Flames engulf trees in the forests of Chalus, Iran, amid days-long fires in the country's Hyrcanian forests, November 21, 2025. (AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Iran Bans Access To Most Forests After Fire In UNESCO-listed Site Iranian authorities have imposed a temporary ban on public access to most forested areas, a local media outlet reported Wednesday, as the country struggled to extinguish a fire in a UNESCO World Heritage-listed site. The fire in northern Iran's Hyrca

Merz, who has repeatedly spoken out against the ban, said that a tremendous effort was needed to face the challenge of the rapid changes in the auto industry. Unsplash photo. By AFP - Agence France Presse EU Vows 'Flexibility' For Embattled Auto Sector The European Union's industry chief vowed Wednesday to allow "flexibility" for the region's struggling auto sector, fuelling hopes the bloc could soften a planned 2035 ban on combustion-engine vehicle sales. Faced with complain

The mineral-rich country is seeing sectors of the economy other than mining being crowded out, says the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. PHOTO: HARDY BOPE By AFP - Agence France Presse DRC Farmers Seek To Feed Kinshasa, Despite Multiple Obstacles By Marthe BOSUANDOLE and Camille LAFFONT The Kimwenza Valley is a vital source of food for residents of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, but its farmers need help to meet their ballooning needs. They are co

Official COP30 pavilion in Belém, the central point of global discussions on adaptation, mitigation, and climate finance. Photo: Tania Rego/Agência Brasil The holding of COP30 in Belém represented a milestone for the visibility of the Amazon on the international stage, but the conference results show that the capacity for implementation is still far from meeting the climate urgency. Even with the progress related to the indicators of the Global Adaptation Target and the debat

A Marineland poster at the now-closed entrance of the park (Daphné LEMELIN). (Daphné LEMELIN/AFP/AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Canada's captive whales face euthanasia threat and uncertain future Daphne LEMELIN and Marion THIBAUT The remaining 30 captive belugas at Canada's Marineland have nothing to do but wait. The reportedly bankrupt former tourist attraction is closed to visitors, so the whales circle their decaying pools, while the park's owners -- who issued a shock

A plot of land where conifers were felled by loggers in the Morvan regional reserve, in Brassy, central France, on September 3, 2021. HASSAN AYADI / AFP By AFP - Agence France Presse EU Parliament Delays Deforestation Law, With Far-right Backing The European Parliament on Wednesday backed a new one-year delay to landmark anti-deforestation rules, in a vote pushed through by an alliance of centre-right and far-right lawmakers. Already delayed by a year, the rollout of the land

Environmental activists protest in front of the parliament of Uganda against the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) in Kampala on 15 September 2023. © Badru KATUMBA/AFP By AFP - Agence France Presse E.Africa Court Dismisses Activists' Case Over Massive Oil Project The East African Court of Justice has dismissed a case challenging TotalEnergies' massive oil project in Uganda and Tanzania, after civil society groups sought a full trial over the controversial development. F

The October 2024 floods killed more than 200 people and caused severe damage in the eastern region of Valencia (JOSE JORDAN) By AFP - Agence France Presse Climate Change 'Increasingly Threatens' Dynamic Spanish Economy: OECD The consequences of climate change, such as last year's deadly floods, "increasingly threaten" the growth of Spain's economy, one of the developed world's most dynamic, the OECD warned on Wednesday. Spain has in recent years endured longer and more intens

High prices of cocoa have spurred a surge in Liberia's cocoa exportation (Thibaud MORITZ). (Thibaud MORITZ/AFP/AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse NGO Links Major Chocolate Brands To Liberia Deforestation Some of the world's best-known chocolate, from Mars to KitKat, is likely linked to deforestation in Liberia's rainforest despite many brands' claims of sustainability, according to research published by NGO Global Witness on Tuesday. Liberia is home to the largest remaining s

An effective trade ban on the critically endangered oceanic whitetip shark will be discussed at the CITES meeting (Andrea BERNARDI) By AFP - Agence France Presse Rhino horn sales, shark protection on wildlife talks agenda Sara HUSSEIN Global wildlife talks opened Monday, with votes expected on increased shark protection, a bid to allow limited rhino horn sales, and a push to restrict the trade in eels. More than 180 nations are joining conservation experts in Uzbekistan's Sam

A bunkering barge (R) supplies bio-methanol fuel to a container ship in Singapore. Three firms have been licensed to start supplying methanol in the port city from next year to help cut shipping carbon emissions (ROSLAN RAHMAN) By AFP - Agence France Presse Singapore Sets Course For 'Green' Methanol Ship Fuel Supplies Singapore will start issuing bunkering licences next year to companies supplying methanol as marine fuel, in an effort to help global shipping cut carbon emissi

The people of Khulna and Satkhira districts live in a fragile balancing act between land and sea (Muhammad Amdad HOSSAIN). By AFP - Agence France Presse Rivers of salt: life on Bangladesh's climate frontline Muhammad Amdad HOSSAIN On Bangladesh's coast, where mighty Himalayan rivers meet the sea, water defines every rhythm of life, and every struggle. Rising seas driven by climate change are swallowing low-lying areas, while stronger storms push saltwater further inland, turn

Indigenous protesters blocked the COP30 entrance during the talks . PHOTO: PABLO PORCIUNCULA By AFP - Agence France Presse Amazon Climate Deal A 'Win' For Global Unity But Fossil Fuels Untouched By Nick Perry and Issam Ahmed with Laurent Thomet in Paris Nations sealed a modest agreement at the UN climate summit in the Brazilian Amazon on Saturday as many countries swallowed weaker terms on a fossil fuel phaseout to preserve unity. Nearly 200 countries approved the deal by co

UN Secretary-General António Guterres meets with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, President of Brazil (Photo: © UN Climate Change - Kiara Worth) UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell Transcript of opening remarks at closing press conference at COP30 22 November 2025, approx 6:30 pm Belém, Brazil So COP30 showed that climate cooperation is alive and kicking. Keeping humanity in the fight for a livable planet. And that’s despite roaring political headwinds. That, wh

Delegates during the session (Photo: © UN Climate Change - Kiara Worth)By Flick By AFP - Agence France Presse What did countries agree to at COP30? BELÉM, Brazil: The COP30 climate summit has drawn to a close after two weeks in the Amazonian city of Belem, where protests, street marche,s and even a fire caused unexpected moments of drama. But beneath enormous tents erected over a former airport at the edge of the rainforest, nations also adopted some decisions on how to battl

Nearly 200 nations had been holding talks for two weeks in the Brazilian Amazon city of Belem (PABLO PORCIUNCULA) By AFP - Agence France Presse UN Climate Summit Nears End As EU Accepts Watered-down Deal By Nick Perry and Issam Ahmed Nations neared a deal at the UN climate summit Saturday after the EU accepted a text with only an implicit nod to phasing out fossil fuels following fraught negotiations with oil producers and emerging countries. Nearly 200 nations had been holdi

This picture, obtained from Iran's ISNA news agency, shows a view of the fire in the forests of Chalus, which has been going on for several days in Chalus on November 21, 2025. (Photo by MEHRAB FARSAD / ISNA / AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Iran Seeks Help With Fire Threatening UNESCO-listed Forests Iran has requested foreign assistance in extinguishing a large fire that has ravaged UNESCO World Heritage-listed forests in the north of the country for several days, local m

Thomas Irwin, right, from the Tree Amigos volunteer group, plants the first of the Trees of Hope in Coventry (Jacob King/PA) By AFP - Agence France Presse First Saplings From Felled UK Tree To Be Planted Jordan Reynolds and Emily Beament, PA The first five saplings grown from one of the UK's most iconic trees after it was deliberately felled will be planted on Saturday, organisers said. Until September 2023, the tree had stood for nearly 200 years in a dramatic dip next to Ha

Alessandra Korap, a leader of the Munduruku people, takes part in a protest at COP30 (Pablo PORCIUNCULA). (Pablo PORCIUNCULA/AFP/AFP) By AFP - Agence France Presse Brazil's planned railway to the Amazon draws fire on the margins of COP30 Fran BLANDY Indigenous protesters at UN climate talks in Brazil have zeroed in on a major grievance: A planned railway that would stretch almost the distance from London to Berlin and cut through the Amazon rainforest. To farmers, the Ferrogr

At stake at COP30 is nothing less than proving that international cooperation can still function (PABLO PORCIUNCULA) By AFP - Agence France Presse COP30 Deal Under Threat As Nations Clash Over Fossil Fuels By Issam Ahmed, Julien Mivielle, and Nick Perry Negotiators scrambled Friday to salvage UN climate talks in Brazil as oil-producing nations were accused of resisting any reference to a fossil fuel phaseout in the final deal. After nearly two weeks of negotiations in the Ama