Brazil

Gas Price Politics and Desperate Moderates

The Drain

The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.

In 18 years of working in newsrooms around Los Angeles, I talked with lots of political campaigns — but a phone call from Antonio Villaraigosa in spring of 2018 stands out. I was at my desk in the cramped newsroom of KCRW, sitting in between All Things Considered host Steve Chiotakis and producer Ben Gottlieb, …

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The Problem is Not Brazil. The Problem is COP

The Drain

The Drain is a weekly roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

ā€œCrazy.ā€ That’s how one young Brazilian described what’s happening in BelĆ©m to get ready for COP30, the annual UN climate negotiations which will take place in the Amazon this November. We struck up a brief conversation while I was visiting the Museu Afro Brasil in SĆ£o Paulo, a museum that chronicles the history and culture …

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Governors Lead the Fight on Forests and Climate

To see how governors are leading the fight against deforestation, look no further than a meeting happening this week in Brazil.

When the annual U.N. climate conference descends on the small Brazilian rainforest city of BelĆ©m in November 2025, it will be tempting to focus on the drama and disunity among major nations. Only 21 countries had evenĀ submitted their updated plansĀ for managing climate change by theĀ 2025 deadline requiredĀ under the Paris Agreement. The U.S. isĀ pulling out of …

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Is Brazil Ready for COP30? No One Is Ready for COP30

The Drain

The Drain is a weekly roundup of climate and environmental news from Legal Planet.

It’s officially less than 6 months until COP30 — when tens of thousands of people will descend on the Brazilian city of BelĆ©m for the annual UN climate conference — and no one is ready. For one thing, BelĆ©m is an impoverished city of 2.5 million thatĀ can’t build enough hotels for the 50,000 expected delegates …

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Brazil Steps Ahead of the U.S. on Climate Policy

Brazil flag

A new emissions trading system is a major step for Brazilian climate policy.

Hopefully, Brazil’s actions will encourage other countries, particularly in South America, to take similar actions.Ā  The EU and California have been leaders in this arena, but carbon trading systems are now beginning to get traction outside of the developed world in China and now Brazil.Ā  That’s an encouraging sign.

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Amazon Deforestation is Down. Here’s Why.

Elections, new government policies at the national and sub-national level, increased law enforcement, and technological advancements have contributed to climate gains in Brazil, Ecuador and beyond.

For several years, headlines about Amazon deforestation have all been bad. But in 2023 the script has been flipped and the good news keeps on coming. Good news in Brazil where deforestation in the Amazon declined 66.1 percent compared to last August. It’s the lowest level for the month of August since 2018 and it …

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Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force Kicks Off Annual Meeting in Heart of the Amazon Basin

The Amazon and Rio Negro rivers meet in Manaus, Brazil

12th Annual Meeting of GCF Task Force hosted by Governor of Amazonas in Manaus, Brazil, March 15-18, 2022

This week, on the banks of the largest river system in the world, Governors, environment secretaries and civil servants, Indigenous peoples and local community leaders, national governments, the private sector, and partner organizations will be meeting to discuss innovative partnerships and solutions to the threat of tropical deforestation at the 12th Annual Meeting of the …

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Coronavirus, Climate Change, and Tropical Forests

Why the fight against deforestation is more urgent than ever

Long before the wet markets of Wuhan became the focus of worldwide attention, scientists have pointed to tropical deforestation and habitat destruction as key factors facilitating the spread of zoonotic viruses such as Ebola and the Coronaviruses as well as other infectious and vector-borne diseases. The obvious lesson from this research is that protecting intact …

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In Defense of Live Carbon

Why Stopping Deforestation May be the Hardest and Most Important Part of the Climate Change Challenge

When contemplating the enormous challenge of global climate change, it is sometimes helpful to think about a simple model of the global carbon budget (see figure below).Ā  These admittedly reductionist schematics distinguish between sources, sinks, and reservoirs.Ā  Fossil hydrocarbons from the geological reservoir–call this dead carbon—are extracted and burned to generate energy, emitting vast amounts …

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VocĆŖ Fala PortuguĆŖs?

Brazil’s New Environmental Crisis Raises Crucial Constitutional and Advocacy Issues

  As Dan noted last week, and as E & E News reports today, Brazil’s President-Elect,Ā Jair Bolsonaro, is not only an authoritarian quasi-fascist (no exaggeration in those terms), but is also horrific for the environment. And that, in turn, is not simply bad for Brazil and South America, but for everyone on the planet. In …

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