fire

Brazil saw 79% jump in area burned by fires in 2024: monitor

BY LUCIA LACURCIA

But in Brazil, the main driver of the fires are ranchers and farmers who clear land for pasture and agriculture -- a crime the government struggles to contain.

Wildfires in Brazil last year consumed a total area larger than all of Italy, a monitor reported Wednesday, as the country continues to battle blazes often set by farmers and ranchers illegally expanding their territory.
But in Brazil, the main driver of the fires are ranchers and farmers who clear land for pasture and agriculture -- a crime the government struggles to contain.

Wildfires in Brazil last year consumed a total area larger than all of Italy, a monitor reported Wednesday, as the country continues to battle blazes often set by farmers and ranchers illegally expanding their territory.

Some 30.8 million hectares (119,000 square miles) of vegetation were burned in Brazil in 2024, a 79 percent increase from 2023, monitoring platform MapBiomas reported.

Fires in the Amazon, a crucial carbon sink for the rest of the world as well as a global hotspot of biodiversity, accounted for 58 percent of the damage.

The figures are discouraging news for the government of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who in November will host the UN COP30 climate conference in the Amazonian city of Belem.

The 2024 figures represent the largest area burned since 2019.

Some 8.5 million hectares of forest burned in 2024, compared to 2.2 million in 2023, and in the Amazon, fires took out more forest than grassland for the first time, according to the data.

"This is a terrible indicator, because, once forests are burned, they become more susceptible to future fires," said Ane Alencar, of MapBiomas.

Climate change makes vegetation drier and thus more prone to burning.

But in Brazil, the main driver of the fires are ranchers and farmers who clear land for pasture and agriculture -- a crime the government struggles to contain.

Lula has made preserving the Amazon a priority of his government, following lax protections against human expansion into the territory under his predecessor Jair Bolsonaro.

But in September, Lula admitted that the country was not "100% prepared" to face a wave of forest fires that his government attributed to "climate terrorism."

The Brazilian Amazon saw its highest number of fires in 17 years in 2024, government data published earlier this month showed, after the vast biome suffered months of a lengthy drought.

There were 140,328 fires detected by satellite imaging over the year, according to the National Institute for Space Research (INPE).

That was 42 percent more than the 98,634 fires recorded in 2023 -- and the most since 2007, when 186,463 forest fires were seen.

Those figures, as well as Wednesday's, come after some hope last year when the INPE said that deforestation in the region had fallen by more than 30 percent in the 12-month period to August 2024.

Scientists warn that continued deforestation will put the Amazon on track to reach a point where it will emit more carbon than it absorbs, accelerating climate change.

ll/dga/nro/jgc

politics

As Trump takes aim at EVs, how far will rollback go?

BY JOHN BIERS

The Biden administration's fuel economy rules required automakers to market fleets with sharply lower carbon dioxide emissions in a bid to address climate change, while laws such as the $400 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included a slew of lending and tax credit programs to boost EVs. Programs under the IRA and the 2021 infrastructure law are in various stages of implementation.

As part of his flurry of first-day actions, US President Donald Trump took aim at electric vehicles, a cornerstone of the Biden administration's climate change agenda.
The Biden administration's fuel economy rules required automakers to market fleets with sharply lower carbon dioxide emissions in a bid to address climate change, while laws such as the $400 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included a slew of lending and tax credit programs to boost EVs. Programs under the IRA and the 2021 infrastructure law are in various stages of implementation.

As part of his flurry of first-day actions, US President Donald Trump took aim at electric vehicles, a cornerstone of the Biden administration's climate change agenda.

Trump's executive order on "Unleashing American Energy" on Monday included steps to ensure a "level" playing field for gasoline-powered motors and halt federal funding to build new EV charging stations.

The executive order also appeared to presage other reversals, referencing the possible elimination of a federal tax credit for EV purchases and the renouncement of a US waiver that allows California to set stricter requirements on cars.

During his inaugural address, Trump said the moves would "end" the "Green New Deal," ridiculing Biden-backed incentives for EV sales.

While Trump harshly criticized EVs during the presidential campaign, policy experts have been skeptical Trump will junk all the Biden-era EV programs, in part because significant federal funding has gone toward projects in Republican congressional districts, where thousands of jobs are expected to be created.

Shares of EV makers like Rivian and EV charging companies such as EVgo fell sharply Tuesday. Tesla, which is led by close Trump ally Elon Musk, also fell.

Kathy Harris, director for clean vehicles of the Natural Resources Defense Council, called Trump's policy a sop for "fat-cat oil executives," noting that EVs are better for the environment and can save consumers money on gasoline.

Many of Trump's executive orders are expected to face legal challenges, a possible outcome for the EV measures.

"This is not the end of this story," Harris said. "If the administration tries to cut corners or ignore the law, they will end up in court."

The Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which has previously endorsed the need for stable auto rules, reiterated its criticism of California's car regulations in a statement that did not address other elements in Trump's executive order.

"The country should have a single, national standard to reduce carbon in transportation," said the group's president, John Bozzella. "We can't have regulations that push the industry too far ahead of the customer."

90-day review

The new policy comes as automakers pause some EV investments due to slowing growth, even as sales of emission-free vehicles climb to new levels in the United States.

In 2024, EV sales in the country reached 1.3 million, up 7.3 percent from the prior year, according to Cox Automotive's Kelley Blue Book, which pointed to a meaningful rise in EVs at different price levels.

But GM, Ford and other automakers have scaled back some EV investments in recent months, pointing to slowing demand growth. A Ford executive warned in November that a glut of EVs across showrooms will lead to "incredible pressure" on prices in 2025.

The broadside against EVs followed Trump's targeting of the vehicles during the presidential campaign, when he claimed Democrat Kamala Harris wanted to force EVs on consumers.

Harris said that she favored consumer choice.

The Biden administration's fuel economy rules required automakers to market fleets with sharply lower carbon dioxide emissions in a bid to address climate change, while laws such as the $400 billion Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 included a slew of lending and tax credit programs to boost EVs.

Programs under the IRA and the 2021 infrastructure law are in various stages of implementation. Monday's executive order directs officials implementing the IRA to undertake a 90-day review to ensure that spending does not unfairly favor EVs "by rendering other types of vehicles unaffordable."

Policy experts see no meaningful chance that the new administration will try to claw back US funds that have already been spent. But whether Trump will seek to block other projects that are still moving through the pipeline is less clear.

Nearly half of the $5 billion set aside for new EV chargers has been allocated to states under the infrastructure law, according to a memo from NRDC.

The 2021 infrastructure law's "embedded safeguards... should ensure continuity for infrastructure investments," the NRDC said. "Of course, the incoming administration could try drastic measures, but those will face real-world and legal hurdles."

In November, the Energy Department advanced projects to provide Rivian a $6.6 billion federal loan to build an EV manufacturing facility in Stanton Springs North, Georgia, and a $7.5 billion loan to StarPlus Energy to finance lithium-ion battery cell manufacturing plants in Kokomo, Indiana, under a Stellantis-Samsung joint venture.

Construction on the Georgia plant is expected to begin in 2026, according to Rivian.

Neither Rivian nor Stellantis responded to AFP queries on the implications of the new Trump policy for their projects.

jmb/nro

California

No home, no insurance: The double hit from Los Angeles fires

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

But huge and inevitably very expensive fires erupting in what is supposed to be California's rainy season -- it hasn't rained for eight months around Los Angeles -- have reinforced the idea that the state is becoming uninsurable.

As he looks at the ruins of his home razed when deadly fires tore through the Los Angeles area, Sebastian Harrison knows it will never be the same again, because he was not insured.
But huge and inevitably very expensive fires erupting in what is supposed to be California's rainy season -- it hasn't rained for eight months around Los Angeles -- have reinforced the idea that the state is becoming uninsurable.

As he looks at the ruins of his home razed when deadly fires tore through the Los Angeles area, Sebastian Harrison knows it will never be the same again, because he was not insured.

"I knew it was risky, but I had no choice," he told AFP.

Harrison is one of tens of thousands of Californians forced in recent years to live without a safety net, either because their insurance company dropped them, or because the premiums just got too high.

Some of them are now counting the crippling cost, after enormous blazes ripped through America's second largest city, killing more than two dozen people and levelling 12,000 structures, Harrison's home among them.

His own slice of what he called "paradise" stood on a mountainside overlooking the Pacific Ocean, where Malibu runs into the badly hit Pacific Palisades neighborhood.

The three-acre plot, which contained his home and a few other buildings, was always costly to insure, and in 2010 was already $8,000 a year.

When the bill hit $40,000 in the aftermath of the pandemic, he decided he simply couldn't afford it.

"It's not like I bought myself a fancy car instead of getting insurance," the 59-year-old said.

"It's just that food for myself and my family was more important."

For Harrison, a former actor, the emotional strain of losing the home he had lived in for 14 years is magnified by the knowledge that without a handout from the state or the national government, he has lost everything -- he even still has mortgage payments to make.

"I'm very worried, because this property is everything I had," he said.

Climate costs

Insuring property in California has become increasingly difficult.

Well-intentioned legislation that prevents insurance companies from hiking prices unfairly has collided with growing risks from a changing climate in a part of the world that now regularly sees devastating wildfires near populated areas.

Faced with burgeoning claims -- more damage, and higher repair costs because of the soaring price of labor and materials -- insurance companies turned tail and left the state en masse, dropping existing clients and refusing to write new policies.

Even enormous names in the market, like State Farm and Allstate, have pulled back.

Officials in state capital Sacramento have been worried for a while.

Last year Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara introduced reforms aimed at encouraging companies to return, including allowing them more leeway to increase their premiums to better match their costs.

But huge and inevitably very expensive fires erupting in what is supposed to be California's rainy season -- it hasn't rained for eight months around Los Angeles -- have reinforced the idea that the state is becoming uninsurable.

"I don't know now, because... my greatest fear was that we were going to have a catastrophe of this nature," Lara told the San Francisco Chronicle at the weekend.

Even the state-mandated insurer of last resort, a scheme designed to provide bare-bones coverage for those locked out of the private sector, could be struggling.

The California FAIR Plan was created in 1968 and is underpinned by every insurance company that operates in the state, as a requirement of their license to operate.

But the number of people now resorting to the scheme means its $200 million reserves are dwarfed by its liabilities. (A reinsurance sector helps to keep it liquid.)

'They're going to drop me'

With the enormous losses expected from the Palisades and Eaton fires set to test the insurance sector even further, California has issued an edict preventing companies from dropping customers or refusing to renew them in certain affected areas, for one year.

That's scant consolation for Gabrielle Gottlieb, whose house in Pacific Palisades survived the flames.

"My insurer dropped a lot of friends of mine... and I'm concerned that they're going to drop me as well eventually," he told AFP.

"They're basically already putting it out there that 'lots of luck after a year!'"

Even in a best case scenario, home insurance looks set to be a lot more expensive in California, as state reforms filter through allowing increased prices in places more susceptible to wildfire.

"Real estate and taxes are already very high in California," said Robert Spoeri, a Pacific Palisades homeowner who was dropped by his insurer last year.

"If the insurance gets even higher, who is going to want to live in this state?"

rfo/hg/bs

storm

Rare snow socks New Orleans as Arctic blast chills much of US

Extreme cold was also threatening states in the Plains and the Upper Midwest, where life-threatening wind chills down to 50 degrees below zero were possible, according to the NWS. Across the US South -- especially the Gulf Coast, which is far more accustomed to temperate or tropical weather than dangerously low temperatures -- officials warned of frostbite and hypothermia.

Bitter Arctic air plunged more than half the United States into a deep freeze Tuesday, including New Orleans, where the heaviest snow in decades brought dangerous conditions to the famously festive Gulf Coast city.
Extreme cold was also threatening states in the Plains and the Upper Midwest, where life-threatening wind chills down to 50 degrees below zero were possible, according to the NWS. Across the US South -- especially the Gulf Coast, which is far more accustomed to temperate or tropical weather than dangerously low temperatures -- officials warned of frostbite and hypothermia.

Bitter Arctic air plunged more than half the United States into a deep freeze Tuesday, including New Orleans, where the heaviest snow in decades brought dangerous conditions to the famously festive Gulf Coast city.

Temperatures dropped more than 30 degrees Fahrenheit (17 degrees Celsius) below average across large swaths of the country, causing airports, schools and health clinics to shutter and major roadways to close due to ice and freezing rain.

Over 170 million Americans were enduring an especially frigid Arctic front that has already impacted scores of communities, including the US capital Washington, where President Donald Trump's inauguration on Monday was moved indoors due to the weather.

"Dangerous cold weather for most of the country," blared the latest National Weather Service (NWS) report on Tuesday. The agency has issued storm warnings across parts of eight states in the US Southeast and said the region could see record cold temperatures.

Extreme cold was also threatening states in the Plains and the Upper Midwest, where life-threatening wind chills down to 50 degrees below zero were possible, according to the NWS.

Across the US South -- especially the Gulf Coast, which is far more accustomed to temperate or tropical weather than dangerously low temperatures -- officials warned of frostbite and hypothermia.

New Orleans, a city more often targeted by tropical hurricanes, was slammed with at least seven inches of snow Tuesday, the NWS said, soaring past the city's record single-day snowfall that had held since 1948.

West of New Orleans, the first-ever blizzard warning across several Louisiana counties was issued, including near Lafayette, where more than 10 inches of snow has fallen, according to The Weather Channel.

Commercial flight operations for Tuesday were cancelled, the New Orleans airport announced, as local media quickly dubbed the rare winter storm a "snow-pocalypse."

Flights were also cancelled for the day in Houston, Texas, the two main airports there said, while to the east the airport in Florida's state capital Tallahassee closed at 3:00 pm (2000 GMT).

Eerie images emerged along the banks of the Mississippi River, where docked riverboats were cloaked in snow.

Along Bourbon Street, the center of New Orleans' iconic French Quarter nightlife hub, workers and tourists threw snowballs and frolicked in a rare winter wonderland.

"Stay off the roads, stay safe, stay warm," New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell posted on X.

The extreme weather was fueled by an Arctic air mass that dipped deeply southward from Canada, combining with a moisture-laden low-pressure system.

mlm/jgc

UN

Trump's climate retreat will have 'significant impact' on COP30: Brazil

BY RAMON SAHMKOW

"We are all still analyzing President Trump's decisions, but there is no doubt that it will have a significant impact on the preparation of the COP," newly appointed COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago told journalists.

Brazil warned Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement would have a major impact on COP30 talks to be held in the Amazon in November.
"We are all still analyzing President Trump's decisions, but there is no doubt that it will have a significant impact on the preparation of the COP," newly appointed COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago told journalists.

Brazil warned Tuesday that US President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement would have a major impact on COP30 talks to be held in the Amazon in November.

The annual UN climate talks are taking place for the first time in the Amazon rainforest as global temperatures smash heat records and political distrust grows over climate action.

As he took office on Monday, Trump announced the United States' withdrawal from the 2015 Paris accord adopted by 195 parties to curb greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change.

"We are all still analyzing President Trump's decisions, but there is no doubt that it will have a significant impact on the preparation of the COP," newly appointed COP30 president Andre Correa do Lago told journalists.

"The US is an essential player because it is not only the largest economy, but also one of the largest emitters, and also one of the countries that has provided solutions, with technology."

Under the accord's rules, the United States will formally exit in one year.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Tuesday named Correa do Lago to preside over the November meeting.

"We will hold a historic COP30 for a fairer and more sustainable future for our planet," Lula wrote on X.

COP struggles

Correa do Lago, climate secretary within the foreign ministry, is a former ambassador to Japan and India who served as Brazil's chief climate change negotiator between 2011 and 2013.

The appointment of the seasoned climate expert comes after two years in a row in which COP talks were headed by oil executives.

Lula's decision was welcomed by civil society groups.

This year's COP comes as average global temperatures in the past two years have exceeded the 1.5 degrees Celsius benchmark set under the Paris climate accord a decade ago.

"Andre is a skilled diplomat, well-regarded by the international community, who understands the subject and its dynamics. He's taking on not just a planet, but a hot potato," said Caetano Scannavino, coordinator of the Health and Happiness Project in the state of Para.

"It's the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement, amidst Trump's return, a rising far-right, declining multilateralism, and recent COPs that have made little progress. It's a tough mission that will require all our support."

Experts view the UN conference, set for November 10-21, as a crucial chance for humanity to reverse the warming trend with firm commitments to reduce global emissions.

Amazon city

Lula has positioned himself as a global flag-bearer for the environment, and since taking office, deforestation in the Amazon has fallen sharply.

But he also wants to expand Brazil's oil exploration, complicating its image as COP30 host.

The world's largest tropical rainforest is critical in the fight against climate change, but increasingly suffers its effects, with fires and droughts growing more severe each year.

Hosting the massive global event in the Amazon for the first time has presented Brazil with several challenges.

The city of Belem, where some 60,000 participants are expected, is scrambling to provide enough infrastructure and hotel rooms for guests.

Record public investment is restoring monuments, transforming the abandoned port warehouses into leisure zones, and dredging the river bay to anchor two cruise ships, which will expand lodging options alongside two new hotels.

At the negotiating table, Brazil is tasked with boosting climate aid to help developing countries reduce emissions and prepare for the dangerous impacts of a warming world -- a goal not met at the 2024 meeting in Azerbaijan.

rsr-fb/bgs

Climate and Environment

EV sales slip in Europe in 2024 in overall stable car market

According to ACEA data, overall car sales edged 0.9 percent higher in Europe -- including Britain, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, to just shy of 13 million.

Sales of electric cars slid last year in Europe in an otherwise stable market, data from carmakers showed Tuesday.
According to ACEA data, overall car sales edged 0.9 percent higher in Europe -- including Britain, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, to just shy of 13 million.

Sales of electric cars slid last year in Europe in an otherwise stable market, data from carmakers showed Tuesday.

A total of 1.99 million battery electric vehicles were sold in Europe last year, a drop of 1.3 percent from 2023, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).

The figures represent a stall after several years of strong growth for electric vehicles (EVs) in Europe, and raise questions about the transition away from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.

According to data published last week by the Rho Motion consultancy, EV sales rose 25 percent globally last year thanks to a surge in China.

According to ACEA data, overall car sales edged 0.9 percent higher in Europe -- including Britain, Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, to just shy of 13 million.

"Battery-electric cars remained the third-most-popular choice for buyers in 2024," the ACEA said in its monthly report on sales figures.

Cars with petrol engines accounted for one in three new cars sold last year, followed closely by simple hybrids with 30.9 percent market share. Plug-in hybrids accounted for another 7.1 percent of sales.

Fully battery-electric vehicles accounted for 13.6 percent of total sales in 2024, a drop from 14.6 percent market share in 2023.

Sales of EVs, which are more expensive than ICE vehicles, are still highly dependent upon incentives.

EV sales plunged by 27.4 percent in Germany last year as government incentives ended at the end of 2023.

But they jumped by 21.4 percent in Britain last year to make it Europe's top EV market by volume, with just under 382,000 sold last year, thanks in part to sales targets on automakers.

Norway continued to have the highest EV market share, accounting for nearly nine out of 10 new vehicles sold last year, ahead of a goal of zero sales of ICE vehicles that entered into force in 2025.

But the uptake of EVs in Norway was also aided by high taxes on ICE vehicles, which often made them less expensive for consumers.

The European Union is set to ban the sale of new ICE vehicles in 2035.

rl/yad

landslide

Rain-triggered landslide kills 17 in Indonesia

"Going forward, for those who are buried under thicker soil, we hope for assistance from heavy equipment," Bergas earlier told broadcaster Kompas TV. Flooding triggered by intense rains in western Indonesia killed 27 people in November.

A landslide triggered by heavy rain on Indonesia's main island of Java has killed at least 17 people with nine others missing, disaster officials said on Tuesday.
"Going forward, for those who are buried under thicker soil, we hope for assistance from heavy equipment," Bergas earlier told broadcaster Kompas TV. Flooding triggered by intense rains in western Indonesia killed 27 people in November.

A landslide triggered by heavy rain on Indonesia's main island of Java has killed at least 17 people with nine others missing, disaster officials said on Tuesday.

Intense rainfall in a mountainous area near Pekalongan city in Central Java province sparked the landslide on Monday, collapsing at least one bridge and burying houses and cars in thick mud.

"The joint team evacuated one more victim buried by the landslide. With the discovery... the number of victims who died reached 17," National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Abdul Muhari said in a statement.

"Meanwhile the number of people who are missing rose to nine," he said. The number of missing had earlier been put at three.

Indonesia is prone to landslides during the rainy season, typically between November and April, although some disasters caused by adverse weather have occurred outside that period in recent years.

Muhari said earlier the landslide had "buried two houses and dragged several vehicles passing through the area", with the landslide's remote location hindering rescue teams.

Television footage showed volunteers retrieving a body on a makeshift stretcher and roads caked in thick mud.

Pekalongan police chief Doni Prakoso Widamanto told local broadcaster Metro TV at least 10 people were injured, while rescuers continued to search for the missing.

He said the landslide hit an area around 90 kilometres (60 miles) west of Semarang city.

"The rainfall in Pekalongan was quite high and the worst affected area... is in a hilly or mountainous area," Doni said.

Muhari said the weather forecast for the next three days showed potential moderate rains that could "cause floods, flash floods and landslides".

Digging for survivors

Bergas Catursasi Penanggungan, a Central Java disaster agency official, also gave a death toll of 17 and said rescuers faced delays due to damaged infrastructure and debris.

"There is also a broken bridge. (Rescuers) must go around. There are still small landslides that must be cleared," he said.

Search efforts were intermittently suspended on Tuesday morning as heavy rain hit the area.

"The rain is also still pouring until now and it makes it difficult for the rescue team to scour the site," Muhari said.

He said local volunteers had joined search efforts alongside rescue workers, police and soldiers, while heavy machinery would be called in to help dig for survivors.

"Going forward, for those who are buried under thicker soil, we hope for assistance from heavy equipment," Bergas earlier told broadcaster Kompas TV.

Flooding triggered by intense rains in western Indonesia killed 27 people in November.

In May, at least 67 people were killed after heavy rains caused flash floods in West Sumatra that pushed a mixture of ash, sand and pebbles from the eruption of Mount Marapi into residential areas.

mrc-dsa/jfx/pbt

diplomacy

Trump's climate retreat shines light on green leaders

BY NICK PERRY

During the last Trump presidency, the EU and China launched a climate dialogue with Canada to ensure unwavering high-level support for the Paris Agreement while the United States was outside the process.

The United States withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is a blow to global cooperation on climate change, but other countries are marching ahead and stepping up leadership on the issue.
During the last Trump presidency, the EU and China launched a climate dialogue with Canada to ensure unwavering high-level support for the Paris Agreement while the United States was outside the process.

The United States withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is a blow to global cooperation on climate change, but other countries are marching ahead and stepping up leadership on the issue.

China is dominating the clean energy race, Brazil will be steering global climate negotiations, Denmark has approved a world-first tax on livestock emissions and Colombia is saying farewell to fossil fuels.

There are fears the US retreat, announced by President Donald Trump on Monday, will hinder global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But some observers also see a chance for more ambitious countries to forge new alliances, set the agenda and champion a climate deal endorsed by nearly all nations.

"It's a bigger pact than just the United States," said Frances Colon, a senior fellow from the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based policy institute.

Emerging players

One of these emerging leaders is Brazil, which this year is hosting one of the most important UN climate summits since the Paris accord was adopted in 2015.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has positioned himself as a global flag-bearer for the environment, and since taking office deforestation in the Amazon has fallen impressively.

But he also wants to expand Brazil's oil exploration, complicating its image as COP30 host.

Along with South Africa, which is hosting the G20 this year, Brazil is expected to shape a global reform agenda that demands climate and development goals go hand in glove.

"This could be a year for Global South leadership," said Tim Sahay, co-director of the Net Zero Industrial Policy Lab at Johns Hopkins University.

India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi in December boasted of his country's "leadership" rolling out solar and wind energy.

"India is setting global standards in climate action," he said on X.

Renewable power

China's economic contribution to reducing global emissions -- the chief purpose of the Paris Agreement -- is already unrivalled.

The country produces more than half the world's electric vehicles, about 70 percent of its wind turbines, and 80 percent of solar panels, helping drastically cut the cost of low-carbon technologies.

On Tuesday, China announced it had installed a record amount of renewable energy in 2024 and vowed to "work with all parties to actively address the challenges of climate change".

As political headwinds frustrate global climate action, "China's performance in advancing and deploying green technologies might become the saving grace", said Li Shuo, director of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

China already flexes considerable diplomatic muscle in global climate negotiations, informally leading a major developing country bloc.

At the same time, China is responsible for the overwhelming majority of the growth in planet-warming emissions since the Paris Agreement was inked.

It will soon overtake the European Union as the second-largest historic polluter, behind the United States, and could feel less pressure under Trump to take more ambitious action.

Old guard

The EU has a long history of climate leadership and slashed its emissions 7.5 percent between 2022 and 2023 -- streets ahead of any other nation or bloc.

The 27-nation bloc is also the largest contributor of climate finance to poorer countries, outspending all other wealthy nations.

"The Paris agreement continues to be the best hope of all humanity. So Europe will stay the course, and keep working with all nations that want to protect nature and stop global warming," EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday.

During the last Trump presidency, the EU and China launched a climate dialogue with Canada to ensure unwavering high-level support for the Paris Agreement while the United States was outside the process.

Strong leadership will again be needed to rally momentum, said Alex Scott, a senior associate at Italian climate think tank ECCO.

"The EU and China could collaboratively provide that geopolitical pole," she told AFP.

But the EU is preoccupied with its own domestic problems, including political swings to anti-climate parties, while Beijing is locked in a trade spat with Brussels over its tax on carbon-intensive imports.

Green agenda

A slew of other countries, from economic giants to tiny Caribbean islands, are eager to broadcast their climate bona fides.

The UK -- where Energy Secretary Ed Miliband promised in November to "make Britain a climate leader again" -- produced its cleanest electricity on record in 2024.

Denmark has approved a tax on agricultural emissions, Barbados and Kenya are pushing for global financial reforms to drive investment in developing countries, and Colombia has vowed to stop extracting fossil fuels -- its largest export earner.

Scott said "countries who've made a bet on investing in the economy of the future with green tech and green jobs will continue to make that bet because it's in their best interests".

np/klm/gv

trade

China says committed to WHO, Paris climate deal after US pulls out

BY PETER CATTERALL

Guo also responded to Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, saying that "Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity".

China vowed on Tuesday to continue participating in two cornerstone multinational arrangements -- the World Health Organization and Paris climate accord -- after newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump ordered withdrawals from them.
Guo also responded to Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, saying that "Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity".

China vowed on Tuesday to continue participating in two cornerstone multinational arrangements -- the World Health Organization and Paris climate accord -- after newly sworn-in US President Donald Trump ordered withdrawals from them.

On Monday, his first day back as president after his first term ended in 2021, Trump signed an executive order directing the United States to quit the WHO, which he slammed over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He also announced that Washington was withdrawing from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming.

Asked about Trump's decisions, Beijing said Tuesday that it was "concerned" by the withdrawals and that it remained committed to international cooperation.

"China will, as always, support the WHO in fulfilling its responsibilities... and work towards building a shared community of health for humanity," said foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun during a news conference.

"The role of the WHO should only be strengthened, not weakened," he added.

Guo also responded to Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate accord, saying that "Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity".

"No country can remain unaffected or solve the problem on its own," he said.

"China will work with all parties... to actively address the challenges of climate change."

Trade tensions

Trump's second presidential term will see him attempt to manage ties between the world's two largest economies, which have suffered in recent years as Beijing and Washington butt heads over a range of thorny trade and geopolitical issues.

Trump imposed tariffs on imports from China during his first term, citing alleged unfair practices by Beijing.

His successor Joe Biden kept up the pressure with sweeping rules aimed at restricting Chinese access to high-tech chips.

And Trump threatened to go further during his election campaign, vowing even higher tariffs if he won another term in office.

China's economy remains heavily reliant on exports to drive growth despite official efforts to raise domestic consumption.

Beijing is "willing to strengthen dialogue and communication with the United States, properly manage differences and expand mutually beneficial cooperation", Guo said in response to a question about potential new levies under Trump.

"It is hoped that the United States will work with China to jointly promote the stable, healthy and sustainable development of China-US economic and trade relations."

He acknowledged "differences and frictions" between Beijing and Washington but said "the common interests and space for cooperation between the two countries are huge".

"The two sides can strengthen dialogue and consultation in this regard," he added.

Asked about the future of the Chinese-owned app TikTok -- which has secured a 75-day grace period but may yet be effectively banned from operating in the United States -- Guo said Beijing hoped Washington would provide a fair business environment for Chinese firms.

He also hit back at Trump's order to reinstate Cuba on a list of state sponsors of terrorism, days after Biden removed the island nation from the register.

China and Cuba are longtime socialist allies, and Beijing has consistently opposed Washington's decades-long economic blockade of Havana.

Guo said Cuba's re-addition to the list "fully reveals the hegemonic, high-handed and bullying face of the United States".

"Within a few days, Cuba was off the so-called list, then back on it, as if it were a trifling matter", Guo said, adding that the move cast doubt on Washington's "credibility".

pfc/je/mtp

Trump

Trump leaves Paris climate agreement, doubles down on fossil fuels

BY ISSAM AHMED

Trump previously withdrew the United States from the Paris Accord during his first term.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.
Trump previously withdrew the United States from the Paris Accord during his first term.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced the United States' withdrawal from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

The Republican leader also declared a "national energy emergency" to expand drilling in the world's top oil and gas producer, said he would scrap vehicle emissions standards that amount to an "electric vehicle mandate," and vowed to halt offshore wind farms, a frequent target of his scorn.

"I'm immediately withdrawing from the unfair, one-sided Paris Climate Accord rip-off," he said to cheering supporters at a Washington sports arena after being sworn in.

"The United States will not sabotage our own industries while China pollutes with impunity."

He also signed an order instructing federal agencies to reject international climate finance commitments made under the previous administration, and issued a formal letter to the United Nations notifying it of Washington's intent to leave the agreement.

Under the accord's rules, the United States will formally exit in one year.

Critics warn the move undermines global cooperation on reducing fossil fuel use and could embolden major polluters like China and India to weaken their commitments, while Argentina, under libertarian President Javier Milei has also said it is "re-evaluating" its participation.

"Withdrawing the United States from the Paris Agreement is a travesty," said Rachel Cleetus, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, adding the move "shows an administration cruelly indifferent to the harsh climate change impacts that people in the United States and around the world are experiencing."

- Agreement to endure without US -

The move comes as global average temperatures over the past two years surpassed a critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold for the first time, underscoring the urgency of climate action.

Trump previously withdrew the United States from the Paris Accord during his first term. Despite this, the agreement -- adopted in 2015 by 195 parties to curb greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change -- appears poised to endure.

"The US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is unfortunate, but multilateral climate action has proven resilient and is stronger than any single country's politics and policies," said Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the accord.

UN climate chief Simon Stiell added the "door remains open" for Washington.

Trump also on Monday signed a flurry of sweeping energy-related federal orders aimed at undoing former president Joe Biden's climate legacy as he pledged to "drill, baby, drill!"

He also attacked "big, ugly windmills" and said he'd take on Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, which channels billions of dollars into clean energy tax credits.

In addition, Trump vowed to reverse offshore drilling bans, unpause permits for liquefied natural gas facilities, and resume drilling on protected land in Alaska.

- Praise and scorn -

Trump's actions drew praise from energy industry leaders and immediate outrage from environmental advocates.

"The US oil and natural gas industry stands ready to work with the new administration to deliver the common sense energy solutions Americans voted for," said Mike Sommers, of the American Petroleum Institute.

But Manish Bapna, president of the Natural Resources Defense Council, pushed back: "There is no energy emergency. There is a climate emergency."

"The United States is producing more oil and gas than any country in history," Bapnda said, accusing the Trump administration of "further enriching billionaire oil and gas donors at the people's expense."

And China, the world's largest emitter, said Tuesday that it was "concerned" about the US' withdrawal from the accord.

"Climate change is a common challenge faced by all of humanity, and no country can remain unaffected or solve the problem on its own," foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said.

"China will work with all parties...to actively address the challenges of climate change," he added.

Analyses predict that Trump's policies will significantly slow the pace of greenhouse gas emissions reductions.

Still, experts remain optimistic that emissions will continue trending downward over the long term.

Trump's actions come despite overwhelming scientific consensus linking fossil fuel combustion to rising global temperatures and increasingly severe climate disasters. Wildfires exacerbated by climate change have recently devastated Los Angeles, leaving widespread destruction in their wake.

ia-isk/oho/fox

coffee

Brazil drought lights a fire under global coffee prices

BY FACUNDO FERNÁNDEZ BARRIO

"It was desperate: seeing the flames advance, destroying our plantation, coming within twenty meters of my house," said Donizetti.

Brazilian coffee producer Moacir Donizetti first smelled the smoke, and then watched in desperation as a blaze consumed his family coffee plantation last year.
"It was desperate: seeing the flames advance, destroying our plantation, coming within twenty meters of my house," said Donizetti.

Brazilian coffee producer Moacir Donizetti first smelled the smoke, and then watched in desperation as a blaze consumed his family coffee plantation last year.

The 54-year-old was one of hundreds of farmers hit by a brutal forest fire in Sao Paulo state, where years of soaring heat and erratic rains are set to drive up the cost of an espresso or latte far afield in Paris, New York or Tokyo.

Brazil, the world's largest coffee producer and exporter, experienced its hottest year on record in 2024 and a record number of forest fires.

Locals in the municipality of Caconde believe the fire broke out due to uncontrolled burning of garbage, but experts attribute its scale to drought conditions exacerbated by climate change.

"It was desperate: seeing the flames advance, destroying our plantation, coming within twenty meters of my house," said Donizetti.

His family fought the fire for four days on the remote farm in the mountains of the Atlantic Forest, losing five hectares (12 acres) of coffee -- a third of the family's production area.

Standing alongside scorched and blackened coffee crops, he estimates his land will take three or four years to produce again.

The loss is compounded by several years of unpredictable weather and disappointing harvests in Brazil.

"For about five years it has been too dry, sometimes it doesn't rain for months," said Donizetti. "It has also gotten a lot hotter, it is unbearable."

Invest more to produce less

In 2024, Brazil was responsible for more than a third of global coffee production.

A poor harvest in the Latin American giant significantly impacts international prices.

Arabica coffee, the most popular variety, in December reached its highest price since 1977, listed at $3.48 per pound on the New York Stock Exchange.

"I have been working in coffee for 35 years and I have never seen a situation as difficult as the current one," said Brazilian coffee grower and consultant Guy Carvalho.

"High temperatures and irregular rainfall force us to invest more to produce the same, or even less, than we did in the past," he added.

"After the last big harvest, in 2020, we have always had some weather problem."

Carvalho said that the high prices were largely explained by "frustration" over disappointing harvests between 2021 and 2024, and bleak forecasts for 2025.

Geopolitical factors such as potential US tariffs and future European Union regulation on deforestation also contributed to the higher prices.

Adapting to changing climate

Some Brazilian coffee producers are adopting new strategies to adapt to the increasingly unpredictable climate.

In Divinolandia, another small coffee-growing town in Sao Paulo state, producer Sergio Lange has turned to shade-grown coffee -- an ancient technique used in places like Ethiopia, the birthplace of coffee.

Planting coffee shrubs under the shade of trees protects the plants from excessive heat and allows them to ripen more slowly, producing a larger, sweeter bean with a higher market value.

Lange and 50 other colleagues have been applying a "regenerative coffee growing model" since 2022, in which the crop is planted alongside other species, grown without pesticides, and relies on a natural water source from the mountains.

"At first, productivity falls, but we expect fantastic results in four or five years," he said.

He pointed to climate change as having a "severe" impact on coffee production.

"Producers who fail to adapt will struggle to stay in business," he warned.

ffb/ll/fb/des

California

'Extremely critical' risk as winds whip fire-weary Los Angeles

BY HUW GRIFFITH

"We're expecting this to continue to create extremely critical fire weather conditions across the region," Ariel Cohen, of the National Weather Service, (NWS) told AFP. "Any fires that form could grow explosively.

Fire-weary southern California was buffeted Monday by dangerous winds, with forecasters warning of an "extremely critical" risk in a region already staggering from the devastation of horrifying blazes.
"We're expecting this to continue to create extremely critical fire weather conditions across the region," Ariel Cohen, of the National Weather Service, (NWS) told AFP. "Any fires that form could grow explosively.

Fire-weary southern California was buffeted Monday by dangerous winds, with forecasters warning of an "extremely critical" risk in a region already staggering from the devastation of horrifying blazes.

Firefighters continued to make progress snuffing out fires that ravaged 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) in the Los Angeles area, after erupting on January 7 and killing at least 27 people.

But a return of the hurricane-force winds responsible for spreading those initial fires threatened more danger.

Winds gusting up to 88 miles (142 kilometers) an hour have been recorded in some spots, where forecasters said they could again combine with exceedingly dry conditions to create the potential for more fast-spreading fires.

"We're expecting this to continue to create extremely critical fire weather conditions across the region," Ariel Cohen, of the National Weather Service, (NWS) told AFP.

"Any fires that form could grow explosively. And so this is a particularly dangerous situation."

Officials said they had pre-deployed engines and firefighters to areas at risk, after facing criticism that they were unprepared earlier this month.

"I believe that we will be very, very prepared for what the worst possible case scenario (could be) over the next couple of days, and then hopefully we don't get there at all," Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass told reporters.

The largest conflagration, the Palisades Fire, was 59 percent contained by Monday, and the area affected by evacuation orders has now shrunk to effectively match the fire's footprint.

The Eaton Fire, which wrecked a large part of the Altadena area, was 87 percent contained.

No 'magical spigot'

As Los Angeles grapples with the scale of the devastation, political bickering has intensified.

Donald Trump, who was sworn in as US president on Monday, has said he will be visiting the fire-ravaged areas at the end of the week.

That trip could include an awkward encounter with California Governor Gavin Newsom, who has been the target of Trump's barbs over his handling of the disaster.

Moments after being sworn in as the 47th president, Trump again side-swiped California's Democratic leadership.

"We are watching fires still tragically burn from weeks ago without even a token of defense," he said.

"We can't let this happen. Everyone is unable to do anything about it. That’s going to change," he added, musing it was "interesting" that some wealthy people had lost their homes.

Newsom did not directly address the gibe, but offered an open hand to the newly installed president.

"This moment underscores the critical need for partnership, a shared commitment to facts, and mutual respect -- values that enable civil discourse, effective governance, and meaningful action," he wrote on social media.

"I look forward to President Trump's visit to Los Angeles and his mobilization of the full weight of the federal government to help our fellow Americans recover and rebuild."

While the immediate cause of the fires is not yet known, scientists say humanity's behavior is altering weather patterns, making them more volatile, which can increase the destructiveness of any blaze.

Southern California has had no significant rain for around eight months, even though it is well into what is usually the rainy season.

Officials have cautioned that if rain does materialize, it could create dangerous debris flows in the disaster zone, and spark mudflows and hill collapses.

hg/des

coffee

The global forces sending coffee prices skyward

BY CATHERINE HOURS

Climate threats Arabica beans, grown at higher altitudes, are at greater risk from climate change since only a few countries, notably Brazil, could move farms further uphill as the world gets hotter.

Climate change, political headwinds and diverging market dynamics around the world have pushed coffee prices to fresh records, jacking up the cost of your everyday brew or a barista's signature macchiato.
Climate threats Arabica beans, grown at higher altitudes, are at greater risk from climate change since only a few countries, notably Brazil, could move farms further uphill as the world gets hotter.

Climate change, political headwinds and diverging market dynamics around the world have pushed coffee prices to fresh records, jacking up the cost of your everyday brew or a barista's signature macchiato.

While the current hot streak may calm down in the coming months, experts and industry insiders expect volatility will remain the watchword, giving little visibility for producers -- two-thirds of whom farm parcels of less than one hectare (2.5 acres).

Meteoric rise

The price of arabica beans listed in New York surged by 90 percent last year, smashing on December 10 a record dating from 1977 -- $3.48 per pound. Robusta prices have seen similar growth, though prices are lower for the less premium coffee variety.

Fears of poor harvests after droughts in key producers Brazil and Vietnam, respectively the biggest and second-biggest sources of the beans, fuelled the price hike.

Demand has outstripped supply for several years now, prompting a flurry of speculative buying that further drove up market prices.

"And then you have the disruption of the Red Sea, which means that from Southeast Asia especially towards Europe it takes much longer, because you need to circumnavigate Africa, and often you have very long delays in the ports," said Carlos Mera, a coffee analyst at Rabobank.

Traders were also anticipating the implementation of an EU law that would have banned imports of products driving deforestation -- though lawmakers recently delayed its coming into force until December 30, 2025.

Donald Trump's threat of punishing trade tariffs on a range of goods adds another level of uncertainty -- a top advisor to his predecessor Joe Biden warned in December that food items like coffee would likely be affected.

Nonetheless, given the recent run, "I'm thinking prices are likely or more likely to go lower than higher," Mera said.

"But it's a market with very low stock, so we have to expect volatility in either way."

Climate threats

Arabica beans, grown at higher altitudes, are at greater risk from climate change since only a few countries, notably Brazil, could move farms further uphill as the world gets hotter.

Robusta can thrive in a wider range of growing conditions but is less prized by consumers.

In the 2024-2025 growing season around 175 million bags -- 60 kilogrammes (132 pounds) each -- are expected to be produced, according to the US Department of Agriculture: 56 percent arabica and 44 percent robusta.

Guillaume David at France's CIRAD agricultural research and international cooperation agency, said both varieties are exposed to new risks in their intertropical growing zones such as late-season frosts, rains at the wrong time and beetle infestations.

"This year we saw these risks in Brazil and Vietnam, whereas before it would be in one or the other," David said.

Brazil grows 40 percent of the world's coffee, followed by Vietnam (17 percent), Colombia (7 percent), Indonesia (6 percent) and Ethiopia (5 percent). After come Uganda, India, Honduras, Peru and Mexico.

Climate change could make other regions a possibility.

In Africa, Togo or Ivory Coast could again start growing coffee after it was largely replaced by cocoa, or Kenya could replace part of their avocado plantations, David said.

Wherever its grown, experts say growing practices for what is at heart a forest plant need to adapt, with sufficient canopy cover to protect from both sun and storms, and multi-crop farming to protect against pests and diversify revenues.

New customers

Demand has expanded beyond the traditional markets of Europe and the Americas to make inroads with tea-drinking Chinese.

About 4.3 million bags were imported in the 2023-2024 season, Mera said, up from 1.5 million just four year earlier.

"I would expect China to continue to grow in the future," he said. "Coffee in the end is addictive, right?

"There is also much more visibility because there are so many more stores and not only in the big cities, but those in like second-tier cities," he said.

Demand in Europe meanwhile slipped last year, with Germany for example seeing a one percent decrease.

"I think in Europe, the drop in demand was mainly related to the cost of living crisis," Mera said.

The industry is also keeping an eye on the growing use of weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, as some doctors caution against drinking caffeine while on the treatment.

Small producers, big processors

Despite the recent price surge, millions of growers cultivating coffee on small farms still live in poverty in developing countries.

They have little leeway to set prices in a global commodity market dominated by a handful of multinational processors and distributors.

Even fair trade programmes to guarantee a living wage affect just five percent of the market -- 80 percent of the world's coffee is bought by heavyweight brokerage firms.

Experts say wild price shifts in recent years make ensuring better prices for growers, many of whom are in developing countries, even more urgent.

A sharp drop in prices could lead growers to abandon their plants, jeopardising their future revenues, said Nicolas Eberhart of the French food cooperative Ethiquable.

In October, the Group of 7 nations endorsed a Global Coffee Sustainability and Resilience Fund, aimed at spurring private investments to improve productivity and get more money into growers' pockets.

cho/js/cw/lb

Trump

US to withdraw from Paris agreement, expand drilling

BY ISSAM AHMED

Trump also withdrew the United States from the Paris Accord in June 2017.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.
Trump also withdrew the United States from the Paris Accord in June 2017.

President Donald Trump on Monday announced the United States would withdraw from the Paris climate accord for a second time, a defiant rejection of global efforts to combat planetary warming as catastrophic weather events intensify worldwide.

The Republican leader also declared a "national energy emergency" to expand drilling in the world's top oil and gas producer and said he would scrap vehicle emissions standards that amount to an "electric vehicle mandate."

He also vowed to curb wind farms, a frequent target of his scorn.

Trump's White House announced the decision to leave the Paris agreement in a statement shortly after he was sworn into office, but did not specify the timing.

Under the agreement's rules, exiting would take a year after submitting formal notice to the United Nations.

Even before a formal exit, critics warn the move undermines international cooperation on fossil fuel reduction and could embolden major polluters like China and India to weaken their own commitments.

Argentina under libertarian maverick President Javier Milei -- who attended Trump's inauguration -- has also indicated it is "re-evaluating" its participation.

It comes as global average temperatures over the past two years surpassed the critical 1.5 degrees Celsius warming threshold for the first time, underscoring the urgency of climate action.

Trump also withdrew the United States from the Paris Accord in June 2017.

However, the deal -- adopted in 2015 by 195 parties -- appears poised to endure.

"The US withdrawing from the Paris Agreement is unfortunate, but multilateral climate action has proven resilient and is stronger than any single country's politics and policies," said Laurence Tubiana, a key architect of the accord.

UN climate chief Simon Steill said the "door remains open" for the US, while Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he remained confident that "cities, states and businesses within the United States" along with other countries would work towards decarbonization.

More drilling, fewer EVs

Trump used his inauguration speech to preview a raft of sweeping energy-related federal orders aimed at undoing Biden's climate legacy.

"The inflation crisis was caused by massive overspending and escalating energy prices, and that is why today I will also declare a national energy emergency. We will 'Drill, baby, drill!'" Trump said.

"With my actions today, we will end the Green New Deal, and we will revoke the electric vehicle mandate, saving our auto industry."

Trump's reference to the "Green New Deal" likely alludes to the Inflation Reduction Act -- his predecessor Joe Biden's signature climate law that channels billions into clean energy tax credits.

Environmentalists note that Biden's climate record is also clouded by the aggressive expansion of fossil fuel leasing under his administration. Last year, US greenhouse gas emissions fell just 0.2 percent, leaving the nation far from its climate goals even before Trump's return to office.

Trump's domestic actions were welcomed by energy industry leaders, who view the administration's policies as a return to the era of "American energy dominance."

"The US oil and natural gas industry stands ready to work with the new administration to deliver the commonsense energy solutions Americans voted for," said Mike Sommers, president and CEO of the American Petroleum Institute.

Emissions reductions to slow

But they sparked immediate outrage from environmental advocates.

"This declaration is more proof that Trump doesn't seem to recognize the real world," said Athan Manuel, director of the Sierra Club's land protection program, in comments to AFP. "The US is producing more energy, more oil and gas than any country has ever produced."

Analysis by the Rhodium Group and Carbon Brief predict that Trump's policies will significantly slow the pace of greenhouse gas emissions reductions, but experts remain optimistic that emissions will continue to trend downwards over the long term.

Trump's actions come despite overwhelming scientific consensus linking fossil fuel combustion to rising global temperatures and increasingly severe climate disasters.

Last year, the US endured a barrage of catastrophic hurricanes, including Hurricane Helene, the second-deadliest storm to hit the mainland in over 50 years. More recently, wildfires intensified by climate change have devastated Los Angeles, leaving a trail of destruction.

ia/bjt/sms

Alaska

Trump seeks to rename Denali, highest peak in N. America

"The Koyukon people have known this mountain as 'Denali' for centuries, and even the state’s elected officials oppose this attempt to rename it.

US President Donald Trump announced in his inaugural speech Monday that he will seek to rename Alaska's Denali as part of his day one actions, overriding the will of the state's Indigenous population and its elected leaders.
"The Koyukon people have known this mountain as 'Denali' for centuries, and even the state’s elected officials oppose this attempt to rename it.

US President Donald Trump announced in his inaugural speech Monday that he will seek to rename Alaska's Denali as part of his day one actions, overriding the will of the state's Indigenous population and its elected leaders.

The order, set to be published later in the day, will revert the name of North America's highest peak back to Mount McKinley.

The mountain -- which rises more than 20,000 feet (6,000 meters) above sea level -- was officially renamed "Denali" in 2015 by former president Barack Obama, adopting the name used by Alaska Natives for centuries, with the Alaskan government following suit in the 1970s.

Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, a Republican, led the effort to make the change official.

"We will restore the name of a great president, William McKinley, to Mount McKinley, where it should be and where it belongs," Trump said at his swearing in ceremony, where he also announced the US would refer to the "Gulf of Mexico" as the "Gulf of America."

McKinley, the 25th president, never visited the mountain and has no significant historical connection to the peak nor the state of Alaska, though it was named in his honor in 1917.

"This announcement goes against the desires of Alaska Natives, Alaska's elected officials, and centuries of tradition," said Athan Manuel, director of Sierra Club's land protections program.

"The Koyukon people have known this mountain as 'Denali' for centuries, and even the state’s elected officials oppose this attempt to rename it. It's clear that Donald Trump is more interested in culture war stunts than addressing the concerns of the American people."

ia/des

deforestation

Activists slam 'destructive' Indonesia forest conversion plan

But the plan, which will affect an area nearly twice the size of Indonesia's main Java island, contradicts the government's food and energy security goals, the Clean Transition Coalition of environmental NGOs said in a statement.

Indonesia's plan to convert millions of hectares of forests for food and energy use is "environmentally illogical and destructive," and risks irreversible environmental and biodiversity loss, activists warned Monday.
But the plan, which will affect an area nearly twice the size of Indonesia's main Java island, contradicts the government's food and energy security goals, the Clean Transition Coalition of environmental NGOs said in a statement.

Indonesia's plan to convert millions of hectares of forests for food and energy use is "environmentally illogical and destructive," and risks irreversible environmental and biodiversity loss, activists warned Monday.

The Indonesian government wants to turn 20 million hectares (49 million acres) of forest into areas for food and energy production and water reserves, Forestry Minister Raja Juli Antoni recently said in a statement.

The government has identified 1.1 million hectares of land that could produce up to 3.5 million tonnes of rice annually, equal to Indonesia's total rice imports in 2023, he said, adding that the government also plans to plant sugar palm trees as a source for bioethanol.

President Prabowo Subianto, who assumed office in October, has pledged to boost food and energy self-sufficiency in the country, including by expanding bio-based fuels to lower fuel imports.

But the plan, which will affect an area nearly twice the size of Indonesia's main Java island, contradicts the government's food and energy security goals, the Clean Transition Coalition of environmental NGOs said in a statement.

The proposal has raised concerns that more forest areas would be cleared to pave ways for oil palm plantations –- Indonesia's top export commodity and one of the key deforestation drivers in the archipelago –- said activists.

"The plan to open 20 million hectares of land significantly increases the risk of palm oil expansion," said executive director of Sawit Watch Achmad Surambo.

Environmental NGO Satya Bumi's research showed that existing oil palm plantations already cover 17.77 million hectares throughout the archipelago.

Indonesia's forestry ministry and a presidential spokesman did not immediately respond to AFP's request for comment.

Minister Raja last week dismissed deforestation concerns, insisting that the proposal would not clear forest but "maximise" its function through agroforestry systems, local media reported.

Indonesia's government has also said it will target land that has already been granted in concessions rather than virgin forest.

But environmentalists warned even mass conversion of agricultural land for export crops would be detrimental.

"Instead of clearing forests, the government should focus on optimising existing agricultural land, respecting indigenous rights, and implementing genuine agrarian reform," the coalition said.

mrc/sah/mtp

space

Slew of satellite projects aims to head off future wildfires

BY TOM BARFIELD

In Los Angeles, "there are satellite observations, but it's very hard to determine.

As Los Angeles firefighters battle remaining hotspots more than a week into deadly blazes, scientists and engineers hope growing availability of satellite data will help in the future.
In Los Angeles, "there are satellite observations, but it's very hard to determine.

As Los Angeles firefighters battle remaining hotspots more than a week into deadly blazes, scientists and engineers hope growing availability of satellite data will help in the future.

Tech-focused groups are launching new orbiters as space launches get cheaper, while machine learning techniques will sift the torrent of information, fitting it into a wider picture of fire risk in a changing environment.

Satellites "can detect from space areas that are dry and prone to wildfire outbreaks.... actively flaming and smouldering fires, as well as burnt areas and smoke and trace gas emissions. We can learn from all these types of elements", said Clement Albergel, head of actionable climate information at the European Space Agency.

Different satellites have different roles depending on their orbit and sensor payload.

Low Earth orbit (LEO) is generally less than 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) above the surface -- compared with up to 14 km for an airliner.

Satellites here offer high-resolution ground images, but see any given point only briefly as they sweep around the planet.

Geostationary satellites orbit at around 36,000 km, remaining over the same area on the Earth's surface -- allowing for continuous observation but usually at much lower resolution.

As climate change brings growing numbers of wildfires encroaching on human-inhabited areas, that resolution can be crucial.

In Los Angeles, "there are satellite observations, but it's very hard to determine. Is it my house that's on fire? Where exactly is this?", said WKID Solutions' Natasha Stavros, a wildfire expert who has also worked at NASA.

"Some people stay because they don't really understand... that's where this idea (that) we need more observations available comes from."

'More fire than we know'

Brian Collins, director of Colorado-based nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance, plans a new low-orbit satellite "constellation" to complement existing resources.

It will sport a sensor with a resolution of five metres (16 feet), much finer than ESA's current Sentinel-2 satellites that can see objects only 10 metres wide.

This means "we're going to learn very quickly that there is more fire on the Earth than we know about today, we're going to find very small fires", Collins predicted.

EFA aims to launch four satellites by the end of 2026, the first in just a few weeks, at a total cost of $53 million.

That figure is a "drop in the bucket" against the property damage and lives lost to wildfires, said Genevieve Biggs of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, which has financially supported EFA's satellite project.

It would take the whole planned swarm of 55, costing a total $400 million, to reach Collins's aim of imaging every point on Earth at least once every 20 minutes.

Dozens of satellites in orbit could "both detect and track fires... at a cadence that allows decisions to be made on the ground," Collins said.

Less grandiose efforts include Germany-based OroraTech, which on Tuesday launched the first of at least 14 shoebox-sized FOREST-3 "nanosatellites".

The system will "deliver ultra-fast wildfire alerts and high-quality thermal data", chief executive Martin Langer said in a statement.

The Moore foundation is also backing a geostationary satellite project dubbed FUEGO.

'Last mile'

Additional data from all these new satellites would be "fantastic", ESA's Albergel said, but the large volume of information can prove problematic.

ESA's Sentinel-2 alone sends down one terabyte of data -- the storage capacity of a modern high-end laptop -- every single day.

Finding fire signs in such reams of data "is an excellent machine learning, artificial intelligence problem... the 'needle in the haystack'", Collins said.

The data could ultimately help both predict new fire outbreaks and their progression, he added.

Looking ahead, Stavros said there was no "silver bullet" technology for wildfires.

"It's all of them working together" that will help emergency responders and slash risk from fire, Stavros said.

Beyond high-tech detection and tracking, the Moore Foundation's wildfire programme also focuses on making communities more resilient and managing fire-prone ecosystems -- which can include "increasing ecologically beneficial fire while decreasing detrimental fire", Biggs said.

tgb/rl

market

Indonesia launches international carbon exchange

It hopes that funds raised by carbon credits sales on the exchange will finance some of the green transition.

Indonesia opened its carbon exchange to international buyers on Monday, aiming to raise funds to help meet ambitious domestic climate goals.
It hopes that funds raised by carbon credits sales on the exchange will finance some of the green transition.

Indonesia opened its carbon exchange to international buyers on Monday, aiming to raise funds to help meet ambitious domestic climate goals.

The move opens the way for foreign investors to enter a market launched in September 2023 for domestic players.

Carbon credits are generated by activities that avoid or reduce emissions of carbon dioxide -- a potent greenhouse gas.

They can be purchased by companies seeking to "offset" or cancel out some of their own emissions, either to comply with regulations or bolster their "green" credentials.

Indonesia is one of the world's biggest polluters and is heavily reliant on coal to fuel its growing economy.

It has made little progress on a multi-billion-dollar investment plan agreed with the United States and European nations in 2022 to wean its power grid off coal.

New President Prabowo Subianto last year brought forward the country's timeline for carbon neutrality by a decade to 2050, and pledged to close hundreds of coal and fossil-fuel power plants by 2040.

The government says it wants to build over 75 gigawatts of renewable energy capacity by 2040 but so far has laid out little detail on how it hopes to achieve that.

It hopes that funds raised by carbon credits sales on the exchange will finance some of the green transition.

The launch is an "important milestone in our collective journey towards a sustainable future", Environment Minister Hanif Faisol Nurofiq said.

The move comes after new guidelines on country-level trade in carbon credits were agreed at COP29 last year.

But carbon credits have come under fire in recent years over revelations of shoddy accounting and even outright fraud in projects.

Hanif said the government would guarantee every credit issued on the exchange, with scrutiny to ensure emissions could not be double counted.

Some experts expressed skepticism about the exchange however, noting the domestic market had attracted relatively little interest.

"If domestic demand was high, we wouldn't need to open it to foreign entities," Fabby Tumiwa, executive director of the Institute for Essential Services Reform, told AFP.

He said the domestic exchange had not been designed to align with Indonesia's emissions reduction strategy and he had concerns about the "additionality" of projects on the market.

Carbon credit programmes must show that emission reductions or avoidance would not have happened without the credits, and are "additional".

This often requires trying to prove a counterfactual -- what would have happened in the absence of the carbon credits -- and has been a key problem for the sector.

Fabby warned it was not immediately clear if the credits available on the exchange were compatible with standards set by other countries.

Still, at least nine transactions took place at the start of Monday trade, accounting for more than 41,000 tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, according to a board at the stock exchange.

mrc/ebe/sah/dhc

California

Weary LA firefighters brace for 'last' dangerous winds

BY ANDREW MARSZAL

It has killed at least 10 people.

Exhausted Los Angeles firefighters on Sunday braced for the return of yet more dangerously strong gusts, as California's governor slammed "hurricane-force winds of misinformation" surrounding blazes that have killed 27 people.
It has killed at least 10 people.

Exhausted Los Angeles firefighters on Sunday braced for the return of yet more dangerously strong gusts, as California's governor slammed "hurricane-force winds of misinformation" surrounding blazes that have killed 27 people.

The two largest fires, which have obliterated almost 40,000 acres (16,000 hectares) and razed entire neighborhoods of the second biggest US city, were both now more than half contained, officials announced.

But the National Weather Service warned that powerful winds and very low humidity would again bring "dangerous high-end red flag fire weather conditions" from Monday, with potential gusts up to 80 miles (130 kilometers) per hour.

"This is the last... we hope, of the extreme" wind events, said Governor Gavin Newsom.

It will be "the fourth major wind event just in the last three months -- we only had two in the prior four years," he told MSNBC's "Inside with Jen Psaki."

Officials were accused of being unprepared at the outbreak of fires this month. Now, 135 fire engines and their crews are prepositioned to tackle new flames, along with helicopters and bulldozers, said Newsom.

Firefighters said the largest conflagration, the Palisades Fire, was 52 percent contained. It has killed at least 10 people.

Evacuation orders were lifted this weekend for dozens of neighborhoods in upscale western Los Angeles.

"Our focus is on repopulation this week, and we're moving quickly to finish urban search-and rescue-work so that utilities can safely be restored where possible," said Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath.

With reports of looting rife, a man and woman were arrested Saturday while driving "a vehicle that looked like a fire engine, going through a checkpoint," said Los Angeles County sheriff department commander Minh Dinh.

The pair "purchased the vehicle through an auction" and "have been in the area for about a couple of days."

Further east, the Eaton Fire, which killed at least 17 in the Altadena suburbs, was 81 percent contained.

Several evacuees reunited with missing pets they had feared were dead.

Serena Null told AFP of her joy at finding her cat Domino, after having to leave him behind as flames devoured her family home in Altadena.

The pair were reunited at NGO Pasadena Humane, where Domino -- suffering singed paws, a burnt nose and a high level of stress -- was taken after being rescued.

"I just was so relieved and just so happy that he was here," a tearful Null told AFP.

No 'magical spigot'

As Los Angeles learns the true scale of the devastation, political bickering has intensified.

Donald Trump, set to be sworn in as US president on Monday, has sharply criticized California officials.

He falsely claimed that Newsom had blocked the diversion of "excess rain and snow melt from the North." Los Angeles's water supplies are mainly fed via aqueducts and canals originating from entirely separate river basins further east.

"What's not helpful or beneficial... is these wild-eyed fantasies... that somehow there's a magical spigot in northern California that just can be turned on, all of a sudden there will be rain or water flowing everywhere," said Newsom.

The governor blamed Elon Musk -- the Tesla and SpaceX owner poised to play a key role advising the incoming administration -- "and others" for "hurricane-force winds of mis- and dis-information that can divide a country."

Trump told a rally Sunday that he plans to visit the region on Friday.

Well into its typical rainy season, Los Angeles has had almost no rain since May.

Though rain is not expected imminently, Newsom warned of the need to prepare "for potential flooding in the next week or two," as rain, when it comes, pours down hillsides denuded by the fires.

"I prepositioned 2,500 National Guard. We're going to start some sandbagging operations," he said.

"We're dealing with extremes that we have never dealt with in the past" due to changing climate, said the governor.

amz/bs

Global Edition

Indonesia's Mount Ibu erupts more than 1,000 times this month

It added that the volcano had erupted 17 times on Sunday alone.

A volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted at least a thousand times this month, according to an official report Sunday as efforts were underway to evacuate thousands of villagers living near the rumbling mountain.
It added that the volcano had erupted 17 times on Sunday alone.

A volcano in eastern Indonesia has erupted at least a thousand times this month, according to an official report Sunday as efforts were underway to evacuate thousands of villagers living near the rumbling mountain.

Mount Ibu, on the remote island of Halmahera in North Maluku province, sent a column of smoke up to four kilometres (2.5 miles) into the sky in an eruption on Wednesday.

Indonesian officials raised its alert status to the highest level and called for the evacuation of 3,000 people living in six nearby villages.

It was one of 1,079 eruptions by the volcano recorded since January 1 by Indonesia's Geological Agency, sending columns of ash reaching between 0.3 and 4 kilometres above its peak, according to the agency's data gathered by AFP.

The latest big eruption occurred on Sunday at 1:15 am local time as it spewed a towering cloud of ash 1.5 kilometres into the air.

"The ash was grey, with moderate to thick intensity, drifting southwest. A loud rumbling sound was heard all the way to Mount Ibu Observation Post," the agency said in a statement.

It added that the volcano had erupted 17 times on Sunday alone.

Despite deciding to evacuate affected villagers, local authorities had only managed to evacuate 517 residents as of Sunday, pledging to persuade those who remained to stay in safe shelters.

Many have refused to evacuate, arguing that they were used to the situation and were in harvest season.

"There might be economic considerations, as many residents are in the middle of harvesting crops. However, we will continue to educate the community and encourage them to evacuate," said Adietya Yuni Nurtono, Ternate district military commander in charge of a safe shelter.

Mount Ibu, one of Indonesia's most active volcanos, has shown a significant increase in activity since last June.

Residents living near Mount Ibu and tourists have been advised to avoid a five- to six-kilometre exclusion zone around the volcano's peak and to wear face masks in case of falling ash.

As of 2022, around 700,000 people were living on Halmahera island, according to official data.

Indonesia, a vast archipelago, experiences frequent seismic and volcanic activity as it lies along the Pacific Ring of Fire.

Last November, Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki, a 1,703-metre (5,587-foot) twin-peaked volcano on the tourist island of Flores erupted more than a dozen times in one week, killing nine people in its initial explosion.

Mount Ruang in North Sulawesi province erupted more than half a dozen times last year, forcing thousands from nearby islands to evacuate.

str-agn/ebe/mtp

fire

BY LUCIA LACURCIAvar date = new Date("2025-01-22T04:04:13Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

politics

BY JOHN BIERSvar date = new Date("2025-01-22T02:00:01Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

90-day review

California

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Climate costs

'They're going to drop me'

storm

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UN

BY RAMON SAHMKOWvar date = new Date("2025-01-21T18:29:08Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

COP struggles

Amazon city

Climate and Environment

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landslide

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Digging for survivors

diplomacy

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Emerging players

Renewable power

Old guard

Green agenda

trade

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Trade tensions

Trump

BY ISSAM AHMEDvar date = new Date("2025-01-21T08:20:21Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

coffee

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Invest more to produce less

Adapting to changing climate

California

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No 'magical spigot'

coffee

BY CATHERINE HOURSvar date = new Date("2025-01-21T01:49:52Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

Trump

BY ISSAM AHMEDvar date = new Date("2025-01-21T00:47:01Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

More drilling, fewer EVs

Emissions reductions to slow

Alaska

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deforestation

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space

BY TOM BARFIELDvar date = new Date("2025-01-20T10:11:22Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

'More fire than we know'

'Last mile'

market

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California

BY ANDREW MARSZALvar date = new Date("2025-01-19T23:53:34Z") var userTimezoneOffset = Math.abs(date.getTimezoneOffset() * 60000); var dd = new Date(date.getTime() - userTimezoneOffset) + " "; document.write(dd.split('(', 1)[0]);

No 'magical spigot'

Global Edition

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BY LUCIA LACURCIA

BY JOHN BIERS

BY ROMAIN FONSEGRIVES

BY RAMON SAHMKOW

BY NICK PERRY

BY PETER CATTERALL

BY ISSAM AHMED

BY FACUNDO FERNÁNDEZ BARRIO

BY HUW GRIFFITH

BY CATHERINE HOURS

BY ISSAM AHMED

BY TOM BARFIELD

BY ANDREW MARSZAL