Farmer Hugues Falys and his lawyer Marie Doutrepont are pictured during the opening statements in the lawsuit brought by a farmer from the province of Hainaut against TotalEnergies for its responsibility in climate change, in Tournai, on Wednesday, 19 November 2025. Credit: Belga / Kurt Desplenter By AFP - Agence France Presse TotalEnergies rejects farmer claims in Belgian climate lawsuit TotalEnergies pushed back Wednesday at accusations it is failing to act fast enough on c

Indigenous people take part in a demonstration called "Indigenous People Global March" with a sign reading "Demarcation Now!" in Belem, Brazil. (AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Brazil moves closer to curbing Indigenous land claims in the constitution. Proponents say the measure will resolve uncertainty about land demarcation, while opponents say it will open native peoples’ lands to economic exploitation. BRASILIA: Brazilian lawmakers moved closer Tuesday toward changing t

Tropical storms and monsoon rains have pummeled Southeast and South Asia this month, triggering landslides and flash floods. By AFP - Agence France Presse 2025 on track to tie second hottest year on record: EU monitor. The planet is on track to log its second-hottest year on record in 2025, tied with 2023 after a historic high in 2024, Europe's global warming monitor said Tuesday. The data from the Copernicus Climate Change Service reaffirms that global temperatures are on co

Ursula Von der Leyen has been President of the European Commission since 1 December 2019. https://commons.wikimedia.org/ Uploaded a work by Dati Bendo from https://audiovisual.ec.europa.eu/en/reportage/P-052484 with UploadWizard By AFP - Agence France Presse EU agrees to weaken and delay green business rules. European governments and lawmakers agreed to weaken and delay new environmental and human rights rules on Tuesday, clearing a key hurdle in a push to unpick EU regulat

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has caused controversy by pushing for more oil drilling while backing climate-friendly policies (Evaristo Sa)(Evaristo Sa/AFP/AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Lula orders road map to cut fossil-fuel use in Brazil Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva ordered his cabinet on Monday to craft a road map to reduce dependence on fossil fuels, a promise the country made as host of United Nations climate talks last month. Lula tr

The Gaza Strip has been devastated by more than two years of conflict between Israel and Hamas (Eyad Baba) By AFP - Agence France Presse UN slams world's 'apathy' in launching aid appeal for 2026 Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS The United Nations on Monday hit out at global "apathy" over widespread suffering as it launched its 2026 appeal for humanitarian assistance, which is limited in scope as aid operations confront major funding cuts. "This is a time of brutality, impunity and i

Brazilian Minister Marina Silva said she is considering taking legal action against the Supreme Court to uphold vetoes on the Devastation Bill (Photo: Rogério Cassimiro/MMA) Congress relaxes environmental licensing and raises alarm among experts. Last week, the National Congress approved one of the most impactful and worrying measures for Brazilian environmental policy in recent years. By overturning most of the presidential vetoes on the so-called Devastation Bill, parliamen

Photo AI ChatGPT The Green and Digital Transition with Equity: Why This Is the Most Urgent Issue of Our Time BY CLAUDIA ANDRADE For some time now, I have been carefully studying a concept that, although it may seem technical at first glance, directly affects the lives of every person, every community, and every organization: the Green and Digital Transition with Equity. The more I delve into this analysis, the more I understand that this is not just a new term on the internat

This photo shows the remnants of the houses that reappeared when the level of the Mornos artificial lake dropped following a drought, at the village of Kallio, Greece. (AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Greece Puts Capital Athens On Water Emergency Footing Greece has put the greater Athens area and two islands on a water emergency footing, to speed up infrastructure works and address the mounting threat of chronic drought. The environment ministry late Friday announced the m

Australia is highly vulnerable to climate change (DAVID GRAY) By AFP - Agence France Presse Australia Overhauls Decades-old Environmental Laws Large carbon-emitting projects in Australia will be required to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions as well as pollution reduction goals under new legislation overhauling decades-old environmental laws. The reforms, approved by parliament late Thursday night, will create an independent environmental regulator and stricter rules for

Spix's macaws live mostly in captivity, with 27 housed at the São Paulo zoo (NELSON ALMEIDA) By AFP - Agence France Presse Lethal Virus Hits the Last Rare Blue Macaws In Brazil's Wild The only wild specimens of a rare blue parrot, which were recently returned to their natural habitat, have been diagnosed with an incurable, likely lethal virus, Brazil's government told AFP Thursday. The disease strikes a major blow to a program seeking to return the Spix's macaw -- featured in

Authorities in Indonesia are trying to reach residents cut off by flooding and landslides (YT HARIONO) By AFP - Agence France Presse Death Toll In Southeast Asia Floods Tops 300 By Kiki Tarigan Days of devastating flooding across Southeast Asia have killed more than 300 people in Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, authorities said on Friday. Heavy monsoon season rains paired with a tropical storm system inundated areas across the three countries, stranding residents on roofto

Piles of garbage are in the Citarum River in Bandung, Indonesia, on January 27, 2025. According to residents, the garbage has been piling up since early 2025 and is estimated to reach 19 tons, stretching 800 meters. [Photo by Ryan Suherlan/NurPhoto via Getty Images] By AFP - Agence France Presse Watchdog Says Rollback Of EU Green Rules Rushed, Unbalanced The European Commission moved too fast to scale back landmark sustainability rules for businesses, lacking transparency and

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva suffered a major political blow after Congress rejected his vetoes of an environmental licensing bill (EVARISTO SA) By AFP - Agence France Presse In Blow To Lula, Brazil Congress Revives Controversial Environmental Bill Brazil's conservative-led Congress on Thursday reinstated much of a bill that makes it easier for companies to secure environmental permits, infuriating the leftist government and green groups. President Luiz Inacio

The extent of cooperation largely depends on which nationality the center-right lawmakers are from, according to the Patriots. | iStock By AFP - Agence France Presse Far-right Puts Its Stamp On European Parliament By Adrien DE CALAN Far-right parties are riding high in the European Parliament after teaming up with the mainstream right to get key texts past the finish line -- fuelling ambitions to tilt the assembly their way. Twice in as many weeks, the conservative EPP party

Stegra's finances have come under increased scrutiny in recent months (JONATHAN NACKSTRAND) By AFP - Agence France Presse Swedish Steel Startup Stegra Gets More State Aid The Swedish Energy Agency said Wednesday it was giving some $40 million in support to low-carbon steelmaker Stegra, amid fears surrounding the ambitious startup's finances. Stegra is building a new steel mill, which it says will produce steel using technology that gives off 95 percent less CO2 emissions than

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney (Dave Chan) By AFP - Agence France Presse Carney Advances New Canada Oil Pipeline, Raising Climate Concerns By Ben Simon Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney signed an agreement Thursday with the western energy-producing Alberta province to advance a new oil pipeline, a divisive move raising concern about Ottawa's commitment to confronting climate change. The memorandum of understanding charts a plan for a pipeline going from Alberta to Cana

Bengaluru had the world's third-slowest traffic in 2024, according to the TomTom Traffic Index -- far worse than San Francisco or London (IDREES MOHAMMED) By AFP - Agence France Presse High-flying Tech Hits Potholes In India's Silicon Valley By Aishwarya KUMAR with Anuj SRIVAS in Mumbai In India's tech capital Bengaluru, the morning "rush hour" lasts so long it devours half the workday, throttling productivity in a city often viewed as the poster child of a booming economy. E

The death toll from days of widespread flooding in southern Thailand rose to 33, with tens of thousands displaced in the country and neighbouring Malaysia (Arnun Chonmahatrakool). (Arnun Chonmahatrakool/THAI NEWS PIX/AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Floods In Thailand, Malaysia Kill Over 30, Displace Thousands By Montira RUNGJIRAJITTRANON with Isabelle LEONG in Kuala Lumpur Tens of thousands of people in Thailand and neighbouring Malaysia were displaced by widespread floodi

The critically endangered oceanic whitetip shark won new protections, effectively banning international trade (ANDREA BERNARDI) By AFP - Agence France Presse New Protections For Oceanic Whitetip Sharks, But Not Eels By Sara HUSSEIN The world's top wildlife trade body voted Thursday to effectively ban all international trade in the critically endangered oceanic whitetip shark but rejected a proposal to protect more species of eel. The decision to upgrade protection of the shar