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Definición de criterios comunes para el tejido de Alternativas Un proceso colaborativo para identificar elementos comunes para facilitar el proceso de tejer/interconectar a los Tejedores del TGA, construido colaborativamente por Vikalp Sangam, Crianza Mutua Colombia, Crianza Mutua México y los futuros tejedores de este GTAGTA

Tejedores La GTA es una “red de redes”. Cada una de esas redes actúa en diferentes partes del planeta identificando y conectando Alternativas. Son los Tejedores. Las siguientes son las redes que actualmente tejen el Tapiz Global de Alternativas. GTA

Movimiento por las Alternativas y la Solidaridad en el Sudeste Asiático (MASSA) El Movimiento por las Alternativas y la Solidaridad en el Sudeste Asiático (MASSA) tiene como objetivo identificar los movimientos que se oponen al desarrollo convencional y promueven prácticas alternativas por parte de las comunidades de base, y vincularlos para formar los pilares de una integración regional alternativa de los pueblos en el Sudeste Asiático. MASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMASSAMA…

PeDAGoG: Post-Development Academic-Activist Global Group (Grupo global académico-activista posdesarrollo) PeDAGoG (Grupo global académico-activista posdesarrollo) es una red global de académicos/as y activistas académicos/as interesados/as en el posdesarrollo, las alternativas radicales y temas relacionados, creada a principios de 2020. La idea principal es compartir los planes de estudio, materiales, métodos/pedagogía y enfoques existentes; proponer otros nuevos; coordinar programas en diferen…

ADELANTE: Diálogo sobre procesos globales Desde noviembre de 2020, el GTA inició un diálogo entre diversos procesos globales que buscan transformaciones sistémicas y fundamentales hacia la justicia. Entre ellos se encuentran, además del GTA: * Global Dialogue Process

ADELANTE: Dialogue of Global Processes Since November 2020, the GTA started a dialogue amongst various global processes that are seeking systemic, fundamental transformations towards justice. These include, besides GTA: * Global Dialogue Process * Global Green New Deal

Video introductorio de GTA * Versión en alta resolución

How one man’s persistence exposed decades of corporate deceit — and forced an oil giant to live with its reflection. Part 1: The Origins of a Corporate Nemesis

“There are two types of corporations: those that fear whistleblowers and those that wish they’d hired one.” — Industry proverb

In the late 1980s, John Donovan was not yet a thorn in Shell’s side. He was one of its trusted collaborators — a marketing innovator whose company, Don Marketing, created hugely successful sales promotions for Shell in the UK and around the globe.

But what began as a partnership ended in betrayal. A bitter dispute over intellectual property, allegedly stolen concepts, and corporate bullying gave birth to a feud that would last decades.

When Shell’s lawyers tried to silence Donovan, he refused to play their game. Instead, he discovered a far more powerful weapon — the open web.

By 2001, royaldutchshellplc.com was born — an online archive, watchdog, and stage for one of the most persistent campaigns of corporate accountability in modern history.

What Shell dismissed as a “gripe site” would evolve into an unflinching library of leaked documents, legal rulings, and investigative journalism. It became, quite literally, the one source of Shell news that Shell itself couldn’t control.

Part 2: The Internal Files — Shell’s Secret Donovan Dossier

“The Donovan situation remains a reputational hazard requiring ongoing management.” — Shell Global Media Relations, internal correspondence, 2009

When Shell’s internal correspondence leaked through a 2009 Subject Access Request (SAR) under the UK Data Protection Act, the company’s darkest secret wasn’t its oil reserves — it was its paranoia.

Donovan’s request compelled Shell to hand over hundreds of pages of internal communications. The resulting archive — now published on ShellNews.net — revealed that the oil major had quietly assembled an internal task force dedicated to monitoring, discrediting, and containing Donovan’s activities.

“Maintain a watching brief on royaldutchshellplc.com and its mirror sites.” — Shell Communications Surveillance Brief, 2008

Emails show that Shell’s legal team even tried to “kill” a Sunday Times article about Donovan, fearing that coverage would “legitimize his campaign.”

(Original memo here)

In other words, a multibillion-dollar company spent time and money trying to manage a website run from an Essex living room.

One line from Shell’s internal reports stands out for its unintended honesty:

“Although antagonistic, Donovan’s reporting is usually factually sound.” — Shell External Affairs Advisor, 2007

When your own communications staff admit that the critic is more reliable than the corporation, you’ve already lost the narrative.

Part 3: Shell and the State — Influence, Access, and Control

“We must maintain constructive relations with all governments, even when those governments are investigating us.” — Shell Government Relations memo, 2006

Shell’s reach has always extended far beyond oilfields. Its political connections run deep — from Westminster to The Hague, from Moscow to Abuja.

In the mid-2000s, during the Sakhalin-II project in Russia, Shell’s arrogance collided with geopolitics. The company withheld key environmental data from Russian regulators — a fact confirmed by Oleg Mitvol, Russia’s deputy environment minister, after receiving leaked Shell emails from none other than John Donovan.

(Moscow Times, June 2007)

The fallout was spectacular. Shell was forced to surrender control of its $22 billion project to Gazprom for a fraction of its worth — a humiliation the Financial Times described as “self-inflicted.”

Meanwhile, in the Netherlands, Shell’s joint venture NAM caused a series of earthquakes in Groningen that damaged thousands of homes. In 2025, prosecutors announced that NAM would not face criminal prosecution for creating “life-threatening danger.”

(NL Times, 2025)

It was a masterclass in influence. The victims shook; Shell’s stock did not.

Shell’s network even extended into the intelligence world. The private spy firm Hakluyt & Company, founded by ex-MI6 officers, counted Shell among its earliest and most loyal clients.

As Prospect Magazine reported, Hakluyt’s directors included senior Shell executives.

(Prospect, 2007)

The relationship blurred the line between “corporate intelligence” and espionage.

Part 4: Scandals That Shaped the Legend

“Production was being maintained at the expense of safety.” — Judge Lord Carloway, sentencing Shell UK, 2005

If Shell’s PR department wrote the slogans, its history wrote the punchlines.

The Brent Bravo disaster (2003) left two workers dead after gas exposure — the result of falsified safety logs and systemic neglect. Shell pleaded guilty and was fined £900,000.

It was later revealed that Shell had known of fatal risks for years.

Then came the Lifeboat Scandal, when leaked documents (via Donovan) showed that Shell’s North Sea lifeboats were “unseaworthy.” One engineer quipped:

“If there was a fire, those boats would’ve killed more people than they saved.”

In Australia, the Prelude FLNG — Shell’s $17 billion “floating revolution” — became a floating fiasco, plagued by leaks, blackouts, and regulatory shutdowns. Irina Woodhead, a former high-level safety expert at Shell, is currently involved in litigation with the Company. Irina is a source of important whistleblower information to royaldutchshellplc.com regarding the disaster-prone Prelude project.

And in Trinidad, the pattern of putting profit before safety repeated.

In 2025, worker Brian Soonachan accused Shell Trinidad and Massy Wood of concealing his benzene exposure on the Dolphin platform — failing to report it to authorities as required by law.

(Full report)

Each scandal reinforced the same lesson: Shell’s greatest renewable resource is denial.

Despite these disasters, the company continues to deliver record profits — $8.6 billion in Q3 2025 — thanks to global traders and the quiet support of BlackRock, Vanguard, and Norges Bank, who hold billions in Shell stock while claiming to promote “sustainable finance.”

(OilPrice.com, 2025)

Part 5: The Digital Watchdog That Wouldn’t Blink

“If Shell wants peace, it must first stop making war on the truth.” — John Donovan, 2015

In an age of corporate spin, royaldutchshellplc.com remains the one mirror Shell cannot escape.

Internal Shell memos confirm the company spent years monitoring the site and cataloguing Donovan’s posts.

“Our analytics show sustained internal traffic from Shell domains.” — Shell Digital Risk Team, 2009

And then came the ultimate irony.

As Reuters revealed, one Shell communications officer privately praised Donovan’s work:

“royaldutchshellplc.com is an excellent source of group news and comment and I recommend it far above what our own group internal comms puts out.”

(Reuters, Dec 2009)

When your critics cite you and your employees quote you — you’ve become the unofficial communications arm of the company you expose.

Over the years, royaldutchshellplc.com has published thousands of internal documents, whistleblower accounts, and legal records. Major media outlets now reference it routinely.

In 2012, Süddeutsche Zeitung dubbed Donovan “Konzernfeind No.1” — Shell’s Public Enemy No. 1.

Yet Donovan never sought fame. He wanted accountability.

“They had all the money and lawyers in the world. We had the truth and time.” — John Donovan, 2023

Today, the site’s audience includes journalists, academics, activists — and Shell staff quietly reading their own company’s secrets.

Even Shell’s internal strategy papers concede:

“Media stories sourced from Donovan’s publications carry disproportionate reputational weight.”

That’s corporate-speak for: if he posts it, we’re screwed.

Epilogue: The Sin Stock That Keeps Giving

As Shell touts its “energy transition,” its PR department still scrubs old disasters from search engines — while Donovan’s archive ensures the past stays indexed.

From Nigeria to Groningen, Aberdeen to Australia, one man has done what regulators, shareholders, and courts failed to do: hold one of the world’s most powerful corporations publicly accountable.

Shell calls it harassment.

History may call it journalism.

“The empire drilled oil. The watchdog drilled truth.”

Disclaimer

Warning: satire ahead. The criticisms are pointed, the humour intentional, and the facts stubbornly real.

Quotes are reproduced word-for-word from trusted sources.

As for authorship — John Donovan and AI both claim credit, but the jury’s still out on who was really in charge.

Shell vs Donovan: Oil Giant vs Watchdog was first posted on October 10, 2025 at 8:26 pm.
©2018 "Royal Dutch Shell Plc .com". Use of this feed is for personal non-commercial use only. If you are not reading this article in your feed reader, then the site is guilty of copyright infringement. Please contact me at john@shellnews.net

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.

World Food Day—Thursday, October 16—celebrates the founding of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), which is marking its 80th anniversary this year. Over the past eight decades, FAO’s research, advocacy, and lifesaving on-the-ground work have brought food security to millions of people.

But global hunger is far from solved—2.6 billion people worldwide, or 1 in every 3 of us, cannot afford healthy diets. That means we have to work together, more strongly than ever before, to scale up these proven solutions and nourish the world.

Next week, we’re hosting the official North American World Food Day 2025 celebration alongside FAO, Arizona State University’s Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems, and the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation. If you’re in Arizona, I hope you’ll join us at the Walton Center for Planetary Health in Tempe, with more info HERE.

Expert speakers and moderators from across food and health systems will help drive conversations: Selena Ahmed, American Heart Association/Periodic Table of Food Initiative; Arnott Duncan, Duncan Family Farms; Nick Konat, Sprouts; Crystal FitzSimons, Food Research & Action Center, Denisa Livingston, Community Health Advocate, Heirloom Food Grower; Kathleen Merrigan, Arizona State University; Michel Nischan, Wholesome Wave; Thomas Pesek, FAO; Pierre Thiam, Yolélé Foods; and Lyndsey Waugh, Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation; Jenna Lea Rosen, Broadway actress; Debra Utacia Krol, The Arizona Republic; Clara Migoya, The Arizona Republic; and more.

Discussions at this Summit, including interactive breakout sessions with participants, will inform a future white paper to drive future policy and civil society outcomes surrounding food is medicine.

“Food is not just about nourishment—it is medicine, and it holds the power to shape our health, communities, and planet,” Kathleen Merrigan, Executive Director of the Swette Center for Sustainable Food Systems at Arizona State University, reminds us.

As a Food Tanker, you get access to this exclusive event! Click HERE to register, and use the code WorldFoodDay to access the registration page.

This year’s World Food Day theme—“Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future”— underscores the conversations we’ve been having about the urgent need to break down silos, to work across industries, and to prioritize productive dialogue and collaboration.

“World Food Day is a moment to reflect on the critical links between our food and our health,” says Thomas Pesek, Senior Liaison Officer at the FAO Liaison Office for North America. “No single solution or actor alone will solve this challenge—but collaboration across health, agriculture, and education sectors can move us closer to a future where healthy food is available and affordable for all.”

I was so heartened and inspired last month to see so many citizen eaters join Food Tank for our 15 Summits during Climate Week NYC, where we witnessed firsthand the power of this cross-discipline approach.

The experts we had on stage were clear-eyed in discussing the challenges we all face, and they spoke just as powerfully about where we can find solutions. Division, fear, and hopelessness are not the way forward. The future of the food system will grow from joyous, empowered communities, and as the World Food Day theme reminds us, we need to work hand-in-hand to make it a reality.

There’s one quote in particular that has really stuck with me, and I hope it’ll inspire our thinking—and our collaborative action—this World Food Day.

“My abuela María…taught me that food isn’t just sustenance—it’s dignity. It’s love,” regenerative farmer and community organizer Sea Matías told us. “Land, like love, is not meant to be owned. It’s meant to be shared.”

If you’re able to join us for the official North American World Food Day 2025 celebration, you can CLICK HERE to register.

“Investing in the next generation’s understanding of food and health creates long-term impact—not just for personal well-being, but for the strength of entire communities,” says Lyndsey Waugh, Executive Director of the Sprouts Healthy Communities Foundation.

World Food Day is a worldwide event, so it’s up to all of us to take action in our own neighborhoods and communities, too. If you’re already advocating for food security and nourishing, planet-friendly food systems where you live, tell me about your efforts! If you don’t know where to start, tell me that, too—and let’s share resources and make those connections that’ll push us forward.

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 Chantal Garnier, Unsplash

The post Let’s Work Hand-In-Hand for a Better Future on World Food Day appeared first on Food Tank.

Gobernanza terrenal y justicia entre especies Confluencia: 16 y 17 de junio de 2025, Sídney Centrando los conocimientos y prácticas indígenas y del mundo mayoritario 16 y 17 de junio de 2025 | Instituto de Estudios Marinos de Sídney, Australia

September brought a wave of climate-focused events alongside intense political developments, both locally and globally.

On September 21, 350PDX and several other climate organizations participated in Sun Day, a national day of action to celebrate clean energy and share strategies for transitioning away from fossil fuels. Before our incredible puppets took to the streets and dazzled onlookers, several speakers—including Senator Jeff Merkley and Senator Khanh Pham—addressed the crowd. They spoke about clean energy, climate change, the ongoing genocide in Gaza, ICE activity, and recent government cuts to healthcare and food assistance. As the connections between these issues grow clearer, we hope more people will be inspired to take collective action—for justice, for the planet, and for one another.

Photos of Sun Day here!

Team News Fossil Fuel Resistance Team

The Fossil Fuel Resistance team is hard at work on several new campaigns. We’re in the thick of pushing the City of Portland to transform the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub, and we’re laying the groundwork for campaigns focused on “Make Polluters Pay” and keeping data centers fueling AI from destroying our energy and water infrastructure.

It’s a great time to join the Fossil Fuel Resistance team and make an immediate impact in our ongoing work or help strategize for these future campaigns! Take the actions below, then join us at our next online meeting on Tuesday, October 14 at 5:30pm, or our next in-person meeting on October 28 at the 350PDX office. Please reach out to Ben Platt for the Zoom link: benplatt59@gmail.com.

You can also sign up to volunteer and receive updates on the CEI Hub campaign using this form: https://350pdx.app.neoncrm.com/forms/38

“Make Polluters Pay” National Petition

350PDX is part of a national campaign organizing to pass “Make Polluters Pay” bills in as many states as possible. At the state level, we’re bringing back a bill from last session. Sign this Make Polluters Pay national petition to show that people all over the country want to see big oil companies held accountable for the damage they’ve caused. Send a message to our members of Congress and other elected officials. This will help support our state level work and show a groundswell of support.

Comment on the CEI Hub Policy Project Discussion Draft, Webinar 10/12

Portland’s Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has released a “discussion draft” with suggested alternatives for the future of the Critical Energy Infrastructure (CEI) Hub, the 6-mile stretch of toxic fuel tanks lining the west side of the Willamette in North Portland (where Zenith Energy stores its fuels). This is a crucial moment in which Portland gets to decide: will we continue putting our community in grave danger by “business as usual” alternatives that maintain or increase toxic fuels at the CEI Hub, causing a major disaster in the event of the inevitable Cascadia earthquake? Or will we begin drawing down the fuels stored at this site and transitioning our region away from toxic and climate-harming fuels?

Join us this Sunday, October 12, from 1:00-2:00pm for a CEI Hub comment writing workshop in partnership with Oregon Sierra Club. You’ll learn about the CEI Hub Policy Project Discussion Draft, have an opportunity to ask questions, and begin writing your public comment.

Not available to attend the webinar? Submit your own comment here by October 17. Use these talking points if you’d like, or modify this one-click email

Forest Defense Team

The Portland Urban Forest Plan (PUFP)

The PUFP is heading to the full City Council for a vote on October 15. This is a long-term cooling plan for our city — and more. You can participate by sending a letter to encourage your City Councilors to vote “yes.”

To help ensure the plan is actionable, 350PDX and allied organizations worked with Councilor Kanal and bureau staff to introduce amendments (incorporated by the Climate, Resilience, and Land Use Committee) that establish timelines for plans to shift responsibility for public street tree care, and street tree-related sidewalk repair, from the adjacent property owner to the City. (These are two root causes of Portland’s heat/tree canopy disparity.)

See the Executive Summary to explore habitat, health, and other aspects of this plan. Retrofitting our neighborhoods for a warmer future may be a challenge, but 50 years from now Portlanders will thank us for it!

Shade Equity Social

Join Thrive East PDX and 350PDX for an evening of laying down connections and building pathways toward tree canopy infrastructure retrofits, green jobs, and a more resilient East Portland. 

Thursday, October 23, from 6:00-8:00pm at The Center Powered by Y.O.U.T.H 16126 SE Stark Street, Portland OR 97233

Middle Big Noise Walk

 

Join the Forest Defense team on Saturday, October 25 for an adventure out to the “Middle Big Noise” timber units in the Clatsop State Forest.

We will walk through this legacy forest full of western hemlock and Douglas fir, talk about state forestry management, and share ways to get involved with our state forests. More information and RSVP here.

Photo: Zoe Foxe

 

Arts Team

At our many September Artbuilds, we created two identical, massive, panoramic murals that turned Extinction Rebellion’s firetruck into a float for the Sun Day celebration in downtown Portland. Thank you to the many people who showed up to create a reminder of the climate justice world we want to live in, and to the puppeteers who gave life to our puppets, danced with Inca dancers, and made the downtown parade so memorable.

The work goes on! October 12 is our Second Sunday Artbuild, 1:00-4:00pm at the 350PDX workshop. We’ll be finishing up another round of puppets who’ll make their debut at the No Kings rally, October 18. Help us, if you can! We need help building at the Artbuild, and also puppeteering our parade of huge puppets. Let Donna know if you can help: murph1949@aol.com SW Team

The 350PDX Southwest Team includes neighborhoods on the south and west sides of Portland. We meet monthly on Zoom to plan for in-person actions, presentations, and discussions in our communities. Our next online planning meeting is Monday, October 13 at 6:30pm. Or you can join our weekly street corner demonstrations. Reach out to Pat at patk5@msn.com to learn more.

Team members will be waving signs at SW Multnomah and SW 35th on Fridays at 4:00pm thru October. In November, we will be at SW Terwilliger and SW Taylors Ferry. Come join us, we have extra climate action signs to share!

 

Volunteer Spotlight Ben Platt

Ben is a writer and educator who grew up in the Mountain West and has come to call Portland his permanent home. Between the food and fermentation scene, the abundant opportunities to get outside and connect with the more than human world and, most importantly, the wonderful community of people wanting to make the world a better place, Ben is happy to have found a place in Portland.

When looking for a place to get involved in long-term organizing in Portland, Ben started by helping with mutual aid and meal distribution projects before hearing about 350PDX from a friend who happened to be a volunteer. After attending a month-long youth climate organizing workshop put on by 350PDX and coalition partners, he joined the Fossil Fuel Resistance team and hasn’t looked back. He now calls 350PDX his organizing home.

Ben has now spent two years volunteering with 350PDX and has become one of the core volunteers on the Fossil Fuel Resistance team. He appreciates how much 350PDX is able to connect people and organizations throughout our Portland communities and bring them together to advocate for an environmentally just future for all, no matter their background or interests.

________________________________________

Before we say close this newsletter, a reminder that this Friday, Rumble on the River and Public Grids present Portland’s Future: It’s in Our Hands, an evening of music and ideas for building a Portland that provides and cares for everyone with new public investment in public goods. We hope to see you there!

Cherice, Dineen, Irene, Jessica

PS Much thanks to 350PDX volunteer Joaquin Moore who created the beautiful puppet logo at the top of this email!

 

 

 

 

 

The post 2025 October Newsletter! appeared first on 350PDX: Climate Justice.

PREAMBLE We, participants of the First Pan-African Convening on the Future of Biodigital Technologies in Food and Agriculture, held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 2–4 October 2025, and co-organized by the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA) and African Technology Assessment Platform (AfriTAP) and the ETC Group, gathered in a landmark event to confront the challenges and possibilities posed […]

The post PAN-AFRICAN DECLARATION ON THE FUTURE OF BIODIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES IN FOOD AND AGRICULTURE first appeared on AFSA.

After clearing the legislature with bipartisan support, Senate Bill 79, the Abundant and Affordable Homes Near Transit Act (Wiener), was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 10, 2025. The bill goes into effect in July 2026.

The governor’s signing of SB79 is a watershed moment for land-use policy in California.

“By making it possible to build new multifamily homes near our major public transit stations, we are beginning to shift away from decades of harmful development patterns and move toward building a more sustainable and affordable future,” explained Jordan Grimes, Legislative Director, Greenbelt Alliance. “This critical change will help safeguard our natural and working lands while delivering lasting benefits for our climate, our environment, and our communities. We thank Governor Newsom and Senator Wiener for their steadfast leadership on this issue.”

This new law codifies transit-oriented development (TOD) as an essential strategy to both increase housing affordability and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It allows more homes near major transit stops, such as BART, Caltrain, or the San Diego Trolley, and improves walkability in our communities. For more details on how this piece of legislation will achieve this, click here.

“SB 79 builds on the landmark CEQA reforms passed earlier this year in AB 130 (Wicks) and SB 131 (Wiener). By establishing state zoning standards, SB 79 unlocks a great deal of critical land to use (…),” said a press release by Senator Scott Wiener.

Greenbelt Alliance was proud to co-sponsor this bill by Senator Scott Wiener, alongside many housing, environmental, and transit advocates across California, such as Streets for All, California YIMBY, SPUR, Abundant Housing LA, Inner City Law Center, and the Bay Area Council.

In March 2025, we joined this powerful coalition with the goal of elevating the environmental benefits that a bill like SB79 would bring. As an organization that has been fighting to accelerate the production of new homes within cities and away from our open spaces, we know that how we use our lands is one of the most important issues we face today. Throughout this year our Legislative Director, Jordan Grimes, tirelessly elevated the environmental case for housing at meetings, hearings, committees, and directly with legislators in Sacramento.

Advocates for SB79 in Sacramento. Jordan Grimes speaking at a hearing committee. Amanda Brown-Stevens and Victor Flores at the Press Conference announcing our endorsement of SB 79. Why It Matters

Where we are building (or not) directly impacts our daily lives—determining if our children can afford to live where they grew up, if there’s land to grow the food we need, or if people are living in safe or climate-vulnerable areas.

Building more homes of all types and for all incomes:

• Reduces unnecessarily long commutes—and greenhouse gas emissions—;
• Increases access to transit, jobs, and amenities, and improves energy efficiency;
• Creates more connected and walkable communities;
• Reduces development pressure on greenbelts, minimizing exposure to risks, and strengthening wildfire buffers.

For far too long, California has embraced development patterns that have harmed our communities and environment. Making it difficult to build in our existing cities and towns has pushed development further out and caused sprawl—paving over critical wildlife habitat and productive farmland and worsening the affordability crisis in California.

By enabling the construction of thousands of new multifamily homes in the most sustainable places to build—within existing communities near major public transit stops—we can protect critical species and habitat, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and ensure every Californian has an affordable place to call home.

 

The post More Homes Near Transit Is Now The Law in California appeared first on Greenbelt Alliance.

“The Hub” is a weekly round-up of transportation related news in the Philadelphia area and beyond. Check back weekly to keep up-to-date on the issues Clean Air Council’s transportation staff finds important.

Join the Transit For All PA campaign for sustainable transit funding to keep our State moving forward.

Image Source: Monica Herndon

NBC Philadelphia: Philly lawyer files another lawsuit to stop SEPTA’s fare increase – This week the same Philadelphia lawyer whose previous lawsuit caused a judge to order the full restoration of SEPTA’s services is filing another suit. This class-action lawsuit aims for SEPTA to roll back its 21.5% fare hike. The previous lawsuit resulted in SEPTA tapping into their state capital assistance funding over the next two years. The Pennsylvania legislature continues to miss budget deadlines, leaving public transit without a state budget.

Image Source: John Duchneskie

The Inquirer: SEPTA Regional Rail riders face delays, cancellations due to emergency order – SEPTA is performing emergency inspections on railcars this week, leading to delays across the Regional Rail system. SEPTA’s oversight body, the Federal Railroad Administration, issued an emergency order on Monday, removing all cars 50 years and older to complete a thorough inspection. SEPTA riders can expect shorter trains with limited capacity for the next few weeks, as the full inspection needs to be completed within 30 days.

Image Source: Emma Lee/WHYY

WHYY: Delaware County debuts online interactive map for growing trail system – Delaware County is making information easier to access for the over 45 miles of trail currently open to the public. The online database has all necessary information in one place, with real-time status updates about the growing system. There are around 12 miles of trails currently under construction or in the design phase, with an additional 78 miles in the feasibility or planning phase. The informational hub is a collaborative effort between municipal and regional planning partners, with hopes that public access can increase in the weeks to come before cold weather fully sets in.

Other Stories

Philly Voice: After spate of e-bike deaths, NJ lawmakers propose restrictions and insurance requirements

BillyPenn: ‘Community is a top priority’: This S. Kensington bike shop is owned by its employees

The Inquirer: PHL has more flights this year but lost some low-cost routes

Chestnut Hill Local: New markers on Green Ribbon Trail improve Wissahickon safety 

BillyPenn: After 5 Regional Rail fires, federal agency orders new round of SEPTA crew trainings, urges replacing fleet

Fox Philadelphia: Philadelphia ranked #1 ‘worst’ city in US to drive in: report 

Philadelphia Citizen: Can We Make Car-Free Streets Permanent?

For the 10th year in a row, Cobbs Creek Community Environmental Center welcomes the community to celebrate the season at the free Harvest Festival on Saturday, October 25, 2025! All are welcome to this annual event, which features activities to connect attendees with the environment, as well as live music.

Starting at 1pm, trick-or-treaters will meet at Spruce Street and Cobbs Creek Parkway to make their way down the wooded natural surface trail to the Environmental Center. (Costumes are encouraged but not required!) Also from 1-3 p.m., children can enjoy face paint, balloon animals, a magician, and arts and crafts, or try their hand at archery starting at 2 p.m. Festival attendees can also expect to connect with new community resources and learning opportunities, including bird walks and nature education. We’d love to see you there! 

See the festival map below for help navigating to the event.

Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. 
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.

This week Renewables overtake coal

‘HISTORIC FIRST’: Renewables have overtaken coal to become the world’s leading source of electricity for the first six months of this year in a “historic first”, BBC News said. The analysis, from the thinktank Ember, found the world generated “almost a third” more solar power in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2024, while wind power grew by “just over 7%,” reported the Guardian.

HEAVY LIFTING: According to the report, China and India were “largely responsible for the surge in renewables”, while the US and Europe “relied more heavily on fossil fuels,” the Guardian wrote. China built more renewables than every other country combined in the first half of this year, the newspaper added.

CONTINENTAL SHIFTS: A second report from the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted a “surge” in global wind and solar capacity by 2030, but shaved 5% off its previous forecast, the Financial Times said. The IEA revealed that India is set to become the second-largest growth market for renewables after China, “with capacity expected to increase 2.5 times by 2030”, Down to Earth reported. The IEA also upped its forecast for renewables in the Middle East and north Africa by 23%, “helped by Saudi Arabia rolling out wind turbines and solar panels”, but halved the outlook for the US, the FT noted. 

Around the world

• EV BOOM: Sales of electric and hybrid cars made up “more than half” of all new car registrations in the UK last month, a new record, according to data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers, reported BBC News.
• BANKING COLLAPSE: A global banking alliance launched by the UN to get banks to slash the carbon footprint of their loans and investments and help drive the transition to a net-zero economy by 2050 has collapsed after four years, Agence France-Press reported.
• CUTS, CUTS, CUTS: The Trump administration plans to cut nearly $24bn in funding for more than 600 climate projects across the US, according to documents reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
• PEOPLE POWER: A farmer, a prison guard and a teacher were among those from the Dutch-Caribbean island Bonaire who appeared at the Hague on Tuesday to “accuse the Netherlands of not doing enough to protect them from the effects of climate change”, Politico reported. 

400,000

The number of annual service days logged by the US National Guard responding to hurricanes, wildfires and other natural disasters over the past decade, according to a Pentagon report to Congress, Inside Climate News reported.

Latest climate research

• Politicians in the UK “overwhelmingly overestimate the time period humanity has left to bend the temperature curve”, according to a survey of 100 MPs | Nature Communications Earth and Environment
• Fire-driven degradation of the Amazon last year released nearly 800m tonnes of CO2 equivalent, surpassing emissions from deforestation and marking the “worst Amazon forest disturbance in over two decades” | Biogeosciences
• Some 43% of the 200 most damaging wildfires recorded over 1980-2023 occurred in the last decade | Science

(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)

Captured

The UK’s Climate Change Act, landmark legislation that guides the nation’s response to climate change, is increasingly coming under attack from anti-net-zero right-leaning politicians. In a factcheck published this week, Carbon Brief explained how the UK’s Climate Change Act was among the first comprehensive national climate laws in the world and the first to include legally binding emissions targets. In total, 69 countries have now passed “framework” climate laws similar to the UK’s Climate Change Act, with laws in New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria among those explicitly based on the UK model. This is up from just four when the act was legislated in 2008. Of these, 14 are explicitly titled the “Climate Change Act”.

Spotlight Fukushima’s solar future

This week, Carbon Brief examines how Fukushima helped to recover from nuclear disaster by building solar farms on contaminated farmland.

On 11 March 2011, an earthquake off the pacific coast of Japan caused 15m-tall waves to crash into the eastern region of Tōhoku, killing 19,500 people and injuring a further 6,000.

In the aftermath, flooding at the Fukushima Daichi nuclear power plant caused cooling systems to fail, leaching radioactive contaminants into the soil and leading to a major nuclear incident. 

Some 1,200km2 around the site was restricted and up to 100,000 people were evacuated – in some cases forever.

In the years following, Japan entered a fraught debate about nuclear energy.

In 2010, nuclear power provided 25% of Japan’s electricity, but, in the years following the disaster, its 54 nuclear reactors were taken offline.

Successive governments have fought over reintroducing nuclear power. Today, some 14 reactors are back online, 27 have been permanently closed and another 19 remain suspended. (Japan’s newly-elected prime minister Sanae Takaichi has promised to make nuclear central to her energy strategy.)

Against this backdrop, Fukushima – a prefecture home to 1.8 million people – has emerged as a surprise leader in the renewables race. 

In 2014, the Fukushima Renewable Energy Institute (FREA) opened with the twin goals of promoting research and development into renewable energy, while “making a contribution to industrial clusters and reconstruction”.

That same year, the prefecture declared a target of 100% renewable power by 2040. 

Contaminated land

“A lot of these communities, I know, were looking for ways to revitalise their economy,” said Dr Jennifer Sklarew, assistant professor of energy and sustainability at George Mason University and author of “Building Resilient Energy Systems: Lessons from Japan”.

Once evacuation orders were lifted, however, residents in many parts of Fukushima were faced with a dilemma, explained Sklarew: 

“Since that area was largely agricultural, and the agriculture was facing challenges due to stigma, and also due to the soil being removed [as part of the decontamination efforts], they had to find something else.”

One solution came in the form of rent, paid to farmers by companies, to use their land as solar farms.

Michiyo Miyamoto, energy finance specialist at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, told Carbon Brief:

“The [Fukushima] prefecture mapped suitable sites early and conducted systematic consultations with residents and agricultural groups before projects were proposed. This upfront process reduced land-use conflicts, shortened permitting timelines and gave developers clarity.” 

As a result, large-scale solar capacity in Fukushima increased to more than 1,300 megawatts (MW) from 2012 to 2023, according to Miyamoto. Moreover, installed renewable capacity now exceeds local demand, meaning the region can run entirely on clean power when conditions are favourable, Miyamoto said.

Today, aerial pictures of Fukushima reveal how solar panels have proliferated on farmland that was contaminated in the nuclear disaster. 

View of Shinchi town, Fukushima in 2011 (top) and 2016 (bottom). Credit: Newscom/Alamy Stock Photo Charging on

Last year, 60% of Fukushima’s electricity was met by renewables, up from 22% in 2011. (The country as a whole still lags behind at 27%.)

And that is set to grow after Japan’s largest onshore windfarm started operations earlier this year in Abukuma, Fukushima, with a capacity of 147MW.

The growth of solar and wind means that Fukushima is already “ahead of schedule” for its 2040 target of 100% renewable power, said Miyamoto:

“The result is a credible pathway from recovery to leadership, with policy, infrastructure and targets working in concert.”

Watch, read, listen

OVERSHOOT: The Strategic Climate Risks Initiative, in partnership with Planet B Productions, has released a four-part podcast series exploring what will happen if global warming exceeds 1.5C.

DRONE WARFARE: On Substack, veteran climate campaigner and author Bill McKibben considered the resilience of solar power amid modern warfare.

CLIMATE AND EMPIRE: For Black history month, the Energy Revolution podcast looked at how “race and the legacies of empire continue to impact the energy transition”.

Coming up

• 12 October: presidential elections, Cameroon
• 13-14 October: Pre-COP, Brasilia, Brazil
• 13-18 October: World Bank Group/IMF annual meetings, Washington DC
• 14-17 October: 2nd extraordinary session of the Marine Environment Protection Committee at the International Maritime Organisation, London
• 15-16 October: Circle of Finance Ministers report

Pick of the jobs

• Buckinghamshire Council, principal climate change officer | Salary: £49,354-£51,759. Location: Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire
• Sustainable NI, sustainable business lead | Salary: £60,000. Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland
• Dialogue Earth, South Asia managing editor | Salary: £1,875 per month. Location: South Asia

DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.

This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.

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The post DeBriefed 10 October 2025: Renewables power past coal; Legacy of UK’s Climate Change Act; Fukushima’s solar future appeared first on Carbon Brief.

I recently co-authored a new peer-reviewed study that has delivered another blow to South Africa’s controversial commercial captive lion industry, finding no solid evidence that breeding lions in captivity benefits wild populations and warning that it may be doing the opposite.

Our study, a collaboration with researchers from Blood Lions and World Animal Protection, paints a troubling picture of an industry that has exploded over the past three decades to around 350 facilities holding nearly 8,000 lions — alongside thousands of other big cats — for exhibition and breeding, tourism experiences, “canned” or captive trophy hunting, and the trade in bones and body parts.

We examined 126 scientific papers and 37 organizational reports published between 2008 and 2023, flagging three major concerns:

• • Currently there is no proof that the commercial industry aids conservation.
  • Captive breeding may increase demand for lion parts.
  • Links between legal and illegal trade could be strengthened.

Bottle feeding and cub petting are popular revenue streams for captive predator facilities. Cubs are separated from their mothers at a young age, forcing the females back into estrus while visitors pay to interact with the cubs. © Blood Lions, used with permission.

From cub-petting selfies to walking with lions, “canned” hunts, and the (now illegal) export of lion skeletons, the commercial predator industry is big business. The industry claims that commercial lion farming relieves pressure on wild lions; our study shows that it could actually fuel the demand for lion products and open the door to increased wildlife trafficking.

Can Commercial Breeding Meet Consumer Demand?

While proponents of commercial wildlife utilization assert that wildlife farming offers an effective means to meet the demand for wildlife commodities and relieve pressure on wild populations, our analysis of previous work by researchers and conservationists shows that this approach may be counterproductive.

Farming wildlife may, in fact, put increased pressure on wild populations by promoting demand for wildlife products. This increases the risk of wildlife poaching and laundering through existing legal channels.

It has also been noted that captive wildlife stock is sometimes renewed with animals from the wild to bring in fresh genes and prevent inbreeding or to breed for specific traits, such as dark manes.

Countering arguments that farming wild animals is a logical means to protect wild populations, conservationists and researchers have highlighted that such mistaken assumptions may endanger wild populations.

Other species have already demonstrated that commercial farming of wild species — such as tigers for bones and other body parts, bears for bile, and Southeast Asian porcupines for meat consumption — have all put increased pressure on wild populations. Consumer demand studies that have highlighted a preference for products sourced from wild-caught animals based on perceptions of medicinal strength or meat quality. Overall these studies highlight the faulty logic inherent in justifying the commercial breeding of wild animals as a supply-side approach.

A lion skeleton prepared for export to be used in Traditional Chinese Medicine and trinkets. © Blood Lions, used with permission.

There’s still a lot we don’t know. In our paper we highlighted the urgent need for scientific, peer-reviewed research to better understand consumer demand, economic comparisons between wild and farmed products, the genetics of captive lions, and the scale of illicit trade to get a more complete picture of the impact of commercial lion farming on wild lions.

South African Wild Lion Populations Remain Stable, But What About Other Range States?

In 2018 an assessment for African lions stated that the export of captive-bred lion trophies, live captive-bred lions for zoological or breeding purposes, and/or the trade of lion skeletons from the captive population would not harm South Africa’s wild lion population.

The commercial captive lion industry has repeatedly failed to account for severe welfare issues, including malnourishment, obesity, overbreeding, inbreeding, poor keeping conditions, and health concerns. © Blood Lions, used with permission.

But while wild lion populations in South Africa remain stable, our new research clearly highlights the risks associated with a commercial captive lion industry and the already vulnerable wild lion populations and other big cat species across other range states.

Dr. Louise de Waal, director of Blood Lions and one of the paper’s authors, says South Africa’s stable wild lion population could change if the captive industry keeps growing:

“We need to err on the side of caution globally, but in particular in African lion range states, to stop facilitating further emergence of commercial captive predator breeding and trade. This is particularly relevant when considering the increased wildlife trafficking opportunities between the African continent and Southeast Asia through, for example, the expansion of the Belt and Road Initiative, a global infrastructure development strategy by the Chinese government.”

Welfare Concerns Continue

The industry also has a long record of animal welfare violations. Some of the most recent cases include a successful conviction for animal cruelty after starved lions were discovered at a farm in May 2023. In another National Council of Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (NSPCA) welfare case in 2025, horrific animal cruelty and neglect were uncovered at a notorious predator facility, where at least 80 tigers were kept for commercial purposes, one of whom had resorted to self-mutilation to relieve stress and pain from untreated injuries.

Commercial captive-keeping conditions fail to provide adequate living conditions for sentient apex predators, including the ability to hunt and roam freely. © Blood Lions, used with permission.

These aren’t isolated incidents. Douglas Wolhuter, national chief inspector and manager of the NSPCA Wildlife Protection Unit, reported that they had conducted 176 inspections of captive lion facilities across South Africa from 2022 to 2024. Wolhuter outlined that in most cases, captive predators were denied even the bare basics like access to clean drinking water, proper food, shelter, environmental enrichment, hygienic living conditions, and appropriate veterinary care, including treatment of parasitic infestations. Many of the captive predator- and lion-breeding facilities required repeat visits due to unaddressed noncompliances. Their inspections resulted in 64 warnings, 10 formal Animal Welfare Notices, and 21 warrants granted in 2022 alone. That year, as a result, 23 severely compromised lions had to be euthanized.

Our research, combined with these on-the-ground realities, provides another catalyst for South Africa’s Minister of Forestry, Fisheries, and the Environment, Dr. Dion George, to take urgent action by implementing a moratorium on breeding and a time-bound phaseout plan.

It also signals the serious need for caution: Lion farming in South Africa isn’t saving wild lions. It could even be accelerating their decline, particularly in already vulnerable lion range states across other African countries.

Previously in The Revelator:

In South Africa, Tigers and Other Captive Predators Are Still Exploited for Profit. Legislation Offers Pitiful Protection

The post Study: Commercial Lion Farming in South Africa Could Be Harming, Not Helping, Wild Lions appeared first on The Revelator.

As wildfire mitigation and prescribed burns are delayed amid the government shutdown, the U.S. Forest Service gave final approval to Hecla Mining Company for the Libby Exploration Project. The approval enables Hecla to begin surveys for silver and copper ore in an old mine shaft 20 miles south of Libby, Montana.

The proposed mining operation has been in development for decades, and faces opposition from environmental groups who worry about the impacts of water pollution, mining activity, and human disturbances to wildlife. The project received an expedited review after the Trump administration added it to the “FAST-41” infrastructure permitting dashboard.

“This is not an ‘exploration project,’” said Ben Catton of the Montana Environmental Information Center. “Hecla has been pursuing this ore body for years. They know what’s there, but they also know what’s at stake given that the mine is adjacent to one of our first wilderness areas and a critical stronghold for threatened grizzlies, wolverines, and bull trout. Hecla is trying to get an inch so they can take a mile.”

Happy Indigenous Peoples’ Day

Look West will take a break on Monday in observance of Indigenous Peoples’ Day. See you Tuesday!

Quick hits Wildfire in Zion National Park closes some trails and roads

E&E News | Salt Lake Tribune | KSL | National Parks Traveler

Senate Republicans send bill repealing Montana land plan to Trump

E&E News

Endangered ferrets in more jeopardy as government shutdown drags on, wildlife expert warns

CBS News

Barbed wire fences dot the West. There’s a growing movement to take them down

KUNC

Lawmakers seek ethics probe into top offshore oil regulator

Public Domain

Forest Service approves Cabinet Mountains mine exploration

Montana Public Radio | Montana Free Press

Interior Department unveils controversial agenda aimed at reviving struggling industry: ‘Will hurt the American people’

The Cooldown

Opinion: What’s it like to be a cow?

High Country News

Quote of the day

I don’t see it as a choice between ranching and a gentler world, but rather between ranching and asphalt. A good ranch preserves land for untold umwelts. I feel lucky to be surrounded by cattle and the multitude of life in these fields: the porcupine trundling through alfalfa, the sandhill cranes leaving prints across the muddy banks.”

—Darby Minow Smith, Montana cattle rancher, High Country News

Picture This

 @deadhorsepoint
Dead Horse Point State Park is home to many beautiful overlooks! Many come to visit our famous overlook at Dead Horse Point. But today I wanted to highlight an overlook more frequently… overlooked! Bighorn! Bighorn Overlook is a 3.2 mile hike from our visitor center and has stunning views all the way down the trail. Next time you visit, consider taking a hike to Bighorn Overlook.

Post by Ranger Ozzie

 

Featured photo: The Cabinet Mountains near Libby, Montana. USDA NRCS Montana

The post Forest Service approves Montana mine exploration amid government shutdown appeared first on Center for Western Priorities.

Plus a closely watched acquisition gets the green light, the U.S. renewable outlook shrinks and more