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Water Protectors Arrested in Minnesota After Chaining Themselves Inside Enbridge Line 3 Pipe
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Environmental activist Winona LaDuke (C) and water protectors stand in front of the construction site for the Line 3 oil pipeline near Palisade, Minnesota, on Jan. 9, 2021. Kerem Yucel / AFP via Getty Images
By Jessica Corbett
Water protectors were arrested Thursday after halting construction at a Minnesota worksite for Enbridge's Line 3 project by locking themselves together inside a pipe segment.
<p>"After moving to Minnesota to attend college and study environmental science, I was excited to be in a place where people valued protecting the Earth and finding a viable future. What I found, however, was a state that had formed 'ambitious' climate goals yet endorsed one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, tar sands oil," water protector Abby Hornberger said in a statement. "I realized that Indigenous ways of knowing and practicing harmony with the environment are continuously ignored."</p><p>KFGO <a href="https://kfgo.com/2021/01/14/2-arrested-during-latest-line-3-protest/" target="_blank">reports</a> that Cass County Sheriff Tom Burch said two protesters who were taken into custody on Thursday now face charges of trespassing and obstructing.</p>
<p>Hornberger explained that "the Line 3 pipeline far outweighs all clean energy initiatives and progress being made in renewable energies. Line 3 will destroy Minnesota's essential clean water resources for future generations and will ultimately drive us into climate doom. Education and spreading awareness is no longer enough to create meaningful change for me."</p><p>"Enbridge's last-ditch effort to build fossil fuel infrastructure is killing people and the planet. I refuse to be complicit in settler colonialist practices, and feel that I have to put my body on the line to protect Indigenous communities' sovereignty and all of our futures," Hornberger added. "This is not just an issue relevant to some, it affects each of us on a deeper level that goes beyond our daily lives. It determines if we will have a livable future."</p>
<div id="5204b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4238296ced019235c5ebedb5c4188673"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349769464896745473" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Water Protectors Lock Down Inside Line 3 Pipeline to #StopLine3
(Backus, MN) Thursday morn… https://t.co/NWH4lBcyJY</div> — giniw collective (@giniw collective)<a href="https://twitter.com/GiniwCollective/statuses/1349769464896745473">1610645092.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Indigenous and environmental activists have long opposed the Canadian company's efforts to <a href="https://www.enbridge.com/projects-and-infrastructure/public-awareness/minnesota-projects/line-3-replacement-project" target="_blank">replace</a> an aging oil pipeline with a larger one running from Alberta, through North Dakota and Minnesota, to Wisconsin — noting Enbridge's <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/resources" target="_blank">track record on spills</a> and that cultural maps <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/01/14/water-protectors-lock-down-inside-line-3-pipeline?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank">indicate</a> "numerous sacred and significant sites lie in the path of the Line 3 project."</p><p>Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/11/12/nightmarish-indigenous-and-climate-leaders-outraged-over-minnesota-permits-line-3" target="_blank">has come under fire</a> from Indigenous and climate leaders in recent months as the state has approved key permits that Enbridge needs to complete the new Line 3, especially given the Democratic governor <a href="https://twitter.com/govtimwalz/status/1095374006071504896?lang=en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">said publicly</a> in February of 2019 that projects like this one "don't just need a building permit to go forward, they also need a social permit."</p><p>As some water protectors on Thursday protested inside a pipe segment a few miles from a man camp in Backus, "dozens more held space," <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2021/01/14/water-protectors-lock-down-inside-line-3-pipeline?cd-origin=rss" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to</a> the Giniw Collective. The group also pointed out that "Enbridge is working 24 hours per day at several worksites, as a pending injunction to halt work while tribally led lawsuits are heard has yet to be decided."</p>
<p>Water protector Andrew Lee said that he participated in the action against Line 3 on Thursday "to protect the treaties that my ancestors failed to uphold."</p><p>"I've learned over the course of this year that Tim Walz isn't going to protect us, the government of Minnesota isn't going to protect us, and the federal government isn't going to protect us," Lee continued. "I believe it is my duty, as a colonizer and as a person with the privilege, to do so, to put my body on the line to stop the Enbridge Corporation from building this pipeline."</p><p>"It breaks my heart and enrages me to see how these people are desecrating the Earth and the lengths they will go to leech every last dollar they can from its surface," they said. "But for as much as I'm here in anger and fear, I'm also here in love."</p>
<div id="7db6f" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d46e7dc31c78d12149d6c2e8b06042f2"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1349030243269562369" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The good news is, resistance to the pipeline is growing.
On-the-ground action to stop construction is led by Indig… https://t.co/svqmRW9Iov</div> — Resist Line 3 (@Resist Line 3)<a href="https://twitter.com/ResistLine3/statuses/1349030243269562369">1610468848.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Thursday's action came after eight people were arrested on Saturday, when <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/news/january092021" target="_blank">scores</a> of water protectors and Anishinaabe jingle dress dancers gathered at the Mississippi River, then walked onto a Line 3 worksite. <a href="https://www.stopline3.org/news/january092021" target="_blank">According to</a> a statement from organizers:</p><blockquote>After praying and sharing a healing jingle dance, water protectors went to Haypoint, Minnesota, where Enbridge is actively boring under Highway 169 on its way to the Willow and Mississippi Rivers.<br>Construction stopped as water protectors held space and documented <a href="https://fb.watch/2YA1x0szE0/" target="_blank">irregularities</a> in the pipe being put into the ground. Nearly 30 police squad cars from multiple counties and the Department of Natural Resources were onsite.</blockquote>
<p>The statement, which confirmed the eight arrests, also said that "one arresting officer in a Cass County uniform without a badge refused to put on a face mask and grinned at the crowd as he held a zip-tied water protector. Enbridge's worksites and man camps have quickly become hotspots for Covid-19 in Aitkin County."</p><p>While critics of Line 3 and similar projects have long raised health and safety concerns — including about the <a href="https://indiancountrytoday.com/archive/native-american-and-women-s-organizations-request-un-help-on-sexual-violence-_srxHIWjqEmyrmz9OPMmZw" target="_blank">well-documented connection</a> between man camps and the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women — the pandemic, which has hit Indigenous communities hard, has further fueled opposition.</p><p>"We saw Minnesota's police officers protecting a Canadian tar sands pipeline being built by mostly out-of-state workers, for sale on foreign market," said Tara Houska, founder of Giniw Collective. "We need good-paying jobs up north that don't require us to destroy our environment. Where is the investment in the north land? Where is the upholding of treaty rights? Where is the Walz administration on this pandemic pipeline?"</p>
<div id="94ce5" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="384e44bc9a6701e11c25627380232d6f"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1347984613700984833" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">We are here to protect the water. Hundreds of us today at the Rally for the Rivers and more every day. We will… https://t.co/ww5HOuF6ZI</div> — MN350 (@MN350)<a href="https://twitter.com/MN_350/statuses/1347984613700984833">1610219550.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Activists are <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/12/15/biden-urged-stand-against-line-3-water-protectors-battle-dirty-tar-sands-pipeline" target="_blank">calling on</a> President-elect Joe Biden to stand up for those "on the frontlines of fossil fuel racism and the climate crisis" by stopping Line 3. On Thursday, more than 75 Indigenous women leaders <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/14/over-75-indigenous-women-urge-biden-stop-climate-wrecking-pipelines-and-respect" target="_blank">wrote</a> to the next president, urging him to block Line 3 and two other projects that "pose grave threats to Indigenous rights, cultural survival, sacred water and land, the global climate, and the public health crises within our communities, which have been greatly exacerbated by Covid-19."</p><p>As Houska, Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe and a signatory to the letter, put it: "The Biden administration can uphold their climate justice claims by acting to stop Line 3, stop Keystone XL, and stop Dakota Access Pipeline, now."</p>
<p><em>Reposted with permission from <a href="https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/01/14/arrests-minnesota-after-water-protectors-chain-themselves-inside-pipe-section-halt" target="_blank">Common Dreams</a>.</em><br/></p>From Your Site Articles
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Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker speaks during the National Clean Energy Summit 9.0 on October 13, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Isaac Brekken for National Clean Energy Summit / Getty Images
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker vetoed a sweeping climate bill on Thursday that would have put the commonwealth on a path to eliminating carbon emissions by 2050.
<p>Baker's veto sets up a confrontation between the Republican governor and the Democratic supermajority-controlled legislature. </p><p>The bill would have also directed utilities to purchase more offshore wind power, set efficiency standards for appliances, and required that 40% of the state's electricity come from renewable sources by 2030. </p><p>The governor's veto came under pressure from developers, who <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/MVpDrsDr2_nW5tp7yY6PlNDNW7zr5cm4lSDP-N5q1hkG5nxHXV3Zsc37CgC5cW35ZyYH5l_jmvDPdT5CZ4RvMzYclFhP0r6W8VmBTR18Tw02V70Tkl1WXxqvW9klPPM1hpRK5W8Lm7kK3LSBLsW2-Xb3Z347p51W26sGbZ3WPNHNW2n72Fk5RscN1Vg0pts3KBfYDN2vWJjd79DkLN3zQLKMf06c3W2ZPLcS4S4dbkVcpLmF7dns2mW49w5lY2_kMwzVXhsYb2dm79xW2FFTf81wXr_KVhw7944bVm1yW4Lgx9W5LwFCHW6MPy0n6RBsRbW7_VbMn7dgjdwW3391n92xjVXfW7CMWVl2_Jh6RW1PnXFL5DbCQRW4w0VYQ1wHdfmW15dh4Q3pSFpyN7XFhCKXWjfJW499LDw3-BPCpW7jSCyC2xfyyKVQBZ5X4YTDHWW4bdXlB41xNhcW6Rb_JW83yBWgW7S1HwX6WPkRwN27kNvfhBlLsVn76pT5_HcMnW3cMLPw1NShl4VWzgBn4jF_nMW1HlWx48w-hxrW61tNFs5bw7swV77qrq3kR5rNW3wKhXt4DlwBmN1ty3Vf7vDyxW7s5V7D8k6Fn33nRy1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">claimed</a> the bill's building efficiency rules would hamper housing development – despite <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/MVpDrsDr2_nW5tp7yY6PlNDNW7zr5cm4lSDP-N5q1hkG3p_9LV1-WJV7CgF6gW2GvBy_1GN3tWW6JFBgQ2PS_xFN1Bv0BFsTTkDN2QbSFczr8gWW48fWHL5jL3m4W31ybM654bWRkW7zYW791SsJMPW89fj3W9bksw-W25C8vf3g1WgrW52-lQ4598G7PW5hSLKf8WRyM0W50Nqk01PCLDHW1BbSBc6KycBKW7bgVZb8ylcbbW73QKhX1LNC0WN6QWrfbS76-MW5Jj68M2m1JdkW3gtTmm8_MvPrW662V3j6z06nmW6hdwCJ1ymb6QW7d7_-V3VnZzZN2dxwTLLS1mZVlTxhk66rtRlW7Hh9jS6xggfBW73zcqV72SSq7W6KRDDw1QgjT3W7dmCL-8FYp66W6074CP3wgV4v3jvd1" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">studies</a> showing the cost efficiencies of net-zero construction. </p>
<p>Baker, who in December <a href="https://newsletter.climatenexus.org/e2t/tc/MVpDrsDr2_nW5tp7yY6PlNDNW7zr5cm4lSDP-N5q1hhV5nxG7V3Zsc37CgG_NW8W69rx4m5bGdW9lhwk481LYpTW5fRJyY8vTcSdW5xPr9Y93PdDzW6FGDZ77Bpw--W8gFDl62nx-bZN41YcgTXLywhW3QkKBQ5Dtz9pW4ZkVB11-RCS0W7y6yMc1LQyb3W65w7HT81lX_wV91GJY5RZ1M2W7swtw86kcW7tVMGvxZ20V4NPV5WB_l8wnmzNW2fLYCf2ZlBt0W3q0gzs1Mz94RW7ZPj-x8PrytRW8kv_n65M3zW5W4q1ySk8Cyk7JW1cJMRN5fmH9XW76My9W23Lm7KVRHdz268hdtRW3bMxmN1KJtKbW2r0kSW2mnfgyW8sQw2Z5lL0zWW1mn_yS2PbsNMVCPD2Y2zfpK9VNvgD76GNmyjW8cJXzj79YwhyW1S0RZL3r8SJ_W6_TK5Q64ZqLR3lFT1" target="_blank">released his own plan</a> to make the state emissions-neutral by 2050, said he agreed with the bill's supporters on climate goals, but State Sen. Michael Barrett, a lead negotiator on the bill, accused Baker of using technicalities to avoid the ambitious commitments set out by the legislation, and predicted the bill's strong support would ultimately carry it over the finish line.</p><p>"Charlie Baker is not the first politician in the world to have responded to climate change by procrastinating," Barrett said. </p><p>Lawmakers passed the bill nearly unanimously at the end of the 2020 legislative session, and plan to refile it and quickly send it back to Baker with time left in the session to override a second veto.</p>
<p><strong>For a deeper dive:</strong><br/></p><p><a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/01/15/metro/reluctantly-governor-vetoes-mass-climate-change-bill-it-may-soon-be-back-his-desk/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106693087&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--BhP-SACAFRxFxNGU2QU5O_pDoGsm9rWM3sf1V8P5xs3WNL0fT7kDWccgKu3Et_3t1l5OkKkzdIgx252lAUzCErVXE9CLZ3W29AnK3EyyHRlli1yc&utm_content=106693087&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Boston Globe</a>, <a href="https://www.wbur.org/earthwhile/2021/01/14/massachusetts-climate-bill-veto-baker?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106693087&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9MzfxvKohZU-LNgUr1WKXyJ357kWP5Zc-1-xhIXSSYHgkgMe_FGq60-696oC0u5r8cfhPPSo-rX6a1ZlXgsssyI_zkDhWFaB5I4ikPuN_Fi6pjYZs&utm_content=106693087&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">WBUR</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-boston-legislation-climate-charlie-baker-409fc9e1d590d3e7c725ae3457e6bd2b" target="_blank">AP,</a> <a href="https://www.bostonherald.com/2021/01/14/charlie-baker-vetoes-climate-bill-oks-economic-development/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106693087&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8b_1QsnEVEAXGJ1tvIsqhQeN5awtX-jVt5EtB1z40nxToJd2k6Y6gRSNtU1fP9PMfWQm2N_u0HgcCpfCUoymaD4w7qG3wMdH-6WUR-TtNoxx-iBXM&utm_content=106693087&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">Boston Herald</a>, <a href="https://commonwealthmagazine.org/environment/in-veto-letter-baker-objects-to-a-lot-in-climate-change-bill/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106693087&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-927epeSlR-b0Ai6eLxzuCPRszN10D_0qbthHJUXGXSRtW78Vdktg2E0l8aOa3xj2VcYHhoBkI0yZSBaIDhRlo4d2dJlPKIbFNwaBw2oeKYEyI1iCE&utm_content=106693087&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">CommonWealth</a>, <a href="https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/mass-lawmakers-say-they-are-ready-to-refile-pass-climate-bill/2280312/?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106693087&_hsenc=p2ANqtz--ohdUy7DjVieC6o2C5ufG7P6ae-cpwsuvRwOS1ncdD7p9sVuw4VjcWMAi3T9azTZs0_sOIZi5wx9BUqwAbAOXUMLRwft107olaDUZkTvO2P-G71V8&utm_content=106693087&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">NBC Boston</a>, <a href="https://www.masslive.com/politics/2021/01/massachusetts-gov-charlie-baker-vetoes-climate-bill-that-sets-carbon-emissions-targets-ahead-of-2050.html?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106693087&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-95GrPIIggiIYo6vABVUvLAIpenCLcI4hzntskd7pn5BHuZEBYSAUIMc2jelQCo09UnbObFkcpxtkqp1YnSzH_srylwFAY9XRBCJ5q495AarIDKYME&utm_content=106693087&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">MassLive</a>; Commentary: <a href="https://www.wbur.org/cognoscenti/2021/01/14/massachusetts-climate-bill-ken-kimmell-alicia-barton?utm_campaign=Hot%20News&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=106693087&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_fXdoe3kHerHbgYGybbSz741goabDsN3uV1KMhuwvp04r1XOo6XhuaHf7f-v6Eb1U_lrMTDi0zC0u0giXkKcQjDeO1lM3gf5fMTlodwNtkEWrofRw&utm_content=106693087&utm_source=hs_email" target="_blank">WBUR, Alicia Barton and Ken Kimmell op-ed</a><br/></p><p><em>For more </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/climate-change-news/" target="_blank"><em>climate change</em></a><em> and </em><a href="http://ecowatch.com/business/renewables/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>clean energy</em></a><em> news, you can follow Climate Nexus on </em><a href="https://twitter.com/ClimateNexus" target="_blank"><em>Twitter</em></a><em> and </em><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ClimateNexus/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Facebook</em></a><em>, sign up for daily </em><a href="https://www.linktrack.live/hot-news-sign-up" target="_blank"><em>Hot News</em></a><em>, and visit their news site, </em><a href="https://nexusmedianews.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Nexus Media News</em></a><em>.</em> </p>
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Commuters make their way through a flooded street after heavy monsoon rains in Dhaka, Bangladesh on July 21, 2020. Munir Uz Zaman / Getty Images
By Ajit Niranjan
World leaders and businesses are not putting enough money into adapting to dangerous changes in the climate and must "urgently step up action," according to a report published Thursday by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP).
<p>Last year was the joint-hottest year on record and disasters struck every continent. Smoke-belching wildfires burned through communities from Australia to the Arctic. <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-storms-cyclones-hurricanes-typhoons-explained/a-55521226" target="_blank">Extreme storms</a> battered coastal cities from the Philippines to Nicaragua, while floods put a third of Bangladesh underwater and covered entire villages in Nigeria.</p><p>Extreme weather and climate-related disasters have killed more than 410,000 people in the past 10 years, almost all of them in poorer countries, according to the <a href="https://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/20201116_WorldDisasters_Full.pdf" target="_blank">International Federation of the Red Cross and Crescent.</a></p><p>"The hard truth is that climate change is upon us," said UNEP Executive Director <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/opinion-we-are-close-to-the-point-of-no-return/a-56122609" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Inger Andersen</a>, in the foreword to the report. "Its impacts will intensify, even if we limit global warming. We cannot afford to lose the race to adaptation."</p>
Adaptation Has a Long Way to Go
<p>The Adaptation Gap Report, now in its 5th year, finds "huge gaps" between what world leaders agreed to do under the 2015 <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/5-years-paris-climate-agreement/a-55901139" target="_blank">Paris Agreement</a> and what they need to do to keep their citizens safe from climate change.</p><p>A review by the Global Adaptation Mapping Initiative of almost 1,700 examples of climate adaptation found that a third were in the early stages of implementation — and only 3% had reached the point of reducing risks.</p><p>Disasters like storms and droughts have grown stronger than they should be because people have warmed the planet by burning fossil fuels and chopping down rainforests. The world has heated by more than 1.1 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution and is on track to warm by about 3°C by the end of the century.</p><p>If world leaders <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-change-performance-index-how-far-have-we-come/a-55846406" target="_blank">deliver on recent pledges</a> to bring emissions to <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/joe-bidens-climate-pledges-are-they-realistic/a-56173821" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">net-zero</a> by the middle of the century, they could almost limit warming to 2°C. The target of the Paris Agreement, however, is to reach a target well below that — ideally 1.5°C. </p><p>There are two ways, scientists say, to lessen the pain that warming will bring: mitigating climate change by cutting carbon pollution and adapting to the hotter, less stable world it brings.</p>The Cost of Climate Adaptation
<p>About three-quarters of the world's countries have national plans to adapt to climate change, according to the report, but most lack the regulations, incentives and funding to make them work.</p><p>More than a decade ago, rich countries most responsible for climate change pledged to mobilize $100 billion a year by 2020 in climate finance for poorer countries. UNEP says it is "impossible to answer" whether that goal has been met, while an OECD study published in November found that between 2013 and 2018, the target sum had not once been achieved. Even in 2018, which recorded the highest level of contributions, rich countries were still $20 billion short.</p><p>The yearly adaptation costs for developing countries alone are estimated at $70 billion. This figure is expected to at least double by the end of the decade as temperatures rise, and will hit $280-500 billion by 2050, according to the report.</p><p>But failing to adapt is even more expensive.</p><p>When powerful storms like cyclones Fani and Bulbul struck South Asia, early-warning systems allowed governments to move millions of people out of danger at short notice. Storms of similar strength that have hit East Africa, like <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/zimbabwe-after-cyclone-idai-building-climate-friendly-practices/a-54251885" target="_blank">cyclones Idai</a> and Kenneth, have proved more deadly because fewer people were evacuated before disaster struck.</p><p>The Global Commission on Adaptation estimated in 2019 that a $1.8 trillion investment in early warning systems, buildings, agriculture, mangroves and water resources could reap $7.1 trillion in benefits from economic activity and avoided costs when disasters strike.</p>Exploring Nature-Based Solutions
<p>The report also highlights how restoring nature can protect people from climate change while benefiting local communities and ecology.</p><p><a href="https://www.dw.com/en/climate-fires-risk-climate-change-bushfires-australia-california-extreme-weather-firefighters/a-54817927" target="_blank">Wildfires</a>, for instance, could be made less punishing by restoring grasslands and regularly burning the land in controlled settings. Indigenous communities from Australia to Canada have done this for millennia in a way that encourages plant growth while reducing the risk of uncontrolled wildfires. Reforestation, meanwhile, can stop soil erosion and flooding during heavy rainfall while trapping carbon and protecting wildlife.</p><p>In countries like Brazil and Malaysia, governments could better protect coastal homes from floods and storms by restoring <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/mudflats-mangroves-and-marshes-the-great-coastal-protectors/a-50628747" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">mangroves</a> — tangled trees that grow in tropical swamps. As well as anchoring sediments and absorbing the crash of waves, mangroves can store carbon, help fish populations grow and boost local economies through tourism. </p><p>While nature-based solutions are often cheaper than building hard infrastructure, their funding makes up a "tiny fraction" of adaptation finance, the report authors wrote. An analysis of four global climate funds that spent $94 billion on adaptation projects found that just $12 billion went to nature-based solutions and little of this was spent implementing projects on the ground.</p><p>But little is known about their long-term effectiveness. At higher temperatures, the effects of climate change may be so great that they overwhelm natural defenses like mangroves.</p><p>By 2050, <a href="https://www.dw.com/en/rising-sea-levels-should-we-let-the-ocean-in-a-50704953/a-50704953" target="_blank">coastal floods</a> that used to hit once a century will strike many cities every year, according to a 2019 report on oceans by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the gold standard on climate science. This could force dense cities on low-lying coasts to build higher sea walls, like in Indonesia and South Korea, or evacuate entire communities from sinking islands, like in Fiji.</p><p>It's not a case of replacing infrastructure, said Matthias Garschagen, a geographer at Ludwig Maximilian University in Germany and IPCC author, who was not involved in the UNEP report. "The case for nature-based solutions is often misinterpreted as a battle... but they're part of a toolkit that we've ignored for too long."</p>From Your Site Articles
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A wolverine in Finland on June 19, 2019. yrjö jyske / CC BY 2.0
A Yellowstone National Park trail camera received a surprising visitor last month.
<p>An elusive wolverine triggered a camera near the Mammoth Hot Springs area, the park announced on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowstoneNPS/posts/4279714232043898" target="_blank">Facebook Wednesday</a>.</p><p>"This is the first video footage of a wolverine since remote cameras have been deployed in the park," the park wrote.</p>
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="acfc8f3b6664d5f6d7d34ec82ca970a8"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/YellowstoneNPS/videos/399150214715661/" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div>
<p>Yellowstone National Park first began installing cameras to track the movement of cougars in 2014. In the seven years since, the cameras have also proved useful for detecting and studying a variety of species. But never before have those species included wolverines.</p><p>Wolverines (<em>Gulo gulo) </em>are mid-sized carnivores in the weasel family who thrive in snowy environments. Worldwide, they are found in Scandinavia, Russia, China, Canada and the U.S., according to <a href="https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/9561/45198537" target="_blank">International Union for Conservation of Nature</a> (IUCN). In the U.S., the southernmost part of their range extends into the lower 48 states, particularly the North Cascades in Washington and the Northern Rocky Mountains in Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Wyoming, according to the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/mountain-prairie/es/wolverine.php" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a> (FWS). This includes the greater Yellowstone area, where they prefer mountainous areas with forest or tundra habitats, the <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/wolverine.htm?fbclid=IwAR2zmzVYPN-dgY9Opq4HDnOy_99_WCNLBN8lICxMUAK_IMfec6D5L_l_XM8" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">park explained</a>. Between 2006 and 2009, seven wolverines (two females and five males) were documented in the eastern Yellowstone area and nearby national forests.</p>
<p>In the Facebook post, the park wrote that they lived in "low densities" in the park itself and were "rarely detected."</p><p>The elusive mammals are hard to document because they tend to live in remote areas and can move quickly over a short period, FWS explained.</p><p>"Wolverines are so rarely seen and inhabit such remote terrain at low densities that assessing population trends is difficult and sudden declines could go unnoticed for years," Yellowstone National Park warned.</p>
<p>And they may become even more elusive because of the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. By 2050, the only places in the lower 48 states that will have enough spring snow pack for the animals will be greater Yellowstone, the southern Rocky Mountains and California's Sierra Nevada, but there are no wolverine populations currently in the latter two locations.</p><p>Despite this, the FWS refused Endangered Species Act protections to wolverines in October of 2020, as <a href="https://www.hcn.org/articles/endangered-species-wolverines-denied-endangered-species-protections" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">High Country News reported</a>. The department argued that enough snow would last in the lower 48 states to allow the animals to remain living there.</p><p>Conservationists disagreed, and <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/mammals/American_wolverine/pdfs/20-12-14-Wolvernine-Complaint-for-Declaratory-and-Injunctive-Relief.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">sued</a> the department to reverse the ruling in December of 2020.</p><p>"For years scientists have been sounding the alarm on how wolverines are severely affected by climate change," said Andrea Zaccardi, a senior attorney at the <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Center for Biological Diversity</a>, said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/conservation-groups-sue-feds-over-failure-protect-wolverines-2020-12-14/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">press release</a> announcing the lawsuit. "The future of the wolverine in the lower 48 now stands on a knife edge thanks to the Fish and Wildlife Service refusing to do its job. We hope this lawsuit finally puts the species on the road to recovery."</p>
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An offshore oil platform in West Africa. Cavan Images / Getty Images
For the first time, researchers have identified 100 transnational corporations that take home the majority of profits from the ocean's economy.
<p>Referred to as the "Ocean 100," the corporations accounted for 60 percent of $1.9 trillion generated from core industries in the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oceans">ocean</a> economy in 2018 alone, according to an <a href="https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/articles/ocean-100-small-group-companies-dominates-ocean-economy" target="_blank">article by the Duke Nicholas Institute</a>. The <a href="https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/7/3/eabc8041" target="_blank">research</a> was published Wednesday in the journal <em>Science Advances</em> by researchers at Duke University and the Stockholm Resilience Centre at Stockholm University.</p><p>If the group were a country, it would be the 16th-largest economy in the world, <a href="https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/articles/ocean-100-small-group-companies-dominates-ocean-economy" target="_blank">researchers found</a>. Out of the eight industries examined, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling">offshore drilling</a> generated the most revenue.</p>
<p>"Now that we know who some of the biggest beneficiaries from the ocean economy are, this can help improve transparency relating to sustainability and ocean stewardship," the lead author John Virdin, director of the Ocean and Coastal Policy Program at Duke's Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions, said in an <a href="https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/articles/ocean-100-small-group-companies-dominates-ocean-economy" target="_blank">article by the Duke Nicholas Institute</a>. Some of the identified corporations included Saudi Aramco and Brazil's Petrobras, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-environment-oceans/ocean-100-profits-from-worlds-seas-dominated-by-100-companies-idUSKBN29I2XF" target="_blank">Reuters reported.</a></p><p>More than three billion people depend on the ocean for their livelihoods, <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/sustainable-ocean-for-all_6bcb3e94-en" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">according to a report by the OECD</a>. Yet across eight industries studied, including offshore drilling, seafood production and processing and cruise tourism, researchers found that just 10 companies in each of the industries generated 45 percent of the industry's revenue.</p>
<p>"The fact that these companies are headquartered in a small number of countries also illustrates that concerted actions by some governments,could rapidly change how the private sector interacts with the ocean," co-author Henrik Österblom, science director at the Stockholm Resilience Centre, <a href="https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/articles/ocean-100-small-group-companies-dominates-ocean-economy" target="_blank">said</a> in the article by the Duke Nicholas Institute.</p><p>Due to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/overfishing">overfishing</a>, pollution and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>, the ocean is becoming increasingly threatened, <a href="https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/development/sustainable-ocean-for-all_6bcb3e94-en" target="_blank">the OECD reported</a>. This has degraded the ocean's fish stocks, habitats, ecosystems and biodiversity.</p><p>In response, the international community adopted the <a href="https://unctad.org/webflyer/advancing-sustainable-development-goal-14#:~:text=In%202015%2C%20the%20international%20community,marine%20resources%20for%20sustainable%20development." target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development in 2015</a>, which for the first time sought to "conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development."</p>
<p>But such agreements overlook the ocean's potential to mitigate climate change, Janis Searles Jones, the Ocean's Conservancy CEO wrote <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02832-w#:~:text=The%20ocean's%20potential%20to%20mitigate,higher%20than%20terrestrial%20forests%20can" target="_blank">in a Nature article</a>. "We need greater ambition to give the ocean a fighting chance," she added.</p><p>The researchers' identification could help environmental groups like the Ocean Conservancy pressure corporations into adopting sustainability goals that include climate mitigation strategies.</p><p>"Senior executives of these few, but large companies, are in a unique position to exercise global leadership in sustainability," <a href="https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/articles/ocean-100-small-group-companies-dominates-ocean-economy" target="_blank">Virdin added</a>.</p>
<p>In 2015, Österblom and his colleagues <a href="https://stockholmresilience.org/research/research-news/2015-05-27-keystone-actors-shape-marine-ecosystems.html" target="_blank">published a paper</a> that analogized transnational corporations to keystone species, according to the article by the Duke Nicholas Institute. They noted both have a major impact on how ecosystems function and disproportionate power to determine how other species in the ecosystem operate.</p><p>"Just knowing who they are is the first step in getting them involved in what needs to be done," <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-environment-oceans/ocean-100-profits-from-worlds-seas-dominated-by-100-companies-idUSKBN29I2XF" target="_blank">Österblom noted</a> in Reuters.</p><p>But depending on corporations to adopt sustainable practices may not be enough to reach international sustainability goals.</p>
<p>"In 2018, Chevron announced it would invest $100 million that year in lowering emissions through its new Future Energy Fund," Michael O'Leary and Warren Valdmanis <a href="https://www.vox.com/21509913/climate-change-bp-microsoft-investors-shareholders-accountability" target="_blank">wrote on Vox</a> on holding companies accountable to their climate commitments. That same year, Chevron invested $20 billion in oil and gas.</p><p>"For those who put their faith in corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a panacea for our ailing society, we have the unfortunate reality: This kind of allocation of efforts is not uncommon. Superficial public commitments on issues like sustainability and diversity are much easier for companies than substantive action," they <a href="https://www.vox.com/21509913/climate-change-bp-microsoft-investors-shareholders-accountability" target="_blank">added</a>.</p><p>Oceans will play an increasingly critical role in the global economy, the researchers <a href="https://nicholasinstitute.duke.edu/articles/ocean-100-small-group-companies-dominates-ocean-economy" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">note</a>. Whether pressuring the ocean's major actors to adopt sustainable practices will translate into tangible corporate responsibility will reveal itself sooner or later.</p>
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