Most recent 40 articles: Climate Change News - Land
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Indigenous lands feel cruel bite of green energy?transition - Climate Change News - Land  (Apr 26, 2024) |
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Apr 26, 2024 · Comment: Mining companies have been offered a path to sustainability but few are taking it – Indigenous people need to be at the table demanding change Members of Indigenous organizations in the province of Cotopaxi protest against mining in their territories, in Latacunga, Ecuador, March 27, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Karen Toro) Rukka Sombolinggi, a Torajan Indigenous woman from Sulawesi, Indonesia, is the first female Secretary General of AMAN, the world’s largest Indigenous peoples organization. Gathered in NYC in mid-April, 87 Indigenous leaders from 35 countries met to hammer out a set of demands?to address a common scourge: the green energy transition that ... | By Rukka Sombolinggi? Read more ... |
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Nigeria’s path to net zero should be fully lined with trees – and fairness - Climate Change News - Land  (Apr 05, 2024) |
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Apr 05, 2024 · Comment: To meet its pledge of net zero by 2060, Nigeria needs to rein in emissions from deforestation and land use, which equal those from the oil and gas sector A labourer sits on top of logs on a truck in an unreserved forest in Igbatoro village, southwest Nigeria, August 28, 2014. (Photo: REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye) It must be said: it is impossible to imagine Nigeria’s path to decarbonization without imagining it being fully lined with trees. There is a critical need to address deforestation, transform agricultural practices, and harness nature-based solutions like afforestation and reforestation if Nigeria were serious about reaching net zero by 2060 – a ... | By Chukwumerije Okereke Read more ... |
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“Two steps forward, two steps back” – Governments off course for forest protection target - Climate Change News - Land  (Apr 04, 2024) |
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Apr 04, 2024 · While Brazil and Colombia saw forest loss drop, their progress was offset by rises elsewhere A deforested area In Brazil's Para State seen by a drone during an operation to combat forest clearing. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino/File Photo Tropical forests continued disappearing at a “stubbornly” high rate last year, putting a global goal to end deforestation by 2030 “far off track”, new research shows. The equivalent of ten football pitches of tropical forests – 3.7 million hectares – were lost every minute in 2023 as the result of human activities and natural disasters, according to analysis carried out by Global Forest Watch. While forest destruction ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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While Europe’s green backlash grows, Poland tells different story - Climate Change News - Land  (Feb 05, 2024) |
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Feb 05, 2024 · As the backlash against laws protecting nature intensifies across Europe, public pressure has helped push forests centre stage in Poland More than 70 activists from 12 European countries blocked heavy machines that cut old-growth forest in UNESCO protected zone in the Bialowieza Forest in Poland. (Photos: Greenpeace) Not long ago Poland embodied Europe’s worst nature-destroying tendencies. Not only did our country consistently block progressive environmental laws within the European Union (EU), but it attracted widespread scorn for logging Europe’s “most precious” forest, Bialowieza. Bialowieza is one of the last remaining fragments of primaeval forest in ... | By Augustyn Mikos Read more ... |
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Amazon nations to tackle rainforest crime together in donor-funded new office - Climate Change News - Land  (Jan 23, 2024) |
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Jan 23, 2024 · The $1.8 million Centre for International Police Cooperation will be built in the Brazilian Amazon city of Manaus and funded by the Norwegian-backed Amazon Fund A miners' camp is destroyed at an illegal gold mine during an operation against illegal gold mining at the Urupadi National Forest Park (Reuters/Adriano Machado) Brazil is moving ahead with the creation of a donor-funded new international security center in Manaus that will bring together Amazon nations in policing the rainforest, sharing intelligence and chasing criminals, a senior Brazilian police officer said. A building has been rented and equipment is being purchased for the center that will have ... | By Reuters and Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Germany and US warn Brazil against using Amazon Fund to pave rainforest road - Climate Change News - Land  (Jan 10, 2024) |
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Jan 10, 2024 · The Brazilian government want to tap forest protection funds to pave a major highway. Western donors say that goes against the fund’s rules. Amazon forest along the BR-319 highway in Amazonas state. Photo: Nilmar Lage/Greenpeace Western donors to the Amazon Fund have warned against the Brazilian government’s plans to use it to pave a major road in the rainforest. A spokesperson for the German government, the fund’s second-biggest donor, told Climate Home that support for such a project “is not possible” according to the rules of the fund, which was specifically set up to reduce forest destruction in the Amazon. The United States is ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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Kenyan president William Ruto courts logging controversy - Climate Change News - Land  (Aug 29, 2023) |
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Aug 29, 2023 · Known internationally as one of Africa’s climate champions, President Ruto faces a legal challenge over plans to restart commercial forestry President William Ruto (right) and environment minister Soipan Tuya (left) at a meeting in Rotterdam (Photo credit: Soipan Tuya/Twitter) While he prepares to host dozens of world leaders at next week’s Africa Climate Summit, Kenya’s president William Ruto is facing criticism from some environmentalists at home. Ruto has been hailed abroad as one of Africa’s green champions. In Kenya, his plans to lift a ban on logging are causing controversy. Ruto’s government argues that lifting the ban will boost the economy ... | By Shadrack Omuka Read more ... |
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Soy, beef and gold gangsters: Why Bolivia and Venezuela won’t protect the Amazon - Climate Change News - Land  (Aug 24, 2023) |
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Aug 24, 2023 · Bolivia wants to chop down trees to grow soy, beef and palm oil while Venezuela is unwilling or unable to restrain illegal gold mining An illegal miner rests outside a mine in Venezeula in 2012 (Reuters/Jore Silva) This month’s Amazon summit brought together leaders from eight countries to sketch out a plan to protect the rainforest, but ended without a pledge to end deforestation by 2030 in the final document. That target was pushed by Brazil but met the opposition of the Bolivian government, according to Brazilian officials quoted in the Financial Times and the Guardian. “We tried [to include some deforestation targets], but Bolivia explicitly asked for it ... | By Thomas Graham Read more ... |
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Dis-united States of the Amazon – Climate Weekly - Climate Change News - Land  (Aug 11, 2023) |
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Aug 11, 2023 · Indigenous people take part in a march as the Amazon Summit kicks off in Belem, Brazil. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino Climate politics watchers had pinned major hopes on the much-hyped Amazon Summit this week. It is easy to see why. For the first time in 14 years, leaders from eight Amazonian nations came together in the Brazilian city of Bèlem to sketch out a plan to tackle deforestation. The biggest success is that the meeting happened at all. It would have been an unfathomable proposition less than a year ago under the then-presidency of Jair Bolsonaro, who was overseeing a skyrocketing increase in tree-chopping in the Amazon rainforest. When it comes to the ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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Amazon nations decry EU deforestation rules in thinly-veiled joint condemnation - Climate Change News - Land  (Aug 10, 2023) |
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Aug 10, 2023 · The Belem Declaration echoes growing discontent with a new law prohibiting firms from importing goods linked to deforestation A deforested area in Bolivia, where a soya farming boom has led to an increase in tree loss. Photo: Marcelo Perez del Carpio / Climate Visuals Countdown Amazon nations have attacked in a joint declaration the “proliferation” of environmental rules in trade, echoing a growing backlash against new EU deforestation requirements. A law adopted by European governments in June requires companies to prove a series of products, including cattle, soya and palm oil, were not grown on land affected by tree loss. The EU says the rules ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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Amazon nations fail to agree on deforestation goal at summit - Climate Change News - Land  (Aug 09, 2023) |
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Aug 09, 2023 · Eight South American nations agreed on a list of joint actions to protect the Amazon rainforest, but failed to mention a long-awaited target to halt deforestation. Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addresses the audience at the summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), in Belem, Brazil August 8, 2023. (Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/Brazil Presidency/Reuters) Eight Amazon nations agreed to a list of unified policies and measures to bolster regional cooperation at a major rainforest summit in Brazil on Tuesday, but failed to agree on a common goal for ending deforestation. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has staked his ... | By Reuters and Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ... |
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Indonesia falls short on peatland restoration, risking destructive fire season - Climate Change News - Land  (Aug 09, 2023) |
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Aug 09, 2023 · Data from the Indonesian government suggests efforts to restore peatlands, a key part of the country’s climate strategy, do not match government claims. Covering 1.3 million hectares, the Kerumutan Peat Swamp Forest has been designated one of the regional priority landscapes for conserving tigers. (Photo: Greenpeace) After devastating wildfires ravaged through Indonesia’s tropical peatlands in 2015 and left more than $16 billion in damages, the country launched an ambitious plan to restore this key ecosystem. This would be central to the government’s climate strategy. Eight years after, the Indonesian government claims to have made huge progress, with as much ... | By The Gecko Project Read more ... |
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FSC’s rehab scheme for forest destroyers under fire after fresh allegations - Climate Change News - Land  (May 31, 2023) |
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May 31, 2023 · Indonesian pulp and paper giants are trying to rehabilitate themselves with the FSC despite continued accusations of deforestation in their supply chains Rainforest trees logged in Borneo. Photo: Shankar Raman A new scheme aimed at reintegrating past forest-destroyers into a green certification is being questioned as interested logging companies face accusations that they have kept contributing to forest destruction in Indonesia. At its assembly last year, the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) agreed to give their stamp of approval to companies that have cut down trees between 1994 and 2020 if they restore part of the forests and compensate communities. The move ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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World Bank body delays vote on controversial loan to Brazilian dairy firm - Climate Change News - Land  (May 25, 2023) |
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May 25, 2023 · Campaigners say the $32m loan to dairy firm Alvoar Lacteos could damage forests in Brazil A Brazilian cattle herder in Gerais (Photo credit: Victor Moriyama/Greenpeace) The private sector arm of the World Bank has delayed a decision on whether to loan money to a Brazilian dairy company, following concerns raised by civil society about its impacts on the climate, environment and human rights. The International Finance Corporation’s (IFC) board was initially due to vote at its 30 April meeting on a BRL160 million ($32 million) loan to Alvoar Lacteos intended to help the company expand its operations in Brazil and support wider food security. Alvoar ... | By Isabella Kaminski Read more ... |
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Brazil launches first raids against Amazon tree-cutters under Lula’s new government - Climate Change News - Land  (Jan 20, 2023) |
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Jan 20, 2023 · Brazil’s new government is already having an impact on deforestation in the Amazon rainforest, an environmental enforcement agent claimed An agent of the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) gets ready before going to an operation to combat of deforestation, in Uruara, Para State, Brazil January 19, 2023. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino Brazilian environmental agents cut through the rainforest with machetes on Thursday in search of criminals in the first anti–deforestation raids under President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who has pledged to end surging destruction inherited from his predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro. Reuters ... | By Reuters Read more ... |
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Cost of a KitKat: Big brands leave sugar farmers at the mercy of climate extremes - Climate Change News - Land  (Dec 21, 2022) |
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Dec 21, 2022 · Nestlé, Coca Cola and Pepsi are among the buyers from Nanglamal Sugar Complex, which smallholders say gives no help with climate resilience Sugar grown in India's state Uttar Pradesh is used by Nestlé, Coca Cola and Pepsi. (Credit: Meenal Upreti) Inderpal Singh, 66, grows sugarcane over 2.5 acres in Bhatipura village, Uttar Pradesh. He supplies it to the local sugar mill, Nanglamal Sugar Complex. Nanglamal Sugar Complex is owned by Mawana Sugars, one of India’s largest manufacturers. It supplies sugar to multinational companies including Nestlé, Coca Cola and Pepsi. Singh used to almost harvest 90,000kg of cane in a typical season. This year it will be closer ... | By Arvind Shukla, Mayank Aggarwal, Gurman Bhatia, Meenal Upreti and Isabelle Gerretsen Read more ... |
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India’s female cane cutters face child marriage and hysterectomy - Climate Change News - Land  (Dec 20, 2022) |
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Dec 20, 2022 · Women and girls in India’s sugar fields are exposed to sexual harassment, backbreaking work and inadequate healthcare In India's sugar industry, women work up to 18 hours a day, without access to health or sanitation facilities 15-year-old Meera Gaikwad*, who is six months pregnant, knows her life will change forever when she moves 100km to cut sugarcane in Karnataka this season. There is no work at her drought-prone home of Paargaon, a small village in western India’s Maharashtra state. Gaikwad told Climate Home News that she is afraid she will have to deliver her baby in a hut next to the fields, without access to medical care. Thousands of girls like ... | By Arvind Shukla, Mayank Aggarwal, Meenal Upreti and Gurman Bhatia Read more ... |
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Migrant labourers suffer exploitation in India’s sugar fields - Climate Change News - Land  (Dec 19, 2022) |
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Dec 19, 2022 · Millions of people migrate each year to work in India’s sugar fields under extreme heat, harsh conditions and debt bondage Karan Wavhale, 20, stands in front of a wall that has “brother Sachin” written on it. His brother died in 2021 after his head was crushed by a truck while returning home from the sugar fields Karan Gautam Wavhale, 20, wanted to join the Indian Army, but it was not to be. Instead, he became a labourer, travelling over 200km from his home in Koyal, in Maharashtra’s Beed district, to toil in the sugar fields of Karnataka. He is one of millions who migrate with the sugar season each year. Heatwaves, drought and floods brought by climate ... | By Arvind Shukla, Mayank Aggarwal and Meenal Upreti Read more ... |
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Brazil election: Lula victory raises hope for Amazon rainforest - Climate Change News - Land  (Oct 31, 2022) |
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Oct 31, 2022 · Lula has vowed to halt deforestation but analysts warn that a right-wing dominated Congress and political inertia will make it challenging Brazilian singer Vitao, watches fires in the Amazon (Photo: Victor Moriyama / Amazônia em Chamas) The Brazilian people elected Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva to be their next president on Sunday, rejecting the far-right incumbent Jair Bolsonaro. The vote has raised environmentalists’ hopes that the Amazon rainforest will be protected from ranchers, illegal loggers and gold miners. While Bolsonaro gutted environmental protection agencies and oversaw a rise in deforestation, Lula’s previous tenure as ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Loggers can now restore cut-down forests for FSC green branding - Climate Change News - Land  (Oct 14, 2022) |
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Oct 14, 2022 · 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 A eucalyptus plantation borders natural forest in Brazil (Photo: Daniel Beltra/Greenpeace) The body that certifies environmentally-friendly wood products will green-light logging companies who have cut down forests if they restore them and compensate the communities they’ve harmed. Currently, companies who have cut down forests since 1994 cannot get a green certification from the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) for their wood products like pulp and paper. As some buyers insist on certification, this restricts their ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Hali Hewa episode 4: Female farmers - Climate Change News - Land  (Oct 04, 2022) |
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Oct 04, 2022 · Sofanit Mesfin talks about her work helping female farmers in different African countries adapt to a changing climate In the fifth episode of the Hali Hewa podcast, Abigael Kima interviews Sofanit Mesfin about her work helping female farmers in different African countries adapt to a changing climate. Sofanit is a gender specialist working as the regional gender and social inclusion coordinator at Ripple Effect, formerly known as 'Send A Cow’. Ripple Effect works with smallholder farmers to equip them with knowledge and skills enabling them to improve their livelihoods and thrive. In this episode, Sofanit takes us through her journey working with women farmers ... | By CHN Staff Read more ... |
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My people have lived in the Amazon for 6,000 years: You need to listen to us - Climate Change News - Land  (Jul 01, 2022) |
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Jul 01, 2022 · Comment: As the planet warms and biodiversity collapses, those encouraging and profiting from the destruction of the Earth must be charged with ecocide Indigenous leader and activist Txai Suruí (Photo: Gabriel Uchida ) Everything I know and love about nature has been passed down to me from my ancestors. I am only 25 years old but my people have been living in the Amazon rainforest for at least 6,000 years. I follow our ancient traditions that allow us to live in harmony with nature and protect the rainforest in which we live. When corporations look at my home in the Amazon rainforest, they don’t see the intricacies of the trees’ roots, the way they weave ... | By Txai Suruí Read more ... |
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DR Congo audit exposes ‘lawless’ logging sector, implicating six former ministers - Climate Change News - Land  (Apr 07, 2022) |
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Apr 07, 2022 · As Norway, UK and Germany commit millions to protect the Congo rainforest, a damning report shows governance in chaos Wood processing at the Compagnie Forestiere et de Transformation (CFT) in Kisangani, DRC. The French company is named in the audit as having failed to pay appropriate tax and contested the auditors' investigation (Photo: Axel Fassio/CIFOR/Flickr) Six successive ministers in the Democratic Republic of Congo illegally allocated at least 18 logging concessions between them and repeatedly violated forest laws, a national audit has found. The report by the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF), finalised in May 2021 but not published until last Friday, ... | By Chloé Farand Read more ... |
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War in Ukraine is compounding a hunger crisis in East Africa, charities warn - Climate Change News - Land  (Mar 22, 2022) |
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Mar 22, 2022 · Up to 28 million people are facing severe food insecurity as soaring wheat prices follow failed rains, Covid and desert locusts Cali Da’auud lost his 150 cows to the drought in Jubaland State, Somalia (Photo: Osman Hussein / Oxfam) War in Ukraine is compounding a hunger crisis across East Africa as drought grips the region and food prices soar, aid agencies have warned. The Horn of Africa is facing one of its most severe droughts in recent history. Three consecutive rainy seasons have failed to materialise since October 2020 and below-average rainfall is forecast again March-May. Jane Meriwas, a pastoralist and the founder and executive director of the ... | By Chloé Farand Read more ... |
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Prison, party mansions and a naval base among urban areas India claims as ‘forest’ - Climate Change News - Land  (Feb 22, 2022) |
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Feb 22, 2022 · The government has long used a broad definition of forests which is at odds with UN guidance and overstates India’s climate credentials The Navy Nagar area around the INHS Avini hospital is regarded as forest (Photo: Indian Navy) A prison, a group of mansions, a missile manufacturer and a naval base are among the urban areas categorised as ‘forest’ by the Indian government, a Climate Home News analysis of satellite imagery reveals. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) guidelines say forests are defined by the “presence of trees and the absence of other predominant land uses”. It adds: “It does not include ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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India falsely claims forestry progress in ‘skewed’ report, experts warn - Climate Change News - Land  (Feb 14, 2022) |
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Feb 14, 2022 · By counting plantations and urban parks as forests, the Indian government hides deforestation caused by industrial projects India's forestry survey counts tea plantations (pictured), orchards and urban parks as forests. (Photo: Mike Finn/Flickr) The Indian government is using flawed forest data to falsely claim that it is making progress towards its climate goals and curbing deforestation, experts have warned. According to India’s latest State of the Forest report, India’s overall forest cover increased by 1,540 square kilometres between 2019 and 2021, while its tree cover increased by 721 sq km. But plantations, orchards and urban green areas are ... | By Isabelle Gerretsen Read more ... |
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Cooling towers, fake snow: What the Beijing Winter Olympics says about climate change - Climate Change News - Land  (Feb 09, 2022) |
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Feb 09, 2022 · The spectacle of fake snow and an old steel mill’s cooling towers has sparked climate debate among Olympics-watchers The Shougang Big Jump venue with the old steel mill behind (Photo: N509Z/Wikicommons) As they fly through the air, spinning their way to olympic glory, freestlye ski jumpers are usually framed by snow white mountains. But, as gold-medal winning Chinese-American teenager Eileen Gu spun four and a half times in the air, the backdrop was three Olympic-ring branded cooling towers. On social media, it was mocked as “dystopian”, a “hellscape” and a symbol of climate change. Users speculated that it was a nuclear power or ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Five WWF Pakistan staff monitoring forest protection die in car crash - Climate Change News - Land  (Dec 16, 2021) |
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Dec 16, 2021 · WWF Pakistan described the victims whose car plunged into a ravine in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as “young and passionate environmentalists” A valley near Nathiagali in Nathiagali,Khyber Pukhtoonkhwa province (Photo: Khalid Mir/Flickr) Five WWF employees have died in a car accident in Pakistan while on their way to monitor a forest protection scheme. The forestry experts died when their vehicle plunged into a deep ravine in Galiyat range in the early hours of Wednesday. They were travelling to Nathiagali, a town nestled among mountains and thick forests in the province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, in northwest Pakistan. WWF identified them as Aamir Saeed Khan, ... | By Chloé Farand Read more ... |
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Hackers throw Indonesian palm oil seminar into chaos, fuelling blame game - Climate Change News - Land  (Dec 10, 2021) |
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Dec 10, 2021 · As experts debated a controversial proposal to classify palm oil plantations as forest, their event in Jakarta was disrupted by swearing and pornography Where palm oil plantations in Papua meet virgin rainforest. (Photo: Greenpeace) On 25 November, a group of scientists, business people, civil servants and campaigners were gathered at a conference centre just south of Jakarta listening to a presentation by a distinguished forestry professor when chaos broke out. Over the speakers, a tinny female voice said repeatedly in English “fuck you”. One person watching online, who asked to remain anonymous, told Climate Home News: “The presenter could not ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Kenyan forest communities sidelined as government misses two billion tree target - Climate Change News - Land  (Nov 26, 2021) |
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Nov 26, 2021 · Community groups say they are willing to restore forests but have been ignored by government and rely on international non-profits for funding One morning in October in Loitoktok, a picturesque town in southern Kenyan on the border with Tanzania, Emmanuel Maiyani sat with a colleague discussing tree seedling species, prices, and planting sites as they filled in an excel sheet for hours. With 3.5 million Kenyan shillings ($35,000) in funding from WWF, Maiyani was busy planning a large tree-planting initiative later that month, where 300 members of the local community would plant 25,000 seedlings to restore 245 hectares (605 acres) of indigenous forest, set against the ... Read more ... |
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EU’s reformed agricultural policy fails its climate goals, say green groups - Climate Change News - Land  (Nov 23, 2021) |
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Nov 23, 2021 · Lawmakers have approved a reform to the Common Agricultural Policy, which critics say fails to deliver on the bloc’s Green Deal and climate goals Maize harvesting at a farm in northern Germany (Photo: Jonas Wresch / Greenpeace) European lawmakers overwhelming approved a controversial reform of the EU’s common agricultural policy (Cap) on Tuesday, which youth activists and green groups say is inadequate to address the climate and biodiversity crisis. In Strasbourg, European lawmakers signed off on the package following three years of negotiations with member states and the European Commission. The Cap is a huge subsidy programme for farmers across the ... | By Chloé Farand Read more ... |
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Donor nations commit $1.7bn to help indigenous people protect forests - Climate Change News - Land  (Nov 02, 2021) |
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Nov 02, 2021 · The funding from US, UK, Germany, Norway and the Netherlands confronts the weakening of indigenous land rights in countries like Brazil Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon hit its highest annual level in a decade earlier this year (Photo: Christian Braga/Greenpeace) An alliance of governments and private funders has committed to provide $1.7 billion to support indigenous people advance their land rights by 2025, in recognition of their critical role in conserving forests. It is one of a handful of funding initiatives for forest protection announced at Cop26 climate talks in Glasgow. Twelve donor countries pledged a total of $12 billion in public funds, with ... | By Chloé Farand Read more ... |
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Modi’s ‘gamechanger’ palm oil push raises concerns for Indian forests and women - Climate Change News - Land  (Oct 22, 2021) |
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Oct 22, 2021 · Prime minister Narendra Modi has big plans for palm oil cultivation. But the experience of farmers in Mizoram state does not bode well Sisters Hnaingaiha, 23, and Sangi Masseli, 28, work at their father’s palm oil plantation in West Phaileng, a village tucked away in the lush green hills of Mizoram state in northeastern India. Every morning at 6:00 Hnaingaiha and Sangi walk for an hour to reach the farm. They spend all day cutting fruit from the palm trees and carrying it to trucks waiting to transport the crop. It’s back-breaking work for low pay. One kilogram of palm oil is sold for just 5.50 rupees ($0.07). “It’s too tough for the women to work here. Even if we ... Read more ... |
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UK and EU must not abet the theft of indigenous territory in Brazil - Climate Change News - Land  (Oct 19, 2021) |
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Oct 19, 2021 · Brazil’s indigenous people are anxiously awaiting a supreme court judgement on our land rights. Proposed new laws in the EU and UK will profoundly affect us too Indigenous protestors outside the Supreme Federal Court of Brazil, September 2021 (Pic: Matheus Veloso/Midia NINJA) For three weeks until the middle of September, thousands of indigenous people from all corners of Brazil were camped a few kilometres from Brasilia’s imposing Supreme Federal Court. We danced, sang, prayed and chanted. We anxiously watched proceedings unfold inside the court on a large outdoor screen, as we waited for a decision by Brazil’s 11 supreme court judges which will shape the future ... | By Sonia Guajajara Read more ... |
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Indonesia ends forest protection deal with Norway, raising deforestation fears - Climate Change News - Land  (Sep 20, 2021) |
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Sep 20, 2021 · The announcement took the Norwegian government and campaigners by surprise and came days before a moratorium on new palm oil concessions lifted A villager walks in a plantation covered by haze from fires near burned peatland in an oil palm concession (Photo: Muhammad Adimaja/ Greenpeace/Flickr) The future of forest protection in Indonesia has been put into doubt after the government abruptly ended a decade-long funding agreement with Norway. Under the $1 billion payment-by-results deal signed in 2010, Norway agreed to pay the Indonesian government for curbing its emissions by conserving peatlands and forests. After setbacks and delays, the two countries were ... | By Chloé Farand Read more ... |
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On a mission: Evangelicals flock to the Amazon home of isolated tribes - Climate Change News - Land  (Sep 03, 2021) |
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Sep 03, 2021 · On Brazil's border with Peru, evangelical churches are multiplying, in a threat to uncontacted indigenous groups With its wooden houses on stilts, narrow streets and open sewers, Atalaia do Norte has a disproportionate number of churches and missionaries for its 20,000 inhabitants. The town is the gateway to the Valley of Javari indigenous land, home to seven peoples and several isolated groups – the largest non-contacted population in the world. At least 15 different denominations are represented in Atalaia. Among them are the Order of the Holy Cross, founded in the region by a messianic leader from Minas Gerais, the more traditional Fundamental Baptist Church, ... Read more ... |
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A week of wildfires has left thousands homeless in southern Turkey - Climate Change News - Land  (Aug 05, 2021) |
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Aug 05, 2021 · Experts say forest management and firefighting equipment is needed to prevent future disasters, as climate change brings hotter and drier conditions Fire threatens a house on the Aegean coast of Turkey (Picture used with permission from Gulsum Tasel) More than a week of devastating wildfires along Turkey’s southern coast, with some still burning, has left eight people dead and thousands homeless. Climate change contributed to tinder-dry conditions, experts say, calling for campfire bans, forest management and investment in firefighting equipment to prevent and respond to future disasters. Manavgat, a popular tourist destination in Antalya province, was ... | By Sümeyra Tansel Read more ... |
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After 20 years, talks on scrapping fishing subsidies enter final stretch - Climate Change News - Land  (Jul 19, 2021) |
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Jul 19, 2021 · The World Trade Organization is nearing a deal to end harmful fishing subsidies, but exemptions for developing countries could give China a pass WTO director-general Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Colombian ambassador Santiago Wills (Pic: WTO/Bryan Lehmann) After 20 years, global talks over reducing environmentally damaging fishing subsidies are entering their final stage at the World Trade Organisation (WTO). On Thursday, 104 ministers and heads of delegation met virtually and gave a conditional blessing to the text of an agreement to remove harmful fishing subsidies. This means delegations can now negotiate the nine-page draft text line by line for approval at the ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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DR Congo plans to lift logging moratorium amid forest protection talks - Climate Change News - Land  (Jul 15, 2021) |
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Jul 15, 2021 · The government is ending a decade-old ban on new forestry concessions, to the horror of campaigners who say the move is incompatible with climate targets An Iroko tree being cut near Imbolo, DR Congo (Photo: Axel Fassio/CIFOR/Flickr) The government in the Democratic Republic of Congo has adopted plans to lift a ban on new industrial logging concessions as part of a package of measures designed to “sustainably manage natural resources”. The 10-point plan was put forward by vice prime minister Eve Bazaiba, who also serves as environment minister, and was approved by the council of ministers. It includes elaborating a national forestry strategy, reviewing existing ... | By Chloé Farand Read more ... |
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Flooding and drought fuels mental health crisis in Kenya - Climate Change News - Land  (Jun 04, 2021) |
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Jun 04, 2021 · Many Kenyans are suffering post-traumatic stress, depression and anxiety after being hit by extreme weather, but lack access to mental health services Bahati Tarus a mother of six from Garashi village in Kilifi, Kenya, inspects her wilting maize plantation. (Photo: Sophie Mbugua) About a year ago, Pauline Yator, a 50-year-old mother of seven from Baringo county in Kenya’s Rift Valley, said she almost went mad. “The farm I had called home for nearly 30 years was completely submerged, I was in shock and afraid. For two weeks I walked by the roadside speaking to myself,” Yator told Climate Home News. “Questions ran through my mind without answers. ... | By Sophie Mbugua Read more ... |
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