South Africa Lays Out Climate Demands to Rich Polluters Ahead of COP27
Bloomberg UK, 15 Sep 2022
Developing nations expect rich countries to commit more funding to adapt to global warming and a financing mechanism to help them cope with natural disasters when they meet at the COP27 climate summit in November, South African Environment Minister Barbara Creecy said
Cutting Coal Offers Significant Health Benefits However Environmental Justice Issue Remains
The Print, 14 Sep 2022
According to a recent study that used data from Texas and nearby states, the most popular methods for cutting greenhouse gas emissions from electricity generation also have enough positive effects on health to pay for themselves entirely. Although Black and low-income areas also reap benefits, the study found that they nonetheless experience greater levels of air pollution and its associated health impacts.
In Pakistan’s Record Floods, Villages are Now Desperate Islands
New York Times, 14 Sep 2022
The devastating floods have inundated hundreds of villages across much of Pakistan’s fertile land. In Sindh Province in the south, the floodwater has effectively transformed what was once farmland into two large lakes that have engulfed entire villages and turned others into fragile islands. The flooding is the worst to hit the country in recent history, according to Pakistani officials. They warn that it may take three to six months for the floodwaters to recede.
Australia is Funding Just One-Tenth of its Fair Share of Global Climate Action, Study Finds
The Guardian, 14 Sep 2022
Australia is being urged to increase its investment in climate action, with a new report estimating the country is funding just one-tenth of its fair share globally. The conference is also expected to see growing calls, including from Pacific nations, for wealthy high-polluting countries such as Australia to financially support a dedicated loss and damage facility.
Thousands Evacuated as Wildfires Spread Across Western US
Al Jazeera, 12 Sep 2022
Thousands of people have been evacuated from their homes in the US state of Oregon, as a massive wildfire shoots clouds of ash and smoke into the air and threatens entire towns. The Creek Fire is the latest to hit the western United States, where dozens of blazes in California, Idaho, Oregon and Washington state have scorched more than 3,100sq km (1,200sq miles) so far this summer.
At 75, the Father of Environmental Justice Meets the Moment
New York Times, 12 Sep 2022
HOUSTON — He’s known as the father of environmental justice, but more than half a century ago he was just Bob Bullard from Elba, a flyspeck town deep in Alabama that didn’t pave roads, install sewers or put up streetlights in areas where Black families like his lived. Now, more than four decades after Robert Bullard took an unplanned career turn into environmentalism and civil rights, the movement he helped found is clocking one of its biggest wins yet. Some $60 billion of the $370 billion in climate spending passed by Congress last month has been earmarked for environmental justice, which calls for equal environmental protections for all, the cause to which Dr. Bullard has devoted his life.
