COP16 Sees Action Against Biomass Subsidies (Mongabay) 

In recent years, biofuel has gained tremendous popularity as an alternative to fossil fuels. Yet scientists have now demonstrated how burning forest biomass to produce energy emits more carbon emissions than coal when measured per unit of electricity generated. They also have evidence that forest-based products like wood pellets degrade carbon stores and biodiversity. It is a debate that has gained momentum in the ongoing COP16. 

Norway recently announced that electric vehicles (EV) now outnumber gas-powered ones on its highways for the first time—and that these vehicles comprise 80 percent of its current new car sales. While internal combustion engines (ICE) will not disappear for several years, Norway’s sales of ICE-powered vehicles will end abruptly in 2025.

A window into what we’re reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

Proliferation of Icebreakers in the Arctic (Foreign Policy) 

As climate change-induced melting of ice sheets clears new pathways, the fast-melting Arctic now has a new strategic race: icebreakers. Russia covers over half of what is defined as “Arctic” territory, and it has the largest number of icebreakers in the region. Russia’s attempt to consolidate and expand has led the US and its NATO allies to redefine their own Arctic security strategy.  

A window into what we are reading at the Wilson Center’s Environmental Change and Security Program

How One Loss and Damage Fund Bore Fruit (The Guardian)  

The Loss and Damage Fund established during the UN COP27 was a monumental breakthrough in the climate finance realm and aimed to provide financial assistance to vulnerable nations impacted by climate change. Such damage can be catastrophic. When Cyclone Freddy hit Malawi in 2023, it killed 1,200 people and displaced 659,000 more. The estimated economic loss exceeded $1 billion, and it landed especially hard on farmers—including the women who make up more than 70% of Malawi’s agricultural workforce. 

The widespread destruction of infrastructure has been a calamitous and common feature across many of the recent wars in the Middle East and North Africa and Ukraine—and urban landscapes such as Aleppo, Raqqa, Kharkiv, Mariupol, and Gaza City have borne the brunt of attacks. Without clean drinking water, electricity, treated sewage, food supplies, and medical services, cities become uninhabitable, disrupting the infrastructure upon which populations depend for basic services, and often leading to their forcible displacement. Civilians are also at risk of malnutrition, starvation, and preventable diseases that spread from dirty water and raw sewage in urban centers.