NewsNews

Earth news

  1. 1

    UN biodiversity summit COP17 opens in Yerevan, Armenia, to review progress on 2030 nature targets

    World leaders gathered in Yerevan, Armenia, for the Leaders' Summit opening the two-week UN Biodiversity Conference (COP17), which runs from October 19 to 30. The meeting is the first review of collective progress under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, adopted in 2022, with the deadline of 2030 approaching. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres launched the State of Biodiversity Action report, the first global assessment, and said there was progress but not enough. CGTN reported that the summit is expected to conclude with the Yerevan Declaration, calling for increased financing and science-based decisions. Greenpeace said governments must move beyond recognising gaps and take action-oriented decisions. Armenia's environment minister, Hambardzum Matevosyan, who is COP17 president, described the event as a chance to raise the country's profile.

    Key facts

    • The Kunming-Montreal framework, adopted in 2022, commits governments to protecting at least 30% of land and sea by 2030.
    • UNDP's Xu Haoliang said the world spends about $200 billion a year on biodiversity against a $700 billion financing gap.
    • Guterres said there is progress since Kunming-Montreal, but it is not enough.
    • More than 15,000 delegates are expected at COP17, the largest conference Armenia has hosted.
    • Armenia aims to raise its specially protected nature areas from 13% to 20% of territory by 2030.

    Commentary

    The headline event is the predictable part; the real test is money, since the funding gap that UNDP cites is more than three times current spending, and the summit's own outcome document is only a call for financing. Guterres's remarks signal that governments are aware of the shortfall but have not committed to closing it. Developing countries and Indigenous communities will likely bear the cost if financing lags, and reader attention should turn to whether the Yerevan Declaration includes funding commitments.

    Sources: CGTN Radio, CGTN, Hindustan Times, Greenpeace

  2. 2

    Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level since 1988 records began

    Deforestation in Brazil's Amazon rainforest has fallen to its lowest level since records began in 1988, according to new government data released ahead of a crucial presidential election. The Guardian reported that forest destruction dropped 41.8 percent over the past year to 3,335 square kilometres. Stronger environmental enforcement and increased conservation funding have helped reduce forest clearance. The rainforest's future remains uncertain, however, as President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva faces Flávio Bolsonaro, son of former president Jair Bolsonaro, in a run-off. Lula has prioritised environmental protection, while Bolsonaro has attracted agricultural and mining support. Campaigners warned that the vote could determine whether Brazil keeps protecting its forests.

    Key facts

    • Deforestation has fallen 71.2 percent since 2022, before Lula took office, according to National Institute for Space Research data.
    • Under Jair Bolsonaro's previous administration, Amazon deforestation increased by 59.5 percent.
    • The presidential run-off between Lula and Flávio Bolsonaro is set for October 25.
    • Marcio Astrini of the Climate Observatory said ending forest destruction in Brazil is "entirely possible".

    Commentary

    What moved is less the trend than its dependence on policy: the decline is credited to enforcement and funding, so the October vote may decide whether it holds. Flávio Bolsonaro's backers want wider access to resources, so the same forest is now a campaign issue with opposing economic stakes.

    Sources: The News International

  3. 3

    Mexico's Pacific coast braces for Hurricane Trudy during record eastern Pacific season

    Mexico's Pacific coast is bracing for Hurricane Trudy, a Category 1 storm expected to pass the southwestern coast on Sunday, as a record eastern Pacific season continues. Authorities from Guerrero to Nayarit warned it could strengthen and that heavy rain could cause major damage because soil is already saturated from earlier storms. Meteorologists attribute the stronger, longer-lasting storms to a powerful El Niño and warmer ocean temperatures linked to climate change. Residents in Acapulco, Bahía de Banderas and Loreto say storms arriving one after another leave little time to clean up or earn income. In Ensenada, where authorities said eight people died, resident Gerardo Gutiérrez said neighbors are asking for a disaster zone declaration.

    Key facts

    • Ten hurricanes have formed in the eastern Pacific this year, the most since 2018.
    • Hurricane Trudy is a Category 1 storm expected to pass Mexico's southwestern coast on Sunday.
    • Authorities said eight people were killed in Ensenada, Baja California.
    • Hurricane Otis hit Acapulco in 2023 as a Category 5, Mexico's most powerful Pacific storm on record.
    • Dozens were killed and Acapulco suffered billions of dollars in damage from Otis.

    Commentary

    What has changed is not the arrival of storms but their spacing, which leaves saturated ground and no window for recovery. Residents absorb the cost through lost work and tourism, relying on neighbors while federal aid remains the unresolved question. If storms keep arriving this closely, the strain will fall hardest on working-class communities that have the least buffer.

    Sources: Los Angeles Times

  4. 4

    UN migration chief warns climate change could force millions to move in South Asia

    International Organization for Migration Director General Amy Pope warned that climate change is threatening livelihoods and forcing people from their homes across South Asia. Speaking to AFP during a visit to New Delhi, she said rising seas, flooding and drought threaten homes and farmland, and that in a worst-case scenario up to 40.5 million people in the region may be forced to move by 2050, according to the IOM. Pope said that when communities cannot produce food or feed livestock, moving is often the first adaptation. She said technology and government action could help limit the damage, with measures including improved farming, job training and, where necessary, relocating communities repeatedly hit by floods or drought. She also said migration could serve as a tool for development if governments ensure safe, legal routes to work.

    Key facts

    • Nepal's August 26 mountain and glacier collapse triggered deadly flooding, and the IOM sent humanitarian aid.
    • Pope said climate change is accelerating urbanisation in India as people seek shelter from heat.
    • Pope said a humanitarian disaster costs billions, while some resilience measures cost far less.
    • Pope said funding to help residents prepare for climate change remains inadequate.
    • Pope said AI forecasting could help identify communities at high risk of displacement before disaster strikes.

    Commentary

    The notable shift is Pope treating displacement as a planning problem, not only a disaster, which makes funding timing the real test. She says the response lacks urgency, yet describes prevention as far cheaper than relief, so delay is the costly choice. Communities that move first will likely bear the consequences of slow funding.

    Sources: The Daily Star, Asia Insurance Review

  5. 5

    Indigenous leaders take Amazon crime fight to UN Vienna conference

    Indigenous representatives from Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador are bringing their fight against illegal mining, drug trafficking and deforestation to a UN conference on transnational organized crime in Vienna, running October 19-23. They want governments to target the financial networks behind environmental crimes and to give Indigenous peoples a bigger role in protecting their territories and shaping a proposed international agreement. Peru's Wampis Nation representative Galois Flores said mercury from gold mining is contaminating rivers used for fishing and drinking water. Indigenous leaders say threats and violence against those resisting criminal groups are rising. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime said it works with Indigenous communities but did not say whether they would have a formal negotiating role.

    Key facts

    • Indigenous representatives from Peru, Brazil, Colombia and Ecuador attend the UN conference in Vienna, October 19-23.
    • Governments are expected to consider negotiations on a new protocol on environmental crimes.
    • Six Kakataibo leaders have been killed in Peru since 2020, according to Marcelo Odicio.
    • At least 105 land and environmental defenders were killed in Latin America in 2025, per Global Witness.
    • The UN drugs office did not say whether Indigenous representatives would have a formal role in negotiations.

    Commentary

    The predictable part is the demand for a seat at the table; the telling part is that the UN agency declined to confirm one. Killings of defenders, with Colombia and Brazil leading, show that the costs of inaction fall on communities rather than on the criminal networks being discussed. Unless Indigenous consultation is written into the process, the protocol risks addressing the crime while leaving its victims out of the decisions.

    Sources: PBS

Today's video

Also posted to: