View Online [[link removed]] | Subscribe now [[link removed]]Powered byKnow better. Do better.Climate. Change.News from the ground, in a warming world

By Jack Graham [[link removed]] | Deputy Editor, Funded Projects

Hot stuff

It's been a hot year. The hottest since records began [[link removed]]. And a succession of failed U.N. talks [[link removed]] in recent months haven't exactly been encouraging.

But that's not very Christmassy. As a climate journalist, I'd struggle to do this job if the environment was fully devoid of hope.

While the heatwaves of the past year are an ominous sign of things to come, the world is full of examples of positive action.

Renewable energy is surging at an astonishing rate, for example, with a global goal to triple capacity by 2030 within reach [[link removed]].

Cities are tackling air pollution to reduce deadly health impacts, companies are using technology to make their work greener, and the electric vehicle industry [[link removed]] is growing globally.

A woman (sitting) races with a textile robot (L) made by domestic manufacturer Anhui Efort at an expo in Shanghai July 10, 2014. REUTERS/Pete Sweeney

One of the most significant areas of hope, though, is in the Amazon.

The world's largest tropical rainforest is crucial in reducing planet-heating CO2 emissions, but is under threat from climate change, deforestation and fires.

As my colleagues Andre Cabette Fabio and Anastasia Moloney report this week, 2024 has seen significant progress [[link removed]] for the forest's conservation.

Perhaps most importantly, deforestation in Brazil - which has the largest share of the Amazon - fell to its lowest level since 2015.

Under Brazil President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, enforcement of environmental laws has been beefed up to protect biodiverse Indigenous lands.

Thomson Reuters Foundation/Andre Cabette Fabio

COP30 in Belem

But we're certainly not out of the woods.

Deforestation, fires and droughts have continued to severely damage the Amazon this year, and much of it is in desperate need of restoration.

Politically, 2025 will be a crucial year for the rainforest, with Brazil hosting the COP30 U.N. climate summit in the Amazonian city of Belem in November.

After a disappointing COP29 [[link removed]], the world is looking for a turning point in the fight against climate change and, potentially, in the health of the Amazon.

Will the rainforest reach a tipping point [[link removed]] where it is altered irreparably? Or will the Amazon be revived into the thriving, biodiverse powerhouse of old?

We'll be back in touch in January. A massive thank you for following our work in 2024 and, whatever you're up to, have a restful holiday.

Jack

This week's top picks Climate change forged a new reality in 2024: 'This is life now' [[link removed]]

In 2024, billions of people endured heatwaves, storms and floods; 2025 is set to be worse as man-made climate change wreaks havoc

The Amazon rainforest and five reasons for hope [[link removed]]

Slowing deforestation in Brazil and a vote against oil drilling in Ecuador offer slivers of hope for a denuded Amazon

Ecocide: Should destroying nature be an international crime? [[link removed]]

As world warms and extreme weather disasters multiply, Pacific island states join fight to make ecocide a crime under ICC

Read all of our coverage here [[link removed]] Discover more Nature [[link removed]] Climate Risks [[link removed]] Net Zero [[link removed]] Just Transition [[link removed]] Climate Justice [[link removed]] Green Cities [[link removed]] Thank you for reading!

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