Climate Change
Energy
Europe
Global Issues
South America
Megan Darby

Brazil supports decarbonisation of the global economy by the end of the century, president Dilma Rousseff declared on Thursday.

She backed the G7 stance on a long term goal to phase out fossil fuels during a visit by German chancellor Angela Merkel to Brasilia.

The leaders of the biggest economies in Europe and Latin America committed to a joint stance on climate change ahead of talks to sign off a global deal in Paris this December.

“We agreed on common actions to deal with one of the most important challenges of the 21st Century,” said Rousseff, according to a Reuters report.

Brazil, the world’s fifth largest greenhouse gas emitter after China, the US, EU and India, has yet to submit its contribution to a Paris deal.

All countries are expected to enter strategies to green their economies by 1 October, to underpin an international agreement.

 

For the complete article, please see RTCC.

Source:
RTCC

Development
Sustainable Transformation
South America
Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Instituto Igarapé

Linking the Atlantic and Pacific oceans across the Latin American landmass has often been presented as one of the holy grails of development for the region. While China’s idea of a ‘Nicaraguan Canal’ has made headlines globally, another major infrastructure project is in the works further south: the Bi-Oceanic Railway. The idea has already spurred transboundary environmental cooperation, but the public is still in the dark.

Biodiversity & Livelihoods
Security
Middle East & North Africa
Wim Zwijnenburg, PAX

Using a progressive environmental security concept can help to tackle a range of environmental issues related to armed conflict, such as deforestation, loss of biodiversity, tensions over natural resources, conflict pollution, and damage to ecosystems. The environment can actually play a role in peacebuilding. This article briefly outlines why such an inclusive and environmental protection approach is needed and how it could be implemented.

Climate Diplomacy
South America
Global Issues
Christian Hübner, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung

Climate action and free trade have been perceived as contrary agendas for a long time. Despite more and more governments seeing tremendous potential for win-win outcomes, aligning trade and climate has become harder. This is due to changes in our current geopolitical landscape, as Christian Hübner explains in light of the upcoming G20 summit.

Biodiversity & Livelihoods
Climate Change
Sub-Saharan Africa
Lily Welborn, ISS Africa

Human activity has caused the temperature of the Earth and its atmosphere to rise by about 1°C above pre-industrial levels, triggering fundamental changes to the planet’s physical and social landscapes. On 8 October an Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that temperatures were rising faster than expected, and that 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels could occur as early as 2030.