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Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [1]

Explore our 10th annual Journalists’ Guide to Environment + Energy, as we scour the beat to identify 15 top stories to put on your radar for 2026. Our updated format for the special report provides a quick read and a broad scope — with insights on climate change and environmental justice, bird and insect declines, data centers and deep sea mining, deregulation and PFAS and much more. Get started here [1].

SEJ Publication Types: 
SEJ News [2]
Topics on the Beat: 
Activism [3]
Agriculture [4]
Air [5]
Biodiversity [6]
Chemicals [7]
Climate Change [8]
Disasters [9]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Environmental Studies [15]
Fish & Fisheries [16]
Forests [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Infrastructure [20]
Journalism & Media [21]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Military [23]
Natural Resources [24]
Policy [25]
Pollution [26]
Science [27]
Technology [28]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region: 
National (U.S.) [32]
Alaska and Hawaii [33]
California [34]
Great Lakes (IL IN MI MN OH WI) [35]
Great Plains (IA KS ND NE MO SD) [36]
Mid-Atlantic (DC DE MD PA VA WV) [37]
Mountain West (CO ID MT NV UT WY) [38]
Northeast (CT MA ME NH NJ NY RI VT) [39]
Northwest (OR WA) [40]
SE (AL AR FL GA KY LA MS NC PR SC TN) [41]
Southwest (AZ NM OK TX) [42]
International [43]
Visibility: 
Public [44]
  • Read more about Top Environment and Energy Topics To Watch in 2026 [1]

From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [45]

When writer Gulnaz Khan saw how global warming drove both natural loss and spiritual breaks for surrounding human communities, it started her on a PBS documentary series exploring sacred sites around the world threatened by climate change. But she also undertook another odyssey, one from writer to visual storyteller. What she learned on her journey from text to screen, in the new EJ InSight column.

SEJ Publication Types: 
EJ InSight [46]
Topics on the Beat: 
Agriculture [4]
Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Food [47]
Forests [17]
Government [18]
Health [19]
Journalism & Media [21]
Natural Resources [24]
People & Population [48]
Pollution [26]
Religion, Faith and Spirituality [49]
Science [27]
Waste [29]
Water & Oceans [30]
Wildlife [31]
Region: 
International [43]
Africa [50]
Asia [51]
South America [52]
Visibility: 
Public [44]
  • Read more about From Words to Frames — Writer Learns To Wield Power of Visual Storytelling [45]

"Trump Logging Plan Threatens Centuries-Old Trees, Fuels Lawsuits" [53]

"Visiting a freshly logged forest in western Oregon earlier this fall, retired federal wildlife surveyor Erich Reeder stepped over mangled tree roots and dead limbs scattered across a denuded slope that was once an evergreen forest. He squatted over a foot-tall Douglas fir stump to count its rings: 120 years old."

Biodiversity [6]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Wildlife [31]
Public [44]
National (U.S.) [32]
Source: Bloomberg Environment [54], 12/04/2025
  • Read more about "Trump Logging Plan Threatens Centuries-Old Trees, Fuels Lawsuits" [53]

"More Than 300 Lobbyists for Industrial Agriculture Attend COP30" [55]

"More than 300 lobbyists for food and farming organisations have participated at this year’s United Nations climate talks, known as COP30, taking place in the Brazilian Amazon, where agribusiness is the leading cause of deforestation, a new investigation has found."

Agriculture [4]
Climate Change [8]
Economy & Business [10]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Journalism & Media [21]
People & Population [48]
Public [44]
International [43]
South America [52]
Source: DeSmog [56], 11/21/2025
  • Read more about "More Than 300 Lobbyists for Industrial Agriculture Attend COP30" [55]

India Delays Climate Pledge, Pressures Rich Nations On Funding At COP30 [57]

"India is unlikely to submit its climate pledge before the end of the annual United Nations climate summit, raising questions about how the world’s most populous nation can influence others on confronting climate change. Experts say the delay may be a sign of India’s displeasure with a lack of progress toward funding global climate priorities. However, this can also hurt its ability to lead at the climate talks in Brazil."

Climate Change [8]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Pollution [26]
Public [44]
International [43]
Source: AP [58], 11/20/2025
  • Read more about India Delays Climate Pledge, Pressures Rich Nations On Funding At COP30 [57]

At COP30, Amazon Rainforest Is Center Stage for Climate Catastrophe [59]

With the COP30 U.N. climate talks starting this week in Brazil, in the heart of the Amazon River basin, our Issue Backgrounder points out that now is a critical time to consider a central question: Is the mandate to save the immense Amazon rainforest as a way to combat climate change being irretrievably undermined by the vast, destructive forces bringing about the rainforest’s rapid destruction?

SEJ Publication Types: 
Backgrounders [60]
Topics on the Beat: 
Agriculture [4]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Natural Resources [24]
Water & Oceans [30]
Region: 
International [43]
South America [52]
Visibility: 
Public [44]
  • Read more about At COP30, Amazon Rainforest Is Center Stage for Climate Catastrophe [59]

As Carbon Markets Fail, What Happens To Forests They Promised To Protect? [61]

"After it was found most offsets did not represent real carbon reductions, the money dried up. But successful schemes such as Kasigau in Kenya now face a stark future"

Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Economy & Business [10]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Public [44]
International [43]
Source: Guardian [62], 11/07/2025
  • Read more about As Carbon Markets Fail, What Happens To Forests They Promised To Protect? [61]

At COP30, Leaders Say Time Running Short To Stop Worst Effects Of Warming [63]

"World leaders warned Thursday that time is running short for urgent and decisive action to prevent the worst effects of climate change, and blasted the United States for its retreat from those efforts, as they gathered at the edge of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest for the annual United Nations climate summit."

Climate Change [8]
Disasters [9]
Energy & Fuel [11]
Environmental Health [12]
Environmental Justice [13]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Pollution [26]
Science [27]
Public [44]
National (U.S.) [32]
International [43]
Source: AP [64], 11/07/2025
  • Read more about At COP30, Leaders Say Time Running Short To Stop Worst Effects Of Warming [63]

"Carbon Offsets Are Failing. Can a New Plan Save the Rainforests?" [65]

"Brazil is set to unveil an ambitious international plan that would provide up to $4 billion a year to countries that protect their tropical forests. Proponents see it as a potential game-changer for forest conservation, but some ecologists and economists are raising concerns."

Biodiversity [6]
Climate Change [8]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Pollution [26]
Public [44]
International [43]
South America [52]
Source: YaleE360 [66], 11/04/2025
  • Read more about "Carbon Offsets Are Failing. Can a New Plan Save the Rainforests?" [65]

"Emergency Language In Wildfire Bill Splits Environmentalists" [67]

"A fast-moving bill to reduce wildfire risks in national forests would give the Agriculture Department a work-around past even the bill’s modest environmental safeguards, making the measure tough to swallow for some environmentalists and Hill Democrats."

Disasters [9]
Environmental Politics [14]
Forests [17]
Laws & Regulations [22]
Public [44]
National (U.S.) [32]
Source: E&E News [68], 11/04/2025
  • Read more about "Emergency Language In Wildfire Bill Splits Environmentalists" [67]

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Source URL:https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests

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[1] https://www.sej.org/publications/sej-news/top-environment-and-energy-topics-watch-2026 [2] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/sej-news [3] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/activism [4] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/agriculture [5] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/air [6] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/biodiversity-1 [7] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/chemicals/toxics [8] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/climate-change [9] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/disaster [10] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/business [11] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/energy [12] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-health [13] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-justice [14] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmental-politics [15] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/environmentalists [16] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/fisheries [17] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests [18] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/government [19] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/health [20] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/infrastructure [21] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/journalism/media [22] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/laws [23] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/military [24] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/land [25] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/policy [26] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/pollution [27] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/science [28] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/technology [29] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/waste [30] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/water [31] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/wildlife [32] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national [33] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/alaska-and-hawaii [34] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/california [35] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-lakes [36] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/great-plains [37] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mid-atlantic [38] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/mountain-west [39] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northeast [40] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/northwest [41] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southeast [42] https://www.sej.org/category/region/national/southwest [43] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international [44] https://www.sej.org/taxonomy/term/81 [45] https://www.sej.org/publications/ej-insight/words-frames-writer-learns-wield-power-visual-storytelling [46] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/ej-insight [47] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/food [48] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/people-population [49] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/religion-faith-and-spirituality [50] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/africa [51] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/asia [52] https://www.sej.org/category/region/international/south-america [53] https://www.sej.org/headlines/trump-logging-plan-threatens-centuries-old-trees-fuels-lawsuits [54] https://news.bloomberglaw.com/environment-and-energy/trump-logging-plan-threatens-centuries-old-trees-fuels-lawsuits [55] https://www.sej.org/headlines/more-300-lobbyists-industrial-agriculture-attend-cop30 [56] https://www.desmog.com/2025/11/18/more-than-300-lobbyists-for-industrial-agriculture-are-attending-cop30/ [57] https://www.sej.org/headlines/india-delays-climate-pledge-pressures-rich-nations-funding-cop30 [58] https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-cop30-india-pollution-global-warming-cbf0e66e2aca48a5b4c2bc3c3e91bff9 [59] https://www.sej.org/publications/backgrounders/cop30-amazon-rainforest-center-stage-climate-catastrophe [60] https://www.sej.org/category/sej-publication-types/backgrounders [61] https://www.sej.org/headlines/carbon-markets-fail-what-happens-forests-they-promised-protect [62] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/nov/06/carbon-offsetting-market-collapses-what-happens-to-the-forests-they-hoped-to-protect-aoe [63] https://www.sej.org/headlines/cop30-leaders-say-time-running-short-stop-worst-effects-warming [64] https://apnews.com/article/climate-cop30-brazil-belem-united-nations-lula-f8eabaf096fd5e0ab58dba001b5486e6 [65] https://www.sej.org/headlines/carbon-offsets-are-failing-can-new-plan-save-rainforests [66] https://e360.yale.edu/features/tropical-forest-forever-facility-cop30 [67] https://www.sej.org/headlines/emergency-language-wildfire-bill-splits-environmentalists [68] https://www.eenews.net/articles/emergency-language-in-wildfire-bill-splits-environmentalists/ [69] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=1 [70] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=2 [71] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=3 [72] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=4 [73] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=5 [74] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=6 [75] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=7 [76] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=8 [77] https://www.sej.org/category/topics-beat/forests?page=186