Top court delivers a 'huge' climate win for island nations
Release Date: 09/09/2025
Tying conservation with education and health can protect Madagascar, says primatologist
Mongabay Newscast
Patricia Wright, a pioneering primatologist who established the research station in Madagascar, began her work there in 1986. As the person who first described the golden bamboo lemur (Hapalemur aureus) to Western science, her contributions led to the creation of Ranomafana National Park, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss her conservation breakthroughs and the challenges the island faces during political instability and widespread poverty. Wright has participated in the making of numerous documentaries over the years, including Island of Lemurs:...
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Mongabay founder reflects on success, Jane Goodall, and more
Mongabay Newscast
Hello listeners. This week on the Mongabay Newscast, we ask that you take a few minutes to fill out a brief survey to let us know what you think of our audio reporting, which you can do . Mongabay founder and CEO Rhett Butler was recently awarded the by the and named to the list alongside conservation greats such as David Attenborough. The credit for this success belongs to Mongabay, Butler says on this week’s podcast. “While my name is on the award, it's for Mongabay. All that Mongabay achieves is not necessarily me. I’m the figurehead,” Butler says of receiving the Henry Shaw...
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Australia’s inspiring ‘humpback comeback’ and why krill need protection
Mongabay Newscast
News of Australia’s “humpback comeback” is making waves globally. Numbers of humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) on the nation’s east coast have rebounded to an estimated 50,000 from a historic low of just a few hundred before commercial whaling was outlawed in the 1970s. And wildlife scientist and whale expert Vanessa Pirotta joins the podcast to discuss this inspiring conservation achievement. Pirotta emphasizes this is a good news story that deserves to be celebrated, and that it could also bolster action for other whale species that are struggling, including the southern right...
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Understanding the psychology of environmental crime
Mongabay Newscast
Psychologist and true crime presenter joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss her latest read, examining some of the highest-profile environmental crimes and why they occur, in . She details the commonalities behind six major cases, and what can be learned from them, as described by six motivating factors: ease, impunity, greed, rationalization, conformity, and desperation. "As a psychologist, I was like, ‘What if we create a psychological profile of the various people involved with these various big crimes?’ And so that's how I came to the Six Pillars because I was using a model from...
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Innovative initiatives for nature recognized with World Future Policy Awards
Mongabay Newscast
Policies enacted by seven nations and one international agreement have been by the World Future Council for “top policy solutions for [humans], nature and generations to come.” On this edition of Mongabay’s podcast, the council’s CEO, Neshan Gunasekera, shares key highlights of the eight World Future Policy Award laureates. Under the theme of “Living in Harmony with Nature and Future Generations,” the winners for 2025 “bring to light the future orientation of the way we take decisions at [a] time that there are multiple crises facing ourselves as a species, but also the...
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Bird-watching’s wide appeal and social justice impact
Mongabay Newscast
Wildlife biologist and ornithologist Corina Newsome of the U.S. NGO joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how bird-watching plays a role in environmental justice for underserved communities in urban areas, and provides an accessible way for people to connect with nature and drives impactful change. “Birding is an opportunity [for] people to fill in data gaps where they live [to] help direct investments that come from the world of conservation … from federal to state to local levels that have usually been funneled away from their communities,” she says on this episode. Newsome says that...
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Storytelling with wildlife photography drives global impact and healing
Mongabay Newscast
On this episode of Mongabay’s weekly podcast, we look at nature through the lens of wildlife photographer and senior marketing associate at Mongabay, Alejandro Prescott-Cornejo, the multilingual staffer charged with sharing the team’s reporting and mission with the world. Prescott-Cornejo details how his work with Mongabay intersects with his passion for , what makes a good photo, and how anyone can connect with nature by getting to know their own “local patch.” “There are so many beautiful things, whether big or small, that can be very, very close to you — and you don't need to go...
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Stewarding nature & Indigenous culture with shared knowledge & radio
Mongabay Newscast
Aimee Roberson, executive director of , joins Mongabay’s podcast to discuss how her organization helps Indigenous communities maintain their traditions, languages and knowledge while living among increasingly Westernized societies. As a biologist and geologist with Indigenous heritage, Roberson is uniquely suited to lead the organization in bridging these worlds, including via “,” which blends traditional ecological knowledge and Western science to increase humanity’s ways of knowing, toward a view of people as active participants in shaping the natural world. Cultural Survival also...
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Canada's mining sector a stain on the nation, Indigenous journalist reports
Mongabay Newscast
An international tribunal of environmental rights activists recently found that the Canadian mining sector is “guilty for the violation of Rights of Nature across South America and Serbia.” The guest on this episode of Mongabay’s podcast corroborates these accusations, and describes human rights abuses in South American nations that she has seen in her reporting, too. , a Cree-Iroquois-French environmental journalist and freelancer for Mongabay, discusses how Canadian mining projects impact ecological health and the rights of Indigenous communities in places such as Ecuador and Bolivia....
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Top court delivers a 'huge' climate win for island nations
Mongabay Newscast
The recent from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on states' obligations regarding climate change was celebrated globally for providing clarity on countries’ legal obligation to prevent climate , but was also appreciated by island nations for its additional certainty on their maritime boundaries remaining intact regardless of sea level rise. This week on Mongabay’s podcast, environmental lawyer Angelique Pouponneau, a Seychelles native and lead negotiator for the (AOSIS), explains these victories, their legal implications, and how they matter for small island nations. She says...
info_outlineThe recent advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on states' obligations regarding climate change was celebrated globally for providing clarity on countries’ legal obligation to prevent climate harm, but was also appreciated by island nations for its additional certainty on their maritime boundaries remaining intact regardless of sea level rise.
This week on Mongabay’s podcast, environmental lawyer Angelique Pouponneau, a Seychelles native and lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), explains these victories, their legal implications, and how they matter for small island nations.
She says Small Island Developing States (SIDS) face a multitude of, “one of which [was] this idea of the shrinking exclusive economic zones.”
Exclusive economic zones are the waters that lie within the jurisdiction of a nation, usually 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from its shore. With the ICJ advisory opinion, there’s now legal certainty that this zone will remain within the jurisdiction of a state, even if its shoreline shrinks as a result of rising seas due to climate change.
“What island nations were trying to guard against through state practice was essentially if there were ever to be loss of territory, it would not mean loss of exclusive economic zone,” Pouponneau says.
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Mike DiGirolamo is a host & associate producer for Mongabay based in Sydney. He co-hosts and edits the Mongabay Newscast. Find him on LinkedIn and Bluesky.
Image Credit: Island in the South Pacific, Fiji. Image by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
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Timecodes
(00:00) The importance of the SIDS alliance
(10:09) ’Wins’ in the ICJ advisory opinion
(17:38) What about enforcement?
(21:29) Maritime boundaries will remain
(27:38) What are sustainable ‘blue economies?’
(32:32) Concerns about development & ‘debt for nature’
(42:12) Frustrations with Global Plastic Treaty negotiations
(45:50) Looking to the BBNJ treaty