Welcome to Carbon Brief’s Cropped.
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
LA up in flames
ANIMAL IMPACT: At least 25 people died in blazing wildfires that tore through 40,000 acres of land in Los Angeles, NBC News reported. Vox examined how the fires “affected the animals and wildlife who call Los Angeles their home”. Videos showed people evacuating with everything from chickens to horses, Vox said, and one animal shelter took in more than 300 animals. Gavin Jones, an ecologist at the US Forest Service, told the outlet in 2023: “In this new era of rapidly changing fire regimes, we don’t have a great roadmap for how to conserve wildlife.” Al Jazeera explained that wildfires can result in “some wildlife [losing] their habitat”, which can lead to ecosystem imbalance.
AGRI AFFECTED: The fires affected farm infrastructure and animals in the surrounding region, an agricultural meteorologist told RFD TV. A citrus and avocado farm in Pauma Valley, more than two hours from Los Angeles, was impacted by the fire-fuelling Santa Ana winds. Farmer Andy Lyall told ABC News that gusts blew down fruit from his trees, ruining around half of his crops. The “strong and gusty” Santa Ana winds occur several times a year in southern California, BBC News outlined, creating “ripe conditions” for wildfires. (See Carbon Brief’s article on the role of climate change in the fires.)
PARKS AND TREES: Satellite images published in Al Jazeera showed how houses, trees and other infrastructure were scorched in the fires. The Palisades fire – the largest of the fires – “destroyed” historic buildings and other infrastructure at two major parks, according to a statement from California State Parks. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Times looked at claims and counter-claims about the risk shrubs and brush posed to the spread of the wildfires. Chief Brian Fennessy from the Orange County Fire Authority told the newspaper that clearing brush is “very effective” at limiting fire spread on a normal day, but not against the strength of these fires and winds.
Brazil: COP30, Amazon shipping and soy moratorium
ROCKY WATERS: Brazil’s government cancelled a bid for a “dredging project” to aid the docking of cruise ships in Belém when it hosts COP30 later this year, according to Folha de São Paulo. The dredging, which would remove sediment from the bottom of the port, was expected to impact “the composition of sediments, the behaviour of aquatic mammals and the quality of the water itself”, the newspaper said. The project was aimed to increase accommodation amid a shortage of hotel rooms for the climate summit.
‘RISKY’ SHIPPING PLANS: Meanwhile, Mongabay looked at Brazil’s plans to develop new shipping channels in Amazon waterways, which experts say could “result in conversion of traditional peoples’ lands to carbon-intensive agriculture”. The outlet said the country is “poised” to invest in developing more than 2,000km of channels for agribusiness transport in “shrinking rivers”. Dr José Marengo, a climatologist and hydrology specialist, said it is “crazy” to consider creating the shipping channels in certain rivers because of the “extremely low [water] levels, mainly due to the droughts of 2023 and 2024. It’s very risky.”
SOY PACT: Elsewhere in Brazil, the supreme court will soon rule on a request challenging a state law that would end tax breaks for grain traders who avoid soy from recently deforested areas of the Amazon, Reuters reported. The legislation was passed in Mato Grosso last year, but will not take effect until a final court decision in February, the newswire said. The law added “growing pressure” to Brazil’s soy moratorium – the “voluntary pact” to ban the purchase of soy from deforested Amazon areas after 2008, Reuters noted. Last month, a farmer lobby group asked the country’s antitrust agency to investigate the signatories of this pact, describing them as a “purchasing cartel”, the newswire said.
Spotlight
Illegal rewilding in Scotland
In this Spotlight, Carbon Brief explores the curious case of the illegal reintroduction of four Eurasian lynx in the Scottish Highlands.
A few days ago, a pair of labrador-sized cats with dappled fur and tufty ears were spotted wandering free in Cairngorms national park in the Scottish Highlands.
They were quickly identified as Eurasian lynx, a species of big cat that went extinct in the UK more than 1,000 years ago. (They are still widely found across Europe and Asia).
The cats were released illegally, according to the police and the national park authority. The animals – along with a second pair caught on camera traps a day later – were captured humanely and brought to a nearby wildlife park. One has since died.
While there is a growing movement advocating for the reintroduction of lynx in order to “rewild” Scotland, none of the conservation groups involved with such calls have claimed responsibility for the release.
One charity called the move “reckless” and “highly irresponsible”, warning the cats were most likely raised in captivity and would have died after being left alone in the wild.
Despite this, there is “speculation” that the most likely culprit is “someone who had grown frustrated with the slow progress” of the campaign to reintroduce lynx to Scotland and decided to “take matters into their own hands”, according to the Guardian.
Guerrilla rewilding
The UK has a long history of illegal animal releases shaping its ecosystems.
Multiple introductions of grey squirrels since the 1890s has all but wiped out the native red across most of the country. Further illicit releases, once blamed on the US musician Jimi Hendrix, have allowed feral green parakeets to spread across London and its surrounding areas.
More recently, conservationists have warned of the growing practice of “beaver bombing”, the covert release of beavers into natural areas by advocates who think the government is not moving fast enough to reintroduce the rodents as part of rewilding efforts. (The new Labour government is reportedly blocking plans to legalise beaver releases in England.)
Both beavers and lynx are considered to be “keystone species”, meaning they can have an outsized impact on the environment surrounding them.
A group of beavers released illegally in the River Otter in Devon were given official permission to stay by the government after a five-year trial showed that their dam-building helped to alleviate flood risk and local pollution.
Climate carnivores
Advocates of reintroducing lynx to Scotland say that the predators could help to reshape the forest ecosystem surrounding them through the “ecology of fear”.
In essence, lynx litter the landscape with their faeces and urine, prompting roe deer – their main prey – to keep moving, rather than staying still and overgrazing on young vegetation before it has had a chance to establish.
Over time, this could help to create a denser forest environment, with benefits for storing carbon and boosting biodiversity, it is argued.
However, research has found that local communities in Scotland have mixed feelings about reintroducing lynx.
A study published in 2023 involving interviews with more than 40 people found that some locals were in favour of reintroducing lynx, either for economic or environmental reasons, while others were “unconvinced” of the evidence supporting the benefits or felt strongly opposed to the idea of big cats being set loose.
The farmers’ union NFU Scotland opposes the reintroduction of lynx over fears the animals could hunt and kill livestock.
News and views
BIDEN BACKTRACKS: The Biden administration “abruptly” stepped back from a plan to protect old-growth forests after “pushback from Republicans and the timber industry”, the Associated Press reported. This ended a “years-long process to…better protect old trees that are increasingly threatened by climate change”, the newswire said. Opponents argued that restricting logging in older forests was not necessary, partly because “many forested areas already are protected”, the AP said. Alex Craven from the Sierra Club conservation group said there was a “scientific necessity and public expectation” to protect these forests.
WATER WOES: Climate change is “wreaking havoc” on the Earth’s water cycle, according to the Global Water Monitor’s 2024 report, covered by the Indian Express. Last year, water-related disasters killed at least 8,700 people, displaced 40 million and resulted in economic losses exceeding $550bn globally, the newspaper said. At the same time, there were 38% more record-dry months, compared to the period 1995-2005. In 2025, droughts could intensify in northern South America, southern Africa and parts of Asia, it added.
KOALAS AT RISK: Logging in the proposed “Great Koala national park” in New South Wales, Australia, has increased since 2023, according to an analysis covered by the Guardian. In March 2023, a new Labor state government came into power, promising to protect the area. But the report, from the conservation group North East Forest Alliance, found that more than 7,000 hectares of forest has been logged in the region since then, the newspaper said. New South Wales agriculture minister Tara Moriarty said “the claims in the report are not true” and the government was “getting on with delivering a Great Koala national park while at the same time ensuring a sustainable timber industry”.
BOTSWANA ADAPTATION: Botswana has put forward a new climate plan to the UN, prioritisting adaptation measures, such as introducing drought-tolerant crops and cows, over measures to cut its already-low emissions, Climate Home News reported. Botswana’s climate plan, known as a “nationally determined contribution” (NDC), said that, “as Botswana is one of the lowest emitters in the world, the limited financial resources available will be prioritised for adaptation”. Climate Home News said that the move has been “praised by African climate negotiators as a model that low-emitting, vulnerable countries should follow”.
FUTURE CROP YIELDS: Senior officials in India believe that rice and wheat yields will drop by 6-10% in future due to climate change, the Press Trust of India reported, via the Kashmir Observer. This will “significantly impac[t] farmers and food security”, Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the director general of the India Meteorological Department, told the newspaper. In 2023-24, India’s wheat output exceeded 113m tonnes – about 14% of the global output, the outlet noted. The country also produced more than 137m tonnes of rice.
Watch, read, listen
BACK IN TIME: The possibilities and scientific developments around species “de-extinction” were discussed in a Yale Environment 360 feature.
ON THE MOVE: An article in Vox explored how wildlife migrations are “increasingly threatened” by roads, climate-fuelled extreme weather and agricultural fields.
DAILY FIX: An editorial in the Financial Times examined how climate change is “mostly to blame” for skyrocketing coffee and chocolate prices.
‘UNIT OF NATURE’: In the first Georgina Mace Review, an annual conservation biology journal named after the late UK scientist, a group of biologists examine whether it is possible to create a standardised measure for biodiversity, otherwise known as a “unit of nature”.
New science
- A Nature study found that one-quarter of freshwater animal species are at “high risk” of extinction. The researchers assessed the global extinction risk of more than 23,000 freshwater species, finding that fauna faced several “prevalent threats”, such as pollutants, agriculture and invasive species.
- Crop and grass biomass production could decline by more than 50% by 2050 in parts of west Africa due to climate change and other factors, a study in Scientific Reports said. The results of the modelling “underscore the intricate interplay between climate, crops, livestock and emissions”, the researchers wrote.
- Forests in Borneo that had been selectively logged retained relatively high levels of biodiversity, compared to areas that had been cleared to make way for palm oil plantations, research in Science found. The findings “demonstrate the complexity of land-use impacts on ecosystems”, the study said.
In the diary
- 15-18 January: Global Forum for Food and Agriculture | Berlin
- 16 January: Vanuatu parliamentary elections
- 16-17 January: G20 first sustainable finance working group meeting | South Africa
- 20 January: US presidential inauguration day | Washington DC
- 20-24 January: World Economic Forum annual meeting | Davos, Switzerland
Cropped is researched and written by Dr Giuliana Viglione, Aruna Chandrasekhar, Daisy Dunne, Orla Dwyer and Yanine Quiroz. Please send tips and feedback to cropped@carbonbrief.org
The post Cropped 15 January 2025: LA up in flames; Illegal rewilding in Scotland; COP30 dredging cancelled appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Cropped 15 January 2025: LA up in flames; Illegal rewilding in Scotland; COP30 dredging cancelled
Climate Change
Greenpeace delivers 47 metre-long petition with half a million signatures to Woodside HQ following major gas protest
Greenpeace delivers 47 metre-long petition with half a million signatures to Woodside HQ following major gas protest
PERTH, Monday 19 October 2026 — Dozens of Perth community members delivered a giant petition, signed by almost half a million people, to Woodside’s corporate headquarters this morning, calling on the government to save Scott Reef from Woodside’s reckless Browse gas proposal.
Dressed in sea creature costumes and hats, supporters carried one of Australia’s biggest environmental petitions to Woodside’s headquarters, and a local choir performed a ‘Scott Reef’ rendition of Angie McMahon’s iconic cover of ‘Reckless’ by Australian Crawl.
On the sidelines of the Perth Global Citizen Now event, it comes following a two day-long protest at Woodside’s Scarborough gas platform that saw activists scale and occupy the Floating Production Unit calling to “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas” and “Save Scott Reef”. The activists were taken from the platform by police helicopter on Sunday afternoon.
David Ritter, CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “Less than a day after two Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists were arrested for their peaceful protest at Woodside’s Scarborough gas platform to save Scott Reef, we are here again with another message to Woodside: half a million of us do not want your dirty gas at Scott Reef.
“Community pressure on Woodside is rising. Today we are here to show Woodside that they can’t ignore half a million people who want Scott Reef protected, not turned into an industrialised gas zone.
“Woodside can’t be trusted with our oceans. Woodside’s plans to drill up to 57 toxic wells at Scott Reef, Australia’s largest oceanic reef, putting endangered pygmy blue whales at risk, and jeopardising a nesting ground for unique green sea turtles.
“We Australians love our oceans and this is an opportunity for our governments to do the right thing, to reject Woodside’s reckless drilling plans, and save Scott Reef.”
-ENDS-
Media contact
Kate O’Callaghan on +61 406 231 892 or Emma Sangalli on +61 431 513 465
Climate Change
Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists in police custody after two-day protest against Woodside’s Browse gas project at Scott Reef
PERTH, Sunday 18 October 2026 — Two Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists are in police custody after occupying a gas platform at Woodside’s Scarborough gas project, in peaceful protest of the fossil fuel corporation’s plans to drill for oil and gas at Scott Reef.
NEW footage and photos of the peaceful protest available here and on Instagram
The activists used specialised climbing equipment to scale and attach themselves to a Floating Production Unit (FPU), a key piece of gas processing infrastructure at the Scarborough gas field over 200km off the coast of Exmouth, at around 05:45am AWST on Saturday and proceeded to occupy the platform for two days, displaying banners reading “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas. Save Scott Reef.”
Special police forces landed a helicopter on the FPU at around 11:30am AWST. The activists safely removed themselves from their equipment before being taken into police custody around 1:00pm AWST. At the time of writing, no charges have been laid.
David Ritter, CEO at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said: “It takes guts and conviction to do what our activists have done, peacefully protesting Woodside’s reckless gas plans at Scott Reef.
“Woodside’s plans to drill up to 57 toxic wells at Scott Reef are outrageous. If allowed to go ahead Woodside would turn Scott Reef, Australia’s largest oceanic reef, home to nesting green sea turtles and elusive pygmy blue whales, into an industrial gas zone. Around half a million people have called on our governments to stop Woodside and to save Scott Reef.
“Our activists are highly trained and experienced in these activities. West Australia has a proud history of peaceful, democratic protest at sea, to protect our oceans from environmental threats. From whaling in Albany in the seventies, to Woodside’s threat to Scott Reef today, there’s more than fifty years of history, of Greenpeace taking action off WA’s coast to protect the places we love.
“Peaceful protest has long been part of what has given us so many of the things that are great about Australia and is part of the fabric of our democracy and our national identity.”
“The right to peaceful protest is fundamental to a healthy democracy. From Australia to the Arctic and the Amazon, Greenpeace has been peacefully protesting for more than 50 years to expose the biggest environmental threats around the world. We will not be silenced by corporations like Woodside who actively try to stop everyday people from speaking out against their reckless plans.
“Woodside’s reckless proposal to drill at Scott Reef is an unacceptable risk to Scott Reef and to the climate, which our government should emphatically reject.”
Speaking from the Rainbow Warrior, Captain of the Rainbow Warrior Hettie Geenen, said:
“It felt powerful watching from the Rainbow Warrior as these brave activists scaled Woodside’s enormous and imposing gas infrastructure, which has no place at Scott Reef. We are all out here because we feel an urge to act, in the face of Woodside’s grave threat to Scott Reef and to our climate. Now we ask for the Australian government to act too, and reject Woodside’s reckless Browse project.
“Just before this peaceful protest, the Rainbow Warrior sailed to Scott Reef, where our whole crew got to witness the magic of an untouched, healthy reef ecosystem full of marine life. It was my second time visiting Scott Reef with the Rainbow Warrior. When you see Scott Reef up close and witness its magic first hand, it is impossible not to feel driven to try and protect it.”
The activists sailed to Scarborough on the Rainbow Warrior, Greenpeace’s flagship vessel, which is in the region campaigning to protect Australia’s oceans, including Scott Reef.
-ENDS-
Media contact
Greenpeace Australia Pacific media team in Perth on +61 406 231 892 or +61 407 581 404 or email media.au@greenpeace.org
Climate Change
GREENPEACE GAS PROTEST DAY TWO: Activists spend first night on Woodside’s Scarborough gas platform, “in this for the long haul”
- NEW footage and photos available here and on Instagram – more being uploaded today.
- Interviews available with campaigners on board the Rainbow Warrior on request.
Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists have slept overnight on Woodside’s Floating Production Unit and dropped a massive 12×14-metre banner reading “Stop Woodside’s Dirty Gas. Save Scott Reef”.
Two activists have set up temporary hanging tents on the South East pillar, while the other two returned to the Rainbow Warrior late yesterday afternoon, after fulfilling their initial role. The activists will occupy the platform for as long as possible.
The environmental advocacy group is peacefully protesting Woodside’s plans to drill for oil and gas at Scott Reef as part of its Browse proposal.
Sakyo Noda, one of the Greenpeace Australia Pacific activists, said: “As a Japanese person living in Australia, I feel incredibly passionate about stopping Australia’s gas exports to Asia.
“Despite what the gas industry tells us, Australia’s gas is not helping to decarbonise Asia. It is simply not true. We shouldn’t be allowing fossil fuel companies like Woodside to extract new fossil fuels, let alone at extraordinary places like Scott Reef”.
Aboard the Rainbow Warrior, Geoff Bice, WA Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, added, “Everyone is in good spirits. We’re in it for the long haul.”
Links:
Photos and video of Scott Reef here
Audio and footage of yesterday’s press conference here
Content and live updates will be uploaded to a live blog and Instagram
In-person interviews in Perth with David Ritter, CEO of Greenpeace Australia Pacific, can be organised. Dial-in, SimSat and Zoom interviews with Geoff Bice, WA Campaign Lead at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, currently aboard the Rainbow Warrior, can be organised.
