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dennisbours.bsky.social
Experienced evaluator and validation expert with over two decades of international career growth, specializing in assessments, evidence-based learning, and resilience measurement across human and natural systems.
1,326 posts 133 followers 144 following
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A sustainable transition to #GreenBuildings means data-driven, context-specific design and measurable benchmarks. Combining traditional wisdom, #GreenCertification, and #LowCarbon strategies is key to #ClimateAction and affordable, resilient cities. impakter.com/green-b...

A stronger Earth’s magnetic field is linked to higher oxygen levels, says a new study spanning 540 million years. The magnetic field’s rise may help explain why our planet became more life-friendly. #EarthScience #Geomagnetism #Oxygen #PlanetaryHistory e360.yale.edu/digest...

To eat sustainably, new research finds people should limit pork and poultry to 255g (½ lb) per week, and avoid beef and red meat. Mostly plant-based diets best meet health and climate goals—drastic meat cuts are needed to stay within planetary limits. impakter.com/how-muc...

Alaska just hit a climate milestone — its first-ever heat advisory. The heat bearing down on central Alaska "could feel like 110" in a state where the sun can shine all day. grist.org/extreme-he...

Sustainable business practices boost firms’ disclosure of climate change risks and opportunities, especially in high-value and climate-sensitive sectors. The study urges mandatory CCRO and ESG reporting to strengthen transparency and corporate accountability. #ESG www.tandfonline.com/...

At the UN Bonn Climate Conference, FIDH calls for urgent, rights-based climate action to phase out fossil fuels and halt deforestation. As SB62 opens, states must show ambition and ground negotiations in justice to ensure a strong, people-centered COP30. www.fidh.org/en/issu...

Green gold fuels shadow networks: illegal wildlife trade is now a conduit for money laundering, exploiting #Fintech and global finance. #WildlifeCrime #FinancialCrime #AML #GreenGold #Biodiversity #RiskManagement #Compliance #Conservation #ESG #StopWildlifeCrime www.jdsupra.com/lega...

A Third of Forests Lost This Century Will Likely Never Be Restored. 34 percent of forest loss is permanent, driven almost entirely by the demand for farmland. The remaining, temporary loss was largely the result of logging and wildfires, the analysis showed. e360.yale.edu/digest...

New analysis in the 2025 State and Trends of Carbon Pricing report highlights how governments are leveraging carbon pricing to support fiscal stability, encourage innovation, and attract investment—especially in developing economies. www.worldbank.org/en...

Fashion Giants and Sustainability: 5 Brands Reshaping the Industry A look at recent sustainability initatives from Chloé, Stella McCartney, Patagonia, LVMH, and MUJI. impakter.com/fashion...

The Potential and Perils of AI for Conservation. AI can help experts sift through datasets that are otherwise unmanageable, but the technology threatens to undermine other ways of knowing. www.biographic.com/t...

Who will pay for climate change? You will—through taxes, bills, and insurance—unless we break our fossil fuel addiction and hold polluters accountable. Big Oil dodges responsibility while costs keep rising. Time for a clean energy future. thehill.com/opinion/...

Why Nigerian pangolins are poached: they’re the tastiest animal around. Trafficking of scales for traditional medicine plays a relatively small part in the hunting of pangolins in Nigeria. www.nature.com/artic...

New Cooling Tech Could Curb Data Centers’ Rising Energy Demands. A new cooling technology - a specially engineered fiber membrane that passively removes heat through evaporation - could significantly improve the energy efficiency of data centers and high-powered electronics. today.ucsd.edu/story...

A systematic review shows how GIS is transforming urban green infrastructure! Integrating ecology, tech, and social insights, GIS boosts resilience and justice in city planning. #UrbanGreen #GIS #SustainableCities. journals.plos.org/pl...

Ancient carbon thought to be safely stored underground for millennia is unexpectedly resurfacing literally. Over half of the carbon gases released by rivers come from long-term, old carbon sources like deep soils and weathered rocks, not just recent organic matter. www.bristol.ac.uk/ca...

New Data Shows What’s Driving (!) Forest Loss Around the World. It reveals that 34% of tree cover losses worldwide from 2001-2024 were likely the result of permanent land use change. This percentage nearly doubles in tropical primary rainforests. www.wri.org/insights...

Most national emissions targets miss Paris goals, requiring fairer effort-sharing. Different fairness formulas yield varied outcomes, shaping policy and legal debates. Normative choices drive short-term targets; global strategies matter long-term. www.nature.com/artic...

New research shows NDC implementation under the Paris Agreement is at risk due to factors like ambition, weak institutions, and political opposition. Uniform global support won’t work—tailored, country-specific strategies are needed. Read more: www.tandfonline.com/...

Ethiopia is committed to strengthening its evaluation ecosystem, says Minister Fitsum Assefa. As AfrEA marks 25 years in Addis Ababa, the focus is on building capacity and advancing evidence-based policymaking across Africa. #AfrEA25 #Evaluation www.ena.et/web/eng/w...

Vienna! Could this city be the model for how to tackle the housing crisis and climate change? 1,700 US$ per month for a modern climate-friendly 4-bedroom apartment, including utilities... That is a great value proposition! www.npr.org/2025/06/...

Are outcomes and benefits friends or just neighbors on the project map? In this witty guest post, Liz Richardson explores how evaluation and benefits realisation can align—and why bridging them matters for real change. #evaluation #benefitsrealisation #ToC blog.evalcentral.com...

Chinese locales are looking to lure top scientific talent from overseas by offering lavish sums for resettling, as well as housing, health care, and other perks. For example, Hunan province is giving away $140,000 to doctoral students who come from abroad. e360.yale.edu/digest...

As universities increasingly prioritise research that can be measured, academics face a pressure to translate complex ideas into quantifiable outputs. Are depth and ambiguity sacrificed for comparability and clarity? blogs.lse.ac.uk/impa...

water security is not a technical puzzle to be solved in isolation. It’s a collective, political and economic challenge that demands collective thinking and inclusive governance. It’s about shifting from service delivery to shared responsibility. frompoverty.oxfam.or...

Great review of existing datasets that could track progress on the Global Goal on Adaptation—most focus on water, livelihoods, food/agriculture & health, and mainly cover climate impacts rather than planning, implementation & evaluation. Worth a read: www.tandfonline.com/... #Adaptation #ClimateData

EU evaluates Car Labelling Directive to drive digitalisation and the uptake of zero-emission vehicles. It was generally empowered consumers to make more informed choices towards vehicles with lower emissions and higher fuel efficiency, with benefits outweighing the costs. climate.ec.europa.eu...

Energy Star, on the Trump administration’s target list, has a long history of helping consumers’ wallets and the planet. theconversation.com/...

How birds are taking a hit from microplastics contamination. Globally, about 40 percent of seabirds have been found to have ingested plastic substances of varying sizes. The increasing presence of microplastics in the bodies of birds poses a global challenge. 360info.org/how-bird...

Coal miners are fighting Trump’s safety cuts — and winning. When the Trump administration moved to shut mine safety offices and shutter a program that protects miners from black lung disease, miners demanded it reverse course. It quietly did. grist.org/regulation...

Europe Launches New Climate Change and Health Commission. The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched a new European commission aimed at providing health sector solutions to what it called one of the defining health challenges of our time: climate change. www.medscape.com/vie...

Climate change is amplifying food safety risks in global seafood supplies through two primary pathways: the expansion of ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) and the proliferation of pathogenic Vibrio bacteria. www.foodpoisoningnew...

Climate emergency is a health crisis ‘that is already killing us,’ says WHO. With 2024 confirmed as the hottest year on record, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a stark warning. news.un.org/en/story...

As drought and warming reshape global climates, understanding when and how plants grow becomes critical. This affects everything from crop planning to forest management. Models that ignore the complexity of climate cues could lead to poor predictions and missed interventions. www.earth.com/news/s...

Mapping the Unmapped - Can a crowdsourced world map help save millions of people from climate disaster? Humanitarian OpenStreetMap Team has the goal to map the world’s unmapped places to help relief workers reach people when the next hurricane, fire, or other crisis strikes. grist.org/solutions/...

Climate change could drive flood of foreclosures, study finds. Extreme weather linked to climate change could spell financial ruin for many American homeowners and lead to billions in losses for lenders, a new study finds. www.aol.com/climate-...

Why Anti-Trans Campaigns Keep Returning to the Politics of Meat. Recent anti-trans political ads were funded in part by meat industry trade groups, including multiple ads comparing trans people to cattle. sentientmedia.org/an...

This Alaska Native fishing village was trying to power their town. Then came Trump’s funding cuts. Port Heiden is facing an energy crisis. A $300,000 grant from the EPA would have helped the traditional Alutiiq community swap costly, polluting diesel for cheaper, clean power. grist.org/indigenous...

While policy measures saved the city from running out of water, they reduced demand more among wealthy households who were able to substitute away from municipal water, undermining the utility’s ability to cross-subsidise lower-income households’ consumption. cepr.org/voxeu/colum...

EPA launches repeal of Obama and Biden-era power plant rules. Saying that emissions from fossil fuel-fired power plants do not contribute meaningfully to global warming is like saying that smoking does not cause cancer. www.axios.com/pro/en...

How to Manage Your Climate Guilt -> Let it drive your climate actions! time.com/7293252/cli...

The value added of multi-sectoral / cross-regional approaches is not limited to mountain regions, or adaptation interventions: "Climate change adaptation in global mountain regions requires a multi-sectoral approach." www.nature.com/artic...

New research from the University of Georgia’s Odum School of Ecology and Marine Extension and Georgia Sea Grant suggests there may be elevated levels of mercury in Georgia and South Carolina waters. news.uga.edu/georgia...

New research shows that in every region, species tend to cluster in small hotspots and then gradually thin out. This universal rule applies across drastically different organisms and habitats from trees to dragonflies, oceans to forests. www.reading.ac.uk/ne...

Europe must invest big to meet its 2030 climate & industrial goals. A €344B gap looms, with signs of slowing momentum. Strategic autonomy & competitiveness hinge on real, long-term investment. #ClimateInvestment #EU #GreenTransition @I4CE_ www.i4ce.org/en/publ...

🌍 In 2024, CERF allocated $203.5M to help 10.5M people in 31 countries hit by climate-related crises. Thanks to rapid funding, vital aid reached those in need within days. Read more in the latest CERF Climate Action Report. #ClimateAction #HumanitarianAid reliefweb.int/report...

Why past mass extinctions didn't break ecosystems—But this one might. Only twice in 60 million years did environmental shifts dramatically reorganize these systems once with a continental land bridge, and again with climate-driven habitat change. www.gu.se/en/news/he...

Unregulated mining in the deep sea should not be allowed to go ahead, the head of the United Nations has warned. "The deep sea cannot become the Wild West," UN Secretary General António Guterres said at the opening of the UN Oceans Conference in Nice, France. www.bbc.com/news/art...

UN Scientists Propose a Plan to Meet Global Demand for Critical Minerals. A clean energy transition will require loads of minerals. In a new report, academics say a global minerals trust would ensure fair access, a reliable market and prevent unnecessary mines. insideclimatenews.or...

Rich Countries’ Energy Transitions Threaten Indigenous Peoples and the Environment. More than half of global mining projects for “energy transition” minerals are located on or near Indigenous territories. insideclimatenews.or...