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

Climate editor

What will it take to protect the world's vanishing forests?

Despite decades of pledges to save them, tropical rainforests are still rapidly disappearing as farms, ranches, mines and logging expand to meet rising global demand for products.

Forest losses threaten not just the plants, animals and people who live in them but many of the things we all depend on: reliable food supplies, regular rainfall - even the basic stability of the planet's climate.

So what needs to change to genuinely halt deforestation? Our reporters headed into the forest to look at a couple of really innovative ideas.

Lucio Matapi, 'captain' of the Puerto Libre community, stands in dense tropical rainforest near his community living along the Miriti-Parana River in Colombia’s southeast Amazonas province, December 16, 2021. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Fabio Cuttica

In the pristine Amazon rainforest of southeast Colombia, remote indigenous communities can see threats from mining, ranching and logging approaching - and they are making a rare and proactive bid for power to stop them.

With help from organisations and governments desperate to find ways to stem surging Amazon losses, they aim to incorporate as state-recognised local governments [[link removed]], giving them stepped-up control over their land and state funds.

"It would mean power with autonomy," said Alfredo Yacuna, who heads the Indigenous Council of the Miriti-Parana Amazonas Territory.

"By coming together in a collective entity, we're stronger. We can put up more of a fight against those who want to exploit our territory, and have a unified voice to resist," he told our reporter Anastasia Moloney, who visited communities along the muddy reaches of the Miriti-Parana River.

A worker holds a freshly harvested oil palm fruit on a smallholder plantation near Sandakan in Sabah, Malaysia, January 13, 2022. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Michael Taylor.

In Malaysia, meanwhile, the state of Sabah is taking a new approach to certifying sustainable palm oil. Our correspondent Michael Taylor headed to Borneo island to take a look.

Working with small-scale growers who produce about 20-30% of the state's output to improve their practices, officials are trying to ensure all palm oil from Sabah is sustainable [[link removed]] by 2025.

That would simplify sourcing for green-minded buyers and could give Sabah an edge with them - while improving incomes for small producers and protecting the 65% of the state covered by lush forest that's home to orangutans, proboscis monkeys and pygmy elephants.

Here's more [[link removed]] on how the pioneering "jurisdictional" approach to palm oil certification works - and why it matters for Malaysia, the world's second biggest producer, as well as for the rest of us.

See you next week!

Laurie

Malaysia's Sabah aims to win big as world's first green palm oil state [[link removed]]

The scheme aims to protect wildlife and forests, tackle land disputes and worker abuses, improve harvests and open the door to premium-paying palm oil buyers

Borneo island's Sabah state spearheads green palm oil revolution [[link removed]]

Can certifying geographic groups of palm oil producers - rather than each of them individually - help drive better forest protection in Southeast Asia?

Stalled 'Build Back Better' package threatens U.S. climate influence [[link removed]]

President Biden's $2 trillion climate and social spending package is struggling to advance, potentially hurting policy action abroad and at home

Activists demand stop to Japan-funded coal plant in climate-vulnerable Bangladesh [[link removed]]

Young campaigners say coal-fired power plant will undermine global climate goals and harm local communities - and goes against Japan's promise to end financing for coal overseas

Richest 20 nations urged to lead on nature protection with more finance [[link removed]]

With a new global pact to halt biodiversity loss due this year, pressure is rising to close the gap in funding needed to achieve its goals

OPINION: Here’s how the Olympics are going for green, not just gold [[link removed]]

The Beijing winter games are taking measure to cut the hefty carbon footprint of the Olympics, part of a broader push for ‘carbon-positive’ games by 2030

OPINION: Investor climate action plans can propel a clean transition [[link removed]]

Here’s how to make net-zero pledges a reality and hold those making them accountable

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