As leaders of the G7 group of wealthy nations prepare to meet this weekend, they'll have plenty to discuss, from getting COVID-19 vaccinations administered around the world to how to repair virus-slammed economies.

But with COP26 U.N. climate negotiations less than six months away, they'll also be talking climate change, including how to ramp up desperately needed finance to help poor nations wrest their economies onto a cleaner and safer path. 

And NATO officials, meeting next Monday, will consider adopting a first climate action plan, as threats from extreme weather and a broad range of climate-related security risks - from more migration to the possible use of geoengineering technologies - loom. 

"Climate change is no longer a 'future' risk that will strike decades from now. Warming temperatures and climate impacts are already actively shaping the security landscape for all countries," noted Kate Guy, deputy director of the International Military Council on Climate and Security.

In Brazil, one climate risk is already hitting farmers: Widespread deforestation in the southern Amazon is making rainfall in the region less reliable, costing growers up to $1 billion a year, scientists say.

That's a big warning for other farmers and ranchers in Amazonia as deforestation continues to surge, they say.

Backing continued forest loss to expand land for soy and beef production is like "shooting yourself in the foot", noted Britaldo Soares of Brazil's Federal University of Minas Gerais.

In fact, far from losing forest, the world needs to restore nature on land areas the size of China by 2030 to meet global climate goals, stop species loss and feed a fast-growing population.

But restoring a billion hectares would require "a completely different mindset... away from small projects to a scaled-up effort", says Tim Christophersen of the U.N. Environment Programme, which is backing the effort.

Still, large-scale green progress is possible. India's state of West Bengal, for instance, plans to deliver solar electricity to 25,000 remote schools by 2030, both improving education and adding 250 MW of clean energy to the country's grid.

Saktiram Das, a teacher in the remote town of Kakdwip, said pupils at his school - which already has been wired up -  were benefitting not just from reliable power but from a new appreciation of the possibilities of green energy.

"Our students now get to see and understand the real-time efficacy of solar power," he said.

See you next week!

Laurie

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