Colombia's environmental movement faces a setback as far-right president Abelardo de la Espriella, who favors fossil fuel exploitation, takes office. Activists like Yuvelis Morales Blanco vow to continue fighting for natural resources and rights despite the government's shift from the previous administration's energy transition focus.
Thousands protested in Geneva against the G7 summit, clashing with police, setting a car ablaze, and smashing bank windows. Police used tear gas in response to projectiles.
Protests have broken out in Albania against Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner's $1.4bn purchase of Sazan Island and a coastal area. Environmental groups and critics of PM Edi Rama are concerned about the impact on biodiversity and protected habitats, despite the government's claims of boosting tourism and EU bid.
The Supreme Court refused to entertain a plea challenging the environmental clearance for Pipavav port expansion in Gujarat, questioning environmentalists' stance on development projects. The court emphasized the necessity of infrastructure for national development, while allowing the environmentalist to approach the NGT again with specific objections.
On Earth Day, we take a look back at the rocky history of "tree-huggers." The term originated in the 1970s in the Himalayas and was later co-opted by American politics in the 1990s. Now, environmentalists are reclaiming the word.
The US attack on Iran has made the need for renewable energy inarguable. Environmentalists are now being seen for the pragmatists that they areDonald Trump has done more to accelerate the energy transition than anyone else alive. Fossil fuel companies bankrolled his presidential campaign to stop the transition in its tracks. But when you back a volatile narcissist, unable to concentrate for more than a few minutes at a time, you shouldn’t expect to control the outcome.It’s not that the fossils are suffering yet. As prices have soared since Trump and Netanyahu attacked Iran, oil executives have been selling shares at gobsmacking prices: the CEO of Chevron, for example, has cashed $104m so far this year. Vladimir Putin has also received a massive boost to his Ukraine invasion budget. As promised, Trump has gutted clean energy rules and programmes, green alternatives and environmental science. A fortnight ago, he stated, with the usual quantum of evidence (zero): “The environmentalists, I mean, they are terrorists … I call them environmental terrorists.”George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...
