Duke University had a robust presence at COP27, as scholars and students actively engaged with global decision makers. Nicholas Institute experts who were on the ground in Egypt share their thoughts on the outcomes of the conference.

72% of Earth’s largest companies have pledged to reduce their plastic waste. A new study surveys what they’re doing (or not) to fulfill those promises.

Duke community members, including many from the Nicholas Institute, are playing leading roles in forming global partnerships and guiding decisions on climate issues at the annual climate change conference in Egypt.

In a new commentary in 360info, John Virdin, Director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Program, explains how illegal fishing threatens small-scale fishers and the global fishing industry's sustainability efforts. Virdin says lessons from transparency initiatives in the fashion, timber, and oil and gas industries could help end illegal fishing.

On World Oceans Day, Ignace Beguin Billecocq and Tibor Vegh write about what the private sector can do to improve coastal resilience.

By investing in coastal ecosystems, companies can reduce costs, improve operations including employee retention, generate financial gains, or enhance their reputation, write Ignace Beguin Billecocq and Tibor Vegh for the UNFCCC's Race to Resilience website.

In a commentary for the SDG Knowledge Hub, the Nicholas Institute's Tibor Vegh and FAO's Kenichi Shono write about the benefits of mangrove conservation and restoration in small island developing states and what can be done to reverse mangrove loss in these countries.

Most of the revenues extracted from use of the world’s oceans is concentrated among 100 transnational corporations, which have been identified for the first time by researchers at Duke University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.

Duke researchers set out to determine how governments around the world are responding to oceanic plastic pollution. Their search led them to compile and analyze an inventory of nearly 300 policies instituted between 2000 and mid-2019 to address the issue.

The blue economy concept could help policy makers more fully consider the marine environment together with economic growth to help meet the United Nation’s oceans sustainable development goal. John Virdin, director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Program at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, is studying how governments in the United States and abroad might apply the blue economy concept to increase rates of economic return without depleting or damaging ocean ecosystems, which would put not only natural resources but also jobs and economic growth at risk.