Investigations & Special Projects Editor at Climate Home Newshttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.socialhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lzmbagdnwk2wChina has announced a new emissions target of 7-10% cuts by 2035 from "peak levels". While it was deemed "insufficient" compared to the 30% cuts needed to align with 1.5C, it's much better than its previous targets (which it met 6 years early) https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/24/china-unveils-underwhelming-emissions-cutting-target-for-2035/24 Sep 2025 20:21 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzmbagdnwk2whttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lzm2bvh5ws2tThe US president’s outspoken speech was littered with a string of misleading or false statements – many about efforts to fight climate change. @climatechangenews.com team is here with a fact check: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/24/fact-checked-trumps-un-tirade-against-renewables-climate-deals-and-environmentalists/24 Sep 2025 18:17 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzm2bvh5ws2thttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lzlv3jxxns2mBrazil has pledged $1bn to the TFFF - a proposed new fund to protect the world’s rainforests. It’s been called “innovative”, “promising” and “the right answer” to close the forest finance gap. But how does it work? Here’s our breakdown of the TFFF: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/23/explainer-brazil-forest-finance-financial-markets-tfff-cop30-rainforest-fund/24 Sep 2025 16:44 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lzlv3jxxns2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lwzgtrcxe22nWhat is going on with COP30? Brazil insists in holding the UN climate talks in the Amazon city of Belém. More than 120 countries have not yet booked hotels due to sky-high prices. @mcivillini.bsky.social and @meganrowling.bsky.social bring the full story: https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/08/22/cop-bureau-meeting-stalemate-brazil-insists-belem-logistics-work-hotels/22 Aug 2025 21:50 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lwzgtrcxe22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lskvdfxxcs2sBrazil’s environment minister told @mcivillini.bsky.social she has advocated for a roadmap to end fossil fuels to be agreed at COP30: “The worst possible thing would be for us to not plan for this transition.” https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/06/26/brazils-environment-minister-suggests-roadmap-to-end-fossil-fuels-at-cop30/27 Jun 2025 05:19 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lskvdfxxcs2shttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lsfihtfuxc2nWhile it is easy to feel despair over Brazil’s auction of oil and gas blocks in the Amazon (19 blocks sold), it’s encouraging to see so many different sectors willing to put up a fight (prosecutors, activists, unions). It will be very hard for any drilling to happen soon https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/06/25/brazilian-activists-vow-fight-amazon-oil-auction-court-hail-partial-victor-unsold-blocks/25 Jun 2025 01:46 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lsfihtfuxc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lryls6hcjc2nNew investigation out: Has aviation's green dream hit turbulence? Our team mapped the supply chain of sustainable aviation fuel coming into Europe. We found an industry plagued by fraud risks, an opaque supply and a limited capacity for traceability. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/06/18/is-the-worlds-big-idea-for-greener-air-travel-a-flight-of-fancy/19 Jun 2025 22:40 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lryls6hcjc2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lq5y3k7x6s2e-Colombia is drumming up support for a legally binding minerals agreement -An alliance of NGOs wants to get the issue onto the agenda of this year’s COP30 climate talks -experts are calling for a new materials data hub https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/05/26/does-the-world-need-a-global-treaty-on-energy-transition-minerals/27 May 2025 15:13 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lq5y3k7x6s2ehttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lptzz73fvs2hFirst signs from Brazil's COP30 presidency at Climate Week in Panama: they want an "early harvest" on just transition talks and might take on the fossil fuel fight early on. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/05/23/brazil-seeks-early-deals-on-two-contentious-issues-at-bonn-climate-talks/23 May 2025 16:21 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lptzz73fvs2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lok3o2berc2fNew from our Clean Energy Frontier series: Chinese solar companies turned Thailand into a solar module assembly hub. Now thousands of Thai workers are caught in a trade war between Washington and Beijing https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/05/06/solar-squeeze-us-tariffs-threaten-panel-production-and-jobs-in-thailand/06 May 2025 23:59 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lok3o2berc2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lnyzbvtby22n100 days of Trump: we compiled a few examples of how the US has made climate action more difficult at the global stage https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/04/29/trumps-first-100-days-us-walks-away-from-global-climate-action/30 Apr 2025 05:01 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lnyzbvtby22nhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lninko47mk2iIt's difficult to overstate how important this is, especially in the context of the US going rogue [contains quote post or other embedded content]23 Apr 2025 16:49 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lninko47mk2ihttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lni6lxyatc27“When this company started extracting gas in our territory and I started negotiating for them to stop, they offered me apartments, cars, houses. But my people would remain suffering, so I refused,” said indigenous leader Jonas Mura. “That’s why they wanted to kill me.” https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/04/23/shameful-amazon-indigenous-people-assembly-oil-drilling-ban-cop30/23 Apr 2025 12:21 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lni6lxyatc27https://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3llalvulhtk2oWhile it contains many good news, one of the most unsettling facts in the new @iea.org report is that climate change is itself making the energy transition more difficult. If weather in 2024 would’ve been slightly less extreme, emissions rise would’ve been cut in half26 Mar 2025 01:07 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3llalvulhtk2ohttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3ljijepzli22qDespite corporate promises to control methane emissions, Mexico’s state oil company Pemex has increased gas flaring and venting in the past decade, which could threaten the country’s net zero by 2050 goal and impact local communities New @climatehome.bsky.social investigation in Mexico https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/03/03/oil-giant-pemex-struggles-to-control-methane-emissions-threatening-mexicos-net-zero-goal/03 Mar 2025 17:53 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljijepzli22qhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3ljawnx64cs2pNegotiators at biodiversity COP16.2 agreed on a 5-year finance roadmap, at a time when consensus seemed difficult. Still, as one Bolivian delegate said, "biodiversity cannot wait for a bureaucratic process that lasts forever". Check out @climatehome.bsky.social wrap up of the meeting in Rome https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/02/28/un-biodiversity-talks-finance-2030-roadmap-fund-nature/28 Feb 2025 17:29 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3ljawnx64cs2phttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lj3z2fnih22zAt COP16 plenary, the Argentinian delegate asks to eliminate references to the SDGs from the finance text, in line with Milei's attack on the 2030 goals. COP presidency reminds them most of the text was already agreed after discussions in Cali. Asks to focus on finance for "best use of our time"26 Feb 2025 18:29 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lj3z2fnih22zhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lizwyygbcc2pBiodiversity COP16.2 opened with the same divisions seen in Cali. Countries are fighting over where to house the biodiversity fund. BRICS and Africa want it out of the GEF. EU wants to keep it in the GEF. Parties were clear that other decisions would depend on a positive deal on finance25 Feb 2025 22:47 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lizwyygbcc2phttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3liwfsjhgqk2qUN biodiversity reports that just 13 ministers will attend the COP16 resumed session in Rome kicking off tomorrow. Some observers worry that discussions on biodiversity finance might need ministerial-level negotiations to unravel.24 Feb 2025 13:01 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3liwfsjhgqk2qhttps://bsky.app/profile/sebastianrodvar.bsky.social/post/3lip64l4cy22sAfter three UN climate summits being hosted by major fossil fuel producers, hopes were that Brazil would host a COP without the shadow of oil and gas. While COP30 might still leave room for a discussion on the fossil fuels transition, its host country is sending mixed signals. https://www.climatechangenews.com/2025/02/20/lulas-government-pushes-for-new-oil-drilling-in-the-amazon-cop-30/21 Feb 2025 15:55 +0000at://did:plc:ooaes3y4vfunihs2lntv7dej/app.bsky.feed.post/3lip64l4cy22s