Trump's win a climate disaster but hope remains

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♻️ This week’s sustainability news

Trump’s win to delay but not stop progress on climate action

What’s happening: Donald Trump won the presidential election and is likely to once again remove the US from the Paris Climate Agreement, which could lead to policies that increase global warming. Many international climate experts believe that Trump's election might slow down, but not completely stop, global efforts to fight climate change. This is because most countries understand that reducing emissions benefits them. In the long term, some experts think that if the US falls behind other countries, it could hurt its economy and might have to pay extra fees on almost all trade routes.

Why it’s happening: Voters chose to re-elect a president who doesn't see climate change as a threat, even though this year is likely to be the second hottest ever recorded. This decision comes shortly after Hurricanes Helene and Milton caused major damage in six states and the Southwest experienced record-breaking heat. Since 2001, US climate policy has changed direction many times. This started when President George W. Bush decided that the United States would not follow the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement to reduce emissions. The agreement was partly created by Al Gore and signed by President Bill Clinton in 1998.

Why it’s important: Some estimates suggest that Trump's plans to increase the use of fossil fuels could add around 4 billion tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2030. This is roughly the same amount produced each year by the 140 countries with the lowest emissions in the world. These emissions would make it more difficult, but still possible, to keep long-term global warming near 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, as aimed for by the Paris Agreement. This goal was already uncertain before the election. The outcome will depend on what actions all other countries take, and what happens after Trump ends his four-year term.

📖 Read the full article: After Trump win, world says “we’ve been here before” and Trump’s win casts shadow over US climate progress, global leadership

US voters support climate action in state initiatives

What’s happening: Voters across many states approved spending billions of dollars in climate resilience and conservation in the US election.

• In Minnesota, voters strongly supported a change to the state constitution to keep using at least 40% of lottery money for an environment and natural resources fund until 2050.

• In California, Proposition 4 allowed the government to borrow $10 billion for various environmental projects. These projects include efforts to address the state's severe drought, which is the worst in 1,200 years and has been made more possible by climate change caused by humans.

• In Rhode Island, voters agreed to borrow $53 million from the government to help with flood prevention, restore coastal areas, and improve forest health.

• In Louisiana, voters approved a change to the state constitution. This change requires money from federal offshore energy projects, like wind, solar, tidal, oil, and gas, to go into the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund.

• In Washington, voters strongly opposed a proposal to overturn the state's main climate law. The proposal aimed to undo the Climate Commitment Act, which set up a program to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 95% by 2050 using a market-based approach.

• In Hawaii, voters approved a plan to create a climate resiliency fund, based on early results according to the Honolulu Civil Beat. About 52% of voters supported using existing property tax money for this fund.

• In South Dakota, a ballot measure aimed at easing the construction of carbon dioxide pipelines was squarely rejected by voters.

Why it’s happening: Climate change was not a main topic in this week's presidential election. In fact, it wasn't really mentioned at all. Instead, the US chose a candidate who has previously reduced environmental protections and has expressed a strong interest in increasing fossil fuel drilling. But these ballot measures showed that many voters do want to support climate protection and conservation.

Why it’s important: The reasons people vote for president are multi-faceted. Although the Trump administration may claim a mandate for their environmental policies, these state results across the nation demonstrate that people do want measures that support the wellbeing of their health and our planet.

📖 Read more about the state initiatives: The 5 states where environmental ballot initiatives triumphed and Climate initiatives fare well across the country despite national political climate

Papua New Guinea describes COP29 as a “total waste of time”

What’s happening: In August, Prime Minister James Marape said that the country would not go to COP29 to protest against big nations for not helping climate change victims quickly. Last week, Foreign Affairs Minister Justin Tckatchenko confirmed that Papua New Guinea would not join important discussions at the summit starting on 11 November in Baku, Azerbaijan, calling it "a total waste of time."

Why it’s happening: The UN's yearly climate meeting, known as COP, often gets criticized because countries that produce a lot of pollution aren't doing enough to fight climate change. Papua New Guinea is one of the first countries to say it won't attend because these big polluters aren't keeping their promises. Located just north of Australia, the country has about 10 million people. It has the world's third largest rainforest. The country is poor, surrounded by ocean, and often faces natural disasters, making it very vulnerable to climate change.

Why it’s important: Small island countries, like those in the Pacific, want easier access to climate funding to be discussed in Azerbaijan this month. However, Tckatchenko claimed that big polluting countries have not done enough to help small island nations, which are most affected by the climate crisis. The decision has worried environmental supporters in Papua New Guinea. Climate change activist Vinzealher Anjo Nen stated that although boycotting could make a strong point, Papua New Guinea should continue to participate in these conferences. Nen said that COP offers a special global stage where countries, even small and developing ones, can push for better climate promises and discuss getting resources.

🌐 Travel to Celestún, Mexico

Discover a unique eco-system and wildlife

Most famous for its pink flamingos: Spoilt for choice, our article covers five locations to view these amazing birds during winter (December to February), the best time to see large populations of them.

⭐️ Weekly inspiration

European countries pledge to protect biodiversity

€130 million donated: Austria, Denmark, France, Germany, Norway, and the UK have promised new funding at the UN biodiversity meeting, COP16, happening in Colombia; this money will go to countries and communities that are working to protect and restore wildlife and natural environments.

Massive benefits of regrowing forests on grazing lands

In much of eastern US and western Europe: A study led by Matthew Hayek, a professor at New York University, discovered that cutting down livestock production by just 13 percent in certain regions could eliminate 125 billion tons of carbon dioxide from the air, the same amount as the world's fossil fuel emissions over the past three years.

Amazon deforestation drops by nearly 31%

Lowest level of destruction in nine years: Over a year, the Amazon rainforest lost 6,288 square kilometres (2,428 square miles), about the size of Delaware; a big difference from Jair Bolsonaro, who focused more on expanding agriculture than protecting the forest with deforestation at its highest level in 15 years during the previous presidency.

New York tests a solar-powered grid for school buses

$9 million pilot project in Brooklyn: The project aims to figure out how New York City's utility company, Con Edison, can charge around 10,000 electric school buses on its limited power grid in the next 10 years with four battery-electric school buses onsite today, with 12 more expected by the start of next school year.

Deforested land could regrow naturally if left alone

New research published in the journal Nature: 830,000 square miles of deforested land in humid tropical areas (Brazil, Indonesia, China, Mexico, and Colombia make up 52% of this potential regrowth) could naturally regrow if left alone, increasing biodiversity, improving water quality, and absorbing 23.4 gigatons of carbon over the next 30 years.

Hundreds of free batteries handed out to New York residents

Created more than 300 solar-powered homes: Sunrun, the biggest rooftop solar company in the US, joined forces with the utility company Orange & Rockland to offer a special deal to provide more local clean energy options: if residents signed up for Sunrun's solar panels, they got a free LG Chem battery pack or a big discount on a Tesla Powerwall.

Community-led initiative succeeds in banning plastic bags

In Montana, US: Over 14,000 people in Bozeman, about 63% of residents, voted to ban single-use plastic bags and foam packaging in the city after groups like Gallatin Valley Beyond Plastics, Valley of the Flowers Project, and Cottonwood Environmental Law, along with community volunteers, helped gather enough signatures to put this issue to a vote.

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