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

By Megan Rowling [[link removed]] | Just Transition Editor

Climate scientists and government officials are gathered in Switzerland this week to agree the final summary for policymakers in the latest blockbuster series of reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on global warming and how to keep it in check.

Coming before an important review of global progress on climate goals at the end of this year, it doesn't take a PhD to work out that the key message will be along the lines of "must do better".

Planet-heating emissions and fossil fuel use are still rising - as is the average global temperature. And, as the U.N. chief has reminded us, that means nearly half the global population "is living in the danger zone of climate impacts".

It's already too late to side-step loss and damage that is already happening because of a warming climate - as seen with the longest-recorded tropical cyclone that has whipped southern African countries like Mozambique and Malawi several times in the past month.

Malawi is one of six nations - along with Bangladesh, Nepal, Senegal, Trinidad and Tobago and Vanuatu - participating in a new initiative to set up national funds that will tap and work out how best to use finance to tackle growing climate-driven loss and damage.

The move comes in anticipation of the global facility countries agreed on last year at the U.N. climate summit - but as well-known Bangladeshi scientist Saleemul Huq told our correspondent Tahmid Zami: "In the meanwhile, the impacts are happening and we cannot wait [[link removed]]."

Vanuatu's prime minister joins forces with Ugandan youth climate activist Vanessa Nakate to write for us this week on why countries must get behind his country's bid to secure an advisory opinion on climate change and human rights [[link removed]] in a vote at the United Nations due late this month.

Cyclone Freddy hits, in Quelimane, Zambezia, Mozambique, March 11, 2023. UNICEF Mozambique/2023/Alfredo Zuniga/Handout via REUTERS

Green garments in fashion

It's easy to look at the massive profits being made by fossil fuel giants like Saudi Aramco and conclude there's no hope for climate action. But if you're stitching clothes on the factory floor of one of Bangladesh's many fashion-manufacturing businesses, you may be seeing things shift around you.

A decade after the fatal Rana Plaza collapse, we take an in-depth look at growing moves to make the garment business greener, safer and - crucially - fairer when it comes to respecting workers' rights and ability to share in the benefits of a low-carbon transition.

When Shefali Akter first sought a job at a garment factory near Bangladesh's capital, the crowding, heavy workload and poor salary led the 19-year-old to resign after a year and return to her rural home in northern Bangladesh, reports Mosabber Hussain.

But coming back to the factory with her new husband a few years later, Akter found conditions at some factories had dramatically changed [[link removed]] for the better, with improvements ranging from free lunches and overtime pay to solar energy and water-saving measures.

Why is this happening? In part because big fashion buyers like Sweden's H&M are demanding more sustainably produced clothing – and because using renewable energy saves money.

Still, labour and "just transition" experts say there's a long way to go in terms of protecting workers from climate change [[link removed]] impacts like rising heat and ensuring they are equipped with the green skills they'll need to hold onto their jobs as the industry cleans up its act.

Workers finalise products at the Snowtex Outerware garment factory in Dhamrai, Bangladesh, January 30, 2023. Thomson Reuters Foundation/Mosabber Hossain

Brazil’s land battles

As we await the IPCC's AR6 synthesis report, due for publication next Monday, it's worth remembering that many of the solutions we need to stop the planet overheating already exist.

One of the most obvious ones - though much harder in practice than it sounds on paper - is keeping the world's carbon-absorbing forests standing.

In Brazil's Amazon, the bets are on new President Lula's government making real strides towards ending rampant deforestation, though a crackdown on illegal logging and mining may take some time to bite.

For now, read our explainer on how giving Indigenous people clear rights to their traditional land [[link removed]] protects the rainforest. The downside is that Brazilian land demarcation and ownership processes are notoriously long, complex and open to exploitation, as we'll be reporting on again soon. [[link removed]]

See you next week,

Megan

This week's top picks Stop depicting women as climate victims - we shaped the movement [[link removed]]

On International Women’s Day 2023, we should remember that women are climate leaders – not victims

Can Pakistan's electric buses reduce urban air pollution woes? [[link removed]]

Karachi is investing in electric and non-polluting transport as the country seeks to cut emissions and curb climate change

Climate-vulnerable nations prepare to deploy loss and damage funds [[link removed]]

A group of poor countries and island states will work out how to find and use finance to help communities deal with climate harm

Can Bangladesh 'climate proof' garment jobs in a warming world? [[link removed]]

As rising heat and other climate change impacts hit workers, manufacturers are under pressure from brands seeking sustainable fashion

As buyers demand it, Bangladesh garment factories go green [[link removed]]

A decade after the deadly Rana Plaza disaster, Bangladesh is home to 9 of the world's top 10 sustainable garment factories

How are Indigenous areas protected in Brazil? [[link removed]]

Giving Indigenous people clear rights to their traditional land protects forests but it can be a long process in Brazil

Read all of our coverage here [[link removed]] Editor's pick: In Brazil's Amazon, Pará bets on bioeconomy to beat deforestation [[link removed]]

The Amazon state of Pará plans to use its natural resources - from rubber to an aphrodisiac plant - to build a sustainable local economy, hoping its efforts to help communities grow out of poverty will also tackle rainforest loss and climate change

[[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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