LONDON (Reuters) – Rising greenhouse gas levels mean the planet is very likely to become warmer, threatening more disasters such as Russia’s record drought and Pakistan’s deadly floods.

A warmer world is expected to place more risks on food supplies for a growing population. Changes in rainfall patterns could disrupt riverflows, water supplies and crops.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Scientists studying tree rings to reconstruct the past have found that major volcanic eruptions can boost rains in Southeast Asia, challenging a common perception of volcanoes as purely destructive forces.

Studies in the past have shown massive eruptions such as the 1815 Tambora blast, and Krakatau in 1883, both in Indonesia, dimmed temperatures globally and wiped out crops.

JAKARTA/SINGAPORE (Reuters) – When President Barack Obama flies over the vast Indonesian archipelago next week, he will see first hand the size of two of the nation’s greatest and most threatened resources: its forests and seas.

Both are widely expected to be at the heart of efforts to boost ties between the United States and Indonesia and to step up the fight against climate change, officials and sources say.

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – Delegates from nearly 200 nations agreed on Friday to a sweeping plan to stem the loss of species by setting new 2020 targets to ensure greater protection of nature and enshrine the benefits it gives mankind.

Environment ministers from around the globe also agreed on rules for sharing the benefits from genetic resources from nature between governments and companies, a key trade and intellectual property issue that could be worth billions of dollars in new funds for developing nations.

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – Environment ministers from around the world tried to wrap up on Friday a U.N. meeting to preserve nature but remained split on targets to fight losses in animal and plant species that support livelihoods and economies.

Delegates from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Nagoya, Japan, for a two-week meeting to map out goals to protect oceans, forests and rivers, as the world faces the worst extinction rate since the dinosaurs vanished 65 million years ago.

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – The World Bank on Thursday launched a program to help nations put a value on nature just like GDP in a bid to stop the destruction of forests, wetlands and reefs that underpin businesses and economies.

The five-year pilot project backed by India, Mexico and other nations aims to embed nature into national accounts to draw in the full benefits of the services such as coastal protection from mangroves or watersheds for rivers that feed cities and crops.

NAGOYA, Japan, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The World Bank on
Thursday launched a programme to help nations put a value on
nature just like GDP in a bid to stop the destruction of
forests, wetlands and reefs that underpin businesses and
economies.

The five-year pilot project backed by India, Mexico and
other nations aims to embed nature into national accounts to
draw in the full benefits of the services such as coastal
protection from mangroves or watersheds for rivers that feed
cities and crops.

NAGOYA, Japan, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Businesses are starting
to factor in the growing risk to investments from the
destruction of forests, reefs and wetlands, but more needs to
be done to fight damage to nature estimated at trillions of
dollars a year, a U.N. report says.

The global economy is underpinned by “natural capital” such
as water from rivers and forests, clean air, protection from
rising seas by mangroves, pollination of crops by insects and
fisheries that rely on coral reefs as spawning grounds.

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – Global miner Rio Tinto faces increased risks as it expands into developing countries and will need to uphold tough environmental standards to ensure access to new markets, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The likely emergence of tougher regulations in emerging economies and shareholder demands for greener practices were underpinning the firm’s drive to become a leader in environmental protection, said Stuart Anstee, Rio’s principal adviser for environment.

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – Ministers from around the world began on Wednesday a final push for a U.N. deal to protect nature, as the World Bank urged them to value the benefits of forests, oceans and rivers on economies and human welfare.

Senior officials from nearly 200 countries have gathered in Nagoya, Japan, to set new goals for 2020 to fight animal and plant extinctions after they missed a goal for a “significant reduction” in losses of biological diversity by 2010.