"The amount of carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere reached 419 parts per million in May, its highest level in more than four million years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced on Monday."
Corporate boardrooms are increasingly arenas in the fight over the future of energy and the environment, making it vital for journalists to understand the players, their motivations and the potential impacts on business planning. The new Issue Backgrounder explores the implications of recent news around investment policy, explaining some of its origins and deciphering the shifting scrimmage ahead.
"Group of Seven (G7) rich countries backed moves to force banks and companies to disclose their exposure to climate-related risks on Saturday, a measure seen as vital to efforts to safeguard the financial system from climate change shocks.
G7 finance ministers meeting in London also called for more coordination to measure what impact companies are having on the climate and environment, warning of the risk of fragmentation as local jurisdictions adopt different approaches.
"The world needs to restore nature on land areas equivalent to the size of China by 2030 if it is to feed a fast-growing population, curb pollution, halt species loss and meet global goals to tackle climate change, U.N. agencies said on Thursday."
"Fast-food restaurants and grocery store chains are joining a growing number of states in pushing “forever chemicals” out of food packaging, despite a federal thumbs-up that allows PFAS to touch what people eat."
"Giant distant-water fishing fleets, primarily from China, are switching off their tracking beacons to evade detection while they engage in a possibly illegal hunt for squid and other lucrative species on the very edge of Argentina’s extensive fishing grounds, according to a new study by Oceana, an international NGO dedicated to ocean conservation."
"Behind closed doors, shipbuilders and miners can speak on behalf of governments while regulating an industry that pollutes as much as all of America’s coal plants."
"A cyberattack on the world’s largest meat processor forced the shutdown of nine beef plants in the United States on Tuesday, according to union officials, and disrupted production at poultry and pork plants. The attack could upset the nation’s meat markets and raises new questions about the vulnerability of critical American businesses."
"The world’s leading economies have made lots of commitments lately about reducing carbon emissions, but their actions tell a different story. A report released Tuesday finds that between January 2020 and March 2021, G7 governments pumped $190 billion into supporting coal, oil, and gas, with the U.S. taking the prize for the most money spent on dirty industries."
New thinking and narratives are needed to solve complex environmental challenges like the climate crisis. But for journalists, the ongoing split between religion and environment beats hampers that effort. It’s a reality environmental journalist Meera Subramanian knows from conversations at her own kitchen table. So she helped organize a recent Society of Environmental Journalists’ webinar to explore closing the gap.
