Land and Climate Review

ICYMI: watch a clip from Kate Lamble's BBC Newsnight coverage of our investigation into the UK's biomass supply chain, broadcast on Tuesday. Or read the full story by Jaysim Hanspal and Bertie H. on Land and Climate Review here: https://lnkd.in/egF5z_hN

Tangier Island, Virginia, has been slowly disappearing under water. Rising sea levels have eaten up two-thirds of the territory since 1850. Residents of the island sell t-shirts declaring "I refuse to be a climate change refugee," rejecting the narrative that global heating is responsible. Scientists predict Tangier will be uninhabitable within decades, while residents attribute their crisis to "God-made erosion." In our latest article, an extract from Anne Helen Toomey’s new book “Science with Impact: How to Engage People, Change Practice, and Influence Policy,” Toomey assesses the American discourse on climate change, and how local beliefs can override scientific knowledge. Click below to read how this small island community of 400 people has come to embody the complexities of America's climate change debate 👇 https://lnkd.in/gd88VPdi

In our latest podcast, Bertie H. interviews Ståle Holgersen about his new book “Against the Crisis: Economy and Ecology in a Burning World,” published by Verso Books, exploring the relationship between economic and ecological crises. Holgersen examines how capitalist systems absorb global shocks, from the COVID-19 pandemic to potential climate catastrophes. "The fact that people are dying has not historically been a problem for capitalism," he points out, highlighting the system's adaptability. Critiquing both degrowth and Green New Deal strategies, Holgersen suggests they often misunderstand how capitalism sustains itself through crises. Holgersen stresses our economic system’s prioritisation of profit over preservation. “When working within the system of capitalism, if there is both an economic problem and an ecological problem, the ecological one can always wait.” Click the link below to listen our new podcast👇  https://lnkd.in/dXJcgrbr

This year, the EU left the Energy Charter Treaty because of its incorporation of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms, which allow foreign corporations to sue national governments.  In our most recent analysis, Camille Corcoran speaks with experts about how ISDS threatens developing countries' efforts towards the green energy transition.  Unusually within international law, ISDS claims are heard in private tribunals and decided by a panel of three arbitrators.  “Should the most powerful group on this planet – the people who have internationally mobile capital – really have their own international court?” Says Fabian Flues.  In 2019, Australian mining company Tethyan Copper sued Pakistan for $5.8 billion. At the time, Pakistan was already applying to the IMF for a $6 billion loan. “To have an award against a developing country of $6 billion is outrageous. The whole system has become disproportionate,” says Dr Patricia Ranald. Click below read more 👇 https://lnkd.in/eGxz3iCb  

Indonesia’s new president Prabowo Subianto has links to over 20 extractive companies, Margareth Aritonang from The Gecko Project tells Alasdair MacEwen in our most recent episode of the Land and Climate Podcast.  “Coal mining businesses, timber plantations, fishing and palm oil… this is not new and he’s not the only one who has companies playing in extractive industries.” Prabowo is regarded as an entrepreneur - a new report from The Gecko Project, The President’s New Clothes, explores his many abandoned businesses.  Margareth suggests that Prabowo’s rise in power could help revive his inactive businesses. Her investigation found that after his election win, one of his abandoned assets had received investments and was planning to restore operations next year.  Click below to listen to our new podcast and to access the report. https://lnkd.in/eGKFmWx3

Indonesia’s new president Prabowo Subianto has links to over 20 extractive companies, Margareth Aritonang from The Gecko Project tells Alasdair MacEwen in our most recent episode of the Land and Climate Podcast.  “Coal mining businesses, timber plantations, fishing and palm oil… this is not new and he’s not the only one who has companies playing in extractive industries.” Prabowo is regarded as an entrepreneur - a new report from The Gecko Project, The President’s New Clothes, explores his many abandoned businesses.  Margareth suggests that Prabowo’s rise in power could help revive his inactive businesses. Her investigation found that after his election win, one of his abandoned assets had received investments and was planning to restore operations next year.  Click below to listen to our new podcast and to access the report. https://lnkd.in/eGKFmWx3

Drax transitioned from the UK’s largest coal-fired power station to its largest wood pellet burner, remarketing itself as a green energy solution whilst receiving government subsidies. Our first in-house investigation series has uncovered more than 11,000 environmental violations by Drax-owned pellet mills in Canada and the United States, mostly related to air pollution. The UK is to make further subsidy decisions for Drax as the current contract ends in 2027. Click below to listen to Alasdair MacEwen interview Bertie H. and Camille Corcoran on the process of our investigation series on #BIOMASS https://lnkd.in/e8XV9D4H

Last week at #COP16, we spoke with Colombian lawyer, Maria Arango, about a new report, alleging that the sugarcane industry threatens Afro-Colombian communities. This expansion has led to the dispossession of “Afro-Colombian communities from their ancestral land,” Arango told the Land and Climate Podcast. Afro-Colombian communities developed sustainable farming and land management techniques that worked with the area's biodiversity. The report claims that the sugar cane industry is being marketed as a "green" option, as it produces biofuels. In reality, Arango says, “they are polluting the rivers and dried wetlands which were essential for the ecosystems and the biodiversity.” The report urged decision-makers at COP16 to acknowledge the traditional knowledge of Afro-Colombian communities and support their initiatives to restore the damaged ecosystems. Click the link below to access our interview and the report. https://lnkd.in/eDG592r3

Since 2020, US Drax mills have committed ‘an average of five environmental breaches per day,' The Times reported today. This statistic speaks to wider issues across their operations. US Senator for Maryland, Chris Von Hollen said Drax “must be held accountable” for the 11,378 violations “to ensure they meet their obligation to follow the law going forward”. The new findings follow a Land and Climate investigation published in May, which revealed that Drax had violated environmental law in Canada 189 times. Across North America, Drax’s facilities have illegally polluted rivers and lakes, destroyed wetlands, and consistently breached emission limits When the mill in Gloster, Mississippi was first built, residents were told it would bring millions in investment to the local economy. Instead many now suffer from serious respiratory diseases, which they attribute to pollution from the mill. Drax’s facilities have a wide history of underreporting emissions. Earlier this year, discrepancies were found even before a facility opened. In an initial air permit application, Drax grossly underestimated its prospective emissions, projecting they would be just 0.53 tons per year, which it later revised up to 48.9 tons. Land and Climate Review unveiled these new findings in a joint investigation with the Intercept published in September this year: https://lnkd.in/eDU-NdkU In the UK, Drax is the largest single source of CO2 emissions but, due to a loophole in international biomass accounting, its emissions from wood combustion are officially recorded as zero. Drax relies on £1.5 billion in UK subsidies for revenue. If these aren’t renewed beyond 2027, the company has stated it will shift its focus to the US. For a deeper dive, check out our detailed reports here: https://lnkd.in/ej2tRpeF https://lnkd.in/euCVjciZ https://lnkd.in/eJaV5g_5 https://lnkd.in/eDVBerZD #drax #biomass #greenwashing #climate #netzero #energypolicy #sustainability #climate

Since 2020, US Drax mills have committed ‘an average of five environmental breaches per day,' The Times reported today. This statistic speaks to wider issues across their operations. US Senator for Maryland, Chris Von Hollen said Drax “must be held accountable” for the 11,378 violations “to ensure they meet their obligation to follow the law going forward”. The new findings follow a Land and Climate investigation published in May, which revealed that Drax had violated environmental law in Canada 189 times. Across North America, Drax’s facilities have illegally polluted rivers and lakes, destroyed wetlands, and consistently breached emission limits When the mill in Gloster, Mississippi was first built, residents were told it would bring millions in investment to the local economy. Instead many now suffer from serious respiratory diseases, which they attribute to pollution from the mill. Drax’s facilities have a wide history of underreporting emissions. Earlier this year, discrepancies were found even before a facility opened. In an initial air permit application, Drax grossly underestimated its prospective emissions, projecting they would be just 0.53 tons per year, which it later revised up to 48.9 tons. Land and Climate Review unveiled these new findings in a joint investigation with the Intercept published in September this year: https://lnkd.in/eDU-NdkU In the UK, Drax is the largest single source of CO2 emissions but, due to a loophole in international biomass accounting, its emissions from wood combustion are officially recorded as zero. Drax relies on £1.5 billion in UK subsidies for revenue. If these aren’t renewed beyond 2027, the company has stated it will shift its focus to the US. For a deeper dive, check out our detailed reports here: https://lnkd.in/ej2tRpeF https://lnkd.in/euCVjciZ https://lnkd.in/eJaV5g_5 https://lnkd.in/eDVBerZD #drax #biomass #greenwashing #climate #netzero #energypolicy #sustainability #climate