U.N. Environment (UNEP)

Wind turbines rise above a forested landscape, underscoring the growing intersection between clean energy development, land use, and biodiversity protection.

Energy & Environment

Nature’s decline is a business crisis, IPBES says in global assessment

3 min read

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More than 150 governments approve science-policy report showing that current incentives drive biodiversity loss.

Julio Cordano, a diplomat from Chile, accepts the gavel as newly elected chair of the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution.

Energy & Environment

Chilean diplomat Julio Cordano wins chair of U.N. plastics treaty talks

3 min read

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Procedural vote resets leadership of stalled negotiations as global pressure builds for more substantive progress.

UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen is interviewed at the end of the last round of plastic treaty talks outside the United Nations in Geneva.

Energy & Environment

Global plastics treaty talks regroup in Geneva after stalled negotiations

2 min read

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A brief procedural session aims to reset leadership and process after divisions derailed talks last year.

Kenyan President William Ruto, whose nation hosts the U.N. Environment Assembly, emphasized that conservation and economic development must go hand-in-hand.

Energy & Environment

$8 trillion pollution risk prompts first global rules on AI resource use

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The resolution was paired with a measure on minerals and metals essential to AI and the clean energy transition.

CITES is a multilateral treaty that covers over 40,000 species.

Energy & Environment

CITES showdown looms on elephant ivory and rhino horn trade bans

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The global wildlife treaty is charged with regulating trade in 40,920 species, including 6,610 animals and 34,310 plants.

Energy & Environment

Minamata Convention pivots to enforcement, illegal trade control

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A new strategy will focus heavily on controlling black market flows, leveraging a decision to phase-out dental amalgam.

Heads of international organizations gather at COP30.

Climate & Health

Climate lead shifts to Global South as rich nations show lost 'enthusiasm'

7 min read

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As COP30 opened, its president said high-income countries are retreating from their Paris Agreement climate obligations.

Benjamin Von Wong’s The Thinker’s Burden, an art installation surrounded by plastic trash, drew attention outside the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

Energy & Environment

UNEP schedules session to organize the resumption of plastic treaty talks

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Negotiators must finish the financial mechanism and agree on binding measures to phase out toxic chemicals in plastics.

The new report on nations' climate action plans sets the stage for the COP30 climate summit.

Climate & Health

Global warming efforts remain 'off target' as emissions soar to new peak

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Nations' climate plans will collectively lower the current trajectory of 2.8° C. of warming to between 2.3° and 2.5°.

Panama's national plan to increase climate resilience focuses on agriculture and food security, health, infrastructure, and water resources.

Climate & Health

$310B a year climate adaptation 'emergency' risks lives, spurs debt

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Developing nations get 12 to 14 times less than what's needed to adapt infrastructure and prepare for climate impacts.

After a 5:30 a.m. plenary was announced, the chair of the global plastic treaty talks was still waiting for delegages to fill the assembly hall inside the U.N.'s Palais des Nations at 6 a.m.

Energy & Environment

Back to Busan: Global plastic pollution treaty talks end in disarray

5 min read

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The U.N.-hosted talks failed to overcome opposition to reducing plastic production among oil and gas producers.

Demonstrators with the Break Free From Plastic global movement demand a strong global plastics treaty in Geneva.

Energy & Environment

Deadlock on production, chemicals as global plastic treaty talks falter

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The latest draft text omitted any legally-binding production limits and a dedicated section on chemicals of concern.

European Commissioner Jessika Roswall speaks to reporters inside the U.N.'s Palais des Nations alongside Danish Environment Minister Magnus Heunick.

Energy & Environment

Global plastics treaty 'drama' on a knife-edge over production caps

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European officials say they will not accept a deal 'at any cost' but maintain the bloc is ready to 'build bridges' to succeed.

Midway through the final Global Plastics Treaty negotiations, campaigners says nations are not on track to deliver a treaty that will protect people and nature.

Energy & Environment

U.N. plastic treaty talks face deep divisions as deadline nears

5 min read

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Ecuadoran diplomat Luis Vayas Valdivieso, who chairs the proceedings, said 'progress made has not been sufficient.'

Outside the U.N.'s Palais des Nations in Geneva, "The Thinker’s Burden" was created for the INC 5.2 Global Plastics Pollution Treaty negotiations by Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong.

Energy & Environment

Plastic treaty talks open with longshot bid for consensus deal

4 min read

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The negotiations in Geneva are the sixth round of talks since 175 nations agreed in 2022 to create a legally binding treaty.

Energy & Environment

Geneva's plastic treaty talks at make-or-break moment for ocean health

5 min read

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The 10-day session at the U.N.'s European headquarters is widely seen as the definitive moment for a global accord.

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