Several years ago, at our annual family reunion, while tucking my seven-year-old granddaughter Hawith into bed, I laid down next to her for a goodnight graamy chat.
She leaned close to me and intently said, “Graamy, I want to do adventures with you!” Immediately I responded, “Hawith, you do not have to ask me twice.” That was it! The early seeds of “Get Outside with Graamy” were sown, and my responsibility as an elder to step up my game to care for the earth was heightened.
I am reminded of my elders who cared for the earth so that I and others can enjoy, share, and be good stewards of the earth’s bounty. I want to participate in a legacy of earth-honoring experiences that allow us to move our bodies vigorously as we were created to do in earth’s amazing places. I want wild places to be available to everybody, everywhere. To accomplish this, we have much work to do given the impending climate apocalypse we face.
What did my elders teach and show me about how to be a good ancestor? While they did not use the current language of climate justice, they practiced what we now call climate stewardship and environmentalism. Before it became the popular thing to do, my Mom practiced recycling of newspapers, cans, bottles and plastic. She also calculated the amount of water used in the dishwasher compared to washing dishes by hand so she could choose to have clean dishes while conserving water. Mom also cooked “just enough food” for our family of six to reduce food waste. My Dad, noticing the tree canopy in our small Indiana town was depleting, decided to plant maple trees across the town. (I do not think he asked for anyone’s permission to plant these trees; he simply just planted them.)
After the trees were planted, twice a week he filled a hard plastic kiddie swimming pool with water that was in the back of an old red Ford pick-up truck and he drove to every young tree and watered them. He nurtured each sapling until they could sustain themselves within their sphere of natural connection and influence. These trees thrived because of his participation in their care, connecting them to the earth’s supporting system for growth for the benefit of generations to come. His initiative eventually led to a town-wide tree board to grow trees to replenish the overstory.
Dad also planted trees on the land behind our family’s home. During the summer between my first and second years of college, one of my paid gigs was to water these saplings every morning. Every day at 6am (to avoid the summer heat and humidity), I carried water to each of 100 pine and red oak trees. I confess, at the time I did not see his grand scheme – that planting trees was for the health, beauty, and well-being of the earth and for generations of human creatures to come.
Mom and Dad purchased land in southern Michigan with the purpose of placing the land in a local land conservancy to ensure that it would never be developed, but rather remain wild forever. My Dad’s ashes are scattered on this land. When my 92-year-old Mom transitions to the next life, her ashes will join Dad’s on that land. Mom and Dad gifted this land to a church camp that had a history of practicing good land stewardship and environmental sustainability. They wanted this land to be a place that allowed all to breathe in and breathe out beauty to enjoy and share.
As a family physician, Dad launched a chapter of the American Lung Association in our small town to reduce the harmful effects of cigarette smoking. He asked friendly yet poignant questions of his local pharmacist colleagues, why they sold cigarettes in their stores that otherwise were there to promote health and healing. I still have a small metal button from Dad’s county-wide anti-smoking campaign that says, “Make Love, Not Smoke.” As a 7th grader, little did I know what I was naively promoting when I proudly wore this button to school and church.
Dad also instigated a smoking ban in public and private establishments. He did this in part by visiting local taverns and restaurants, talking to the owners about the desire to make our town free of second-hand smoke for the health of all. This undertaking was quite an adventure because he did not consume alcohol. Don’t get me wrong, not every owner liked what they heard from Dad. Still, he always felt good that he had at least made new acquaintances during his version of these bar-hopping excursions.
Several years later, because of his quiet and deliberate step-by-step relationship-building campaign to end the ravages of second-hand smoke, he presented his campaign’s mission to the county commissioners. One commissioner told him point blank, “what you are trying to do in your town will never be county-wide. So don’t get any ideas that this will happen in this county.” Dad graciously responded, “Well, I just want you to know what we’re doing in our town to make it a healthier place for everybody.” He thanked them for their time and attention and left the meeting. Several years after that, with the active support of many others in the community and county, the entire county became smoke-free in private and public establishments.
Dad’s anti-smoking campaign showed me first-hand that one person’s actions can make tangible, long-lasting change.
Dad and Mom always encouraged and supported me to get outside to enjoy and share nature’s gifts. They supported my desire to hike, wilderness backpack, and bikepack. For my 18th birthday, they bought me my first backpacking sleeping bag. They encouraged my choices to engage in service opportunities from: working at a homeless shelter and thrift shop in San Francisco, a drug rehabilitation center in England, and a wilderness school for troubled youth in Virginia; leading bicycling and backpacking trips with youth and adults; working as a psychologist with youth and adults entangled in our criminal legal system; and founding a peacebuilding institute to teach trauma awareness and resilience strategies within a racial and cultural justice collective framework.
These life experiences taught me how to care for myself, others, and the earth. I learned much along the way, and now at 66 years old I know that to enjoy and share outdoor adventures with Hawith, I need to engage with others and directly support those who are working for climate justice.
As a white, cis-gender, educated boomer woman, it’s incumbent upon me to use my privilege responsibly to work with others in the climate justice movement. In addition to giving money to organizations, I can be an ambassador within my spheres of influence by talking openly about climate change and justice. I can invite other people to give their time, energy, and money to climate justice organizations.
As a part of my “rewirement,” I said yes when I was invited to give my time and expertise to a racially and culturally diverse climate collaborative to develop a three-day {in-person or virtual} training entitled Climate STARR (Strategies for Trauma, Action, Resilience, and Regeneration). Climate STARR provides communities and climate action organizations who are facing climate trauma, angst, and fatigue, the time and space to strengthen their hope and build collective resilience and regenerative power for positive climate justice action within their spheres of influence. Climate STARR is for everyone who:
- cares deeply about our earth but wonders if anything they can do makes a difference toward healing the climate crisis,
- is burning out from guilt, concern, and/or activism,
- has lived with environmental injustice for generations,
- sometimes feels overwhelmed, or frozen by grief, despair, and angst about climate change,
- can talk about climate data but holds numbed emotions in their body,
- has gifts and energy to give to climate justice work but is not sure where to start, and/or
- wants to stay resilient as they address climate issues in their classroom, community, and the world.
The collaborative is committed to economic justice by ensuring that all people, regardless of their financial status, have access to the Climate STARR training.
Another exciting way I am working toward climate justice is by saying yes to my life-long dream to bicycle across America. In fall 2024, as I bike 3200 miles from San Diego, CA to Saint Augustine, FL, I’ll ask people I meet, “How has climate change impacted you personally?” With those who give their permission, I will video our conversations and post them on social media to share with others.
This 12-week, self-contained bicycle trip with my best biking pal Becky, will fulfill my BHAG – Big Hairy Audacious Goal – to raise $500,000 for five fiscally responsible climate justice organizations: Climate Generation, Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light, Third Act, Climate Ride, and Climate STARR. While I will graciously accept large donations, I believe that there are at least 50,000 people in Minnesota and the rest of the United States who will give $10 or more to achieve this BHAG. Many hands make light work. We can reach them together.
I am doing this because I love outdoor adventures, I love the earth. I love our creator, sustainer, and redeemer and building community with others. I love being a responsible, caring elder who wants to be a good ancestor for my grandchildren, your grandchildren, and everyone’s great grandchildren. As I age, I want to ensure that I never join the world’s largest club: “The Somebody Oughta Club.” Yes, I do this because I want to enjoy and share great outdoor adventures with Hawith, and I also want so much more with you as we care for the earth together.
Donna Minter resides on Dakota land in Minneapolis, Minnesota and she recognizes that because of hundreds of years of enslavement of people of African descent in this country, those of us who are not African descendants of those who were enslaved have benefited from the unpaid labor of these invisible founders, which she believes is the economic foundation of this nation. Donna is a Graamy to three precious grandchildren, a wife, and step/bonus mom, and an avid athlete, backpacker, bikepacker, and community builder who aspires to embrace the deeper meanings in life. She is a European American cisgender woman who is also a trainer, facilitator, and peacebuilding instigator. Donna is a licensed psychologist who practiced clinical neuropsychology for more than 25 years in outpatient and inpatient clinics and educational settings. For over 22 years she has conducted court-ordered mental health evaluations and provides expert court testimony. In 2010, Donna founded the Minnesota Peacebuilding Leadership Institute (i.e., MN Peacebuilding) to teach trauma-informed, resilience-oriented, and restorative justice-focused strategies to individuals, organizations, and communities for racial healing and equity toward the possibility of reconciliation. She administered, implemented, and conducted trainings and talking circles in Minnesota, the USA, and internationally. Before retiring from MN Peacebuilding in June 2023, she trained over 16,000 people from community organizations, local, state, tribal, and federal government agencies. In her rewirement, she is collaborating with others who are applying trauma awareness and resilience principles, models, and strategies to community and organizational climate action in a training called Climate STARR (Strategies for Trauma, Action, Resilience, and Regeneration). She is also biking the GRAAMY! Climate Ride across America in fall 2024. Donna’s pronouns are she/her/hers. To contact Donna, please email her at graamyride@gmail.com.
The post Get Outside with Graamy appeared first on Climate Generation.
It’s been less than 20 years since baby food in plastic pouches first appeared on supermarket shelves. Since then, these convenient and popular “squeeze-and-suck” products have become the dominant packaging for baby food, transforming the way that millions of babies are fed around the world. But emerging evidence raises concerns that big food brands are feeding our children plastic pollution with unknown consequences, by selling baby food in flexible plastic packaging.
Testing commissioned by Greenpeace International in 2025 found plastic particles in the baby food products of two global consumer goods companies – Danone and Nestlé. The study suggests a link between the type of plastic the pouches are lined with – polyethylene – and some of the microplastics found. Tests also suggest a range of plastic-associated chemicals in the packaging and food of both products.
Sign the petition for a strong Global Plastics Treaty
Governments around the world are now negotiating a Global Plastics Treaty – an agreement that could solve the planetary crisis brought by runaway plastic production. Let’s end the age of plastic – sign the petition for a strong Global Plastics Treaty now.
Climate Change
U.N. General Assembly Embraces Court Opinion That Says Nations Have a Legal Obligation to Take Climate Action
The U.S. was among eight countries that voted against endorsing the nonbinding ruling that said all nations must take steps to limit temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of a climate justice resolution championed by the small Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu. The resolution welcomes the historic advisory opinion on climate change issued by the International Court of Justice in July 2025 and calls upon U.N. member states to act upon the court’s unanimous guidance, which clarified that addressing the climate crisis is not optional but rather is a legal duty under multiple sources of international law.
The number of new coal-fired power plants built around the world hit a “10-year high” in 2025, even as the global coal fleet generated less electricity, amid a “widening disconnect” in the sector.
That is according to the latest annual report from Global Energy Monitor (GEM), which finds that the world added nearly 100 gigawatts (GW) of new coal-power capacity in 2025, the equivalent of roughly 100 large coal plants.
It adds that 95% of the new coal plants were built in India and China.
Yet GEM says that the amount of electricity generated with coal fell by 0.6% in 2025 – with sharp drops in both China and India – as the fuel was displaced by record wind and solar output, among other factors.
The report notes that there have been previous dips in output from coal power and there could still be ups – as well as downs – in the near term.
For example, nearly 70% of the coal-fired units scheduled to retire globally in 2025 did not do so, due to postponements triggered by the 2022 energy crisis and policy shifts in the US.
However, GEM says that the underlying dynamics for coal power have now fundamentally shifted, as the cost of renewables has fallen and low usage hits coal profitability.
China and India dominate growth
In 2025, coal-capacity growth hit a 10-year high, with 97 gigawatts (GW) of new power plants being added, according to GEM.
(Capacity refers to the potential maximum power output, as measured in GW, whereas generation refers to power actually generated by the assets over a period of time, measured in gigawatt hours, GWh.)
This is the highest level since 2015 when 107GW began operating, as shown in the chart below. This makes 2025 the second-highest level of additions on record.
The majority of this growth came from China and India, which added 78GW and 10GW, respectively, against 9GW from all other countries.
Yet GEM points out that, even as coal capacity in China grew by 6%, the output from coal-fired power plants actually fell 1.2%. This means that each power plant would have been running less often, eroding its profitability. Similarly, capacity in India grew by 3.8%, while generation fell by 2.9%.
China and India had accounted for 87% of new coal-power capacity that came into operation in the first half of 2025. The shift up to 95% in the year as a whole highlights how increasingly just those two countries dominate the sector, GEM says.
Christine Shearer, project manager of GEM’s global coal plant tracker, said in a statement:
“In 2025, the world built more coal and used it less. Development has grown more concentrated, too – 95% of coal plant construction is now in China and India, and even they are building solar and wind fast enough to displace it.”
Both China and India saw solar and wind meet most or all of the growth in electricity demand last year.
Analysis for Carbon Brief last year showed that, in the first six months of 2025 alone, a record 212GW of solar was added in China, helping to make it the nation’s single-largest source of clean-power generation, for example.
However, the country continues to propose new coal plants. In 2025, a record 162GW of capacity was newly proposed for development or reactivated, according to GEM. This brought the overall capacity under development in the country to more than 500GW.
China’s 15th “five-year plan”, covering 2026-2030, had pledged to “promote the peaking” of coal use, while a more recent pair of policies introduced stricter controls on local governments’ coal use.
For its part, in India some 28GW of new coal capacity was newly proposed or reactivated last year, bringing the total under development to 107.3GW and under-construction capacity to 23.5GW.
The Indian government is planning to complete 85GW of new coal capacity in the next seven years, even as clean-energy expansion reaches levels that could cover all of the growth in electricity demand.
Outside of China and India, GEM says that just 32 countries have new coal plants under construction or under development, down from 38 in 2024.
Countries that have dropped plans for new coal in 2025 include South Korea, Brazil and Honduras, it says. GEM notes that the latter two mean that Latin America is now free from any new coal-power proposals.
This means that both electricity generation from coal and the construction of new coal-fired power plants are increasingly concentrated in just a few countries, as the chart below shows.
Indonesia’s coal fleet grew by 7% in 2025 to 61GW, with a quarter of the new capacity tied to nickel and aluminium processing, according to GEM.
Turkey – which is gearing up to host the COP31 international climate summit in November – has just one coal-plant proposal remaining, down from 70 in 2015.
The amount of new coal capacity that started to operate in south-east Asia fell for the third year in a row in 2025, according to GEM.
Countries in south Asia that rely on imported energy are increasingly looking to other technologies to protect themselves from fossil-fuel shocks, such as Pakistan, which is rapidly deploying solar, states the GEM report.
In Africa, plans for new coal capacity are concentrated in Zimbabwe and Zambia, the report shows, with the two countries accounting for two-thirds of planned development in the region.
‘Persistence of policies’
While new coal plants are still being built and even more are under development, GEM notes that the global electricity system is undergoing rapid changes.
Crucially, the growth of cheap renewable energy means that new coal plants do not automatically translate into higher electricity generation from coal.
Without rising output from coal power, building new plants simply results in the coal fleet running less often, further eroding its economics relative to wind and solar power.
Indeed, GEM notes that electricity generation from coal fell globally in 2025. Moreover, a recent report by thinktank Ember found that renewable energy overtook coal in 2025 to become the world’s largest source of electricity.
GEM notes that coal generation may fluctuate in the near term, in particular due to potential increases in demand driven by higher gas prices.
It adds that gas price shocks, such as the one triggered by the Iran war, can cause temporary reversals in the longer-term shift away from coal.
According to Carbon Brief analysis, at least eight countries announced plans to either increase their coal use or review plans to transition away from coal in the first month of the Iran war. However, a much-discussed “return to coal” is expected to be limited.
GEM’s report highlights that global fossil-fuel shocks can have an impact on the phase out of coal capacity over several years.
In the EU, for example, 69% of planned retirements did not take place in 2025, due to postponements that began in the 2022-23 energy crisis triggered by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the report. Countries across the bloc chose to retain their coal capacity amid gas supply disruptions and concerns about energy security.
Yet coal-fired power generation in the bloc is now more than 40% below 2022 levels. Again, this highlights that coal capacity does not necessarily translate into electricity generation from coal, with its associated CO2 emissions.
Overall, GEM notes that “repeated exposure to fossil-fuel price volatility is as likely to accelerate the shift toward clean energy as it is to delay it”.
GEM’s Shearer says in a statement:
“The central challenge heading into 2026 is not the availability of alternatives, but the persistence of policies that treat coal as necessary even as power systems move increasingly beyond it.”
In the US, 59% of planned retirements in 2025 did not happen, according to GEM. This was due to government intervention to keep ageing coal plants online.
Five coal-power plants have been told to remain online through federal “emergency” orders, for example, even as the coal fleet continues to face declining competitiveness.
Keeping these plants online has cost hundreds of millions of dollars and helped drive an annual increase in the average US household electricity prices of 7%, according to GEM.
Despite such measures, Trump has overseen a larger fall in coal-fired power capacity than any other US president, according to Carbon Brief analysis.
Meanwhile, according to new figures from the US Energy Information Administration, solar and wind both set new records for energy production in 2025.
Despite challenges with policy and wider fossil-fuel impacts, the underlying dynamic has shifted, says GEM, as “clean energy becomes more competitive and widely deployed” around the world.
It adds that this raises the prospect of “a more sustained decoupling between coal-capacity growth and generation, particularly if clean-energy deployment continues at current rates”.
The post New coal plants hit ‘10-year’ global high in 2025 – but power output still fell appeared first on Carbon Brief.
New coal plants hit ‘10-year’ global high in 2025 – but power output still fell
REPORT: The Hidden Risks of Plastic Pouches for Baby Food
U.N. General Assembly Embraces Court Opinion That Says Nations Have a Legal Obligation to Take Climate Action
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