Amazon REDD+ scheme side-steps land rights to reward small forest producers
Study finds pros and cons in a REDD+ carbon credit scheme in the Brazilian Amazon that rewards small-scale ecosystem service providers in local communities.
Carbon to burn: UK net-zero emissions pledge undermined by biomass energy
The UK and EU say they plan to achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, even as both pursue plans to burn massive amounts of carbon-producing wood pellets.
EU sued to stop burning trees for energy; it’s not carbon neutral: plaintiffs
In a suit filed Monday, accusers say European nations burning wood pellets and chips for energy are putting the world at risk with carbon emissions greater than from coal burning.
The biggest rainforest news stories in 2018
2018 was a difficult year for the world's tropical rainforests. Below are of some of the biggest rainforest storylines for the year, but we couldn't cover everything, so if there…
COP24: Summit a step forward, but fails to address climate urgency
Poland climate meeting addressed some issues, including Paris rulebook, but fell far short. UN’s António Guterres to convene special September climate action meeting in New York.
COP24: Will they stay or will they go? Brazil’s threat to leave Paris
Jair Bolsonaro pledged to leave the Paris accord during his presidential run. But his Amazon agribusiness and mining expansion plans may pose a far bigger threat to forests and global climate.
COP24: Nations complicit in ignoring bioenergy climate bomb, experts say
Burning wood pellets, once deemed as carbon neutral, produces big CO2 emissions instead. But developed nations are cooking the books on bioenergy, toying with climate disaster.
COP24: Trumpers tout clean coal; protesters call it ‘climate suicide’
Demonstrators, subnationals, NGOs and COP24 delegates have moved beyond the Trump administration delegation’s public farce advocating coal as a viable climate solution.
COP24: US, Russia, Saudis downplay IPCC report in display of disunity
Vulnerable nations were eager to praise the IPCC report, the US was not. Environmental activist Tom Steyer sees another blue wave as the only route to global climate action.
COP24: World’s nations gather to grapple with looming climate disaster
As scientists’ warnings over climate catastrophe mount, will nonstate actors at COP24 in Poland be able to goad nations to finally take decisive climate change action?
New research quantifies ecosystem services provided by Amazon rainforest
New research published in the journal Nature Sustainability this month attempts to establish the monetary value of the ecosystem services provided by the world’s largest tropical forest, the Amazon. A…
Land rights, forests, food systems central to limiting global warming: report
Land-based options offer the best solutions to help nations meet their Paris carbon reduction goals and limit warming to 1.5 degrees C, says study in response to new IPCC climate report.
‘Guardians of the forest:’ Indigenous peoples come together to assert role in climate stability
SAN FRANCISCO – A half mile from the din of the Global Climate Action Summit and its 4,000 attendees in San Francisco, indigenous peoples from around the world came together in…
Kenya’s Mijikenda people revive sacred homesteads to protect the forest
KILIFI COUNTY, Kenya — Dressed in blue and white traditional regalia, elders walked barefoot along a narrow footpath heading to the Kaya Kauma. The kaya, a sacred ancestral village surrounded…
Scientists uncover what makes deep soil either a carbon sink or source
Researchers say they have discovered the conditions that determine whether deep soil acts as a source of carbon emissions, releasing heat-trapping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, or as a sink,…
Forests and indigenous rights land $459M commitment
A group of 17 philanthropic foundations has committed at least $459 million through 2022 in support of land-based solutions to climate change — including forest conservation and restoration — and…
Why keep Africa’s dryland forests alive?
About 10 years ago, the average millet farmer in Boromdougou village along the Niger River in Mali produced about 170 kilograms of cereals per hectare per season, according to Pierre…
World’s first indigenous carbon offset project suspended due to illegal mining
Brazil’s Paiter-Suruí indigenous group has suspended indefinitely its previously highly successful forest conservation and carbon storage and offset project due to an invasion by illegal diamond miners.
Climate mitigation has an ally in need of recognition and land rights: indigenous peoples in tropical countries
As global warming continues to outpace the tepid international response, a range of environmentalists are raising their collective voice to demand full rights and recognition for those long associated with…
Aligning forces for tropical forests as a climate change solution (commentary)
As governors of tropical forest states and provinces descend upon San Francisco for the Global Climate Action Summit and the annual meeting of the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force,…
Special series
Endangered environmentalists
- In Cambodia, a rare acquittal in a climate of danger for green activists
- On Peru’s border, the Tikuna tribe takes on illegal coca growers
- Peru: Invaders claim their first victim at the Macuya Forest Investigation Center
Indonesias forest guardians
- Indigenous Iban community defends rainforests, but awaits lands rights recognition
- On the island of Java, a social forestry scheme creates jobs at home
- In Indonesia, bigger catches for a fishing village protecting its mangroves
Amazon infrastructure
- Yanomami Amazon reserve invaded by 20,000 miners; Bolsonaro fails to act
- Amazon infrastructure puts 68% of indigenous lands / protected areas at risk: report
- Amazon fish kill at Sinop spotlights risk from 80+ Tapajós basin dams
Asian rhinos
- Is the rhino horn trade a cartel? Economic analysis suggests it works like one
- Indonesia agrees to attempt Sumatran rhino IVF with eggs from Malaysia
- When it comes to captive breeding, not all Sumatran rhinos are equal
