What drives and halts tropical deforestation?
24/8/2023: Researchers have conducted a meta-analysis of 320 studies covering a period of 24 years, confirming that the key drivers of tropical deforestation are agriculture, cattle ranching, building roads, expanding cities into forests, and population growth. Stronger protections for parks and nature reserves help slow deforestation, as does better law enforcement and bans on logging.
Source: Mongabay
US aims to limit loss and damage fund
24/8/2023: The US, which long opposed the new Loss and Damage fund, proposes that it should target the most vulnerable countries and focus on areas not already covered by development banks or emergency relief funds. The G77+China umbrella group of countries argues that they are all vulnerable and should be eligible.
Source: Climate Home News
Middle East’s groundwater: Will it soon run out?
16/8/2023: As rivers dry up and rainfall declines, water stored underground is more important than ever. Many Middle Eastern countries already have regulations about water use but there is a lack of enforcement to regulate water abstraction for agriculture.
Source: DW
Amazon nations fail to agree on deforestation goal at summit
9/8/2023: Eight South American nations have agreed on a list of joint actions to protect the Amazon rainforest, but failed to mention a long-awaited target to halt deforestation. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had been pushing for the region to unite behind a common policy of ending deforestation by 2030.
Source: Climate Home News
Amazon deforestation continues to fall under Lula
5/8/2023: Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon detected by satellite through 2023 is down 42% on the same period last year, marking a sharp reversal of performance under the Bolsonaro administration. Since retaking the presidency, Lula has worked to restore protections for the Amazon and rally international support for the ecosystem.
Source: Mongabay
Carbon offsets will not save the Amazon rainforest
1/8/2023: The deal set up between the Norwegian government and Guyana demonstrates how the carbon offset market is plagued with problems. It routinely inflates its climate impact, diverts money to middlemen who cream off profits, and exploits Indigenous communities.
Source: Climate Home News
Bridgetown Agenda author rejects idea of climate reparations
24/7/2023: A working and financed climate loss and damage fund is seen by many experts as essential to clinching a global agreement at COP 28 later this year. Complex negotiations to set up the fund are off track as many high-income countries are sensitive to the blurry line between reparations and funding loss and damage.
Source: Devex
Water – a weapon of war or a tool for peace?
11/7/2023: The recent Kakhovka dam disaster in Ukraine is a painful reminder of how destruction of water infrastructure can cause enormous suffering in times of war. Researchers who have studied Yemen, Libya, and Syria say that attacks on civilian and environmental infrastructure have become more common in the past decade.
Source: Inter Press Service
Developing nations decry threat to UK climate finance
6/7/2023: A leaked memo suggests that the UK's promise to deliver £11.6 billion in international climate finance by 2026 is being dropped. A broken pledge is likely to sow further divisions between developed and developing nations at climate talks.
Source: Climate Home News
10% increase in primary tropical forest loss in 2022
27/6/2023: During the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021, heads of 145 countries pledged to reduce global deforestation by 10% each year, targeting zero deforestation by 2030. In the first year after the Glasgow pledge, tropical forest loss increased by 10%.
Source: Mongabay