A glimpse of the past

Charity registered in Scotland no SC015599

The views expressed in this newsletter are not necessarily those of the RSGS.

RSGS: a better way to see the world

More gems from RSGS’s collections are coming to light, such as this example of C19th weather instruments being used in the field. It is just one of many hundreds of glass plates our volunteer Collections Team are now working their way through, painstakingly cataloguing and sorting. The collections include all sorts of images: an early photo of Niagara from the mid-1800s, images of Egypt and hieroglyphics from the early 20th century, alongside teaching slides, and we look forward to unearthing more treasures as the task unfolds.

Biodiversity COP15

After being postponed four times due to the pandemic, COP15, the 15th United Nations Biodiversity Conference, was held in Montréal, Canada over 12 days in December, after originally being planned to take place in Kunming, China. Almost 200 countries agreed to a new set of goals and targets to halt and reverse biodiversity loss by the end of the decade. Conversations at the conference revolved around developed countries wanting to ratchet up the framework’s ambition, while developing countries sought reassurance that developed countries would offer sufficient support and resources to allow them to follow suit. The resulting Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework replaces the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, agreed at COP10 in 2010. The final deal included a target of ‘30×30’, an ambition to conserve 30% of the world’s land and 30% of the ocean by 2030. A second ‘30×30’ goal also made it into the final package, with developed countries agreeing to mobilise $30bn for developing countries by 2030.

See pages 12–13 for a Royal Canadian Geographical Society review of the conference.

Lorna Ogilvie FRSGS

In January, we were delighted to present Honorary Fellowship to Lorna Ogilvie in thanks for her years of volunteering for our charity in a number of roles. Starting as an office volunteer at RSGS HQ in Perth and as a Member of the RSGS Perth Group, Lorna was later elected as a Trustee and member of RSGS Board, before serving as Chair of the Local Groups Committee, in which role she has brought energy, discipline and vigour. Lorna received her Fellowship from former RSGS Board Member Alister Hendrie at an Inspiring People talk in Perth.