.

For those who want to learn about any of these topics in more depth, the relevant chapters will provide a good entry to the academic literature. The general approach highlights the importance of looking at environmental issues beyond a purely scientific materialistic perspective to see the relevance of the social, cultural and spiritual ways that people interact with the natural world, and how broadly cultural ecosystem services benefit humanity and must be respected and preserved. The book is available in open access, so anyone can consult it online or download it (69mb).

Source: https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003414896/routl…
available in open source

Ocean Acidification
7th Planetary Boundary

Ocean acidification has reached critical levels, crossing a "planetary boundary" about five years ago, according to recent research. This is damaging to coral reefs and marine life, particularly at depths of 200 meters, where 60 percent of global waters have breached safe limits. We are running out of time to protect marine ecosystems.

Ocean acidification, often called the “evil twin” of the climate crisis, is caused when carbon dioxide is rapidly absorbed by the ocean, where it reacts with water molecules leading to a fall in the pH level of the seawater. It damages coral reefs and other ocean habitats and, in extreme cases, can dissolve the shells of marine creatures.

The planetary boundaries are the natural limits of key global systems – such as climate, water and biodiversity – beyond which their ability to maintain a healthy planet is in danger of failing. Six of the nine had been crossed already, scientists said last year. The seventh boundary, ocean acidification, has now been shown to have been reached about five years ago.

The study drew on new and historical physical and chemical measurements from ice cores, combined with advanced computer models and studies of marine life, which gave the scientists an overall assessment of the past 150 years. It found that by 2020 the average ocean condition worldwide was already very close to – and in some regions beyond – the planetary boundary for ocean acidification. This is defined as when the concentration of calcium carbonate in seawater is more than 20% below preindustrial levels.

The deeper in the ocean they looked, the worse the findings were. At 200 metres below the surface, home to many more different types of plants and animals, 60% of global waters had breached the “safe” limit for acidification, compared to over 40% of the global surface ocean. These changes result in significant declines in suitable habitats for important calcifying species, including 43% reduction in habitat for tropical and subtropical coral reefs, up to 61% for polar pteropods, and 13% for coastal bivalves.

Since these deeper waters are changing so much, the impacts of ocean acidification could be far worse than first thought. This has huge implications for important underwater ecosystems such as tropical and even deep-sea coral reefs that provided essential habitats and nursery grounds for the young of many species. As pH levels drop, calcifying species such as corals, oysters, mussels and tiny molluscs known as sea butterflies struggle to maintain their protective structures, leading to weaker shells, slower growth, reduced reproduction and decreased survival rates.

Decreasing CO2 emissions is the only way to deal with acidification globally, but conservation measures could and should focus on the regions and species that are most vulnerable.

The research shows we are running out of time. This is an existential threat, and much suitable habitat for key species has already been lost. Governments can no longer afford to overlook acidification in mainstream policy agendas.

Sources: based on Lisa Bachelor, The Guardian, 9 June 2025, https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/09/sea-acidity-ecosyst…
Original paper in Global Change Biology https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/gcb.70238

UN Ocean Conference

“We close this historic week not just with hope, but with concrete commitment, clear direction, and undeniable momentum,” Li Junhua, the UN’s Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs and Secretary-General of the summit, told reporters.

Co-hosted by France and Costa Rica, the five-day event brought 15,000 participants, including more than 60 Heads of State and Government, to France’s Mediterranean coast.

With over 450 side events and nearly 100,000 visitors, the gathering, dubbed UNOC3, built on the momentum of previous ocean summits in New York (2017) and Lisbon (2022). It culminated in a shared call to expand marine protection, curb pollution, regulate the high seas, and unlock financing for vulnerable coastal and island nations.

Ambitious pledges

The conference’s outcome, known as the Nice Ocean Action Plan, is a two-part framework that comprises a political declaration and over 800 voluntary commitments by governments, scientists, UN agencies, and civil society since the previous conference.

“These range from advocacy by youth to deep-sea ecosystem literacy, capacity building in science and innovation, and pledges to ratify intergovernmental treaties,” Mr. Li said.

The pledges unveiled this week reflected the breadth of the ocean crisis.

Continue to read this article here: https://iefworld.org/node/1735

Source: based on https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/06/1164381