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Now more than ever, ranchers and conservationists are working side by side to prove that working lands and wildlife can thrive together. In 2025, ranchers and conservationists with the Audubon...

Bird City Texas has been selected as a 2026 Conservation Wrangler by Texas by Nature, a Texas organization founded by First Lady Laura Bush. This statewide recognition will significantly elevate the...

As stated in Audubon's Flight Plan, public policy and funding have a catalytic effect on protecting bird habitat and addressing climate change. Policy items like the Farm Bill can benefit Texas...

Texas Audubon Chapters are active across the state. The work they do on the ground helps move us closer to our Flight Plan goals of bending the bird curve. Over the last year chapters in Texas had...

As an education and awareness campaign, Lights Out, Texas! continues to spread across the state to neighbors, friends, and families thanks to the work done by members and partners across Texas. We...

As Audubon Texas wraps up the 2026 breeding season, the Coastal Program is celebrating another productive year of conservation action across the Texas coast. Throughout the spring and early summer...

Radical Democracy, Autonomy, Earthy Governance & Climate Justice: a virtual re-encounter #03 - 13/07/2026 In 2025, the Global of and its allies organized various gatherings in different parts of the world. Following our last virtual gathering, this session brings together participants from the encounter we held on GTAGTAalternativesGTAalternativesGTAGTAGTAalternativesalternativesAlternativesAlternativesalternativesAlternativesalternativesTapestryAlternativesalternativesalternativesGTAGTAalter…

Yesterday, 7/16/26, roughly 100 bike riders gathered for 350PDX’s 5th annual Action Night & Pedalpalooza bike ride!

At Lents Park, folks gathered in community, visited tables of various organizations (Portland Fruit Tree Project, Portland Parks and Rec, CAPA Strategies, Friends of Trees, Thrive East PDX ), and listened to speakers share about Portland’s tree canopy and the various ways Portlanders are working to make it a shady and equitable one.

We then took off on our bikes. Some folks affixed Capa Strategies’ heat watch sensors to their bikes to detect differences in temperature as we rode through neighborhoods with little tree cover and neighborhoods with plenty of shade — inequities that can be traced back to historical redlining and the annexation of Portland neighborhoods during the 1980s.

To learn more and find ways to join us, check out 350PDX’s Shade Equity page which features our new video “What is Shade Equity?”.

All photos: Irene Tejaratchi Hess

The post 2026 Shade Equity Pedalpalooza Ride! appeared first on 350PDX: Climate Justice.

More than 900 wildfires are burning throughout Canada, with devastating impacts for First Nations. Thirteen Nations remain under evacuation orders that have forced 2,182 people from their homes. 

The Namaygoosisagagun (Collins) First Nation watched one blaze largely destroy its entire community in less than an hour, forcing residents to flee by boat. Residents reported having only minutes to gather their belongings before homes were overtaken by the flames on Wednesday, and Anishinabek Nation Grand Council Chief Linda Debassige said in a statement that all community members have been accounted for pending a full assessment.  

“It is with heartfelt sadness that I share that our member First Nation, Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, has been devastated by an unexpected and fast-moving wildfire that advanced toward and through the community, causing extensive damage and destruction to homes and community buildings,” Debassige said in the statement. 

Of the 903 fires burning as of Friday, 750 remained out of control and 43 had started within the prior 24 hours. 

The effect has been greatest in Ontario, where seven First Nations have fled the 193 fires now burning there. According to the Chiefs of Ontario, several communities were cleared under mandatory orders issued by their leadership with support from the Ontario Provincial Police. In addition to Namaygoosisagagun, Whitesand First Nation, Kiashke Zaaging Anishinaabek, and Animbiigoo Zaagi’igan Anishinaabek are among those impacted by those orders.

Dozens of non-Indigenous communities throughout the province have been ordered to evacuate as well.

The Namaygoosisagagun (Collins) First Nation is about 125 miles north of Thunder Bay and inaccessible by road. Debassige told The Canadian Press that residents did not receive advance warning from provincial or national officials, nor did they receive any evacuation support. It’s been reported that community members went ​door-to-door warning their neighbors, and more than two dozen people fled by boat just as the flames approached.

Meaghan Daniel, a lawyer who represents Collins First Nation, told The Canadian Press that residents also are being denied assistance because the national government does not recognize it as a First Nation.

Although residents are recognized as First Nations people under the Indian Act, the community itself is not. Its leaders have long sought official recognition. Daniel sent a letter to Mandy Gull-Masty, the Indigenous Services minister calling on the agency to provide the emergency, recovery, and reconstruction support recognized communities are entitled to.

“To be clear, if Namaygoosisagagun is denied access to the emergency and rebuilding supports available to recognized First Nations, it will not simply suffer a slower recovery. It may lose forever the opportunity to rebuild the community its members spent decades creating,” the letter states, according to The Canadian Press. “In those circumstances, the question is not merely whether recovery will be delayed. It is whether Namaygoosisagagun will have a future in the place it has called home since time immemorial.”

Read Next A ‘crisis communication gap’ threatens Indigenous peoples Dionne Phillips

In a statement emailed to The Canadian Press, Eric Head, a spokesperson for the agency, said efforts are now underway to determine the community’s immediate needs and coordinate support to meet them.

As the situation unfolds, many other First Nations are currently undergoing the processes required to declare states of emergency and evacuate their communities. 

Ontario Chiefs held an emergency meeting Wednesday and expressed frustration with the bureaucratic processes in place to access emergency response services as well as a lack of communication from government officials regarding practices in place to declare a state of emergency.

“Jurisdictional disputes and administrative delays have immediate consequences and put lives at risk,” said Ontario Regional Chief Abram Benedict. “The priority of our leadership is to get people out as quickly and safely as possible. This needs to be everyone’s priority rather than financial discussions and technicalities.”

Benedict added that people are coming together to help one another. 

“We are on the front lines of this catastrophe that is having international impacts. Our First Nations leadership, emergency responders, and community members are working to protect their people and homelands,” Benedict said.

On Thursday, during its national assembly in Ottawa, the Assembly of First Nations passed emergency resolutions to provide support for Namaygoosisagagun and other impacted First Nations. It also called on the federal government to provide ongoing support throughout the crisis. 

The Anishinabek Nation asked for prayers for the people of the community that are dealing with this unprecedented loss. 

“We ask that you please keep Chief Paavola, the citizens of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation, and all those affected by these wildfires in your prayers, and give them the privacy, time, and space required as they navigate this devastating situation,” the Nation said in a statement. “We send our heartfelt condolences, and our thoughts are with Namaygoosisagagun members who have suffered this tremendous loss of their entire community; our Anishinabek Nation family will be with you.” 

Grist provided additional information for this story.

This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Thousands flee as First Nations bear the brunt of Canada’s wildfires on Jul 17, 2026.

People of the Forest is working with the Yawanawá People of Mutum Village in Acre, Brazil to regenerate degraded forest, empower community members and leaders, and advance Indigenous food sovereignty. A new fundraising campaign aims to help the project deepen its impact.

The project uses agroforestry and Traditional Ecological Knowledge to regenerate degraded Yawanawá land, which spans approximately 500,000 acres of the Amazon rainforest. Their holistic approach aims to strengthen ecological leadership, learning pathways for young people, seed-saving, and community resilience.

“If you know how to use the resources you have in the forest, this is wealth,” Julia Yawanawá, a community leader, educator, medicinal plant wisdom keeper, tells Food Tank.

The project recently entered its third round of fundraising. Donations made through Ma Earth, a collaborative fundraising platform, will be matched through July 21. Provided by Biome Trust, Naia Trust, Imaginal Seeds, and Ma Earth Foundation, the matching funds will help increase the impact and create a greater opportunity for positive change.

According to Ma Earth, there is an estimated US$1 trillion per year funding gap preventing regenerative and community-led initiatives from accessing the resources they need.

Extractive practices, including logging, mining, and ranching, harm the local ecosystems of the Yawanawá territory. The effects of the climate crisis, industrialized farming practices, and the introduction of processed foods further threaten the community members’ wellbeing and livelihoods.

Three years ago, Chief Matsini invited People of the Forest to visit Mutum, the second-largest village of the Yawanawá, and collaborate on a project to support healthier food systems for his people. “A person with a bad heart comes—you give him food and he will feel good,” Chief Matsini tells Food Tank. “Food is the greatest unifier.”

The Indigenous-led initiative is hoping to restore a natural equilibrium between people and the land, which the Yawanawá have stewarded for thousands of years. Its three main goals are to regenerate food systems, reforest native plants, and educate the local communities.

More than 20 Yawanawá have been trained in regenerative practices and over 1,000 native fruit and nut trees have been planted. A 10,000-square-foot agroforestry demonstration plot offers community members a place to engage in land stewardship and ecological leadership. Film, photography, and field documentation also help to amplify Indigenous voices. Through mentorship, youth are learning how to tell their stories in their own voice.

“It is important that this project doesn’t depend on us, it is theirs,” Timo Granzotti, Co-Founder of People of the Forest, tells Food Tank.

The next phase will expand its agroforestry work into other communities by cultivating household kitchen gardens and building nurseries to propagate native species. It will begin community-led design of aquaculture infrastructure to further build local food systems and continue to educate community members. Funding will also provide emerging Indigenous leaders with scholarships to agroforestry schools in Brazil.

“We are not guardians. We are multipliers,” Yawanawá says. “We sow the world, we sow the forest. We are the hands that multiply the food.”

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Archie Macpherson

The post Indigenous-led Project Advances Food Sovereignty in the Amazon appeared first on Food Tank.

FrontLine Farming, a food and farmers advocacy group, and Audubon Rockies have launched a partnership under a shared vision of creating healthy ecosystems, a vibrant agricultural community...

July 17, 2026 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Advisory: Protests against National Monument reductions to occur across Utah on Monday, July 20  Protests planned in Ogden, Salt Lake City, St. George, Moab, and Provo

Contacts:
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org

What: A Monumental Day of Action by Utahns opposing the illegal reductions on Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments on Monday, July 20. 

When & Where: Five locations throughout Utah:

• Ogden, 5:00-6:00 pm, near Rep. Blake Moore’s office at the SW corner of 25th St and Washington Blvd.
• Salt Lake City, 6:00-7:00 pm at the Governor’s Mansion, 603 E. South Temple St.
• St. George, 6:00-7:00 pm at the offices of Sen. Lee and Rep. Maloy, 111 E. Tabernacle St, Suite 324
• Moab, 6:00-7:00 pm. Meet at the Moab Information Center, 25 E. Center Street
• Provo, 5:00-6:00 pm at the offices of Sen. Curtis and Rep. Kennedy, 3601 N. University Ave, Suite 250

Why: On Monday, July 13, President Trump—flanked by Utah Governor Spencer Cox and the entire federal delegation (Senators Lee and Curtis, Representatives Maloy, Kennedy, Moore, and Owens)—decimated Grand Staircase-Escalante and Bears Ears national monuments, cutting them by a combined 3 million acres, or over 90%. Protest attendees are encouraged to bring a sign (some will be provided) and be ready to raise their voices against the Utah politicians who supported Monday’s actions.

We encourage the media to attend and speak with protesters. Have questions about the day of action? Please reach out to Grant Stevens, SUWA Communications Director, grant@suwa.org, 319-427-0260.  Professional photography will be available following the events.

*SUWA advocates strongly for protecting Utah’s wild lands with strategies that meaningfully engage all cultures and abilities. We do so respectfully and firmly. We act within the law. We do not condone violence or destruction of property.

Background information about the illegal reductions:

• Statements from Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante Inter-Tribal coalitions
• SUWA Statement on Trump’s Illegal Reductions of Grand Staircase-Escalante & Bears Ears National Monuments
• Maps of the reductions
• Reporter Background Memo on National Monuments
• Royalty-free assets for media use, please credit creators 
  • Photos of places cut from Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument available here (google album) and here (google drive).
  • Photos of places cut from Bears Ears National Monument available here (google album) and here (google drive).
  • Video b-roll of Bears Ears for media use is available here

### 

The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards a world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org. 

 

The post Media Advisory: Protests against National Monument reductions to occur across Utah on Monday, July 20  appeared first on Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance.

A version of this piece was featured in Food Tank’s newsletter, released weekly on Thursdays. To make sure it lands straight in your inbox and to be among the first to receive it, subscribe now by clicking here.

Before I travel on ground-truthing trips to rural and agricultural communities around the globe, the Food Tank team does prep research. Sometimes, the first data points that jump out at us are challenges that folks are facing, global crises hitting close to home.

But here’s the thing: When I’m in Guatemala or Ethiopia or even at home here in Baltimore actually talking to people on the ground, what shines far brighter are the visionary individuals and organizations working hard to make their communities better.

By highlighting these stories of hope and success from on-the-ground efforts to build better food systems, Food Tank aims to be the antidote to the helplessness and hopelessness we might feel sitting at a computer or scrolling on our phones. There’s plenty of good in the world, too, if we open our eyes to it!

This week, we’re sharing 10 bright spots—big and small—in the world of food systems, guiding us like beacons toward more equitable, resilient, nourished communities.

Andhra Pradesh Community Managed Natural Farming, India

This agroecology project, led by the organization Rythu Sadhikara Samstha, is one of the largest and most successful in the world. The project earned the 2026 Food Planet Prize for their work empowering women farmers, helping them transition to practices that are better for them and the environment.

“What we are doing is very simple but very profound. It’s something anybody can do anywhere in the world,” says Vijay Kumar Thallam, Executive Vice Chair.

Asociación De Agricultores Tinecos (ADAT), Guatemala

I was fortunate to spend time with women coffee farmers in the ADAT co-op during a ground-truthing trip to Guatemala, where I saw how women are involved in every part of the supply chain—from planting to harvesting to roasting to selling—giving them access to resources they often lack.

“Every step we take opens a door for another woman,” group members told me.

ARISE-Farmers, Asia-Pacific Region

Since ARISE-Farmers was launched in 2021 to champion producer-led solutions, the program has reached over 20,000 farmers in 12 countries across Asia. It’s supported by the Asian Farmers’ Association for Sustainable Rural Development (AFA), to strengthen food and nutrition security and improve livelihoods.

CIMMYT, Global

CIMMYT, a Spanish acronym for the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, is demonstrating how science-driven approaches can help farmers respond to shifting weather patterns, improve local systems and access to innovations, and boost productivity sustainably.

“The innovations we invested in together are now protecting harvests and building resilience for millions of farmers across Africa and beyond. This is what science diplomacy looks like in practice — and it is a model the world needs to see more of,” says Gisele Fernández Ludlow, Ambassador of Mexico to Kenya.

In just a couple weeks, I’m heading to Mexico to visit CIMMYT researchers there, so stay tuned for dispatches from on-the-ground.

EMBRAPA (Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation), Brazil

At EMBRAPA, researcher Mariangela Hungria was named the 2025 World Food Prize laureate for work helping Brazil become an agricultural powerhouse while proving that success is possible while reducing farmers’ reliance on harmful synthetic inputs. Take a listen here to a fascinating conversation I had with Dr. Hungria last year on the Food Talk podcast!

ROAM Ranch, United States

At ROAM Ranch in Texas, Katie and Taylor Collins are showing their neighbors the power of regenerative agriculture. Thanks to their stewardship practices, the creek on their property is flowing again after not flowing for decades, and wildlife from deer to birds have returned to the land.

OzHarvest, Australia

OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food rescue organization, is using innovative food redistribution models, social entrepreneurship, advocacy, and education to tackle food waste and deliver food to those in need.

“We have forgotten how to value our farmers’ effort it takes to grow food,” says Ronnie Kahn, OzHarvest Founder and “Visionary in Residence.” “If you can embed this in young people, perhaps we’ll start shifting and changing the narrative.”

Solid’Africa, Rwanda

Solid’Africa provides medically tailored meals to more than 100,000 patients in public hospitals, connect public schools with healthy food and nutrition education, and support market stability and training for regenerative farmers.

“If you are building toward regenerative school meals, hospital meals…it has to be a plate that is full of health, full of taste, and most importantly that’s full of dignity,” says Isabelle Kamariza, President and Founder of Solid’Africa.

Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative, United States

The Sicangu Food Sovereignty Initiative, rooted on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota, is helping community members learn how to grow, produce, harvest, and prepare their own food. The initiative’s 7Gen project has also helped revive buffalo populations; the organization’s buffalo range has grown from 50 to 1,000 heads since 2020 alone.

Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Norway

Tucked inside a mountain in the Norwegian Svalbard archipelago, the Svalbard Global Seed Vault (or “Doomsday Vault,” as it’s sometimes known) is the largest backup facility for the world’s crop diversity. As of June 2026, new additions to the vault have brought the total collection to 1.4 million seed samples, a major milestone.

Each of these bright spots began as a small, visionary point of light in a community. That, to me, is so inspiring because it reminds us all of our power to make a difference.

So let’s let these stories illuminate our own work to transform the food system, too!

Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.

Photo courtesy of Jono Hirst, Unsplash

The post These 10 Bright Spots Are Beacons for a Stronger Global Food System appeared first on Food Tank.

Fire is a natural and necessary process in many of Washington’s landscapes. In ecosystems such as ponderosa pine forests and the shrubsteppe, periodic fires help recycle nutrients, stimulate new...

Checks & Balances Project (C&BP) has filed a complaint against the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad and Sussex County Supervisor Steve White with the Department of Health and Human Services inspector general.

The complaint cites alleged potential fraud involving billing for ambulance calls conducted by the Stony Creek Volunteer Rescue Squad (SCVRS) and the lack of transparency in the squad’s finances.

C&BP has reported that SCVRS lost its federal nonprofit status in 2023 for failing to file tax returns for three straight years. C&BP also reported that in the five years for which tax returns are available – 2015 through 2019 – SCVRS reported a $304,000 surplus.

Minutes from county supervisors’ meetings show that then-Fire Chief Nick Sheffield questioned the squad’s finances, saying it was impossible to determine where the squad’s money went. In September 2025, White engineered the defunding of the positions of Sheffield and his deputy, Chris Bailey.

The next month, records show, the county signed a memorandum of understanding with SCVRS to pay the squad $422,250 for ambulance services for the next year.

Apparent violations

White has engaged in an apparent violation of Virginia’s conflict-of-interest law for elected officials by voting to direct taxpayer funds to the rescue squad.

White is also in apparent violation of Virginia law by serving as Sussex County’s acting administrator after he pushed the firing of County Administrator Richard Douglas in April.

C&BP has filed complaints with the FBI, Virginia state police, Sussex Commonwealth Attorney, Virginia attorney general and the Virginia Office of Emergency Medical Services. It has offered to brief each of these agencies, with no word back yet from Sussex Commonwealth Attorney Regina Sykes.

Funding for emergency medical services has been a consistent issue in Sussex County for the last three years. Supervisors voted on Thursday to approve the construction of a 500MW solar farm that will generate an estimated $4 million a year in taxes, which is twice what the county spends on EMS services.

Ray Locker is the executive director for Checks & Balances Project, an investigative watchdog blog holding government officials, lobbyists, and corporate management accountable to the public. Funding for C&BP is provided by Renew American Prosperity and individual donors.

You may also want to read:

Checks & Balances Project files FBI complaint about White, SCVRS

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The post Checks & Balances Project files complaint with HHS inspector general appeared first on Checks and Balances Project.

Fact-checked by Kenn Kaufman, field editor, Audubon magazine. Spotting a red bird in the wild can be both a delight and a surprise—I didn't know we had birds that looked like that! In fact, North...

Editor’s note: This article is part of a series exploring the various facets of the Sandhill Crane Migration in Central Nebraska, the $28 Million annual economic impact that the migration...

Since the first match kicked off in June, there have been no shortage of issues with the 2026 World Cup. Whether it’s presence of ICE at the tournament to the treatment of the Iranian team. Within these many issues, aviation itself plays a role, whether it’s the French national team using ICE deportation planes for their travel through to the boom in flight emissions as a result of the mega-event.

Source

This week, the Federal Reserve released its July 2026 Beige Book, offering a snapshot of economic conditions across all 12 Federal Reserve Districts. The report shows that the economic fallout from the conflict in the Middle East continues to spread through the economy: Federal Reserve contacts reported that families are cutting back, businesses continue to raise prices, and the rapid buildout of AI is reshaping hiring and increasing costs.

Trump’s economic chaos has made daily life more difficult for working Americans. Low-wage and rural workers in Chicago and Minnesota report it’s getting more expensive to get to and from work, as the president’s war in Iran rages on and drives up fuel prices. July’s Beige Book further reveals demand for food assistance has surpassed COVID levels in many parts of the country, as President Trump and Republicans in Congress slash federal food aid programs. In Philadelphia, contacts reported that any increase in sales reflects higher prices, as consumers spend more on essentials and cut back wherever possible.

Working families are desperate for relief, the report offers little comfort for Americans struggling to make ends meet in Trump’s economy.

Groundwork Collaborative’s Chief of Policy and Advocacy, Alex Jacquez, reacted with the following statement:

“The president’s choice to renege on his own shaky ceasefire agreement means working families are paying the price for his war in Iran. This month’s Beige Book reflects increasing pressure on business owners, who are choosing to protect their own profits by passing operating expenses onto consumers in the form of price hikes. Across the economy, Americans are cutting back and making sacrifices to keep up with Trump’s high prices.”

China and India have declined to back any of their old United Nations carbon credit projects seeking to sell offsets under the new UN market, driving a cull of nearly three-quarters of applicants, analysis of official data shows.

Only 415 out of more than 1,500 projects and programmes hoping to move from the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) to the new carbon market set up under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement won the approval of their host governments by the 30 June deadline – a crucial step in transitioning them.

The two Asian giants, home to two-thirds of all applicants, account for the bulk of the exclusions. Brazil, the other heavyweight of the CDM era, took the opposite path, approving nearly all of its projects in a last-minute rush that leaves it with the largest number of activities still in the running to sell credits under the new mechanism.

Carbon market watchers have long regarded the CDM, set up under the Kyoto Protocol which has now been largely replaced by the Paris Agreement, as largely discredited for failing to drive real emission cuts. They also warned that letting its projects live on could dent confidence in the mechanism’s successor.

• Jun 15, 2026 Carbon markets UN’s first Paris Agreement carbon credits face human rights and climate concerns Civil society groups allege the cookstove project in Myanmar exaggerated its climate impact while maintaining ties with military junta Read more
• Mar 3, 2026 News EU carbon credits could supercharge world’s clean cooking push, France says The country’s top climate envoy says he discussed using cookstove carbon credits with TotalEnergies, which is working to expand the use of LPG cooking in Africa Read more

If all projects seeking transition had been successful, they could have flooded the market with up to more than 900 million credits generated with largely outdated rules, according to UN estimates. One credit is equivalent to one tonne of carbon dioxide (CO2) and 900 million tonnes is similar to Japan’s annual emissions. 

‘New era’

Injy Johnstone, senior research fellow at the Munich-based Max Planck Institute, said the failure of most projects to clear the hurdle sent a significant signal that carbon trading had entered a new era. “The system is trying to remove some of the hot air that had inflated it in the past,” she told Climate Home News.

“The lack of transition is the biggest contribution that Article 6 has made to climate yet,” she added, arguing that leaving “zombie credits” in the market creates confusion, especially for buyers that might not realise these units have lost their value.

Among the schemes that failed to win government approval are nine programmes promoted by fossil fuel companies over a decade ago to subsidise the construction of gas plants in the Global South, which Climate Home News has previously reported on.

Fossil fuel firms seek UN carbon market cash for old gas plants

But one of them, supporting the Ressano Garcia gas plant in Mozambique, could still profit from the new market after the country’s government granted its approval on deadline day itself. 

Brazil leads projects transition

Established in 1997 under the Kyoto Protocol, the CDM allowed rich countries to meet part of their climate obligations by financing emission-cutting projects in poorer ones. It drew widespread criticism over its patchy human rights record and for failing to deliver promised climate benefits. Backers of the Article 6.4 market say it is a higher-integrity successor.

CDM projects were given a route back into the new mechanism under certain conditions at COP26 in Glasgow in November 2021, when governments agreed the rules for the Paris Agreement market. 

Project developers had until the end of 2023 to apply and host governments were originally given until the end of 2025 to grant approval. But, after requests from many developing countries for an extension, at COP30 in Belém countries agreed to push the deadline back six months to the end of June.

Brazil was the single largest beneficiary of the decision, with all of its 92 approvals coming during the extension window. Hydropower plants, landfill gas schemes and wind farms make up the bulk of the South American country’s surviving portfolio, and hydro is the single most common project type in the global transition pipeline.

Peru greenlit the move of nearly a dozen hydropower plants, Thailand backed a batch of biogas and waste-to-energy schemes, and Mexico squeezed all of its approvals – including a controversial industrial gas project – into the final week. African nations including Zambia, Malawi and Ethiopia backed programmes aiming to switch households to cleaner cooking stoves, which have the potential to generate millions of offsets and are set to be the biggest source of credits among the surviving projects.

Long way from selling credits

Securing government support does not mean a scheme can now automatically sell credits under the Article 6 mechanism. Developers are required to submit additional documentation by the end of 2026 demonstrating that their programmes respect the mechanism’s stricter rules on environmental and social safeguards and on the risk of emission cuts being reversed. The Article 6.4 Supervisory Body, the mechanism’s regulator, has the final say on which projects are allowed into the market.

Those that make it through can sell credits for emission reductions achieved between 2021 and 2025 under the old CDM methodologies, with some adjustments aimed at preventing the creation of excess credits not backed by real emission cuts. For reductions achieved from 2026 onwards, projects will need to switch to new methodologies, which the regulator is currently developing.

So far, 30 programmes have completed the process, and only two cookstove projects in Myanmar have been formally approved to issue credits.

Civil society groups have called for an investigation into the activities in Myanmar over its ties to Myanmar’s military junta – which the UN says is guilty of human rights abuses – and allegations of “massively” overstating its climate impact.

The company behind the scheme said its engagement with authorities “should not be interpreted as political endorsement” of the junta, while disputing the calculations underpinning the claim that too many credits had been issued.

The post Most “zombie credits” locked out of new UN carbon market after China and India snub appeared first on Climate Home News.