U.N. agrees to buy $55M crude carrier to prevent oil spill in Red Sea
A stranded supertanker, moored off the coast of Yemen near a pipeline to oil and gas fields, nearly sank in 2020.
Energy & Environment
Energy and environment are centrally linked in the global effort to combat climate change and its devastating impacts. The most critical modern challenge is the rapid transition of the global energy system away from fossil fuels toward clean, renewable sources.
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Nations to draft plastic waste treaty
Delegates from 175 nations to the U.N. Environment Assembly voted unanimously to devise a treaty that tries to cleanse the world of plastic pollution.
Illegal wildlife profits are soaring despite global efforts to crack down
The Financial Action Task Force reported that the illegal wildlife trade launders up to $23 billion in profits a year.
Group of nations take on plastic in oceans
The U.N. General Assembly launched a new group dedicated to tackling marine plastic pollution by building support for a new global agreement.
U.N. proposes global biodiversity pact to ward off mass extinction
Negotiations began last summer in Nairobi to draft a global wildlife treaty on the scale of the Paris climate accord.
Plastic contaminating the ocean is added to treaty on hazardous waste
A legally-binding global mechanism for managing plastic waste sends a political signal to markets and consumers.
Qatar quits OPEC to boost its liquefied natural gas production
Qatar joined OPEC in 1961 and has been its 11th biggest producer, putting out 600,000 barrels of crude oil a day.
U.N. environment chief resigns after audit finds excessive plane flights
The image of a jet-setting executive at an agency that sets environmental and climate agendas made for poor optics.
Scientists find Earth's ozone hole is on the mend due to treaty efforts
A new scientific assessment shows damage to the ozone layer from aerosol sprays and coolants started recovering.
An 'alphabet soup' of high seas rules stands in way of sustainability
Ocean areas and deep seabeds beyond national jurisdictions fall within a patchwork of rules for the global commons.