Nature Breaking

Did you know that extreme weather disasters in the U.S. are now causing more than 20 billion‑dollar events every year, leaving a growing share of those losses uninsured? As climate change accelerates—and as ecosystems like wetlands and forests are destroyed and degraded—the insurance protection gap is widening, putting households, businesses, and entire communities at rising financial risk.
In this episode of Nature Breaking, you'll hear from David Kuhn, WWF's Director for Adaptation and Resilience Partnerships and a contributor to a new WWF report on the insurance crisis. David explains what's driving the surge in uninsured losses, why premiums are skyrocketing, and how climate‑driven disasters are undermining the stability of the US insurance system. He also breaks down how nature loss is stripping communities of their "first line of defense" against floods, storms, and heat—and why restoring ecosystems may be one of the most cost‑effective ways to strengthen resilience and shore up the insurance system.
As David shares, there's reason for hope in spite of these alarming trends. With smart policies, better risk modeling, and investments that treat nature as essential infrastructure, we can reduce damages, lower costs, and build a safer, more resilient future.
Links for More Info:
David Kuhn bio
REPORT: Tackling the Insurance Protection Gap
Op-Ed: Nature is a powerful ally against fires and floods (LA Times)
Chapters:
0:00 Teaser
0:31 Intro
1:56 Explaining the insurance protection gap
6:47 Insurance becoming an unsustainable business model
10:23 Practical impacts of insurance gap on consumers
15:23 Role of nature loss in the insurance crisis
19:16 How nature can help mitigate the insurance crisis
21:32 Recommendations for policymakers, insurers, companies, etc.
25:50 Reasons for hope
30:00 Outro

Note: This episode originally aired in October 2023.

Snow leopards are among the hardest animals to find in the wild, both because of how rare they are, and because their coats are adapted to provide camouflage that makes them hard to see against the rugged mountain landscape they call home. With an estimated 4,000-6,500 snow leopards remaining in the wild, conservationists have been working in snow leopard range countries across Asia to build a more stable future for these big cats. And recently, Bhutan reported some good news: the population of snow leopards in that country has increased by nearly 40% since 2016.
In this episode, you'll hear from Dechen Dorji, Senior Director for Asia on WWF's Wildlife Conservation team. He talks about the many characteristics that make snow leopards unique (5:07), the threats that have caused snow leopard populations to decline (13:01), and what we can learn from Bhutan's recent success to help snow leopards thrive across all 12 range countries they call home (17:52).
Links for More Info: 
WWF Snow Leopard page
Press Release: Bhutan National Snow Leopard Survey
Dechen Dorji bio

Did you know that 75% of the infrastructure the world will use in 2050 hasn't been built yet? That means the choices we make today—about roads, bridges, railways, ports, and power systems—will shape the future of both human development and the natural world.
In this episode of Nature Breaking, WWF's Ryan Bartlett, Director for Climate Resilience and Risk Management, explains how we can build the infrastructure we need without destroying the ecosystems we rely on for critical benefits, including resilience to worsening weather extremes. From habitat fragmentation to increased flooding, poorly planned infrastructure can unintentionally cause huge environmental and social problems. But with the right planning tools, safeguards, and nature-based solutions that treat nature as infrastructure, we can chart a very different path forward.
Links for More Info:
Ryan Bartlett bio
WWF Sustainable Infrastructure page
Sustainable Infrastructure Program in Asia
Greening Transportation Infrastructure Development (GRID)
Chapters:
0:00 Preview
0:26 Intro
1:38 Challenges and opportunities with infrastructure development
4:37 Unintended consequences from poorly planned infrastructure
8:05 Best practices to balance infrastructure with nature & climate concerns
10:58 Solutions for infrastructure bisecting wildlife habitat
15:20 Asia as a key region for sustainable infrastructure
18:30 Sustainable Infrastructure Program in Asia (SIPA)
28:53 Lessons learned from SIPA
31:07 Greening Transportation Infrastructure Development (GRID) program
34:32 What does success look like for advancing sustainable infrastructure development?
37:39 Outro

As 2025 comes to a close, we're looking back at the 10 biggest conservation wins of the 21st century (so far). We'll revisit iconic successes like the Paris Agreement on climate, the rebound of wild tigers and giant pandas, and the creation of the Amazon Region Protected Areas Program, the largest tropical forest conservation initiative on Earth. Plus, we'll celebrate grassroots efforts like Earth Hour and the return of bison to Native lands—proof that progress is happening at every level.
If you care about wildlife, climate, and sustainability, this episode will give you hope and inspiration for the future.
Links:
Donate to support WWF's conservation mission
Chapters:
0:00 Preview
0:33 Intro
1:36 Rules of the Countdown
4:31 High Seas Treaty
5:57 Global Biodiversity Framework
7:06 Bison Restoration
9:27 Giant Pandas No Longer Endangered
10:43 The Paris Agreement on Climate Change
11:32 Global Response to the Poaching Crisis
12:55 Rebound of Wild Tigers
16:06 Earth Hour Launches
17:03 Creation of the Amazon Region Protected Areas (ARPA) Program
19:55 Environmentalism Goes Mainstream

Note: This episode originally ran on October 1, 2024. If you'd like to support WWF for Giving Tuesday, visit wwf.help/tuesday. 
Global food production is a key driver behind both climate change and the loss of species and ecosystems. In fact, it's responsible for roughly one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions and over two-thirds of global habitat and biodiversity losses. That's because unsustainable food production too often lead to the destruction of forests, grasslands, and other ecosystems in order to produce more food. So how do we create a more sustainable food system? Joining the show today is Dr. Jason Clay, Executive Director of WWF's Markets Institute. Jason has decades of experience working with companies to find innovative ways to make their supply chains more sustainable, and today he'll be explaining his latest initiative: Codex Planetarius. In short, Codex Planetarius aims to establish global environmental standards to limit the harm caused by the production of globally traded food. The idea draws inspiration from Codex Alimentarius, the international code of health and safety standards for food established in the mid-20th century. It makes sense: If the world can adopt standards to protect human health and safety, why can't we do the same for the health and safety of the planet? In this interview, Jason explains how his career journey evolved from human rights to conservation (with help from the Grateful Dead and Ben & Jerry's along the way), and how Codex Planetarius could establish new global norms for food production that help us feed the world without destroying it. 
Links for More Info:
Jason Clay bio
Codex Planetarius homepage
WEB STORY: Codex Planetarius: Increasing Global Food Sustainability and Resilience
Chapters:
0:00 Programming note
1:22 Intro
3:10 Jason's background
5:14 Working with the Grateful Dead and Ben & Jerry's to save the rainforest
10:14 How the global food trade works
16:17 Codex Planetarius: global standards for sustainable food production
25:09 Paying for Codex Planetarius
30:57 How to implement the plan
41:52 Outro