Drowning in plastic

Visualising the world’s addiction to plastic bottles. Around the world, almost 1 million plastic bottles are purchased every minute.

BP Scraps Target of Reducing Oil Production by 2030

Oil major BP has scrapped its goal of reducing oil and gas production by the end of the decade, angering environmental groups.

NGOs push EU to label Sarawak as ‘high risk’ source of timber, palm oil

A coalition of Indigenous and human rights groups are hoping new European Union trade regulations could help pressure timber and oil palm industries in Malaysia’s Sarawak state into respecting Indigenous land rights and implementing better land-use c…

Deforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction

Demand for beef, soy, palm oil and nickel hindering efforts to halt demolition by 2030, global report finds

Deforestation ‘roaring back’ despite 140-country vow to end destruction

Demand for beef, soy, palm oil and nickel hindering efforts to halt demolition by 2030, global report finds

Cost-benefit analysis exposes ‘bogus’ promises of palm oil riches for Papuans

JAKARTA — A study by an Indonesian NGO challenges government claims that oil palm cultivation is a driver of economic welfare and development, showing that the environmental and social damage from plantations in the country’s Papua region vastly outw…

Parrots squawk with accents

A study has found that, like people, parrots have different dialects – and they’re shifting as their environment changes.

Avoiding Climate Catastrophe: Global Elimination of Meat Production Could Save the Planet

Eliminating all animal agriculture within the next 15 years would drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and also pull carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

Dark oxygen made by deep sea 'batteries'

The discovery that lumps of metal on the seafloor produce oxygen raises questions over plans to mine the deep ocean.

An Amazon free from oil and gas

Out of the more than $20 billion invested, 46% of all direct financing for oil and gas exploration in the Amazon comes from just six banks: Citibank, JPMorgan Chase, Itaú Unibanco, Santander, Bank of America, and HSBC.

Air pollution harms pollinators more than pests, study finds

Pollinators experienced a 39-percent decline in foraging efficiency after being exposed to elevated air pollution levels. In contrast, plant-eating aphids and other pests were not significantly impacted.

Planted mangroves' ability to store carbon

Ecologists have published new findings on how planted mangroves can store up to 70% of carbon stock to that found in intact stands after only 20 years.

Allegations widen against Indonesian palm oil giant Astra Agro Lestari

JAKARTA — Allegations of illegal activity and land-grabbing against Indonesia’s second-largest palm oil company continue to mount as a new report reveals the firm’s violations appear to be more extensive than initially documented.

Amazon deforestation threatens one of Brazil’s key pollinators, study shows

With their metallic-blue-and-green bodies and iridescent wings, orchid bees aren’t just charismatic bugs.

Indonesian palm oil firm clashes with villagers it allegedly shortchanged

JAKARTA — A dispute simmering for years has erupted into conflict between villagers and a palm oil company on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi over the latter’s failure to abide by a profit-sharing scheme.

Cruise Ship Invasion | Hakai Magazine

Take a typical Alaska cruise and see the damage in its wake. The evidence is clear: the industry needs an overhaul.

In Brazil, 76% of deforestation in three Amazonian states occurred in a planned agricultural development zone

The Brazilian government is discussing the creation of an "agricultural development zone" at the confluence of three states in the Amazon region—Amazonas, Acre, and Rondônia (hence the proposed acronym AMACRO).

Malaysia plans to give orangutans to countries that buy palm oil

‘Orangutan diplomacy’ strategy aims to ease concern over environmental impact of palm oil production, says minister

Latest palm oil deforester in Indonesia may also be operating illegally

JAKARTA — The largest case of deforestation for industrial palm oil in Indonesia is happening within a concession on a tiny island off the coast of southern Borneo, according to satellite analysis by technology consultancy TheTreeMap.

How 3M Execs Convinced a Scientist the Forever Chemicals She Found in Human Blood Were Safe

Decades ago, Kris Hansen showed 3M that its PFAS chemicals were in people’s bodies. Her bosses halted her work. As the EPA now forces the removal of the chemicals from drinking water, she wrestles with the secrets that 3M kept from her and the world.

Ecuador: Stop land grabbing and racial discrimination for palm oil!

Communities in northern Ecuador are fighting back against land grabbing and deforestation by the palm oil industry.

Oil palm plantations are driving massive downstream impact to watershed

The global demand for palm oil—the most widely consumed vegetable oil on the planet, in everything from instant noodles to lipstick—is driving worldwide tropical deforestation.

Despite gains in Brazil, forest destruction still 'stubbornly' high: Report

The world lost 10 football fields of old-growth tropical forest every minute in 2023 and despite uplifting progress in the Amazon, the picture elsewhere is less rosy, researchers said on Thursday.

Tropical forest loss puts 2030 zero-deforestation target further out of reach

JAKARTA — The tropics continue to lose primary forest at an alarming rate, with an area of tree cover half the size of Panama disappearing in 2023, new data from the University of Maryland’s GLAD lab show. Primary forest loss last year amounted to 3.

Deforestation harms biodiversity of the Amazon's perfume-loving orchid bees

A survey of orchid bees in the Brazilian Amazon, carried out in the 1990s, is shedding new light the impact of deforestation on the scent-collecting pollinators, which some view as bellwethers of biodiversity in the neotropics.

Ghost roads and the destruction of Asia-Pacific tropical forests - Nature

An effort to map roads in the Asia-Pacific region finds that there are 3.0–6.6 times more roads than other sources suggest, and that unmapped ‘ghost roads’ are a major contributor to tropical forest loss.

PalmWatch platform pushes for farm-to-fork traceability of palm oil

JAKARTA — Farm-to-fork traceability has become an increasingly urgent, and often required, component of global supply chains, with a growing number of commodities now trackable all the way back to their source.

Can Europe save forests without killing jobs in Malaysia?

Brazil: Stop land grabbing and violence for “fair and sustainable” palm oil!

Palm oil from Brazil's Agropalma sports no less than ten different seals: Certified as organic, fair and sustainable, the oil is sold to food giants such as Ferrero, Kellogg’s and Nestlé.

Palm oil deforestation persists in Indonesia’s Leuser amid new mills, plantations

JAKARTA — Deforestation for oil palm plantations continues unabated at the northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, likely driven by new processing mills that in turn may ultimately be supplying major consumer goods companies.

Deforestation Could Put 84% of North American Lizards at Risk, Study Says

Deforestation is making lizards in North America more vulnerable because of a lack of shelter from extreme temperatures.

Ten years since anti-deforestation pledge, corporate world still not doing enough

It was supposed to be a major milestone, back in 2014, when hundreds of governments and companies came together to sign the New York Declaration on Forests, aimed at eliminating natural forest loss worldwide.