Sustainable Gabriolan Deb Ferens tracks worldwide climate news. At September’s SG meeting, she presented a heartening list of SIX recent good-news climate stories. The group thought it would be a good idea to post these for the community’s linking and reading pleasure.
Youth environmentalists bring Montana climate case to trial after 12 years, seeking to set precedent
It’s the first trial of its kind in the US, and legal scholars around the world are following its potential addition to the small number of rulings that have established a government duty to protect people from climate change. nbcnews.com/science/environment/youth-environmentalists-bring-montana-climate-case-trial-12-years-seek-rcna88927
Brazil’s Supreme Court rules in favour of Indigenous rights
Brazil’s Supreme Court has rejected efforts to restrict native peoples’ rights to reservations on their ancestral lands. Six of the 11 justices on Thursday ruled in favour of restoring territory to the Xokleng people, from which they were evicted. The ruling sets a precedent for hundreds of indigenous land claims and is expected to have widespread consequences for indigenous land rights. bbc.com/news/av/world-latin-america-66886163
Rhino numbers rebound as global figures reveal a win for conservation
Global rhinoceros numbers have increased to 27,000 despite populations being ravaged by poaching and habitat loss, new figures show, with some species rebounding for the first time in a decade. theguardian.com/global-development/2023/sep/22/rhino-numbers-rebound-as-global-figures-reveal-a-win-for-conservation-aoe
New global biodiversity fund launched in Vancouver
In good news for nature in a challenging moment, representatives of 185 countries agreed at the Global Environment Facility’s Seventh Assembly in Canada to launch an innovative new fund for biodiversity that will attract funding from governments, philanthropy, and the private sector.
The new Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) has been designed to mobilize and accelerate investment in the conservation and sustainability of wild species and ecosystems, whose health is under threat from wildfires, flooding, extreme weather, and human activity including urban sprawl. unep.org/gef/index.php/news-and-stories/press-release/new-global-biodiversity-fund-launched-vancouver
Canadian fire chiefs deliver climate change message to United Nations following devastating season
A pair of Canadian fire chiefs were in New York this week to speak at a United Nations conference on climate change. West Kelowna fire chief Jason Brolund and Halifax assistant chief Sherry Dean were invited by the Canadian government to address delegates at an event focused on carbon pricing and the impacts of warming global temperatures.
“Over $20 million was spent reacting to my fire, not to mention the insurance losses, which could be triple that,” Brolund told his audience. “What could we have accomplished if we used that same amount of money proactively? We’re spending the money on the wrong end of the problem.”
Brolund concluded his speech by encouraging leaders to “make the change we need” to fight climate change, a message later reinforced by the assistant fire chief from Halifax. cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/fire-chief-brolund-un-speech-1.6974427
In a shift, fossil fuels take center stage at UN Climate Summit
The U.N. Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday marked a potential turning point in the global effort to limit the severity of climate change. For more than three decades, world leaders have gathered to discuss the increasing urgency of this issue. Yet there has been staunch resistance to centering those conversations around the biggest cause of climate change: burning fossil fuels like coal, oil and gas for energy. That changed on Wednesday in New York, when U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres used his convening power to put fossil fuels in the spotlight of a one-day gathering. axios.com/2023/09/21/climate-week-nyc-unga