About 9pm on Tuesday night, a group of protesters clashed with security guards as they attempted to force their way into the COP30 conference centre – making headlines and news bulletins around the world.
Videos captured dozens of mostly Indigenous demonstrators pushing through the main entrance, rushing past metal detectors, and demanding entry to the area where climate negotiators were meeting.
As UN security guards scrambled to stop them, scuffles broke out before the protesters were forcibly removed. A UN climate spokesperson said two security guards suffered minor injuries, and there was minor damage to the venue. One guard with a small cut told Reuters he was hit by a thrown drumstick.
Some of the protesters carried signs saying “our forest is not for sale” or demanding a halt to oil drilling in the Amazon rainforest.
“We can’t eat money,” Nato, an Indigenous leader from the Tupinamba community, told Reuters. “We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers.”
Brazil, the host nation of COP30, has underlined the importance of ensuring Indigenous communities have a voice in this year’s climate negotiations and there has been a record turnout of Indigenous groups in the city of Belém.
But, according to InfoAmazonia, Indigenous people are frustrated that more did not receive accreditation for the COP30 venue. Their analysis suggests 360 received accreditation. The Brazilian government says that’s more than any previous COP. But it’s only a small fraction of the 56,000 people registered to attend this year’s UN climate talks.
Lucas Tupinambá, a young leader from the Tapajós-Arapiuns Indigenous council, attended Tuesday’s plenary session after travelling for two days by boat to reach Belém. In his speech, he denounced the presence of dredgers extracting minerals in his region, but he told InfoAmazonia that “they are not interested in hearing from those who truly need to be heard”.
The Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the country’s leading Indigenous organisation, wants a strong outcome from COP30 on land demarcation to legally protect their land rights, which are threatened by loggers, agribusinesses and miners.
“Our core message is that demarcation and territorial protection are policies for facing the climate emergency. This needs not just to be acknowledged, but also implemented by global leaders—and in our case, above all, by Brazil,” Kleber Karipuna, APIB’s executive coordinator, told InfoAmazonia.
The post COP30 Bulletin Day 3: Protesters break into summit venue, clashing with security appeared first on Climate Home News.
COP30 Bulletin Day 3: Protesters break into summit venue, clashing with security
Climate Change
A New Mexico Religious Pilgrimage Rode a Global Wave Hoping for Ripple Effects for the Environment
While the faith-based marchers failed to push the Clear Horizons Act through the state legislature, it spread prayers for the climate from ranches to oil fields to wind farms.
Oil and gas wells might seem unusual sites for religious pilgrims, but on January 12, three faith-motivated environmentalists set out on a 328-mile trek from Carlsbad, New Mexico, that would see them slogging on foot past fossil-fuel developments, through remote ranch lands and deep into the desert on their way to the state capitol in Santa Fe.
A New Mexico Religious Pilgrimage Rode a Global Wave Hoping for Ripple Effects for the Environment
Climate Change
‘Completely delusional’: UN climate chief warns against fossil fuel push after Iran crisis
Doubling down on fossil fuels in response to the spikes in oil and gas prices unleashed by the Iran war would be “completely delusional”, the UN climate chief is expected to warn on Monday, in one of his strongest attacks yet on planet-heating fossil fuels.
Addressing political and business leaders in Brussels, Simon Stiell will argue that dependence on oil and gas is “ripping away national security and sovereignty” and will urge them not to use the crisis as a pretext to slow the clean energy transition.
“Fossil fuels that supercharge disasters rake in trillions in taxpayer-funded subsidies globally,” he will say. “Money that could be far better spent”.
Climate Home News understands Stiell views the current crisis as a crucial moment to ramp up pressure against fossil fuels, as it lays bare the economic irrationality of new oil and gas investments compared with the benefits of renewable energy.
Stiell’s warning comes at the start of a pivotal week for energy policy in Brussels. Energy ministers meet on Monday to discuss soaring energy costs before environment ministers gather on Tuesday to debate climate targets and a proposal to dilute carbon dioxide emissions standards for cars. Energy security will also feature high on the agenda of the European leaders’ summit on Thursday and Friday.
Oil and gas prices surging
Oil and gas prices have surged after key Gulf producers halted output following Iran’s attacks on regional infrastructure and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil supplies pass.
The disruption is hitting Asia hardest. Nearly 90% of the region’s oil and gas flows east, and fuel shortages have already forced Bangladesh to shut universities early and the Philippines to cut civil servants’ working hours. Across the continent, import-dependent countries have scrambled to lock in supplies, driving up prices as they compete for the same cargoes.
-
New summit in Colombia seeks to revive stalled UN talks on fossil fuel transition
Colombia will host the first conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels, after more than 80 countries pushed at COP30 for an end to coal, oil and gas -
South African rare earths project aims to rival Chinese with low-cost model
The EU-backed Zandkopsdrift project plans to offset the high cost of rare earths production with another mineral in hot demand for use in batteries -
Paris Agreement watchdog weighs action against countries missing climate plan
With more than 60 countries – including India, Argentina and Vietnam – still failing to submit updated NDCs, the oversight committee will discuss this month how to respond
Europe has little direct exposure to the Strait of Hormuz disruption, but integrated global energy markets mean the continent will still pay more for its oil and gas imports.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said last week that the Iran war had already cost European citizens an additional three billion euros ($3.4 billion) in fossil fuel imports. “That is the price of our dependency,” she added.
‘Renewables turn the tables’
But right-wing politicians have seized on the Middle East crisis to attack the bloc’s green policies, blaming them for rising energy prices and weakening competitiveness.
Some governments, including Italy, have called for the suspension of the Emissions Trading System (ETS), the continent’s main climate policy, which incentivises companies to invest in lower-carbon production by putting a price on pollution. Eight other governments have urged the EU not to weaken its carbon market.
Von der Leyen said abandoning the EU’s long-term strategy, focused on investment in renewables and nuclear, would be a “strategic blunder”.
Gulf oil and gas crisis sparks calls for renewables investment
Echoing her message, Simon Stiell is expected to tell leaders that “meek dependence on fossil fuel imports will leave Europe forever lurching from crisis to crisis”.
“This fossil fuel crisis will happen again and again in this new world disorder where some major powers do as they please,” the UN climate chief will say.
“Renewables turn the tables,” Stiell is expected to add. “Sunlight doesn’t depend on narrow and vulnerable shipping straits. Wind blows without massive taxpayer-funded naval escorts”.
The rollout of new wind and solar power capacity across Europe since the introduction of the Green Deal in 2019 has saved 59 billion euros ($67bn) that would have been spent on additional fossil fuel imports, according to analysis by think-tank Ember.
The post ‘Completely delusional’: UN climate chief warns against fossil fuel push after Iran crisis appeared first on Climate Home News.
‘Completely delusional’: UN climate chief warns against fossil fuel push after Iran crisis
Go behind the scenes with managing editor Jamie Smith Hopkins and reporter Nick Kusnetz as they discuss how a recent visit by an FBI agent to a climate activist hints at a broadening Trump administration effort to target political opponents.
An FBI agent arrived at the door of a former member of Extinction Rebellion NYC last month, saying she had questions about the environmental advocacy group.
The cocoa paradox: Rising demand and falling prices
A New Mexico Religious Pilgrimage Rode a Global Wave Hoping for Ripple Effects for the Environment
DOE Launches $500M Funding Drive to Strengthen U.S. Battery Supply Chains and Critical Minerals Processing
-
Greenhouse Gases7 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Climate Change7 months ago
Guest post: Why China is still building new coal – and when it might stop
-
Greenhouse Gases2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Bill Discounting Climate Change in Florida’s Energy Policy Awaits DeSantis’ Approval
-
Climate Change2 years ago
Spanish-language misinformation on renewable energy spreads online, report shows
-
Climate Change2 years ago嘉宾来稿：满足中国增长的用电需求 光伏加储能“比新建煤电更实惠”
-
Climate Change Videos2 years ago
The toxic gas flares fuelling Nigeria’s climate change – BBC News
-
Carbon Footprint2 years agoUS SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules Spur Renewed Interest in Carbon Credits