Climate Change

Paris Agreement: Biden's chance to restore international standing

The following op-ed originally appeared on The Hill on January 22, 2021. 

Smithfield’s false claims

Global pork giant Smithfield Foods makes a lot of claims about the environmental sustainability of its products and hog production system.

New Report by Financial Industry on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets Has Potential To Delay Direct Financing of Ambitious Climate Action

MINNEAPOLIS—Today, the Taskforce on Scaling Voluntary Carbon Markets, led by Mark Carney, United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and former Bank of England governor, launched its new report on the financial industry’s engagement with voluntary carbon markets.

Making carbon trading globally legitimate: the road show has begun

When companies seek to attract investors, they go on “road shows” to pitch their goods, services and projected Return on Investment (RoI).

USTR Nominee Katherine Tai Must Recalibrate US Trade Policy

Download the press release. 

A roadmap for the Biden-Harris administration: Re-designing farm systems for the climate crisis

As the Biden-Harris transition team rapidly fills key cabinet positions and senior leadership, it also is setting priorities for the first 100 days. If the “Build Back Better” mantra is to become reality, particularly in advancing equitable solutions to the climate crisis, the transition team will have to think systemically — not just agency by agency.

New factsheets on EU-Mercosur deal expose risks to both regions

Last week, Brazil National Space Research Institute (INPE) reported the highest rate of deforestation in the Amazon since 2008. Between August 2019 and July 2020, 11,087 square kilometers were deforested in the Amazon under the Bolsonaro government. The latest figures come on top of rising deforestation rates in previous years.

Climate, land use change and the EU-Mercosur Agreement: Accelerating tipping points

Provisions in the EU-Mercosur FTA conflict with ambitious climate action. If enacted, the agreement would result in an increase in EU imports of primary agricultural commodities from a region critical for maintaining global biodiversity and regulating climate. Based on available information, if ratified, the EU-Mercosur agreement would:

Food safety and the EU-Mercosur Agreement: Risking weaker standards on both sides of the Atlantic

Download the PDF of the factsheet. 

Time for the UNFCCC to get serious about industrial livestock’s climate footprint

Governments discussed the role of livestock production in connection to the climate crisis last week as part of the UNFCCC Climate Dialogues in lieu of the 26th Conference of Parties (COP) — the major climate conference where governments ne