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Paying the price of climate change: Louisiana's insurance crisis

Since the storms of 2020 and 2021, many insurance companies have left the US state of Louisiana or gone bankrupt. Those that remain have increased their rates five-fold in some cases. The poorest homeowners are now unable to pay the insurance needed for

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Does Moo Deng have competition from a younger, Scottish pygmy hippo?

PRESS REVIEW – Tuesday, November 5: We take a look at the US front pages ahead of the country's landmark presidential vote. Also: what, if any, difference will the election result make to the ongoing war in the Middle East? Finally, a pygmy hippo born at

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Sunday, november 3, 2024

UN biodiversity preservation talks end without deal on financing

The world's biggest nature conservation conference closed in Colombia on Saturday with no agreement on a roadmap to ramp up funding for species protection. With other successes under its belt, the 16th Conference of Parties (COP16) to the UN's Convention

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Saturday, november 2, 2024

COP16 ends with no agreement on funding roadmap for species protection

The biggest conference on nature conservation worldwide, COP16, came to a close on Saturday. But participants stopped short of making a decision on one of the biggest asks of the summit – agreeing on a detailed plan to increase funding for biodiversity.

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‘Worse and worse’: UNESCO reports surge in journalist killings

UN cultural body UNESCO on Saturday reported a surge in killings of journalists across the world with 162 deaths recorded in 2022 and 2023. The situation is getting “worse and worse, year after year”, said Richard Laurent, journalist and founder of Forbi

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Air pollution levels in Lahore rise 40 times above WHO limit

Air pollution levels in Pakistan's second biggest city Lahore reached an unprecedented high on Saturday, soaring more than 40 times above the WHO’s acceptable limit for pollutants. Authorities have imposed strict new restrictions, including partial work-

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Spain sends ten thousand more troops, police as flood death toll continues to rise

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced on Saturday that Spain will deploy an additional 10,000 soldiers and police to the eastern Valencia region, which has been devastated by floods that have killed over 200 people. Volunteers also sprang into action on

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COP16 biodiversity summit agrees on permanent body for Indigenous representation

Delegates from 196 countries at the UN biodiversity summit in Cali, Colombia, approved on Friday a permanent body to represent Indigenous interests under the convention. Representatives from Indigenous communities celebrated the agreement, which acknowle

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Friday, november 1, 2024

Death toll from Spain flash floods reaches 205 as troops search for missing people

Spain sent 500 extra troops to join the search for an unknown number of missing people three days after flash floods killed at least 205 people, according to emergency authorities. Many people are still trapped in their homes without electricity, running

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Spain sends 500 extra troops to search for missing people after deadly floods

Spain sent 500 extra troops to join the search for an unknown number of missing people three days after flash floods killed at least 158 people in the Valencia region. Many people are still trapped in their homes without electricity, running water or acc

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Typhoon Kong-rey makes landfall in Taiwan, killing at least 2

Two months after Typhoon Gaemi battered Taiwan, Typhoon Kong-rey made landfall on the island on Thursday, as massive waves, serious floods and ferocious winds cut power, cancelled flights, killed at least two people and injured 580.

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Thursday, october 31, 2024

Zimbabwe and Zambia grapple with their energy futures.

Clarisse Fortuné brings you a round-up of society, culture and hot topics from the continent. This week, Zimbabwe and Zambia are running on empty as drought dries up their shared hydroelectric dam. Now they must grapple with how to ensure their energy fu

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COP16 biodiversity summit enters 'heart-stopping' final day with divide over funding

The COP16 summit on biodiversity is set to end Friday with negotiations stalled over how to reach funding targets of $200 billion per year for biodiversity by 2030. Developing countries have called for more money and better representation in decision-mak

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EU's greenhouse gas emissions dropped by 'huge' 8% in 2023

Emissions linked to buildings, agriculture, domestic transport, small industry and waste fell by 8 percent in 2023, with the latest reports showing that the EU is bucking a global trend for continuously rising emissions. It is still in a race against tim

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Why Spain's floods are its deadliest in a generation

Spain is reeling from its worst flooding in decades after a year’s worth of rain fell in a matter of hours this week in the country’s southern and eastern regions. The storm began on Tuesday and has so far killed at least 158, prompting experts to weigh

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Spanish rescuers race to save flash flood victims as death toll tops 90

Emergency service workers recovered scores of bodies in the eastern Spanish region of Valencia on Wednesday after heavy rains battered the country's eastern and southern areas, causing flooding and disrupting air and rail travel. Three days of mourning w

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Wednesday, october 30, 2024

Shift toward more plant-based foods will drastically reduce emissions: expert

A new report from medical and health experts is warning that climate change – driven by fossil fuel emissions – is raising heat levels to dangerous new heights, while also worsening drought and food security. About a third of all human-caused greenhouse

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Brazilian rancher charged with illegally deforesting large stretch of Amazon

PRESS REVIEW – Wednesday, October 30: US papers react to Steve Bannon's release from prison, with just days to go before the country goes to the polls. In other news, a Brazilian rancher may have chemically deforested an area equivalent to New York City

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Spanish rescuers race to save flash flood victims as death toll tops 90

Emergency service workers recovered scores of bodies in the eastern Spanish region of Valencia on Wednesday after heavy rains battered the country's eastern and southern areas, causing flooding and disrupting air and rail travel. Three days of mourning w

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More than 150 dead in Spain’s devastating flash floods

Flash floods that ravaged eastern Spain this week have left at least 158 people dead, Spanish news agency EFE said on Thursday. Tens of thousands of homes in the region are without electricity and roads are blocked by vehicles and mud left by torrents of

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Tuesday, october 29, 2024

Tinned tuna contaminated with mercury: NGOs

Tinned tuna in many European countries is contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury, according to two environment pressure groups who called on retail stores and governments to take "urgent" measures. FRANCE 24's James Vasina reports.

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Tinned tuna sold in Europe contaminated with dangerous levels of mercury, NGOs say

Tuna sold in cans in stores across Europe including the UK, France, Italy, Germany and Spain contain harmful levels of mercury, environmental groups said Tuesday. In a test conducted by the NGO Bloom, more of half of the sampled tinned tuna was contamina

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Monday, october 28, 2024

Emissions cuts 'not happening far enough and fast enough,' UN warns

The UN's Environment Programme (UNEP) is warning that crunch time for the planet is now a reality, and that any time left for climate delays has already run out. It warns that extreme heatwaves, storms, droughts and floods are already ravaging communitie

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Countries' current carbon-cut pledges 'miles short' of 2030 goal, UN says

The United Nations warned on Monday that countries' current pledges for reducing carbon emissions fall "miles short", as greenhouse gas levels reached record highs in 2023. A separate report by UN Climate Change found that barely a dent is being made in

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Sunday, october 27, 2024

Death toll from Tropical Storm Trami in the Philippines rises to 110

The death toll from Tropical Storm Trami on Sunday hit 110 in the Philippines in what is the deadliest storm to hit the southeast Asian country this year. Floods and rain-induced landslides also forced thousands of people to flee their homes.

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Friday, october 25, 2024

Hatching of baby turtles in south of France puzzles scientists

Turtles have inhabited our oceans for over 150 million years, ever since dinosaurs roamed the Earth. Yet today, six out of seven living species are considered endangered. They usually live in tropical waters. However, since the late 2000s, one species –

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Paul Watson requests French nationality, French people support him in the street

Paul Watson was arrested in Greenland in July, on a warrant issued by the Japanese government in 2012. The activist is currently fighting extradition to Japan where he could face up to 15 years in prison for an incident in which a whaling ship was damage

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Thursday, october 24, 2024

UN warns 1.5C climate goal 'will soon be dead' without rapid emissions cut

World leaders are running out of time to stave off catastrophic climate change, Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned on Thursday as a UN report said current climate policies will result in global warming of more than 3 degrees Celsius by the end of

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Detained anti-whaling activist Paul Watson requests French nationality

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has applied for French nationality as he fights a Japanese attempt to have him extradited from Greenland, where the prominent anti-whaling activist was arrested in July. Watson has previously asked French President Emmanu

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Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson 'anxious but in fighting spirit', lawyer says

One of the lawyers defending the international environmentalist and anti-whaling activist Paul Watson has spoken of his outrage at his client’s further detention. A Greenland court has granted a fourth extension of Watson's time in jail for another thre

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More than 350 environmental activists killed in Colombia since 2018, says NGO report

A total of 361 people were killed in Colombia since 2018, a new report by the PARES foundation said Wednesday, linking some killings to armed groups fighting for territories coveted for illegal mining and coca production.

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Wednesday, october 23, 2024

Increasing the 'sponginess' of cities: How can urban centres adapt to heavy rainfall?

In the past year, many regions across France have faced "exceptional" levels of rainfall. According to the national weather agency, the country experienced on average almost 30 percent more rain than in 2023. This is partly due to climate change. But els

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Greenland further extends detention of anti-whaling activist Paul Watson

A court in Greenland has once again decided to extend the custody of anti-whaling campaigner Paul Watson, until November 13, while Denmark considers a Japanese extradition request.

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Monday, october 21, 2024

Are camembert and blue cheese heading for extinction?

The COP16 summit opens this Monday in the Colombian city of Cali, with the ambition to stimulate the still timid implementation of objectives to safeguard biodiversity by 2030. But what exactly is biodiversity and what are the drivers of the collapse of

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'Nature is on the brink of burnout,' WWF warns as COP16 biodiversity summit opens

What do African forest elephants, leatherback turtles in Guyana and river trout in mainland France have in common? The answer is that all three have been highlighted in the latest Living Planet report from the World Wide Fund for Nature. They are linked

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Trial opens over mining giant BHP's liability in 2015 Mariana dam disaster

A long-awaited civil trial related to one of Brazil's worst environmental disasters, the 2015 Mariana dam collapse, is getting underway in London. More than 620,000 people, including relatives of 19 people killed in toxic mud, are having their cases hear

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Crunch time for conserving nature's treasures as COP16 biodiversity summit kicks off

PRESS REVIEW – October 21: Financing conservation in the embattled Amazon rainforest is at the heart of the COP16 biodiversity summit in Colombia. In other news, Donald Trump vies for votes in the swing state of Pennsylvania by lauding golfer Arnold Palm

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UN COP16 biodiversity summit kicks off in Colombia with funding push

The world's largest nature protection conference opened in Colombia Monday. UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for urgent action and investment in the Global Biodiversity Framework Fund (GBFF) established last year. He urged countries to increa

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Sunday, october 20, 2024

COP16: What’s at stake at the UN biodiversity conference

The UN's 16th annual conference on biodiversity – COP16 – kicks off Monday in Colombia with the world's pledges to halt humankind's destruction of nature put to the test. Building on pledges made at last year's conference, the near 200 participating coun

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Saturday, october 19, 2024

What remains of the dried-out Aral Sea, a man-made ecological disaster?

The Aral Sea was once the fourth-largest lake in the world, but today all that remains of it is a vast desert wasteland. In the 1950s, the Soviet Union began diverting the rivers that fed the Aral Sea for cotton production, and over time, it dried out. S

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Friday, october 18, 2024

Rising sea levels threaten Bargny, a coastal town in Senegal

The UN's climate chief says that money from richer, developed countries "must be at the core" of a new deal to ramp up funding for poorer nations to combat global warming. Meanwhile Africa continues to feel the devastating effects of climate change.. inc

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Major floods in southeast France cause significant damage, power cuts

Major flooding caused swathes of France’s southeast region to suffer significant damage and power outages after days of heavy rain. But the red flood alert placed on six departments was downgraded to orange on Friday – a sign the water levels are expecte

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Thursday, october 17, 2024

Sustainable sipping: How the drinks industry can reduce its carbon footprint

Just how sustainable is your happy hour? The beverage industry is among those facing pressure to mitigate its impact on the environment. In 2021, it accounted for 3.8 percent of global carbon emissions. We take a closer look in this edition of People & P

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Wednesday, october 16, 2024

Can Europe get up to speed? Turbulent switch to electric vehicles

Can Europe compete? Part of the answer is on display in Hall 5 of the Paris Motor Show, which opened its doors to the public on Tuesday. Chinese maker BYD is signalling its play for the French market with affordable – albeit subsidised – fully electric m

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Anti-whaling activist Paul Watson asks France's Macron for political asylum

Sea Shepherd founder Paul Watson has asked the French president to grant him asylum as he fights a Japanese attempt to have him extradited from Greenland, where the prominent anti-whaling activist was arrested in July, his advocacy group told a press con

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Fast fashion dumpsites in Ghana: Greenpeace slams 'public health disaster'

Greenpeace is sounding the alarm over what it calls an environmental and public health disaster in Ghana, pointing the finger at fast fashion. The clothing is imported and meant to be sold in Accra's largest second-hand market, but it's of such bad quali

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Paris's Notre-Dame Cathedral grounds to get €55 million green revamp

As part of a broader city-wide transformation, the surroundings of the historic Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris will be transformed into an ecological oasis – with 1,800 square metres of green space and a bouquet of new trees. The plans were announced by M

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Tuesday, october 15, 2024

Citizen-led study finds banned pesticides in children in western France

Traces of pesticides, some of which were banned decades ago, have been found in the hair and urine of dozens of children living near the Aunis plain, an agricultural area located in western France. The findings were showcased by a citizen-led initiative

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Journalist Peter Schwartzstein on the link between climate change and conflict

From farmers-turned-pirates in Bangladesh to jihadists in Iraq using drought as a recruiting tool, a new book by environmental journalist Peter Schwartzstein explores the link between climate and conflict. "The Heat and the Fury: On the Frontlines of Cli

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Monday, october 14, 2024

Only one-third of Europe's surface water is in good health, report warns

Only 37 percent of Europe’s surface waters are in good condition, warns the European Environment Agency. Climate change, habitat degradation, freshwater overuse and pollution are key threats. "Our waters face unprecedented challenges," said EEA Executive

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The rooftops of Paris with the zinc craftsmen of the sky

Paris’s slate-grey zinc rooftops are a key part of the French capital’s visual identity. They have long inspired painters and filmmakers and only exist thanks to the expertise of the roofers who install and maintain the galvanised metal covering many of

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Saturday, october 12, 2024

World Migratory Bird Day: Insect population declining at an unprecedented rate

It's World Migratory Bird Day. In partnership with the UN, a number of international conservation societies are calling for more action to protect birds. This year, they want to raise awareness about the plight of insects upon which migratory birds depen

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Friday, october 11, 2024

South Africa struggles to repurpose coal-fired power plant after shutdown

South Africa’s Komati coal-fired power plant has been silent since its shutdown two years ago. It was considered at the time a pioneering move in the world’s transition to green energy. But two years on, those who lost their jobs in the process are still

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Thursday, october 10, 2024

Ukraine's vast forests devastated in hellscape of war

Ukraine's forests have become another serious casualty in the war with Russia. Shelling and fires have devastated vast areas, predominantly in the east of the country. This destruction is part of a larger environmental crisis affecting Ukraine's 10 milli

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Ukraine's vast forests devastated in hellscape of war

Ukraine's forests have become another serious casualty in the war with Russia. Shelling and fires have devastated vast areas, predominantly in the East of the country. This destruction is part of a larger environmental crisis affecting Ukraine's 10 milli

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'Irreversible' environmental disasters loom as global temperatures rise, new study finds

A major study published on Wednesday warns that even temporarily exceeding the 1.5°C global warming limit could lead to irreversible consequences, including rising sea levels and mass biodiversity loss. With global emissions still rising, scientists stre

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Floridians rush to evacuate prior to Hurricane Milton's landfall

Two weeks after Hurricane Helene wrecked havoc throughout southeastern US, Floridian residents left their homes and businesses as Hurricane Milton approaches the western Florida. US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urged affected resi

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'Extremely dangerous' Hurricane Milton slams Florida as 3 million left without power

Hurricane Milton slammed central Florida on Thursday after battering the state's west coast hours earlier, whipping up deadly tornadoes, destroying homes and leaving more than 3 million people without power. Authorities said at least 10 people died due t

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Wednesday, october 9, 2024

'Astonishing' how fast Hurricane Milton has intensified, WMO meteorologist says

An expanding Hurricane Milton closed in on Florida's west coast on Wednesday, spawning tornados and lashing the region with rain and wind hours ahead of its expected landfall near Tampa Bay, where it could deliver a life-threatening surge of seawater to

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'Astonishing' how fast Milton has intensified, WMO meteorologist says

An expanding Hurricane Milton closed in on Florida's west coast on Wednesday, spawning tornados and lashing the region with rain and wind hours ahead of its expected landfall near Tampa Bay, where it could deliver a life-threatening surge of seawater to

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