Published

3 years ago

November 19, 2023

Alice Rush

Dozens of proposed projects would pump water uphill to reservoirs that release it to generate electricity when wind and solar can’t. But their reliance on groundwater in the drought-stricken Southwest is leading to pushback.

By Wyatt Myskow

ELY, Nevada—The smell of piñon pine filled the air as the Ghost Train of Old Ely rolled to a stop between the Duck Creek Range and another railway. Two peaks of jagged limestone towered above the sagebrush and juniper trees that filled the range, providing habitat for elk, deer, pronghorn, rattlesnakes and sage grouse. Sundown here in the Great Basin Desert reveals some of the darkest skies in the country.

Pumped Storage Hydro Could be Key to the Clean Energy Transition. But Where Will the Water Come From?

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Alice Rush

Climate Change

Bonn Bulletin: Ministry divisions complicate Brazil’s roadmap away from fossil fuels

Published

8 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Alice Rush

In a packed room last Friday, the COP30 Presidency presented preliminary elements of the work on the global roadmap for the transition away from fossil fuels and some European and small island governments argued the roadmap should be integrated into the formal negotiation process. But besides the global work, how is Brazil’s national roadmap coming along?

“The presidential order [by Lula at COP30] was that the ministries of environment, finance and energy should work together,” Flávia Bellaguarda, extraordinary advisor to Brazil’s environment ministry, told Climate Home News in Bonn.

“We do have different points of view about what the roadmap means. We have to face our contradictions and bring them to the table because the roadmap is about energy security, economic security, social security,” she said, adding that “we have reached a common place of the guidelines of what must be addressed on the roadmap”.

Those guidelines—that Bellaguarda couldn’t share yet—are now under revision by the Brazilian presidency and then will be analysed by the National Energy Policy Council (CNPE). After those revisions, the three ministries will begin working on the roadmap itself and its governance. That work will include consultations with different stakeholders, including representatives of the energy sector and civil society organisations.

The Brazilian government still prefers not to give dates for these next steps because “they do not expect it to be something quick,” but rather to respect the steps and time that the process requires.

Roadmaps to transition away from fossil fuels are, at least for now, voluntary for each country. “There is no right and wrong on how to do the roadmap. Countries know what is best for each reality,” said Bellaguarda, encouraging countries to advance on their national roadmaps alongside the global one. “It’s not easy to address the issue nationally, but it’s totally necessary.”

The post Bonn Bulletin: Ministry divisions complicate Brazil’s roadmap away from fossil fuels appeared first on Climate Home News.

Bonn Bulletin: Ministry divisions complicate Brazil’s roadmap away from fossil fuels

Climate Change

The Wayfinders’ Roadmap

Published

12 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Alice Rush

As Pacific peoples we are descendants of the greatest navigators the world has ever known. Today we are navigating the greatest global challenge of our time: climate change and the end of the fossil fuel age.

To learn more, read our report Where the Ocean Leads Us, and explore our photo exhibition The Wayfinders’ Roadmap.

READ REPORT

PHOTO EXHIBITION

THE WAYFINDERS’ ROADMAP

PART 1: THE LARGE OCEAN REALITY

Pacific Rainbow Warrior Ship Tour - Welcome Ceremony in Vanuatu — THE SUMMONING
For thousands of years, the echo of the conch shell has summoned our people across the Moana to face great tides together. Today, it calls us to navigate the greatest journey of our time: the end of the fossil fuel age.

© Greenpeace / Island Roots

Humpback Whale Mother and Calf in the Pacific Ocean — THE MOANA IDENTITY
We are not small island states. We are the stewards of the greatest ocean on Earth. The Moana is our mother, our history, and our pathway—connecting us rather than dividing us.

“We are the ocean. We should not be defined by the smallness of our islands, but by the greatness of our oceans.”
— Epeli Hauʻofa, legendary Tongan-Fijian scholar and writer

© Jasmine Carey

Traditional Weaving Workshop in Vanuatu — THE WOVEN KNOWLEDGE
Our land and culture are sacred (Fonua / Whenua / Fenua / Vanua). In every thread woven by our elders, our history is preserved, holding ancestral knowledge that has kept us resilient for generations.

© Greenpeace / Island Roots

Local Population Greets the Rainbow Warrior in Vanuatu — THE SPIRIT OF UNBROKEN SOVEREIGN LOVE
Our songs, dances, and smiles are not performances for the world—they are expressions of our sovereignty and our refusal to be erased.

© Steven Lyon / Greenpeace

PART 2: THE DEVOURING SEA & THE POISONED MOTHER

Graveyard on Pele Island — THE ERASING OF ROOTS
When big carbon-polluting corporations burn fossil fuels, our graveyards wash into the sea. This is not just environmental damage; it is a violation of our history. We are holding them accountable.

“The sea keeps us alive, but at the same time, it slowly devours us. It devours our memories and our culture bit by bit. And that scares me.”
— Grace Maile, youth climate activist from Tuvalu

© Niki Kuautonga / Greenpeace

Impacts of the Tropical Cyclone Donna in Port VilaCambio Climatico en Vanuatu — THE SEVERED GROUND
In the Pacific, our relationship with the land is one of deep reciprocity and sacred roots. But as global carbon emissions rise, the climate crisis manifests as unprecedented violence. This is the aftermath of a severe cyclone and the devastating landslide it triggered—tearing ancient trees from the earth and sliding our hillsides into the sea. This is The Story of the Ancestors. Climate change isn’t a slow, distant threat; it is a violent force that shatters our landscape overnight, uprooting our heritage and eroding the very ground our families depend on.

© Pedro Armestre / Greenpeace

Scenic Aerial View of Tuvalu — THE THIN LINE OF SURVIVAL
On an atoll nation, there is no higher ground to retreat to. This narrow strip of land is the literal blueprint of our vulnerability. Driven by global carbon emissions, the ocean is turning volatile, pushing its waves further into our sanctuaries and threatening to submerge generations of family homes. We live on a knife’s edge. We are fighting a daily battle to keep our narrow slips of paradise from being swallowed by the sea.

“If you save Tuvalu, you save the world… For a small island developing state like Tuvalu, climate change is an existential threat. It is a matter of life and death.”
— Enele Sopoaga, Former Prime Minister of Tuvalu

© Greenpeace / Bianca Vitale

King Tide Aftermath in Funafuti, Tuvalu — DISRUPTED CHILDHOOD – THE INUNDATION
High tides and saltwater intrusion are no longer rare disasters. They are the weekly reality for our children, flooding their schools and poisoning their clean drinking water.

© Greenpeace / De'allande Pedro

PART 3: CHOKED BY OIL

Oil Spill Adjacent to UNESCO World Heritage Site in Solomon Islands — THE VISIBLE POISON
Plastic is only half the threat; the other half is the raw oil that feeds it. When the fossil fuel industry spills oil into our ocean, it injects a direct poison into The Story of the Pure Water. This slick is a chemical chokehold on our reefs, our fishing grounds, and our health. We are fighting to end the oil and gas age entirely, ensuring our ocean remains vibrant, sovereign, and alive.

© Greenpeace

Villager and Severely Damaged Home in Vanuatu — THE PRICE OF INACTION – LOSS AND DAMAGE
Rising global temperatures primarily from fossil fuel and petrochemical industries fuel extreme mega-cyclones that destroy generations of what we call home in hours. This is Loss & Damage (L&D) in real-time.

“The ocean is not what divides us, it is what connects us… When we degrade the ocean, we degrade ourselves. Pollution and exploitation of our waters are direct threats to our survival and our cultural identity.”
— Aulani Wilhelm, Native Hawaiian Marine Conservationist and Indigenous Leader

© Niki Kuautonga / Greenpeace

Activists Clean up the Coastline at ICJ AO Solidarity Event in Fiji — STORY OF THE PURE WATER
Plastic is made from oil. The fossil fuel industry’s greed doesn’t just warm our air—it chokes our coral reefs and poisons our fish. We are fighting for a global plastics treaty to keep our waters pure.

© Eremasi Rova / Greenpeace

Children in Funafuti, Tuvalu — REFUSING ERASURE
Our youth refuse to let their future be buried under the waste of the global fossil fuel economy. We stand tall.

© Greenpeace / De'allande Pedro

PART 4: THE MANDATE FOR SURVIVAL

ICJAO UNGA Flotilla for Vote on Climate Action at UN in New York — CHANGING THE RULES: THE ARCHITECTS OF JUSTICE
We are no longer pleading for our lives; we are rewriting the rules of global accountability. This campaign is our legal mandate for survival. We demand that the International Court of Justice cements 1.5°C as an unyielding boundary to stay alive, forcing a swift, total, and just transition away from the fossil fuels choking our planet. This is not a request for charity—it is an absolute demand for justice under international law.

“We want to see the law working for us, not against us, or ignoring us. We want to show that our rights, our culture, and our very existence are protected under international law.”
— Cynthia Houniuhi, Solomon Islands Activist, Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC)

© Stephanie Keith / Greenpeace

Pacific Climate Activists hold an action in Vanuatu for Climate Justice during COP26 — THE UNBROKEN LINE OF RESISTANCE
The Frontline walks firm. Our resistance is intergenerational, carried forward by the fierce leadership of our women. We stand on the soil of our birth, holding our future in our arms, and reminding the world that we refuse to be a casualty of global inaction. This is the heart of our struggle: a collective, living wall of culture, dignity, and political defiance.

© Greenpeace

Women Hold Signs at ICJ AO Action in Tanna, Vanuatu — A WALL OF VOICES
Across every dialect, every archipelago, and every ocean trench, our message to global leaders is identical: Justice delayed is justice denied. This is the language of survival, echoing from our ancestors to our youth. We are not asking for permission to exist, nor are we negotiating our borders. We are standing as a unified wall of voices to dismantle the global fossil fuel economy and reclaim our sovereignty.

“We are drawing the line here… No greedy whale of a company sharking through political seas. No backwater bullying of businesses with broken morals. No blindfolded bureaucracies gonna push this mother ocean over the edge. No one’s drowning, baby. No one’s moving.”
— Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, Marshallese Poet and Climate Envoy

© Steven Lilo / Greenpeace

Action ahead of the Climate Vulnerable Forum in the Marshall Islands — 1.5°C NOT JUST TO STAY ALIVE – BUT TO THRIVE
For too long, the world has written the Pacific’s future as a slow, tragic elegy—treating our disappearance as inevitable. We completely refuse that narrative. Limiting global warming to 1.5°C is not an ambitious target for us; it is our baseline for survival. But survival is not our destination. We demand the resources, the climate finance, and the systemic global accountability required to secure our future. We are not a tragedy in waiting. We are an enduring, sovereign people building a future where our islands, our children, and our culture permanently prosper and thrive.

© Martin Romain / Greenpeace

PART 5: THE VOYAGE AHEAD – JOIN OUR VAKA

Candle Lit Vigil for World's Indigenous Peoples International Day in Rabi, Fiji — THE STORY OF THE NEW SUN
They tell us we need “gas” as a transition fuel to survive. We say no. Gas is just another fossil fuel burning our home. We carry the flame of a new dawn—powered by the sun, the wind, and the waves.

© Greenpeace / The Roving Rovas

Local People in Erromango, Vanuatu — THE LIVING FUTURE
We are still here. Through cyclones, rising tides, and the toxic legacies of the fossil fuel age, our communities remain deeply rooted in our ancestral lands. This is what climate justice looks like: the sacred right to cook our food, raise our children, and pass down our traditions in peace. We are not disappearing, and we are not giving up. We have fought to rewrite global laws so that this village, and thousands like it across our blue continent, will continue to thrive for generations to come.

“We want to survive. We don’t want to migrate. We want to live on our islands, because that is where our culture is, that is where our identity is, that is where our roots are.”
— Hon. Anote Tong, Former President of Kiribati

© Greenpeace / Island Roots

Welcome Flotilla Waits to Receive Minister in Kioa Island, Fiji — THE FLEET OF HOPE
True sovereignty is not found in the halls of foreign courts; it is lived every single day on the water. As we conclude this journey, we look to the horizon with collective purpose. Our ancestors crossed the vastness of this blue continent using nothing but the stars, the currents, and an unshakeable trust in one another. Today, we paddle forward in that exact same spirit. We have drawn the legal boundaries, we have confronted the polluters, and now we carry our culture confidently into the tomorrow we fought to protect. The voyage continues.

© Greenpeace / Andrew Quilty

Coconut Tree in Tuvalu — THE UNENDING SANCTUARY
The world sees vulnerability; we see an unyielding stronghold of culture, identity, and life. We did not choose this fight, but we have chosen how it will end. From the courts of international law to the very tops of our coconut trees, our presence on this land is absolute and non-negotiable. Our ancestors navigated this blue continent for millennia, and we are ensuring our children inherit the right to do the same. We are not a tragedy to be mourned. We are the guardians of the Pacific, and our story will never be erased.

© Greenpeace / De'allande Pedro

The Wayfinders’ Roadmap

Climate Change

Microsoft’s Clean Energy Reversal Collides with Virginia’s Climate Goals

Published

12 hours ago

June 15, 2026

Alice Rush

Amid a data center boom in the state, the tech giant backpedals on a key climate promise.

By Charles Paullin

One of the world’s most profitable technology companies could be abandoning an ambitious clean-energy goal in Virginia as it races to build electricity-hungry data centers. Several of the company’s facilities are already operating in Virginia, the data center capital of the world, and more are planned, creating a tension with the state’s own climate commitments.