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

International Workers' Day, on May 1, was a stark reminder of how global crises - from climate change to COVID-19 and conflict - are piling new pressures on people already struggling to earn a living amid rising inequality.

Sharan Burrow, the general secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation, writes that, as they are faced by unaffordable energy and commodity prices, made worse by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, people are losing trust in governments - a situation that requires a "new social contract".

One of six key pillars for such a contract, she adds, must be "climate-friendly jobs with just transition" [[link removed]], meaning that no one gets left behind in the shift to a low-carbon economic model that protects labour rights and provides decently paid work and vital services for all.

Despite the daily news diet of doom and gloom, around the world fledgling efforts are underway to work out what a green and fairer future looks like - and how to get there.

The Biden administration, for example, has launched a $4.7-billion programme to plug abandoned U.S. oil and gas wells [[link removed]], hidden in places as odd as the grounds of a senior citizens' residence, in a bid to curb environmental pollution, reduce climate-heating methane emissions and create green jobs.

And in Bangladesh, the drivers of ubiquitous "easy bikes" and electric rickshaws [[link removed]] could gain more security after a court decision overturned a ban on their vehicles, paving the way for the taxis to be legalised and potentially run on clean energy.

A driver poses for a photo beside his "easy bike" taxi in, Dhaka, Bangladesh, April 20, 2022. REUTERS/Md. Tahmid Zami

Yet, despite mounting evidence of more extreme weather worldwide - seen in the sizzling temperatures now bringing power cuts and health threats to over a billion people in India and Pakistan - many politicians are still not making climate change a priority in elections [[link removed]].

For example, the issue has hardly figured on the campaign trail in the typhoon-prone Philippines - just one of several countries with elections this year where global warming has taken a backseat, our correspondents report.

As COVID-19 has exacerbated economic and social inequalities, jobs and livelihoods have instead dominated the election agenda in places from Australia to France, Brazil and South Korea.

"The (climate) crisis is getting more severe yet it seems like no one is paying attention. This is really scary," said Korean student Dayeon Lee, 19, who voted for the first time in her nation's March poll, dominated by debates on rising house prices and youth unemployment.

In Malaysia [[link removed]], meanwhile, green groups are urging the government to introduce laws to cut carbon emissions and boost emergency response and adaptation efforts, after severe floods starting late last year took rich urban residents by surprise.

Pahnin Mekragnotire, a 40-year-old indigenous man of the Kayapo tribe, observes logs left by loggers during a surveillance patrol to defend the indigenous territory against attacks by loggers and miners at Krimej village in southwestern Para state, Brazil, September 7, 2021. REUTERS/Lucas Landau

Analysts say forest losses may be contributing to the worsening floods in the Southeast Asian nation, with many of the hardest-hit states also showing the highest deforestation rates, found our reporter Michael Taylor in Kuala Lumpur.

The country has lost nearly a fifth of its primary forest since 2002, though deforestation rates have fallen for the past five years, according to monitoring service Global Forest Watch (GFW).

It released new global data on deforestation in 2021 last week, showing tropical rainforests shrinking at a rate equal to 10 football pitches a minute [[link removed]], with Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo suffering the biggest losses.

Overall, tropical forest loss was 11% lower than in 2020, mainly due to wetter weather reducing wildfire risk, but that did not signal a broader downward trend as people continue to cut down forest for farming, fuel and other purposes, GFW researchers said.

Meeting a COP26 pledge to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030 - backed by about 140 governments - will be a heavy lift, they warned.

If, after that, you need some inspiration, do watch this sad but beautiful film made by our colleagues, depicting the resilience and determination of American farmers coping with mental health problems [[link removed]], as drought, floods and wildfires test their love of the land.

See you next week!

Megan

Earth Focus: For the Love of the Land [[link removed]]

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Big bucks: Drought-hit Zimbabweans cut poverty, poaching with larger goats [[link removed]]

The project to breed bigger goats and raise incomes aims to help communities feed their families without wiping out local wildlife, as extreme weather hurts crops

'Surprise' urban Malaysia floods drive pleas for climate action [[link removed]]

Widespread flooding across Malaysia starting late last year shocked urban residents, with green groups urging a new approach as climate change impacts become more severe

Legalising Bangladesh 'easy bike' taxis could drive safer, greener industry [[link removed]]

A court decision overturning an earlier ban on three-wheelers paves the way for them to be made legal, which would support better design and potentially greener ways to power them, benefitting drivers, transport experts say

As living costs surge, climate change takes a backseat in elections [[link removed]]

As COVID-19 has worsened economic and social inequalities, jobs and livelihoods have dominated election campaigns - even in climate-vulnerable countries

Wet weather dampens rainforest loss in 2021 but world far off ending it [[link removed]]

Fewer fires led to lower levels of tropical forest loss last year but governments will need to act much faster to meet a promise to end deforestation by 2030

FACTBOX-Global tropical forest loss falls in 2021 but outlook bleak [[link removed]]

Brazil saw the largest forest losses due to commercial clearing, followed by Democratic Republic of Congo, while palm oil giants Indonesia and Malaysia made headway in stemming deforestation

Here's how to reverse Africa's land degradation [[link removed]]

From South Africa to Kenya, Africa is fast losing healthy land - but solutions are emerging

Can tech help hold climate polluters to their net-zero pledges? [[link removed]]

Countries, states and companies have made voluntary net-zero pledges, but tracking progress on them is a challenge. Can automation and other tech advances speed efforts?

U.S. to boost green jobs, curb emissions by plugging old oil and gas wells [[link removed]]

As many as 120,000 jobs could be created by stopping abandoned oil and gas wells leaking climate-warming methane into the atmosphere

Humanity on 'spiral of self-destruction' as disasters rise, UN warns [[link removed]]

Disasters have cost an average of about $170 billion each year in the last decade but developing nations and their poorest people suffering disproportionately

OPINION: We need a new social contract that nurtures people, planet and peace [[link removed]]

Faced with the horrors of conflict and the global pandemic, peace, social justice and climate-friendly jobs are at the heart of demands for International Workers' Day

OPINION: How drought is shifting gender dynamics in northeast Syria [[link removed]]

Gender imbalances in northeast Syria are long-standing and only getting worse due to the drought - but women are bearing the brunt both at work and at home

OPINION: Climate action should not be a casualty of war in Ukraine [[link removed]]

Climate finance is competing with much-needed relief for Ukrainian refugees. This short-sighted approach could trigger a hunger and climate catastrophe

OPINION: South Asia faces a deadly heatwave. Here’s what to do about it [[link removed]]

Pakistan and India are confronting brutal temperatures this week - but preparing better and shoring up water and power supplies could save lives

OPINION: What the climate crisis needs - the world’s youth [[link removed]]

Climate change is our inheritance. We should not be bystanders to processes and decisions that determine our future

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