Sebastián Rodríguez

China unveils underwhelming emissions-cutting target for 2035 Experts say China's new 2035 goal to cut emissions by 7-10% from "peak levels" does not fully reflect its expansion of clean energy on the ground

China has announced a new emissions target of 7-10% cuts by 2035 from "peak levels". While it was deemed "insufficient" compared to the 30% cuts needed to align with 1.5C, it's much better than its previous targets (which it met 6 years early)
www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/24/c...

Fact-checked: Trump's UN tirade against climate action The US president's outspoken speech was littered with a string of misleading or false statements - many about efforts to fight climate change

The US president’s outspoken speech was littered with a string of misleading or false statements – many about efforts to fight climate change. @climatechangenews.com team is here with a fact check:
www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/24/f...

Explainer: what is the TFFF, Brazil's COP30 rainforest fund? The Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF), a rainforest fund proposed by Brazil, is expected to be launched at COP30.

Brazil has pledged $1bn to the TFFF - a proposed new fund to protect the world’s rainforests. It’s been called “innovative”, “promising” and “the right answer” to close the forest finance gap.

But how does it work? Here’s our breakdown of the TFFF: www.climatechangenews.com/2025/09/23/e...

Why we couldn’t agree on a plastics treaty in Geneva - and what might happen next Switzerland's lead negotiator at INC-5.2 reflects on why the talks didn't succeed - and the options now for getting an effective agreement

As countries were tasked with negotiating a treaty to end plastic pollution, the divide between 100 ambitious countries and oil- and gas- producing nations was too wide to bridge, writes Swiss lead negotiator Felix Wertli.

Read below his full acount of why the talks failed:

COP bureau meeting ends in stalemate as Brazil insists Belém logistics can work A UN survey showed a majority of nations had not yet booked hotels in Belém due to high costs, raising concerns about lower participation

What is going on with COP30? Brazil insists in holding the UN climate talks in the Amazon city of Belém. More than 120 countries have not yet booked hotels due to sky-high prices.

@mcivillini.bsky.social and @meganrowling.bsky.social bring the full story: www.climatechangenews.com/2025/08/22/c...

Brazil's environment minister suggests roadmap to end fossil fuels at COP30 Brazil's environment minister Marina Silva suggests this year's COP30 climate summit could result in a roadmap to guide a "planned and just transition"

Brazil’s environment minister told @mcivillini.bsky.social she has advocated for a roadmap to end fossil fuels to be agreed at COP30:

“The worst possible thing would be for us to not plan for this transition.”

Brazilian activists vow to fight Amazon oil auction in court Months before hosting COP30, Brazil auctioned 47 oil and gas blocks in the Amazon. Activitsts have vowed to challenge the process in court.

While it is easy to feel despair over Brazil’s auction of oil and gas blocks in the Amazon (19 blocks sold), it’s encouraging to see so many different sectors willing to put up a fight (prosecutors, activists, unions). It will be very hard for any drilling to happen soon

Is the world’s big idea for greener air travel a flight of fancy? Suspicions of fraud, ‘ridiculous’ data and a dearth of supplies - our investigation exposes the flaws in the airline industry’s big green hope: sustainable aviation fuel Our investigation exposes the ...

New investigation out: Has aviation's green dream hit turbulence?

Our team mapped the supply chain of sustainable aviation fuel coming into Europe. We found an industry plagued by fraud risks, an opaque supply and a limited capacity for traceability.

Sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) made used cooking oil is key for world's green aviation plans. A team of journalists from three continents reveals high fraud risks to it: Virgin palm oil – not permitted under EU law because of its links to rainforest loss – is being passed off as UCO. t.ly/Zd9-W

Does the world need a global treaty on energy transition minerals? As governments rush to secure supplies of the transition minerals needed, activists want a treaty with stronger governance rules

-Colombia is drumming up support for a legally binding minerals agreement
-An alliance of NGOs wants to get the issue onto the agenda of this year’s COP30 climate talks
-experts are calling for a new materials data hub

Brazil seeks early deals on contentious issues at Bonn climate talks Brazil is seeking advances on the Just Transition Work Programme (JTWP) and recommendations from the 2023 GST during the Bonn climate talks

First signs from Brazil's COP30 presidency at Climate Week in Panama: they want an "early harvest" on just transition talks and might take on the fossil fuel fight early on. www.climatechangenews.com/2025/05/23/b...

US tariffs threaten solar panel production and jobs in Thailand Chinese firms turned Thailand into a solar module assembly hub. Now thousands of workers are caught in a trade war between the US and China

New from our Clean Energy Frontier series:

Chinese solar companies turned Thailand into a solar module assembly hub. Now thousands of Thai workers are caught in a trade war between Washington and Beijing

Exclusive: US seeks to weaken global development finance efforts, UN document shows The United States is seeking to weaken a global deal aimed at helping developing countries struggling with the impacts of climate change and other issues, an internal United Nations document seen by Reuters showed.

Exclusive: The U.S. is seeking to weaken a global deal aimed at helping developing countries struggling with the impacts of climate change and other issues, an internal UN document showed👇

Story with Simon Jessop on the UN development finance negotiations #FfD4

www.reuters.com/sustainabili...

Trump's first 100 days: US walks away from global climate action Trump's climate action decisions have pulled the plug on the UN climate process and its financial contributions, while backing fossil fuels

100 days of Trump: we compiled a few examples of how the US has made climate action more difficult at the global stage www.climatechangenews.com/2025/04/29/t...

It's difficult to overstate how important this is, especially in the context of the US going rogue

Amazon indigenous people call for oil drilling ban at COP30 Dozens of indigenous nations from different countries are calling for an oil drilling ban in the world's largest rainforest at COP30

“When this company started extracting gas in our territory and I started negotiating for them to stop, they offered me apartments, cars, houses. But my people would remain suffering, so I refused,” said indigenous leader Jonas Mura. “That’s why they wanted to kill me.”

Trump's tariff tantrum won't stop the global energy transition The US's share of the cleantech trade is too small to dictate the terms of the energy transition, but Trump's tariff decisions will do harm

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#Trump has such a passion for tariffs he even imposed them on Antarctic islands – home only to #penguins 🐧, who presumably pose a grave threat to American industry.

✍️ In this oped for @climatechangenews.com I detail why other than penguins, the #energytransition is safe from Trump’s #tariffs.

While it contains many good news, one of the most unsettling facts in the new @iea.org report is that climate change is itself making the energy transition more difficult.

If weather in 2024 would’ve been slightly less extreme, emissions rise would’ve been cut in half

Carbon credit auditors suspended in sham rice-farming offsets Verra suspended four carbon credit certification bodies that failed to spot integrity issues with rice-farming offset projects

NEW: Carbon credit auditors suspended for failures in sham rice-farming offsets

Verra has taken unprecedented action against four certification bodies that failed to spot integrity issues with the projects. But worthless credits still need to be compensated.

Global leaders will speak before COP30, easing logistics crunch Authorities say that the global leaders talking before the COP30 summit will enable climate negotiators to reflect on their speeches

In a break from routine at the UN’s annual climate conference, Brazilian organizers for COP30 are scheduling key world leaders’ speeches — normally headline events — for the days prior to the conference’s official kick-off. By @sebastianrodvar.bsky.social for @climatechangenews.com…

YouTube video by Covering Climate Now Charla CCNow: Cómo cubrir el cambio climático en América Latina y para audiencias hispanohablantes

🌎 Ayer fue el 1er webinario en español de @coveringclimatenow.org

Junto a Ana Bueno, @sebastianrodvar.bsky.social y Elena González conversamos sobre cómo cubrir el cambio climático desde América Latina y para audiencias hispanohablantes

Pueden ver la charla grabada aquí:
youtu.be/jKvkgFBsmog?...

Risk of financial fallout may deter Argentina from leaving Paris Agreement Mile has expressed his will to take Argentina out of the Paris Agreement, but key trade partners and foreign aid may stand in the way

Argentina is considering leaving the Paris Agreement, following the US exit in January. President Milei, a climate skeptic, says he doesn’t “adhere to the environmentalist agenda”—but analysts warn withdrawal could harm trade and climate finance.

We found a massive methane leak in the city of Minatitlán, in Mexico’s oil and gas heartland.

Residents and oil workers both said they’ve experienced nausea, headaches and other symptoms during leakage events. They recognise ammonia leaks more easily, because of the particular smell

While Pemex managed to reduce flaring in 2023, gas venting kept growing steadily in part due to constant leaks. Worn out infrastructure and recurrent accidents have originated leaks.

Oil giant Pemex emissions threaten Mexico's net zero goal Pemex, Mexico's state oil company, has failed to control its methane emissions despite corporate promises - threatening the country's goals

Despite corporate promises to control methane emissions, Mexico’s state oil company Pemex has increased gas flaring and venting in the past decade, which could threaten the country’s net zero by 2050 goal and impact local communities

New @climatehome.bsky.social investigation in Mexico

What was agreed at biodiversity COP16.2 in Rome? The resumed session of the COP16.2 UN biodiversity talks ended in Rome with an agreement on finance, a critical issue for nature.

Negotiators at biodiversity COP16.2 agreed on a 5-year finance roadmap, at a time when consensus seemed difficult. Still, as one Bolivian delegate said, "biodiversity cannot wait for a bureaucratic process that lasts forever".

Check out @climatehome.bsky.social wrap up of the meeting in Rome

At COP16 plenary, the Argentinian delegate asks to eliminate references to the SDGs from the finance text, in line with Milei's attack on the 2030 goals.

COP presidency reminds them most of the text was already agreed after discussions in Cali. Asks to focus on finance for "best use of our time"

Biodiversity COP16.2 opened with the same divisions seen in Cali. Countries are fighting over where to house the biodiversity fund.

BRICS and Africa want it out of the GEF. EU wants to keep it in the GEF. Parties were clear that other decisions would depend on a positive deal on finance

UN biodiversity reports that just 13 ministers will attend the COP16 resumed session in Rome kicking off tomorrow.

Some observers worry that discussions on biodiversity finance might need ministerial-level negotiations to unravel.

Ahead of COP30, Brazil's Lula pushes for oil drilling in the Amazon Months before COP30, Brazil's president Lula da Silva seeks the expedited approval of a controversial oil drilling project in the Amazon.

After three UN climate summits being hosted by major fossil fuel producers, hopes were that Brazil would host a COP without the shadow of oil and gas.

While COP30 might still leave room for a discussion on the fossil fuels transition, its host country is sending mixed signals.