Land

DR Congo campaigners take minister to court over illegal logging rights claims

Environment minister Claude Nyamugabo is accused of violating a moratorium on logging in the Congo rainforest, by awarding concessions the size of Wales

It’s time to end subsidies for burning wood from forests

Trees are worth much more to humanity alive than dead, say 500 scientists in an open letter to leaders in the EU, US and East Asia

Indian farmers head for showdown with government over agricultural reform

Already bearing heavy costs from climate change, Indian farmers fear the government’s market reforms will drive them deeper into debt

Cop26 dream team: The people setting the climate agenda on seven key issues

From Denmark’s Dan Jørgensen to Malawi’s Nancy Tembo, here are the leaders to watch ahead of UN climate talks in Glasgow, UK

New Zealand urged to accelerate emissions cuts in line with 2050 net zero goal

Independent advisors said New Zealand should cut emissions “much more than 35%” from 2005 levels by 2030 to align ambition with a 1.5C global warming limit

Colombia banks on forest economy to deliver climate ambition leap

Since the end of a 50-year civil war, Colombia has seen a spike in forest clearance, that the government now hopes to reverse with agroforestry initiatives

France and UK lead push for climate finance to restore nature

Campaigners welcomed commitments to ramp up funding for biodiversity but raised concerns it came at the expense of other climate and aid spending

The net tightens around illegal logging operations in Pará, Bolsonaro’s stronghold

Uruará voted for Brazil’s rightwing president hoping for a more relaxed approach to illegal logging, but enforcement agencies are cracking down

In Kenya’s changing climate, women are claiming land rights to feed their families

Owning their own land allows Kenyan women to build resilience to drought and flooding, but many are unaware of laws intended to empower them

Brazil sets ‘indicative’ goal of carbon neutrality by 2060

Brazil is seeking to join the net zero club, but campaigners denounced its pledge as meaningless while deforestation rises under President Bolsonaro

Land

Agriculture

Brazil’s military operations are not halting deforestation in the Amazon

Jair Bolsonaro has transferred the command of anti-deforestation operations in the Amazon to the military. But the army presence is making little difference

African ministers call for investment in Great Green Wall to aid Covid-19 recovery

Plans for an 8,000km green belt across the Sahel region have stalled, with fresh funds needed to halt desertification and create sustainable livelihoods

‘Solidarity economy’: Indigenous women run WhatsApp food swap in Costa Rica

The Cabécar community is combining traditional customs and modern technology to cope with pandemic and climate change pressures on food security

Green shift urged to revive Brazil’s economy and shield Amazon forests

President Bolsonaro could rebuild the economy faster after Covid-19 by making low-carbon growth a pillar of recovery, international study says

These women built a dam and saved their families from ‘man-made starvation’

While chronic drought and poor governance leave millions of Zimbabweans hungry, the women of Rumwanjiva can grow their own vegetables

Jamaica becomes first Caribbean nation to submit tougher climate plan to UN

Jamaica adds forestry and land use to updated climate plan and toughens goals for energy. UK, due to host UN talks, hails “greater climate ambition”

Now is the time to climate-and-pandemic-proof our food systems

Social safety nets and shorter supply chains are essential to protect smallholder farmers facing spiralling debt and bankruptcy

EU plans to protect 30% of land and seas by 2030 for biodiversity

The European Commission set out a strategy to overhaul farming and strictly protect carbon-rich forests and wetlands, to benefit wildlife

Agriculture

Biodiversity

UN summit highlights $700bn funding gap to restore nature

A pledging conference to halt the decline of biodiversity worldwide yielded only a handful of vague financial commitments from European governments

Bolsonaro shifts blame for unprecedented Brazilian wetland fires

In a message to the UN, Brazil’s president denied responsibility for the worst fires on record in the Pantanal, despite having slashed environmental protections

World misses 2020 biodiversity goals: leaked UN draft report

Global Biodiversity Outlook draft finds funding shortfalls and failure to account for the role of women held back progress on restoring ecosystems

Forest destruction spiked in Indonesia during coronavirus lockdown

Travel restrictions allowed illegal deforestation to flourish in Indonesia – and government plans to cut environmental protections raise fears for the future

Malawi’s farmers grow crops with ‘magic liquid’ fertiliser

‘Bionitrate’ made from urine is starting to help yields for farmers in Malawi who face high costs fertilising maize and other crops amid shifting weather patterns

From summits to stimulus: Nature-based solutions can help

Nature-based solutions deserve much deeper consideration as governments decide how to design their economic responses to the coronavirus

Coronavirus delays global efforts for climate and biodiversity action

UN Climate Change said it won’t hold any physical meetings until the end of April amid efforts to contain Covid-19

‘Noah’s Ark’ Arctic seed vault gets new crops, recovers to one million samples

Britain’s Prince Charles, contributing wildflower seeds, says it is ‘exhausting, often demoralising’ to persuade people of vital role of biodiversity

Biodiversity

Forests

Brazil must reverse deforestation trends before EU finalises Mercosur trade deal

Imazon study finds indigenous people’s territories at greatest risk from forest clearance as a result of growing agricultural activity under the agreement

Bolsonaro’s attack on the Amazon breaches Brazil’s constitution, climate lawyers argue

Brazilian campaigners are fighting in the Supreme Court to reinstate anti-deforestation policies and resources slashed by the Bolsonaro administration

Landless Brazilians are invading more and more protected areas of the Amazon

Emboldened by President Bolsonaro, landless people are settling in environmental reserves and indigenous territories

Mark Carney oversees blueprint for scaling up carbon market as offset demand soars

With more and more businesses setting net zero emissions targets, the voluntary carbon market needs stronger quality control to scale up, says UN special envoy

Mangrove revival: How tree-planting is financing women’s businesses in Kenya

Kenyan women are planting mangroves in Lamu County and using the revenue from selling “blue carbon” credits for microloans to start small businesses

Mayan communities are suing the Mexican government over a million solar panel megaproject

Indigenous communities say they did not give consent for a Total-backed solar megaproject on their land

Despite socialist scepticism, Cuba shows interest in carbon trading

In its national climate plan, Cuba indicated it would like to sell carbon credits on an international market, a concept previously opposed by socialist allies

Encouraged by Bolsonaro, land grabbers advance on Amazon indigenous territory

Illegal settlements are springing up on indigenous territories in the Brazilian Amazon, driving deforestation

Forests

Cities

Covid exposes Mexico City's water access gap between rich and poor