Environmental news feed

The intensifying impact of the climate crisis on frontline communities in the Global South, record-breaking CO2 emissions, and global temperatures exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius above average in 2023 are signs that we urgently need a just energy transition that reaches all levels of society. Through our work on the Energy Finance Tracker at the International

Conservation efforts are making a significant difference in protecting the planet’s biodiversity, according to a new study published in the journal Science. In an analysis of 186 studies covering 665 trials, researchers evaluated the impact of conservation interventions globally over the past century. In two-thirds of the cases, conservation actions either improved biodiversity or slowed

SITIO DALICNO, Philippines — Domeng Laita, 64, stands on a mountain ledge outside his home, looking down with worry on his face. Below him stands the embankment of the San Roque dam, stretching more than a kilometer (0.6 miles) along the Agno River. In 2012, a spill from a gold mine upstream sent millions of

Mangroves are recognized globally for their impressive carbon storage potential and plethora of social and ecological benefits. Beyond their outsize role in buffering the world against greenhouse gas emissions, their extensive root systems protect and stabilize coastlines and provide habitat for commercially important fish and shellfish. However, these crucial coastal tropical forests also have a

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — Just 60 kilometers (37 miles) outside the city of Rio de Janeiro, dozens of Guiana dolphins swim cautiously past the motorboat, cutting through the water’s surface to breathe. Leonardo Flach stands at the bow taking photos to later identify individuals based on their dorsal fins. With a clear sea and

CHUBUT RIVER, Argentina — “The waters of this territory converge in the Río Chubut,” began the refrain of a caravan traveling across Argentina’s Patagonia region in the budding first weeks of February. “And like the waters, so too will our voices flow together to be heard.” The group, made up of Indigenous Mapuche leaders, activists

In Mato Grosso do Sul state, around 100 Indigenous individuals from the Guyraroká community of the Guarani-Kaiowá people are confined to an area of 50 hectares (123 acres) on the edge of a road, surrounded by soybean and corn plantations. Meanwhile, in Minas Gerais state, the Krenak are fighting to reclaim the area where their

This year, Bangladesh has seen its highest number of olive ridley turtle eggs, thanks to extensive conservation actions, including building awareness among local people and the vigilance of local conservation groups to ensure favorable conditions for the species. Nature Conservation Management (NACOM) found 12,425 eggs in five turtle hatcheries — Pachar Island, Shilkali Island, Shahpari

More than one-third of land on Earth — that’s about three times the size of Russia, the largest country — has vegetation whose canopy reaches a height greater than 1 meter, or 3 feet. Vegetation with a canopy higher than 5 m (16 ft) occupies another area about twice the size of Russia. These are

Panama is holding elections this week for president, vice president and all 71 seats in its national assembly. With questions looming about climate change, water shortages, waste disposal and mining closures, there’s a lot at stake for the future of the country’s environment. When it comes to the presidential race, several candidates are still competitive.

KATHMANDU — On an early spring morning in the western forests of Chitwan National Park in Nepal, a cacophony of birdsongs resonates through the air, mingling with the rustling of dried leaves and cries of other animals in the distance. As the sun’s rays penetrate the thick canopy, a feathered creature adorned with a dark

Environmental activists in Bolivia say they’ve become the targets of discrimination, death threats and even bombings after speaking out against harmful mining operations in the department of Oruro. The activists, most of them women, have faced escalating violence this year because of their opposition to mining pollution, water scarcity and land use change near the

KATHMANDU — Nepal’s government has bypassed the country’s parliament to issue a controversial ordinance facilitating foreign investment in different sectors of the country, including protected areas, in a move that could have long-term consequences for the country’s hard-won conservation gains, experts say. Although the details of the ordinance, signed into law by President Ram Chandra

KATHMANDU — Whenever 60-year old Saraswati Adhikari goes for a morning walk in Nepal’s capital, Kathmandu, she says she feels a certain unease in her chest. “I get a burning sensation in my eyes and nostrils and I have mucus streaming out for a long time,” says Adhikari, a diabetic whose doctor has advised her

Barely a year after the Australian government classified the eastern pink cockatoo as an endangered subspecies, scientists have deployed technology to help study and protect the birds. With the help of passive acoustic monitoring and artificial intelligence, researchers at the Queensland University of Technology found their way to a previously unknown breeding hollow of eastern

In late 2022, the Land Court of Queensland recommended the rejection of a mining lease for one of Australia’s biggest proposed coal mining and export projects, owned by billionaire Clive Palmer’s Waratah Coal Ltd. The project would have emitted 1.58 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere over its lifespan and destroyed the

Seven grassroots environmental activists were awarded the Goldman Environmental Prize on April 29. Known as the “Green Nobel Prize,” the Goldman Prize honors activists from the six continental regions. This year’s winners include two Indigenous activists who stopped destructive seismic testing for oil and gas off the Eastern Cape in Africa, an activist who protected a forest

Marcel Gomes, the executive secretary at investigative journalism outlet Repórter Brasil, is one of this year’s prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize winners.

Sunda clouded leopards spend most of their lives in the leafy shade of the forest canopy. Equipped with exquisite camouflage, superb climbing skills and outsize canines, they’re formidable arboreal predators. But amid a development boom, the big cats’ uncompromising dependence on forest cover could prove a fatal weakness. A new study indicates that a slew

CALABRIA, Italy — “On our coasts there is … a massive presence, that everyone can see, of poachers and illegal fishermen,” a fisher in Calabria, in southwestern Italy, told Mongabay. He said he decided to speak with this team of journalists because increased fishing of declining stocks meant “we are heading toward a point of