Land

As Earth dries out, countries fail to reach drought agreement

Countries including the US successfully resisted Africa’s push for a legally binding drought protocol at the “land COP” in Riyadh

Global North countries must step up on protecting their own forests

The impacts of logging in the Global North are being felt in countries like Nigeria – a more equitable, coordinated approach is needed to tackle deforestation

Biodiversity market takes off at COP16, in shadow of carbon credit chaos

Several new guidelines for biodiversity credits were launched at COP16 in Cali, Colombia, where activists warned on risks to nature conservation efforts

COP16 hands power to Indigenous people but fails to bridge nature finance gap

COP16 hands power to Indigenous people but fails to bridge nature finance gap

UN biodiversity summit produces mixed results, with gains for Indigenous people and disagreement on how to raise and manage funding for nature protection

Fossil fuel transition pledge left out of COP16 draft agreement

Fossil fuel transition pledge left out of COP16 draft agreement

An earlier draft decision at the UN nature summit included a call to transition away from fossil fuels – but it has been cut from the latest version

An indigenous activist giving a speech to the COP16 main plenary in Cali, Colombia.

At COP16, countries clash over future of global fund for nature protection

Some biodiverse developing nations want to replace it with a new fund that would give them a bigger say in how it’s run and easier access to its resources

COP16 confronts "huge" challenge of protecting 30% of world's land and sea

COP16 confronts “huge” challenge of protecting 30% of world’s land and sea

Ahead of the UN biodiversity summit, countries are urged to come up with strong new plans and funding to meet global nature goals

Delay to EU deforestation law must not lead to dilution

Delay to EU deforestation law must not lead to dilution

The EU needs to stand firm against the countries and companies hellbent on weakening its pioneering regulation to stop commodities harming forests

Guyana's carbon-credit deal to protect forests undermines forest protectors 

Guyana’s carbon-credit deal to protect forests undermines its forest protectors 

Guyana’s Indigenous communities are under siege from all sides – including an opaque carbon-offsetting scheme agreed by the government on our lands

A group of biologists check a book in the forest of Liberia

Biodiversity finance grew ahead of COP16 but came mostly as loans, says OECD

Funding for efforts to protect and restore nature increased to $15.4 billion in 2022 – mostly driven by concessional loans from multilateral banks

Land

Agriculture

FAO draft report backs growth of livestock industry despite emissions 

Experts say the UN’s food agency has shied away from recommending less animal farming, though cutting methane emissions is a quick way to curb warming

Despite dilution, nature law should restore EU's carbon sinks

Despite dilution, officials say new nature law can restore EU carbon sinks

To meet climate goals, the European Union needs to reverse the decline of its carbon-storing ecosystems like forests and peatlands

Right-wing pushback on EU’s green laws misjudges rural views 

Populist and far-right parties are wooing rural voters in the EU elections by exploiting a backlash against green policies – but new research suggests it may not work 

Do COP food talks work in the real world?

The great COP food systems illusion: UN climate talks deliver no real-world action

Negotiations on food and agriculture have moved too slowly, while special initiatives fail to hold countries accountable on their commitments

A woman places her hands in a row of drying cocoa beans

Can the rising cost of chocolate help cocoa producers go green?

Cocoa farmers have long faced difficult growing conditions and low pay. Recent record high prices have highlighted the need for change.

A chicken farm in Switzerland. The World Bank tip toed into the meat emissions debate.

World Bank tiptoes into fiery debate over meat emissions

The bank has advised wealthy nations to cut subsidies for high-emissions foods but stopped far short of promoting veganism

Spring Meetings can jump-start financial reform for food and climate 

Spring Meetings can jump-start financial reform for food and climate 

The World Bank and IMF have a big part to play in raising the $3 trillion needed to help countries meet global development goals and the Paris accord

India's farmers face big climate threats. How can we protect them?

What will it take to protect India’s angry farmers from climate threats?

Indebted farmers, facing falling yields and water scarcity, want legally guaranteed price support for more crops – but that may not fix their climate woes

Agriculture

Biodiversity

Argentina lithium indigenous protest. A UN panel is working to define principles and recommendations for responsible mining of "critical" transition minerals

The UN can set a new course on “critical” transition minerals  

A high-level panel is working to define principles for responsible mining, which will be presented to the UN General Assembly in September

Indigenous lands feel cruel bite of green energy transition 

Indigenous lands feel cruel bite of green energy transition 

Mining companies have been offered a path to sustainability but few are taking it – Indigenous people need to be at the table demanding change

Shades of green hydrogen: EU demand set to transform Namibia

Shades of green hydrogen: EU demand set to transform Namibia

Backed by the EU, Namibia has a $20 billion plan to export green hydrogen. A secretive tender process raises concerns for nature and citizens.

Digger excavating the BR-319. Brazil government eyes Amazon Fund to pay for controversial road

Brazilian government eyes money from Amazon Fund for controversial road

Brazil’s transport ministry plans to bid for money from the Amazon Fund to pave the world’s “most sustainable highway”

New nature fund needs $40m by December to get going

Nature fund launched but financing questions remain

The new fund aims to be the primary tool to implement the Kunming-Montreal deal and deliver $200 billion a year to nature protection initiatives

A peatland forest seen from above with a river serpenting through

Indonesia falls short on peatland restoration, risking destructive fire season

Data from the Indonesian government suggests efforts to restore peatlands, a key part of the country’s climate strategy, do not match government claims.

Brazil's president Lula da Silva giving a speech at the Amazon Summit. Lula scraps Bolsonaro's cuts to Brazilian climate target ambition

Amazon nations fail to agree on deforestation goal at summit

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.

UN deep-sea mining talks deadlocked over agenda clash

A dozen countries want to officially debate for the first time in history the possibility to halt deep-sea mining, but have faced opposition from China and the island-nation of Nauru.

Biodiversity

Forests

Delaying the EU's anti-deforestation law is not an option 

Delaying the EU’s anti-deforestation law is not an option 

The EU’s new deforestation law was seen as a breakthrough in the global battle against forest loss, but it’s provoking fractious debate among governments and producers

Road row in protected forest exposes Kenya’s climate conundrum 

The government wants to expand a road through the Aberdare National Park but conservationists argue it will harm the forest, wildlife and water supplies

Forest carbon accounting keeps Guyana net zero while pumping oil

Forest carbon accounting allows Guyana to stay net zero while pumping oil

Experts say UN rules around forests and oil are open to abuse, so that countries like Guyana can claim to be carbon-negative without cutting emissions

Nigeria’s path to net zero should be fully lined with trees – and fairness

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

“Two steps forward, two steps back” – Governments off course for forest protection target

While Brazil and Colombia saw forest loss drop, their progress was offset by rises elsewhere

green climate fund nicaragua human rights

UN climate fund axes Nicaragua forest project over human rights concerns

In its first such move, the Green Climate Fund has pulled out of a project after developers failed to address environmental and social compliance issues

Poland forests take the centre stage in new pack of green laws

While Europe’s green backlash grows, Poland tells different story

As the backlash against laws protecting nature intensifies across Europe, public pressure has helped push forests centre stage in Poland

Amazon nations to tackle rainforest crime together in donor-funded new office

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

Forests

Cities

Devastating Beijing floods test China’s ‘sponge cities’

Despite Beijing’s sponge city project, the capital was overwhelmed by recent floods with dozens dying and a new “sponge airport” shut down

Cooling towers, fake snow: What the Beijing Winter Olympics says about climate change

The spectacle of fake snow and an old steel mill’s cooling towers has sparked climate debate among Olympics-watchers

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

The coronavirus pandemic lays bare the impact of Mexico City’s mounting water crisis on vulnerable households, while gated communities enjoy reliable supplies

It will take more than a few cycle lanes to make green, pandemic-proof cities

The coronavirus lockdown gave a glimpse of what cleaner cities can look like, but as people turn to private cars for safety from infection, pollution could soar

Addis Ababa riverside project gives priority to development over residents

Ethiopia wants $900 million riverside project to be a model of green development – yet one resident says shelters were demolished ‘without warning’

Car boom brings gridlock misery to ‘green and happy’ Bhutan

Bhutan’s growing economy brings growing gridlock – and a potential threat to the country’s vaunted carbon-negative status

Two million in Zimbabwe’s capital have no water as city turns off taps

‘The situation is bad, period’, says spokesman for Harare council, as suburbs go weeks without water and cases of typhoid are reported

Trains deliver emergency water to drought-hit Chennai

Millions of people are experiencing water shortages as Chennai’s reservoirs are running dry and other sources of water are dwindling

Cities