Land

Biden promises to “work with Congress” to fund Amazon protection

13 February 2023

With Jair Bolsonaro out of power, one obstacle to US funding for Amazon rainforest protection has gone – but Republicans in Congress could still block funding.

A rocket launched from French Guiana in Europe's corner of the Amazon.

France seeks EU loophole for French Guiana to power space sector with biofuels

1 February 2023

Campaigners have warned the exemption risks setting an incentive for increased logging in Europe’s corner of the Amazon forest.

Brazil launches first raids against Amazon tree-cutters under Lula’s new government

20 January 2023

Brazil’s new government is already having an impact on deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, an environmental enforcement agent claimed

During his inauguration, Lula da Silva mentioned climate action in his first speech as president

Lula revives $1 billion Amazon Fund and environmental protections

4 January 2023

On his first day in office as Brazil’s president, Lula da Silva signed a package of seven executive orders to protect the environment

Cost of a KitKat: Big brands leave sugar farmers at the mercy of climate extremes

21 December 2022

Nestlé, Coca Cola and Pepsi are among the buyers from Nanglamal Sugar Complex, which smallholders say gives no help with climate resilience

India’s female cane cutters face child marriage and hysterectomy

20 December 2022

Women and girls in India’s sugar fields are exposed to sexual harassment, backbreaking work and inadequate healthcare

Cop15 global nature deal passes despite DR Congo’s objection

19 December 2022

The Chinese presidency gavelled through a biodiversity pact in Montreal, overriding the funding concerns of some African delegates

Migrant labourers suffer exploitation in India’s sugar fields

19 December 2022

Millions of people migrate each year to work in India’s sugar fields under extreme heat, harsh conditions and debt bondage

India’s sugarcane farmers struggle to cope with droughts and floods

16 December 2022

In India more intense droughts and floods are destroying sugarcane crops and plunging millions of farmers and their families into debt

Destruction of Brazil’s Cerrado savanna soars for third year in a row

15 December 2022

Brazil’s outgoing president Jair Bolsonaro has presided over four years of destruction of the Amazon rainforest and the Cerrado grasslands

Land

Agriculture

Africa’s broken food markets must be fixed to tackle hunger

A handful of large companies make big profits by controlling the food trade in Africa, while doing nothing to increase its climate resilience

Hali Hewa episode 5: Female farmers

Sofanit Mesfin talks about her work helping female farmers in different African countries adapt to a changing climate

Africa food crisis: Bill Gates and smallholders see different solutions

Fertiliser prices have risen by 300% since Russia invaded Ukraine, beyond the reach of smallholders, yet philanthropists see them as key to increasing yields

Sri Lanka food crisis has its roots in the globalisation of the 1970s

The Rajapaksa regime deserved to be banished, but today’s hunger stems from decades of choosing global markets over self-sufficiency

War in Ukraine is triggering a food crisis – and climate change has more in store

Governments must fund humanitarian relief and prioritise cropland for feeding people, not livestock or cars, to guard against future shocks

Australian carbon traders defend troubled offset market against whistleblower claims

Policy upheaval and stark criticism of the quality of carbon offsets from a former official have thrown Australia’s ability to deliver on carbon targets into doubt

War in Ukraine is compounding a hunger crisis in East Africa, charities warn

Up to 28 million people are facing severe food insecurity as soaring wheat prices follow failed rains, Covid and desert locusts

Hackers throw Indonesian palm oil seminar into chaos, fuelling blame game

As experts debated a controversial proposal to classify palm oil plantations as forest, their event in Jakarta was disrupted by swearing and pornography

Agriculture

Biodiversity

Lula da Silva with a hand raised to greet onlookers

Lula charms UN climate summit, bringing hope for rainforests

Brazil’s president-elect got a hero’s welcome at Cop27, where he met with climate envoys from the US and China

World leaders not invited to attend critical UN biodiversity summit

Tense relations between the Chinese presidency and host nation Canada put a “Paris Agreement for nature” further out of reach

‘We are not ready’: Divisions deepen over rush to finalise deep sea mining rules

A growing number of countries are backing calls for a moratorium on mining the oceans’ floor but the UN body responsible is pushing to greenlight the industry in 2023

Between a wolf and its food: as one deep sea miner flops, others eye the prize

The Metals Company is running out of money, but the regulator is still fast-tracking rules to mine the ocean while other prospectors wait in the wings

Campaigners call on António Guterres to rescue ‘imperilled’ biodiversity deal

With five months to the critical summit, a “Paris Agreement for nature” is floundering as finance and political leadership fall short

Tanzanian authorities seen opening fire on Maasai people in game reserve dispute

Rights NGO Survival International has accused the government of “shocking violence” and evicting Maasai people from their land to make way for trophy hunting

Modi’s ‘gamechanger’ palm oil push raises concerns for Indian forests and women

Prime minister Narendra Modi has big plans for palm oil cultivation. But the experience of farmers in Mizoram does not bode well

Conservationists set out ‘nature positive’ vision for global biodiversity deal

The IUCN Congress has come up with a blueprint for a “transformative” deal to protect plants and wildlife, which members hope governments will embrace in Kunming

Biodiversity

Forests

UN nature pact nears its ‘Copenhagen or Paris’ moment

Cop15 biodiversity negotiations in Montreal next month will determine how the world halts and reverses nature loss

As Glasgow forest pledge turns to action, most signatories drop out

Russia, Indonesia and DRC are among the tree-rich nations not signed up to a Cop27 partnership for delivering forest protection

Brazil election: Lula victory raises hope for Amazon rainforest

Lula has vowed to halt deforestation but analysts warn that a right-wing dominated Congress and political inertia will make it challenging

Eucalyptus plantation borders natural forest

Loggers can now restore cut-down forests for FSC green branding

Loggers can now gain the FSC green certification, as long as they restore the same amount of forests they have destroyed between 1994 and 2020

Lula will update Brazil’s ‘insufficient’ climate plans if elected: advisor

The former president will prioritise tackling deforestation if he wins the runoff against Jair Bolsonaro, says environment chief Izabella Teixeira

As Brazil’s Congress swings further right, environmentalists pin hopes on Lula

Challenger Lula came out on top in Sunday’s election but it wasn’t enough to avoid a runoff with Jair Bolsonaro, who did better than expected

The fate of the Amazon rests on the outcome of Brazil’s election

Jair Bolsonaro dismantled social and environmental protections. Brazil’s next president must combat illegal activity and restore safeguards

Oil not charcoal the biggest threat to Congo rainforest, top researcher warns

Stop blaming poor communities for deforestation, urges author of upcoming FAO report, warning oil exploration could set off a “giant carbon bomb”

Forests

Cities