"At least 146 land and environmental defenders were killed or have gone missing around the world in 2024, with more than 80% of those cases in Latin America, according to a report released Wednesday by watchdog group Global Witness."
"Wind and solar power generated more than a third of Brazil’s electricity in August, the first month on record the two renewable sources have crossed that threshold, according to government data made public on Thursday and analyzed by energy think tank Ember."
Just under two months from the start of the annual global forum for managing climate change — the United Nations’ conference of parties beginning Nov. 10 in Belém, Brazil — our Backgrounder analysis laments the vanishingly small chance that nations will agree on managing steadily rising greenhouse gas emissions. A look at the obstacles, plus COP30 reporting challenges, from hotel expenses to diplomatic spin.
"Deep in the Amazon, sound designer Eric Terena has been capturing the sounds of the rainforest while sitting silently beneath the dense, towering treetops with his recording equipment. He has noticed some huge changes."
"Brazil brought the U.N.’s COP30 climate conference to the Amazon. Then the price frenzy began." "The idea had seemed symbolically fitting at first — a global climate summit set on the edge of the threatened Amazon rainforest."
"For decades, the dry season in the Amazon rainforest has been getting drier. A new study, published on Tuesday, found that about 75 percent of the decrease in rainfall is directly linked to deforestation."
"The president has pledged to combat transnational drug organizations. Yet these groups make vast sums from environmental crimes, and his administration has gutted personnel and programs that targeted them, a new report shows."
"Though 60 miles (100km) apart, the Brazilian municipalities of Presidente Kennedy in Espírito Santo state and Campos dos Goytacazes in Rio de Janeiro state have one big thing in common: oil. Since late in the last century, their public funds have been bolstered by billions in royalties from oil finds in the offshore Campos Basin. Yet despite having significantly more resources than other towns and cities in Brazil, both still face problems such as poor sanitation and healthcare, inadequate social housing and state education as well as corruption scandals.
