Veille 2.1

Environmental pledges are being shredded to please agribusiness and appease extremists. It’s a terrible mistake, says environmental writer Arthur Neslen

All local communities affected by mining projects should have the right to have a say on whether mining activities will start or continue in their backyard. This belief in community involvement in political, economic, and environmental decision-making is epitomised in a Right to Say No (RTSN), which is the inalienable and collective right of a community to say no (or yes) to extractive projects on the territories/lands they are living within. Currently, there is no real ‘Right’ to Say No outside of iterations of the indigenous right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) — it is a right we are asserting, not something we can yet claim. This toolbox will elaborate on the rights local communities already have and those rights that still need to be recognised and enforced, to establish a Right to Say No.

A UN meeting this week considered a motion on a suite of technologies known as ‘solar radiation modification’, but no consensus could be reached on the controversial topic.

Les scientifiques affirment que la catégorie 6 est nécessaire pour tenir compte de la force des ouragans provoquée par le changement climatique. Des tempêtes tropicales surpuissantes au cours de la dernière décennie et la perspective d'autres à venir ont amené les experts à proposer une nouvelle catégorie d'ouragans gigantesques : la catégorie 6.

Les Emirats arabes unis souffrent de niveaux de pollution atmosphérique "alarmants" en partie à cause de leur industrie fossile, affirme l’ONG Human Right Watch (HRW), qui accuse le pays hôte de la conférence de l’ONU sur les changements climatiques d’étouffer les débats sur la qualité de l’air.

L’ONG dénonce l’utilisation, par Tsahal à Gaza et au Liban, de ces munitions interdites dans les zones où vivent des civils en raison des brulûres qu’elles provoquent.

UK has led the way, with countries across the continent making mass arrests, passing draconian new laws and labelling activists as eco-terrorists

As the northern hemisphere burns, experts feel deep sadness – and resentment – while dreading what lies ahead this Australian summer

As climate policy is weakened, extreme weather intensifies and more refugees are driven from their homes – and the cycle of hatred continues, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot

How to Blow Up a Pipeline makes a case for sabotage, but hope remains that we can build rather than destroy, says campaigner Natasha Walter

Pie-in-the-sky fantasies of carbon capture and geoengineering are a way for decision-makers to delay taking real action

Net-zero targets imply that continuing residual emissions will be balanced by carbon dioxide removal. However, residual emissions are typically not well defined, conceptually or quantitatively. We analysed governments’ long-term strategies submitted to the UNFCCC to explore projections of residual emissions, including amounts and sectors. We found substantial levels of residual emissions at net-zero greenhouse gas emissions, on average 18% of current emissions for Annex I countries. The majority of strategies were imprecise about which sectors residual emissions would originate from, and few offered specific projections of how residual emissions could be balanced by carbon removal. Our findings indicate the need for a consistent definition of residual emissions, as well as processes that standardize and compare expectations about residual emissions across countries. This is necessary for two reasons: to avoid projections of excessive residuals and correspondent unsustainable or unfeasible carbon-removal level

An Australian court has blocked a proposal for a huge coal mine, saying the emissions produced by the fuel would threaten human rights. The Galilee Coal Project would add 1.58 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over its lifespan — more than triple Australia’s annual domestic emissions — and impact the human rights of future generations, the Queensland Land Court ruled on Friday.

...after borders reopened, our fossil fuel addiction returned with a vengeance. In fact, the International Energy Agency projects net income for oil and gas producers will double in 2022 to an alarming US$4 trillion. As social scientists, this is both horrifying and fascinating to observe. How is it that a technologically advanced society could choose to destroy itself by failing to act to avert a climate catastrophe?

Egypte legt klimaat- en milieuorganisaties zware beperkingen op en daardoor kunnen die hun werk niet naar behoren kunnen uitvoeren, zegt de mensenrechtenorganisatie Human Rights Watch. Milieuactivisten durven zelfs niet deelnemen aan de komende VN-klimaatconferentie in Egypte uit vrees voor repressie.

Des études récentes indiquent en effet une augmentation d’au moins 10 % des visites aux urgences des hôpitaux les jours où les températures atteignent ou dépassent les 5 % supérieurs de la fourchette de températures normales. Et certaines personnes sont plus vulnérables que d’autres.

Pet cats kill songbirds by the million, as well as rodents and other wildlife. But how much of a threat do they really pose, and should they be kept indoors? Expert opinion is divided

Un rapport accablant de l’ONG Human Rights Watch publié ce vendredi documente les abus des forces du Kremlin contre les civils ukrainiens, coincés dans les zones occupées de Zaporijia et Kherson.

Des mines antipersonnel POM-3 ont été identifiées par l’ONG Human Rights Watch autour de la ville de Kharkiv fin mars. C’est le premier cas documenté de recours à des mines depuis le début de la guerre en Ukraine. Surtout, il s’agit d’un modèle sophistiqué très récent.

At the beginning of nearly every war including the current one in Ukraine, there are those who loudly declare that it will be over shortly and then business-as-usual can resume. They are rarely right. While no one can say for certain what the trajectory of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict will be, the economic warfare that is going on alongside it is very likely to destroy the current global trading system.

There’s a new horse race in 2022. It’s one that we would rather lose than win. If our analysis is right, the world will probably blow through the 1.5°C global warming ceiling this decade; if we’re wrong, it could be delayed a decade. We argue[1],[2] that the apparent acceleration of global warming in the past decade is driven by an acceleration in the growth rate of human-made climate forcings, especially reduced human-made aerosol cooling – an effect that is not going away and may grow.

October global temperature was close to an October record for the 1880-2021 period of near-global instrumental data (Fig. 1, left), despite the cooling effect of a fairly strong, double-dip La Nina (Fig. 1, right). The October global temperature – the 4th warmest October in the period 1880-present – was +1.23°C relative to 1880-1920.

Human rights council also appoints special rapporteur to monitor impact of climate crisis on rights

47 major emitting companies could be found liable for human rights violations arising from climate change. It also claimed that companies which had obstructed evidence or deceived the public about the link between emissions and climate change could be liable under criminal laws. How likely any of these companies or states are to pay damages will depend on how courts respond.

A Devon project to provide housing and community facilities has had the ground sold from under it

As scorching temperatures spread, the search for ways to protect against heat stress is becoming ever more urgent

How Greta Thunberg became the target of a barrage of disinformation and conspiracies.

If Earth had a pulse, it might be The Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) – a swirl of ocean currents that carries tropical heat north towards polar waters. Over the past century this global heartbeat has eased, slowing to a speed not seen in more than a millennium. New research based on a range of indices has now bolstered views that the weakening isn't a trivial one, and critical transition is imminent.

Around the world, activists are pushing to protect their rivers by giving them legal personhood. Is this just symbolism, or can it drive lasting environmental change?

The politics of this new, extreme individualism will make collective responses to social crises impossible