Climate change news from the ground, in a warming world Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here [[link removed]] Megan Rowling [[link removed]]

Climate correspondent

Discussing fears over runaway climate change with family and friends is hard at the best of times - and may prove an even less popular topic in the festive season.

The difficulty of sharing anxieties about damage to the planet is fuelling a growing mental health crisis among both the young and old, reports Sonia Elks.

"There's a lot of people who are not willing to talk about it, just saying 'I’m too busy with my day-to-day life'," said German climate activist Dieter Muller, 64. "Sometimes I feel like an alien when it comes to these climate topics, as if I see a different reality."

The good news is more help is at hand, thanks to a growing network of climate support and discussion groups [[link removed]] worldwide offering spaces where people can open up about their worries.

In India, meanwhile, the government of Maharashtra is hoping to boost public awareness of the subject by teaching schoolchildren about worsening extreme weather, and helping them learn how to map and reduce their carbon footprint under the first state-level climate change curriculum [[link removed]].

A demonstrator holds a sign reading "Sorry for the inconvenience, we are worried about our imminent extinction" during a protest, as the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) takes place in Glasgow, in Mexico City, Nov. 6, 2021. REUTERS/Luis Cortes

There is no doubt that 2021 saw a surge in understanding that climate change is bringing negative impacts for people around the world - from floods to wildfires - and that the need to keep global warming in check is increasingly urgent.

And yet, despite stronger scientific warnings and enthusiasm among leaders to aim for the lowest Paris Agreement warming limit of 1.5 degrees Celsius, promised emissions cuts are still lagging far behind what is required to meet it.

"We now have almost universal acceptance of the 1.5C target - that's a big step forward," said Frank Rijsberman, director-general of the Seoul-based Global Green Growth Institute.

But Robert Watson, former chair of the U.N. climate science panel, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation the 1.5C goal is "now harder to reach than ever before" as government plans fall short.

"2021 can be summed up as the year of rhetoric not action [[link removed]]," he told our reporter Beh Lih Yi.

Mayasari, 30, during a break in a training session on Bengkalis island, Riau province, run by Indonesia's Peatland and Mangrove Restoration Agency. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Harry Jacques

In some inspiring news to end 2021, communities may finally see compensation for environmental damage caused by fossil fuel extraction, after an Indian farmer secured a rare legal win [[link removed]] requiring two firms to pay to clean up the "critically polluted" area around shuttered coal mines in Odisha.

And do read our feature on a group of award-winning Indonesian women weavers who are making natural dyes and hand sanitiser using extracts from local mangrove forests [[link removed]], with training from a government programme to convince villagers of the value of keeping the natural carbon stores intact.

We'll be back in the New Year - see you then!

Megan

As climate anxiety rises, chat groups tackle isolation and taboos [[link removed]]

Climate change is spurring rising distress and mental health issues among generations young and old - a growing network of support groups aim to tackle the issue

In 2021, governments blew hot on 1.5C goal, colder on climate action [[link removed]]

Support for the goal to keep global warming to 1.5C has won fresh political backing in 2021 - but it remains out of reach

OPINION: 2021 - the year of rhetoric, not action, for climate [[link removed]]

The rhetoric we hear in 2021 is consistent with the goal to keep global warming to 1.5C - but the pledges are not. The 1.5C target is now harder to reach than ever before

OPINION: To cut climate risks and keep 1.5 alive, wetlands are key [[link removed]]

Better wetland protection could play a huge role in addressing both the climate and nature crises, and curbing disaster risk

New climate classes seek to teach Indian students green habits [[link removed]]

As Maharashtra suffers more extreme weather, officials plan to launch the first school curriculum in an Indian state on climate change impacts and cutting carbon

Court win for Indian farmer raises hope for villages hit by coal mining [[link removed]]

Two companies are found liable for irresponsible mining and violating mine closure norms, and ordered to pay clean-up compensation

Amazon tribe suffers mercury contamination as illegal mining spreads [[link removed]]

Indigenous Munduruku people are suffering dangerous levels of mercury exposure from illegal gold mining, with some children showing developmental delays

To dye for: Indonesia's carbon-rich mangroves in fashion with women weavers [[link removed]]

Mangroves have an outsize role in sequestering planet-heating carbon dioxide emissions but they are disappearing fast in Indonesia

Global warming of 3C could cost $1.6 trillion a year in lost labour [[link removed]]

As temperatures rise, outdoor workers will find it harder to adapt, especially in already-hot places like the Gulf

READ ALL OF OUR COVERAGE HERE [[link removed]] Have a tip or an idea for a story? Feedback on something we’ve written? Send us an email [mailto:[email protected]] If you were forwarded this newsletter, you can subscribe here [[link removed]]. Like our newsletter? Share it with your friends.

This email is sent to you by Thomson Reuters Foundation located at 5 Canada Square, London, E14 5AQ.

Thomson Reuters Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales (no. 1082139) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales (no. 04047905). Our terms and conditions and privacy statement can be found at www.trust.org [[link removed]].

You are receiving this email because you subscribed to the Thomson Reuters Foundation Climate Newsletter. If you do not wish to receive future newsletters, please unsubscribe or manage your subscriptions below.

Manage your subscriptions [[link removed]] | Unsubscribe from this newsletter [link removed]

Unsubscribe from all TRF communications [link removed]