In a fiery speech at the UN General Assembly, Colombia’s first leftwing president did not mince his words about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, 6 per cent of which lies within his country’s borders. “Destroying the jungle, the Amazon, has become the slogan followed by states and businessmen,” said Gustavo Petro, who took office…
Read more
The 2,000-strong indigenous population of the remote Tiwi Islands has won a landmark case against oil and gas major Santos, derailing a multibillion-dollar gas drilling project running through its waters. A judge has set aside approval for the offshore gas project and ruled that Santos has two weeks to remove its equipment from the islands,…
Read more
Wall Street banks including JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and Bank of America have threatened to leave Mark Carney’s financial alliance to tackle climate change because they fear being sued over increasingly stringent decarbonisation commitments. In tense meetings in recent months, some of the most significant members of the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero have said…
Read more
Renewable power executives have warned that unless Congress moves to speed up the bureaucracy for approving US energy projects, the Biden administration’s climate goals will be imperilled. Their comments in interviews with the Financial Times come as Joe Manchin, a Democratic senator from West Virginia, was on Wednesday planning to unveil legislation to shorten federal…
Read more
European governments must push back against fossil fuel companies’ efforts to capitalise on the energy crisis by locking consumers into long-term dependence on hydrocarbons, former US vice-president Al Gore has said. Countries are rushing to balance their green ambitions with the need to ensure energy security. At least €50bn of spending is planned by EU…
Read more
European governments must push back against fossil fuel companies’ efforts to capitalise on the energy crisis by locking consumers into long-term dependence on hydrocarbons, former US vice-president Al Gore has said. Countries are rushing to balance their green ambitions with the need to ensure energy security. At least €50bn of spending is planned by EU…
Read more
US climate envoy John Kerry has called for reform of international financial institutions over a failure to marshal funds related to climate change, but refused to be drawn on whether the Biden administration had confidence in the World Bank leadership. The bank, led by Trump-appointee David Malpass, has come under sustained criticism over its policies…
Read more
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund and a group of investors with more than $10tn under management led a series of corporate climate change pledges expected this week, in events alongside the meeting of world leaders at the UN General Assembly in New York. The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund said it would require the companies it…
Read more
The writer is a science commentator Climate change has become an existential crisis of notable exactitude, its parameters mapped out by precise temperature rises, thresholds, deadlines and “tipping points” of no return. The world should not warm more than 2C above the pre-industrial average; we have until 2030 to keep the rise in check; Earth…
Read more
The moral philosopher Jonathan Glover tells a story about attending a conference of ethicists in Poland. The itinerary included a visit to Auschwitz. On the coach ride there, the academics earnestly discussed topics such as whether it could ever be morally justifiable to tell a lie. Then they toured the camps where more than a…
Read more