[posted on DW.com, November 13, 2017] Climate change activists on Monday hailed a German court’s decision to proceed with a Peruvian farmer’s case against German energy company RWE. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court in the German town of Hamm found that Saul Luciano Lliuya’s allegations that RWE’s contributions to global warming were threatening his hometown of Huaraz had merit. Luciano argues...

[From 350.org, for dissemination] Today, 350.org’s most ambitious plan yet will be laid out. We’re launching a new Fossil Free campaign in early 2018 and we’ll be broadcasting live from directly within the COP23 UN climate talks in Germany to give you a sneak preview. 350.org have been on the ground all week alongside the Pacific Climate Warriors and thousands of people demanding an end to the age of fossil fuels and real commitments...

[posted by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura on The New York Times, October 28, 2017] GISENYI, Rwanda — They are sometimes tucked into bras, hidden in underwear or coiled tightly around a smuggler’s arms. They’re not narcotics or even the illegally mined gold and diamonds that frequently make it across the border into Rwanda. But they are, at least in the eyes of Egide Mberabagabo, a watchful border guard, every bit as nefarious. The offending...

[By Kate Cahoon and Fenton Lutunatabua with the 350.org team in Bonn] As dawn rose yesterday morning, the Pacific Climate Warriors gathered in Manheim village in the heart of the Rhineland, one of Germany’s biggest coal-producing areas. Manheim is due to be consumed by an enormous, expanding open-pit coal mine, and the local villagers joined the Pacific Warriors in holding a beautiful, traditional Fijian ceremony, “to seek permission...

[posted on The Economist, August 29, 2017] But the number of deaths caused by them is falling. Houston is being battered by its worst storm in 50 years. Tropical Storm Harvey dumped almost 50 inches (1.27 metres) of rain in some areas in just over four days, with more set to come. That is a record for a tropical system in mainland America. A lack of sufficient drainage in the city of 6.5m people, which is built on thick clay soil on a...

[posted on The Guardian, August 14, 2017] Neonicotinoid drastically cuts egg-laying by queens, affecting their ability to start new colonies and increasing chances of local extinction, say scientists. A controversial pesticide can potentially wipe out common bumblebee populations by preventing the formation of new colonies, research has shown. The neonicotinoid chemical thiamethoxam dramatically reduces egg-laying by queen bumblebees,...