Singapore's island merger plan fuels nuclear power speculation
| | HONG KONG, 25 August 2026 (SCMP) - Singapore's plan to merge several islands off its southwest coast into a new hub for industry, defence and “new power generation infrastructure” has stirred speculation over whether the site could one day host a nuclear power plant. The city state is studying advanced nuclear technologies, including small modular reactors (SMRs), as part of its long-term planning for a net-zero power system, but the government has not decided whether to deploy nuclear energy, let alone where any future plant could be sited. |
ZDCs have not led to additional reductions in deforestation
| | JAKARTA, Indonesia, 25 August 2026 (Mongabay) - In the past decade, palm oil-producing countries, such as Indonesia, have introduced policies and company-level commitments to curb deforestation. In both concessions linked to companies with zero-deforestation commitments (ZDCs) and those not linked to ZDCs, data suggests annualized deforestation has dropped dramatically from the 2000s. Despite this drop, a new study suggests ZDCs have not, in fact, led to additional reductions in deforestation. |
US territories hit out at Trump plan for Pacific deep sea exploration
| | HAGATNA, Guam, 24 August 2026 (Guardian) - A US government plan to lease out millions of hectares of seabed near the Mariana Trench for deep sea exploration has drawn opposition from US territories in the Pacific, as the Trump administration remains locked in a race with China for control of critical ocean minerals. On Tuesday, the Marine Mineral Administration (MMA), an agency under the US department of the interior, released a proposal to auction deep sea mining leases for 28m hectares (69m acres) of seafloor off the coast of the Northern Mariana Islands and Guam. |
Borneo forest fires spike again: Why El Nino isn't the sole culprit
| | PADANG, Indonesia, 24 August 2026 (Conversation) - Forest and land fires across Indonesia have spiked once again. News and social media in the country are flooded with images of thick plumes of smoke from Kalimantan (or Borneo) - the world’s third largest island, which are choking residential areas and even drifting into neighbouring countries. |
Sri Lanka's long-delayed animal welfare law
| | KANDY, Sri Lanka, 24 August 2026 (Mongabay) - Sri Lanka’s government has greenlit the country’s long-delayed animal welfare bill, which proposes stringent penalties for cruelty to animals and would replace a century-old animal cruelty law. The draft law has reignited a fierce debate over the centuries-old practice of using domesticated elephants in religious processions. |
Norwegian company assesses subsea tunnel to Westman Islands
| | BODO, Norway, 24 August 2026 (HNN) - The newly established Eyjagöng has signed an agreement with Norwegian consulting firm Norconsult to carry out a comprehensive cost and feasibility assessment for the construction of a subsea tunnel between the Icelandic mainland and the Westman Islands. |
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CBD |
 | | COP16 21 Oct-1 Nov, 2024, Cali, Colombia |
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UNFCCC |
| | COP29 11-22 November, 2024, Baku, Azerbaijan |
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ISLAND DYNAMICS |
| | DARKNESS II conference, 20-23 January 2025, Nuuk, Greenland |
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JICAS |
| | Islands And Island Studies conference 3-7 June, 2025, Jersey, Channel Islands |
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UNITED NATIONS |
| | UN Ocean Conference 9-13 June, 2025, Nice, France |
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UPEI |
| | 3rd international conference on SIS and SNIJs 16-20 June, 2025, Charlottetown, PEI |
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ARCTIC COUNCIL |
| | UArctic Congress 26-29 May 2026, Torshavn, Faroe Islands |
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SICRI |
| | Island Studies International Conference 25-28 June, 2026, Tacloban City, Leyte Islands, Philippines |
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SPREP |
| | 11th Pacific Islands Conference for Nature Conservation and Protected Areas, 7–11 September 2026, Noumea, New Caledonia |
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ANATOMY OF ISLANDS |
| | 14th Anatomy of Islands symposium 15-17 Oct, 2026, Jelsa, Hvar Island, Croatia |
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SOCIETY OF ISLAND BIOLOGY |
| | 5th Island Biology conference 2-6 November, 2026, Atami City, Japan |
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IWRA |
| | 2nd Islands Water Congress 27-29 Jan, 2027, Montego Bay, Jamaica |
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ISISA |
| | 21st Islands of the Word Conference 6-10 June, 2027, Willemstad, Curacao |
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