A herd of animal puppets will travel thousands of miles through European and African cities to initiate new conversations about the climate crisis. The project is being spearheaded by Palestinian artist Amir Nizar Zuabi, who produced the Little Amal puppet, which focused on Europe’s refugee crisis.
Zuabi says this endeavor will be a “soft, beautiful evocation to think differently” about the climate crisis.
“Climate change is the biggest story we’re facing now,” said Zuabi. “It’s often presented in terms of emissions and the Kyoto agreement – people struggle to fathom that, but what Amal did beautifully and what we hope The Herd becomes is a visceral engagement with the issue.”
The “core” herd will contain about 30 puppets representing the migrating animals of the Serengeti, but they will be joined by a “massive migration” of different animals as they arrive in new locations – creating a herd that could swell to many dozens of puppets.
“The idea is that we’re migrating with an ever evolving, growing group of animals,” said Zuabi. www.theguardian.com/...
The UN Convention on Biological Diversity, COP16, scheduled to take place in Columbia this fall will continue pursuit of its plan to protect 30% of global land and seas by 2030 as Colombia vows to put nature at the heart of global environmental negotiations.
The next round of global biodiversity negotiations will put nature at the heart of the international environment agenda, Colombia’s environment minister has said, as the country prepares for the Cop16 summit.
Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s environment minister, who is expected to be the Cop16 president, said the South American country would use the summit to ensure nature was a key part of the global environmental agenda in the year building up to the climate Cop30 in the Brazilian Amazon in 2025, where countries will present new plans on how they will meet the Paris agreement.
“Although the climate is affecting biodiversity, nature is an answer to the climate crisis. It is not the only answer but it is a very important pillar and we want to position it very strongly to build towards Cop30 in Brazil,” Muhamad told the Guardian.
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Colombia has become a leading environmental voice on the global stage. At Cop28 in Dubai last year, the leftwing Petro announced that Colombia would back calls for a fossil fuel nonproliferation treaty, becoming the first large fossil fuel producer to do so. Petro said his country’s biodiversity would become the basis of its economic strength after the green transition.
Switzerland calls on UN to explore possibility of solar geoengineering
Switzerland has initiated a global debate on whether the “risks, benefits and uncertainties” of dimming the sun should be studied by a United Nations expert group.
It is proposing that the world body should gather information about ongoing research into solar geoengineering, and set up an advisory panel that could suggest future options for the untested and controversial approach to reduce global heating, which would have implications for food supply, biodiversity, global inequality and security.
The Swiss proposal, submitted to the United Nations environment assembly that begins next week in Nairobi, focuses on solar radiation modification (SRM). This is a technique that aims to mimic the effect of a large volcanic eruption by filling the atmosphere with sulphur dioxide particles that reflect part of the sun’s heat and light back into space.
UK government can never accept idea nature has rights, delegate tells UN
Legal experts have been working on the rights of nature, which aims to strengthen protections for species and ecosystems that have been devastated by the prevailing market view of them as resources to be slaughtered or harvested.
A multiplicity of campaigns around the world have made progress in this area, which is often also associated with efforts to unify Indigenous knowledge, ethical thinking and environmental protection. The Center for Democratic and Environmental Rights has collated a list of the countries, regions and legal systems that have recognised rights for nature. Ecuador, Bolivia, Uganda, the US, Canada, Brazil, New Zealand, Mexico and Northern Ireland have some recognition of the rights of nature in their constitutions, national laws or local regulations.
PetroStates of Decline: oil and gas producers face growing fiscal risks as the energy transition unfolds
...petrostates are facing substantial risks from the energy transition, as falling oil and gas demand is set to put downward pressure on commodity prices and place future government revenues in jeopardy.
While a small handful of countries have reduced their vulnerability, overall the 40 petrostates we analyse are just as vulnerable as in our original analysis and in many ways face growing risks.
The Daily Show produced and aired a segment with Michael Kosta on Duluth, MN as a climate change safe haven.
Oceantic Network launches West Coast Supplier Council to help support US west coast floating offshore wind
Floating offshore wind is poised to play a significant role in achieving US clean energy targets and west coast states have a unique opportunity to lead the way and create a new American industry that will deliver long-term economic benefits. However, the exponential growth in demand for floating offshore wind on the west coast will present new challenges to the supply chain and, unless these issues are addressed, the industry will not move forward in a way that delivers the most value to communities.
“The West Coast is at a critical stage in its offshore wind development, and we look forward to encouraging its sustainable and intentional growth” said John Begala, vice president of federal and state policy at Oceantic Network. “We are fortunate to have assembled a strong collection of companies with the experience and capabilities to get projects delivered on time and on budget. These are the businesses that will serve as the backbone of a robust offshore wind supply chain, with potential to employ countless workers at a competitive wage.”
The Rising Cost of the Oil Industry’s Slow Death
Unplugged oil and gas wells accelerate climate change, threaten public health and risk hitting taxpayers’ pocketbooks. ProPublica and Capital & Main found that the money set aside to fix the problem falls woefully short of the impending cost.
Until wells are properly plugged, many leak oil and brine onto farmland and into waterways and emit toxic and explosive gasses, rendering redevelopment impossible. A noxious lake inundates West Texas ranchland, oil bubbles into a downtown Los Angeles apartment building and gas seeps into the yards of suburban Ohio homes.
But the impact is felt everywhere, as many belch methane, the second-largest contributor to climate change, into the atmosphere.
There are more than 2 million unplugged oil and gas wells that will need to be cleaned up, and the current production boom and windfall profits for industry giants have obscured the bill’s imminent arrival. More than 90% of the country’s unplugged wells either produce little oil and gas or are already dormant.