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    North Carolina Town Launches First U.S. Climate Lawsuit Against a Utility Company

    North Carolina Town Launches First U.S. Climate Lawsuit Against a Utility Company

    The small North Carolina town of Carrboro has initiated the country’s first climate accountability litigation against an electric utility. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, claims Duke Energy waged a “deception campaign” in order to obscure the climate hazards of fossil fuels. This led to delayed action in curbing planet-warming emissions, which caused the costs of […]

    Flood Protection by Mangroves Saves $855 Billion Globally, Report Finds

    Flood Protection by Mangroves Saves $855 Billion Globally, Report Finds

    In a new report, researchers estimate that the economic value that mangroves provide as protection against flooding amounts to about $855 billion globally. The report, led by researchers at the Center for Coastal Climate Resilience at University of California, Santa Cruz, utilized advanced flood risk modeling over around 700,000 kilometers (434,960 miles) of subtropical coastlines […]

    Activists and Vulnerable Nations Condemn U.S. Arguments Against Climate Obligations at ICJ Hearing

    Activists and Vulnerable Nations Condemn U.S. Arguments Against Climate Obligations at ICJ Hearing

    Testimony from the United States during the ongoing International Court of Justice (ICJ) hearing on Wednesday evoked anger from climate activists and vulnerable nations, as the planet’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter argued against nations being legally obligated to take measures to fight the climate crisis. The oral arguments were part of the historic climate hearing […]

    UN’s Top Court Begins Hearings on Landmark Climate Case

    UN’s Top Court Begins Hearings on Landmark Climate Case

    The International Court of Justice (ICJ) — the United Nations’ highest court — began hearings on Monday in the biggest case in its history. The hearings involve what legal obligations States have when it comes to climate change. The proceedings represent efforts by the international community to formulate a legal framework to address the climate […]

    Extreme Droughts Lead to Record-High Coffee Prices

    Extreme Droughts Lead to Record-High Coffee Prices

    Extreme weather, including intense droughts, in top coffee-growing countries such as Brazil and Vietnam has led to some of the highest coffee prices in decades. As Reuters reported, prices for coffee futures reached a 47-year high of $3.3545 per pound for Arabica coffee on the Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. (ICE) and prices for this commodity rose […]

    Barbados Completes World’s First ‘Debt-for-Climate’ Swap

    Barbados Completes World’s First ‘Debt-for-Climate’ Swap

    Barbados has secured the world’s first “debt-for-climate” swap to finance crucial water and sewage projects that will help the island cope with the destructive impacts of climate change. Through a deal with international funding partners, the Caribbean island nation was able to replace outstanding debt with less expensive financing, which generated a savings of $125 […]

    COP16 to Address Global Land Degradation and Desertification Begins in Saudi Arabia

    COP16 to Address Global Land Degradation and Desertification Begins in Saudi Arabia

    Following the recent United Nations biodiversity and climate conferences, the 16th Conference of the Parties (COP16) of the UN Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) began Monday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, with the goal of tackling drought, desertification and land degradation. The UN has found that, in order to restore the planet’s degraded lands and prevent […]