Climate Focus

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello!

Another day, another climate rollback by the United States, even as leaders and activists line up at the COP30, United Nations annual climate summit in Belem, Brazil this week.

“What's the climate rollback this time?" you ask.

Well, U.S. Department of Agriculture agency officials have directed budget and finance officers to identify grants that use terms such as "diversity," "equity," "inclusion," "DEI," "DEIA," "environmental justice," "underrepresented producers," "underserved communities," "socially disadvantaged producers" and "socially vulnerable," in order to terminate those awards, according to a February 6 memo seen by Reuters.

Trump has called DEI "racist" and "illegal" and also pressured universities and other private entities to end diversity practices. He has also called climate change a "con job."

The memo was sent by USDA's then-acting general counsel Ralph Linden, now the agency's deputy general counsel, deputy chief financial officer Lynn Moaney, and budget director John Rapp. A USDA spokesperson said the agency would not comment on pending litigation.

On February 24, Chelsea Cole, federal financial assistance department policy lead at the agency's Office of the Chief Financial Officer, instructed the officials to expand their review to include 16 topic areas and search terms related to climate change.

Click here to read about the list of the topic areas and search terms related to climate change.

But that’s not all.

The White House is also exploring new measures to curb the influence of proxy advisers that conservatives have for years complained push liberal-leaning views, according to a financial industry official briefed on the matter.

Many conservatives and some business leaders have said proxy advisers and big fund managers often recommend votes or side against boardroom decisions or directors, and put too much emphasis on climate and social issues. 

Where does COP30 fit into all of this? That’s just it. It doesn’t.

Governments heading to the climate summit in Brazil were initially bracing for the possibility that the Trump administration may seek to disrupt negotiations at the event, even without any U.S. officials showing up.

Trump’s administration did not turn up or disrupt the event, but it did continue rolling back climate and diversity policies in America, with a rippling effect around the world. Keep scrolling to read more about the European Union’s latest diluted climate targets.

Judge Finola O'Farrell in London's High Court said in her ruling that BHP is liable over the 2015 collapse of the Fundao dam in Mariana in southeastern Brazil, in a lawsuit the claimants' lawyers previously valued at up to 36 billion pounds ($48.32 billion).

Hundreds of thousands of Brazilians, dozens of local governments and around 2,000 businesses sued BHP over the collapse of the dam that was owned and operated by BHP and Vale's Samarco joint venture. The disaster unleashed a wave of toxic sludge that killed 19 people, left thousands homeless, flooded forests and polluted the length of the Doce River.

Locals use shovels to clean and unclog a sandtrap from the ash and mud dragged by seasonal rains after a wildfire in August, Galicia, Spain. REUTERS/Nacho Doce

Colombians are still reeling from the deadly eruption of their Nevado del Ruiz volcano on November 13, 1985, that caused a landslide that wiped out the town of Armero, killing about 25,000 people – nearly 70% of its population. It was considered Latin America’s deadliest twentieth-century natural disaster. Click here for the Reuters article on the trauma that families are feeling 40 years on.

Over on the Iberian Peninsula, communities in Spain and Portugal are still battling with the aftermath of the record-breaking wildfires that ripped across the region in August. Now, residents have to deal with water contamination as autumn rains wash ash and sediment down denuded hillsides, clogging waterways and making drinking water unsafe. Click here for the full Reuters photo essay.

Iran is grappling with its worst water crisis in decades. Officials are warning that Tehran – a city of more than 10 million people – may soon be uninhabitable if the drought gripping the country continues. But the water crisis in Iran after a scorching hot summer is not solely the result of low rainfall. Click here for a Reuters article on the reasons behind the water shortage as its government fears potential protests over water mismanagement.  

Myanmar's electricity supply has deteriorated since the 2021 military coup and ensuing civil war, exposing millions to chronic blackouts, with a cash-strapped government hit by Western sanctions unable to maintain power infrastructure. The situation has prompted a push by hospitals and some offices to install solar panels. Click here for a Reuters story on how Myanmar is embracing its own accidental sustainable switch.

The European Parliament approved the European Union’s plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 90% by 2040 and outsource 5% of that target to countries outside the bloc via carbon credits. The plan does fall short of the target of at least 90% emissions cuts without carbon offsets that the EU's scientific advisers had said would align with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius – the level needed to avoid much more serious heat and drought.

Meanwhile, EU countries' ambassadors agreed unanimously to link the UK carbon markets together. By linking their carbon markets, the two sides would exempt one another from their respective carbon border tariffs. However the linkage is unlikely to happen in time for British firms to avoid the EU's carbon border levy, which will impose fees on the bloc's imports of steel, cement and other goods from January 1.

Indigenous groups are demanding immediate action at the COP30 climate summit, with campaigners saying their protests are a stark reminder that time is running out to stop catastrophic climate change. Click here for the full Reuters video.

Australia is pivoting away from coal and gas power to renewables and is seeking investment in critical minerals, green steel and transition technologies such as batteries.

The land Down Under was long considered the front-runner to hold the COP31 conference, aiming to bolster its ambitions to become "a renewable energy superpower" and highlight issues faced by Pacific island nations that  it plans to co-host the conference with. But it has been in a standoff with Turkey that has doubled down on a rival bid saying it wants a summit that more directly tackles financing for developing countries’ climate efforts.