Brazil evicts gold miners from Amazon rainforest
Brazil’s new government is clamping down on illegal gold mining in the Amazon rainforest, using satellite imagery to find and destroy mining camps
COP28 boss urges Big Oil to join fight against climate change
Cop28 president and oil and gas executive Sultan al-Jaber urged energy conference participants in Houston to do more faster to limit global warming
Greta Thunberg protests wind farm “violating human rights” in Norway
Thunberg said the wind farm violates the rights of indigenous Sami people to herd their reindeer, as the sight and sound of the turbines scares the animals
US offers $550m to tackle pollution in poor neighbourhoods
The money is part of a $3 billion environmental justice pot finally authorised by Congress after a long battle against Republicans and conservative Democrats
India set to push for green World Bank reforms at G20
India wants the World Bank to lend more money for climate finance, at cheaper rates, in developing countries and will use its G20 chair to push this agenda
World Bank proposes freeing up $4bn by loosening lending rules
The bank is under pressure to free up more money to tackle climate change but one expert said this measure does not go far enough
UAE’s Cop28 boss calls for “course correction” on climate change
Jaber, who also heads the state oil giant Adnoc, fueled activists’ worries about fossil fuels in the upcoming UN climate negotiations.
Europe proposes mass exit from energy treaty
After big European nations said they would leave the Energy Charter Treaty, the European Commission now says a joint EU exit is the best option
China warns of more floods and heatwaves in 2023
Last year was marked by a record-breaking heatwave and China’s weather agency has warned of more this year, as the climate crisis escalates
Portugal agrees to swap Cape Verde’s debt for environmental investment
Cape Verde owes around $150m to the Portugese state – but Portugal says it will write off the debt if the African island nation spends the money on environmental measures
Brazil launches first raids against Amazon tree-cutters under Lula’s new government
Brazil’s new government is already having an impact on deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, an environmental enforcement agent claimed
Airlines plot fight-back against France’s short-haul flights ban
The aviation industry plans to argue that banning short-haul flights is ineffective and impinges on EU citizens’ right to travel between countries
Thunberg joins protest against German coal mine expansion
The German government agreed that utility RWE could expand the Luetzerath coal mine in exchange for a faster national coal phase-out
Brazil bids to bring Cop30 climate talks to Amazon’s Belem
The city is at the mouth of the Amazon river and is the second-biggest city in the Amazon region after Manaus
Hurricanes and floods bring $120bn in insurance losses in 2022
Hurricane Ian in Florida caused a big chunk of the financial losses while floods in Pakistan, Nigeria and South Africa killed the most people
Donors pledge over $8bn to rebuild Pakistan after floods – official
At a Geneva summit, multilateral development banks committed the vast majority of funds, with smaller contributions from governments
Cop15 global nature deal passes despite DR Congo’s objection
The Chinese presidency gavelled through a biodiversity pact in Montreal, overriding the funding concerns of some African delegates
Destruction of Brazil’s Cerrado savanna soars for third year in a row
Brazil’s outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro has presided over four years of destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado grasslands
Rich nations mobilise $15.5bn for Vietnam’s coal-to-clean transition
The deal will help Vietnam to peak its greenhouse gas emissions five years earlier than planned and scale up renewable energy generation
EU strikes internal deal to tax carbon at its borders
The world-first scheme will protect European industries from being undercut by polluting competitors, but angers emerging economies