ENVIRONS
The Amazon at a tipping point: As the COP30 summit continues, climate scientist Carlos Nobre is pushing for the ‘industrialisation of biodiversity’ to help save the rainforest.
According to Nobre’s hypothesis, first formulated in 1990, if 20-25 percent of the original area is deforested, or global temperatures rise 2-2.5C above preindustrial levels, the biome will enter a feedback loop where it can no longer regenerate. In a process dubbed savannisation, lush canopies wither as the jungle dries out into parched grasslands with fewer species. “If deforestation and global warming continue, the Amazon will reach the point of no return by 2050 at the latest,” he explains.
Nobre says Brasília’s aim to eliminate illegal deforestation by 2030 should instead be a total ban.
Soruce: Poole, Michael. Financial Times, 16 November 2025.
'In the Amazon, protection is spiritual': Defying coca lords and loggers in the Amazon
They decided to form an unarmed guard, following the example of indigenous communities elsewhere in Colombia, who had organised their own peaceful protection. Called the Indigenous Guard for the Amazon, its members would patrol the rainforest wearing a vest with a badge and carrying wooden staffs as symbols of their authority. Despite the dangerous nature of their work, they would carry no weapons.
Today, these indigenous patrols protect rare species, ancient forests, and even the uncontacted communities living next to them. Across Colombia, there are more than 50,000 Indigenous Guards, all with a story bound to the country's long history of conflict. As the armed groups they face gain more power, the Indigenous Guard's work becomes more challenging even as it becomes more crucial.
Source: Juan Pablo Pérez-Burgos, BBC, 17 Novembe4r 2025. Retrieved from: https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20251114-defying-coca-lords-and-loggers-in-the-amazon