Hello! Today's newsletter highlights the trend of leaders around the world urging nations to stick to their climate goals amid the United States' retreat from renewable energy in favor of fossil fuels. Brazil's Environment and Climate Change Minister Marina Silva told reporters in Delhi, speaking through a translator, that the "increasingly complex geopolitical context", characterised by turmoil and trade tariffs, risked disrupting progress on curbing climate change. Action to curb global warming is at risk, triggered by the return of U.S. President Donald Trump to the White House, Brazil said, as it prepares to host U.N. climate talks later this year. "They may drain resources, and they also may hamper the environment of confidence and trust among parties. We have a triple negative effect because the less action we see, the less money we see, resulting in less cooperation across countries," Silva said. Brazil, which will host the COP30 annual United Nations global climate summit in November, has said that it will use its presidency to press for multilateralism and respect for science, in a rejoinder to Trump. Last month, Trump withdrew the world's second biggest emitter from the Paris Agreement that aims to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit). Speaking of the Climate Accord, Britain's climate envoy Rachel Kyte said that the world must carry on pursuing the greenhouse gas emissions reductions outlined in the Paris Agreement, despite the United States' withdrawal and that the UK was moving ahead with its targets. "The science hasn't changed, no other country has changed its position ... the direction of travel is the same," Kyte told Reuters. "So, it's regrettable that the United States is out ... but we're moving ahead." U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright called pledges to achieve net zero carbon emissions a "sinister goal," last month, singling out Britain for its clean energy targets. |
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1. Torrential rain falls on Spain, four months after deadly Valencia floods |
Torrential rains hit eastern Spain this week, four months after deadly flash floods in Valencia killed more than 220 people. The state weather agency Aemet issued orange alerts for some parts of the Murcia, Valencia and Catalonia regions on the country's Mediterranean coast as officials told people to stay indoors. The heavy rainfall caused floods that swept away cars as local authorities evacuated schools and closed roads. |
Residents protest against Elon Musk's role at U.S. President Donald Trump's administration, outside of a Tesla dealership in Palo Alto, California, U.S. REUTERS/Carlos Barria |
2. Activists use 'Tesla Takedown' protests to fight job cuts by Musk and Trump |
Carolanne Fry, a public employee and registered Democrat, is among hundreds of organizers in an emerging grassroots movement –"Tesla Takedown" – that is aimed at protesting billionaire Elon Musk's role in sweeping cuts to the federal workforce at the behest of President Donald Trump. Fry led about 350 demonstrators in a noisy march outside a Tesla electric vehicle dealership in Portland, Oregon, this week. "Take action at Tesla showrooms everywhere. Sell your Teslas, dump your stock, join the picket lines," its website urges. Click here for the full Reuters story. |
3. South African health agency calls for coal-fired power station phase-out |
Death rates were higher than elsewhere among all ages in communities adjacent to coal-fired power stations, a report by the South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC) and Britain's Department for International Development (DFID) found. The 10-year study has led to South African officials and citizens debating whether and how fast the country should embark on a partly donor-funded program to switch to sun and wind energy from coal. |
4. Germany's green jobs double but staff shortage threatens growth, study shows |
Germany's push for solar and wind power expansion to meet its climate goals and compensate for a drop in Russian fossil fuel imports has boosted its renewables sector. In fact, the share of jobs in the country related to the energy transition has more than doubled since 2019, but a shortage of skilled workers threatens a sector that has so far resisted the country's recession, a study by the German Economic Institute (IW) for the Bertelsmann Foundation found. |
5. Los Angeles County, Pasadena, sue Southern California Edison over wildfires |
The County of Los Angeles and City of Pasadena, along with other public entities, filed lawsuits against Edison International and its subsidiary Southern California Edison, alleging their role in igniting one of California's worst wildfires. Authorities have yet to release an official cause for the major fires, including the Eaton blaze. |
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Somalia could see a million more people pushed into acute hunger with a drought forecast to hit the crop cycle, the World Food Programme said. This is in addition to the emerging crisis due to aid cuts by the Trump administration. Click here or the image for the full Reuters video. |
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- Sanda Ojiambo, CEO and executive director of the U.N. Global Compact, shares her thoughts on why companies can't afford to wait another century for gender equality, to mark International Women's Day for Ethical Corp Magazine. Click here for the full comment.
- Energy product traders, utilities, investors and business executives are among those scrambling to assess the likely impact of new steep tariffs on the United States' largest trade partners, writes Reuters global energy transition columnist Gavin Maguire.
- Often a political punching bag for MAGA Republicans, asset manager BlackRock may have bought some conservative credibility along with its purchase of two critical ports adjacent to the Panama Canal, writes Ross Kerber, Reuters U.S. sustainable business correspondent. Click here for the full Reuters article.
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In recent months, traders in countries with lower-gum arabic production than Sudan, such as Chad and Senegal, or which barely exported it before the war, like Egypt and South Sudan, have begun to aggressively offer the commodity at cheap prices and without proof it is conflict-free, two buyers who have been approached by traders told Reuters. |
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The percentage drop in rhino poaching last year in South Africa, with 420 animals killed for their horns versus 499 the previous year, the government said. The country is home to nearly half of the critically-endangered black rhino population in Africa and to the world's largest population of near-threatened white rhinos. |
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Sustainable Switch Climate Focus was edited by Susan Fenton. |
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