Environment

By Simon Chin-Yee, UCL; Mark Maslin, UCL, and Priti Parikh, UCL (The Conversation) – As the sun set on the Amazon, the promise of a “people’s Cop” faded with it. The latest UN climate summit – known as Cop30, hosted in the Brazilian city of Belém – came with the usual geopolitics and the added […]

Climate Crisis

The COP30 Climate Meet had One Job, and Totally Crashed and Burned

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – COP30 in Belém, Brazil, has ended without an agreement by member states to reaffirm the phasing out of fossil fuels, which is the only way to avert rolling climate catastrophes. COP28 at Dubai had included such language. The vague advice to countries to cut down on their carbon dioxide emissions […]

Climate Crisis

India Plans 2.45 Gig Solar Park + 5 GWh Battery in Rajasthan, so why drag its Feet at COP30?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – The paradox of India’s unhelpful stance at COP30, which has gone into extra innings over the obstacles the “like-minded developing countries” have placed in the way of a renewed pledge to transition away from fossil fuels, lies in New Delhi’s impressive investments in renewables. That is, even the right wing […]

Climate Crisis

Environment and health: a connection that remains unseen in the Climate Change Conferences

The Conversation

By Sandra de Souza Hacon, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) (The Conversation) – In a conversation with Luciana Julião, environment editor at The Conversation Brasil, during COP30 in Belém, Fiocruz researcher and environmental health specialist Sandra Hacon explained why the integration of climate, environment and health has guided her research for two decades. Hacon has a […]

Climate Crisis

Global Battle Royale at COP30 between Fossil Fuel Producers and Green Energy Advocates

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Fiona Harvey at The Guardian reports from the COP30 climate conference that a bloc comprising such countries as India, China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt and Bolivia (under its new right wing President Rodrigo Paz), calling themselves “like-minded developing countries,” are attempting to deep-six the pledge made at COP28 in Dubai […]

Climate Crisis

Türkiye to host Climate Meet COP31: Can it Rise to Green Energy Leadership Challenge?

Juan Cole

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Türkiye has emerged as the host of COP31, after a vigorous contest with Australia. In a compromise, the representatives of the world’s nearly 200 countries will assemble in Türkiye for the conference, but Australia will lead the negotiations. COP refers to the Conference of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol, initiated […]

Climate Crisis

Trump’s Assault on Green Energy could Kill 1.3 million in Climate Disasters

ProPublica

Most of the people expected to suffer these temperature-related deaths live in poor countries in Africa and South Asia that are least prepared to cope with the increasing heat from climate change. By Sharon Lerner ( ProPublica ) – New advances in environmental science are providing a detailed understanding of the human costs of the […]

Climate Crisis

Trump Luxuriates in Golden Ballroom Plans as Americans Scrimp By

Tom Engelhardt

( Tomdispatch.com ) – When I began TomDispatch in the wake of the 9/11 attacks and the invasion of Afghanistan, believe me, the world did not look good. But I guarantee you one thing: if you had told me then that, almost a quarter of a century later, the president of the United States would […]

Climate Crisis

What Policies Can Help Solve Iran’s Climate-Driven Water Shortage?

The Conversation

By Sanam Mahoozi, City St George’s, University of London and Nima Shokri, United Nations University (The Conversation) – Iran is facing its most severe water crisis in more than six decades. Major dams supplying drinking water to provinces with millions of residents are nearly empty, and groundwater reserves have been depleted. Many cities have endured […]