Global heating will hit at least 1.8C, UN warns, and there are ‘no good outcomes’
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/sep/02/global-heating-warming-1-8c-best-case-scenario-un-united-nations-enviro
But scientists say the world could get back to 1.5C through deep, rapid emissions cuts and removing carbon from the atmosphere
‘We’re up against forces that have all the money in the world’: Erin Brockovich on her battle against AI datacentres | Energy | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/29/were-up-against-forces-that-have-all-the-money-in-the-world-erin-brocko
In 1993, she squeezed a $333m settlement from a Californian energy company in a scandal over contaminated water. Three decades later, she has a new target in her sights – and it’s global
When Erin Brockovich woke to find 30 emails from people from the same town, she realised something was going on. People email Brockovich all the time because of what happened in 1993, when she was instrumental in suing Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) on behalf of residents of the town of Hinkley, California, whose groundwater had been contaminated. The case resulted in a settlement of $333m – then the largest ever payout for a direct-action lawsuit. When she was immortalised by Julia Roberts in the 2000 film Erin Brockovich, she became the hero we didn’t know we needed, a modern day Joan of Arc. She had won against PG&E with no formal legal training.
The emails she received a few weeks ago were about datacentres. In April, she put a callout on her website asking for anyone with concerns about one near them to get in touch. Within a month, 3,862 people had replied. Tech companies have needed datacentres to power their technology “for ever”, she says, but the new ones being built to power AI? “This feels like Hinkley on steroids.”
This isn’t a story about AI, she says. “That genie is out of the bottle: it’s here, it’s an effective tool, you can use it or not,” Brockovich says matter-of-factly. This is about the massive structures being built to house the vast computing facilities AI requires. These datacentres, she says, stretch over “hundreds and hundreds of acres”. In May, Utah gave approval to a centre twice the size of Manhattan.
Some of the emails Brockovich gets from people near datacentres express genuine bafflement: “Why did I not know about this? How did this construction just start? Why am I now getting a notice from the city council that this has already passed when I didn’t even have a voice in it?” Others reflect concerns about the impact of the centres: “What about our resources? What’s happening to the water? Who’s paying for all this energy and am I going to foot that bill? What will the future impact on health be from these monstrosities? What’s going to happen to the wildlife?”
From the emails, Brockovich built a map of significant AI datacentres in the US that are either operational or under construction, overlaid with locations where community members have emailed in concerns. This open-source document is chilling: as of 24 June, 33 AI datacenters have been completed and are operational, 68 are under construction and 41 are proposed. And there had been 7,005 reports submitted through the online form, which is to say, all that is known about them is what people have seen. As a post on her Substack blog is headlined: “If data centers are so great, why are they being built in secret?”
Bomb the Arctic, dam the Mediterranean and build a second moon: five outlandish plans to remodel our #climate | #Geoengineering
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jul/06/five-outlandish-plans-to-remodel-earth-climate
#Humans have long sought to #geoengineer the Earth’s environment. Tim Flannery outlines a few of the wildest ideas from the 20th century
An increasing number of scientists think we have let the climate crisis fester for so long that our only hope to stave off ever-intensifying catastrophes is to use #technological interventions. Cloud brightening, injecting sulphur into the #atmosphere and the use of tiny mirrors in space – all of which might reduce the amount of sunlight reaching Earth’s surface – are among the concepts being promoted by entrepreneurs and governments alike. Geoengineering, they argue, is now inevitable.
#tina
Record winter temperatures in Antarctic raise fears over speed of climate breakdown | Polar regions
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jun/10/record-winter-temperatures-in-antarctic-raise-fears-over-speed-of-clima
Temperatures above 15C ‘very strange’ say scientists, as snow melts and rain falls on glaciers in usually frozen region
Tu trouveras sur SeenThis des posts qui évoquent le fait que nous sommes déjà dans certaines régions du monde à +1,5°C. Mais cette semaine, on te disait sur les réseaux que les scientifiques évaluaient le passage à +1,5°C pour 2030, c’est à dire qu’on te disait qu’on n’y était pas encore.
La même semaine, on te dit qu’il fait 15°C au Pôle Sud. J’imagine qu’on va te dire que c’est déjà arrivé, et qu’il faut arrêter avec cette fake news après tout, parce que tout va aller mieux demain, quand on aura tous voté pour l’extrême droite et qu’on pourra enfin s’en prendre aux étrangers, et vivre d’abus de biens sociaux comme tous les bobos gauchiasses de la capitale.
Le réchauffement climatique dû aux activités humaines atteindra 1,5 °C autour de 2030
▻https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2026/06/11/le-rechauffement-climatique-du-aux-activites-humaines-devrait-atteindre-1-5-
Dans une étude publiée jeudi, un consortium de chercheurs confirme que le seuil le plus ambitieux de l’accord de Paris sur le climat, signé en 2015, devrait être dépassé dans les quatre prochaines années.
Et cependant, d’aucuns pensent encore qu’il vaut mieux être « fataliste » ...
Tout à fait, c’est l’autre population pénible : les fatalistes. Trump démontre au quotidien qu’au-delà d’être climato-sceptique, il est sans le dire vraiment dans le camp des fatalistes et qu’il compte faire taire ceux qui ne cessent de vouloir prendre le pouvoir à sa place, en estimant qu’il faut cesser de se comporter comme ces 3 derniers siècles. Ce type qui répond à Zaka est un petit Trump. Il aimerait lui aussi avoir le pouvoir de faire taire ceux qui accumulent les preuves et communiquent sur ces preuves. Il aimerait lui aussi avoir le pouvoir de démanteler les sondes marines qui documentent l’arrêt de l’AMOC. Etc.
Macron, avec son #Béchu qui nous a déclaré qu’il allait préparer la France à +4°C, sans nous dire ce que ça signifiait matériellement pour la population (on a des posts qui le disent, et c’est pas joli), c’est une sorte de coming-out fataliste. Ils sont conscients de ce qui nous attend, et ils ont décidé qu’il n’y avait rien à faire pour tenter d’infléchir la pente savonneuse, parce qu’en fait, c’est eux qui vendent le savon, et que si on n’achète plus de savon, ils n’auront plus les moyens d’être au pouvoir. Bref, un cynisme insupportable.
Louis-Andre Millamomarte (de X), vu la réponse, amha c’est juste un gros troll facho, et pas spécialement fataliste. Son « on y peut rien » n’est que rethorique, pour rallonger voire « justifier » le cœur de son message, très simple : TG.
‘Suicidal’ model of capitalism leading to war and fascism, climate summit told
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/apr/29/capitalism-colombia-climate-summit-gustavo-petro
Colombia president Gustavo Petro tells 57-country talks on a green energy transition that fossil fuel interests could destroy humanity
traduction en français :
▻https://justpaste.it/nakce
Beef and lamb get 580 times more in EU subsidies than legumes, study finds
Report says common agricultural policy provides ‘unfair’ levels of support to unhealthy, meat-heavy diets
Beef and lamb receive 580 times more in EU subsidies than legumes, a report has found, despite scientists urging people to get more of their protein from less harmful sources.
Analysis by the charity Foodrise found the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) provides “unfair” levels of support to meat-heavy diets that doctors consider unhealthy and climate scientists consider environmentally destructive.
It found beef and lamb were subsidised 580 times more than legumes in 2020, while pork was subsidised nearly 240 times more. Dairy, meanwhile, received 554 times more in subsidies than nuts and seeds.
The EU spends almost a third of its budget supporting farmers, with the bulk of CAP funds allocated on the basis of farm size, rather than strategic considerations. Meat and dairy – which use land to grow crops to feed animals – take a larger share than plants, particularly once the subsidies in feed have been counted.
Martin Bowman, a campaigner at Foodrise and author of the report, said the analysis showed livestock benefited from disproportionate support even before counting hidden societal costs, such as pollution.
“It’s scandalous that billions of euros of EU taxpayer money is being used to prop up such a high-emissions industry at a time when scientists are telling us that we need – on health and environmental grounds – to shift to lower-meat diets,” he said.
The data comes from an academic study, available as a preprint, that traced EU subsidies for different foods in 2020 using the same methods as a study published in Nature Food in 2024. Some experts expressed caution about the scale of the disparity the first study found, but did not dispute it existed.
Anniek Kortleve, a researcher at Leiden University and lead author of the academic study, said it showed that reforms needed to consider the full chain of subsidies flowing through feed to livestock, rather than just direct payments to livestock farms.
“Our analysis shows CAP support is highly concentrated in animal-sourced foods relative to the calories they provide, while plant proteins like legumes receive very little support,” she said. This was happening “even though EU strategies increasingly call for more plant-rich diets for health and sustainability”.
The report found meat and dairy received €39bn in subsidies in 2020, fruit and vegetables €3.6bn, and cereals €2.4bn. Cattle and sheep, which require more land than animals such as pigs or chickens, tend to benefit from subsidies that target struggling regions and sectors on top of hectare-based payments.
A number of green strings have been tied to CAP payments since 2023 but experts do not expect the overall composition of EU farms to have changed significantly.
In 2024, a “strategic dialogue” between farmers, supermarkets, scientists and green groups – formed by Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, to quell furious farmer protests – resulted in an acknowledgment that Europeans eat more animal protein than scientists recommend and a call for support to shift diets toward plants.
Donal Murphy-Bokern, an agricultural scientist who used to work for food and agriculture ministries in the UK and Germany, and who was not involved in the study, said Europe’s protein economy was “not operating within sustainable limits”.
Considering public health in policy would challenge current levels of livestock production, he said. “We now need a common agrifood policy that explicitly integrates environmental and public health goals into how EU farmers are supported.”
Improvements in alternative proteins and an emerging consumer shift to reducing meat consumption have been resisted by big farming lobbies and some politicians. In November, the EU parliament voted to ban plant-based foods from using terms such as “steak”, “burger” and “sausage” unless they contained animal flesh.
The vote was ridiculed by green groups, which pointed to accepted terms such as peanut butter, which does not contain dairy, or hotdogs, which do not contain canines. The proposal also divided conservatives, with some feeling it violated free market ideals.
Bowman said politicians were deeply involved in influencing food production and consumption. “Don’t believe the meat and dairy companies who say that politicians promoting healthy and sustainable diets are telling people what to eat,” he said. “It’s a very cynical position.”
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/feb/19/beef-lamb-legumes-eu-subsidies-study
#agriculture #PAC #politique_agricole_commune #subsides #UE #Union_européenne #élevage #légumes #boeuf #agneau #rapport #viande #alimentation #élevage_bovin #élevage_ovin
CAP at the Crossroads – Reforming EU CAP subsidies to support healthy sustainable diets
New report reveals the scale of EU CAP subsidies being used to prop up unsustainable livestock production, and makes the case for reform.
What’s the problem?
Animal-sourced foods are estimated to cause a staggering 81-86% of the total greenhouse gas emissions from EU food production, yet only supply an estimated 32% of calories and 64% of protein consumed in the EU.
This new report reveals that a hugely unfair share of EU CAP subsidies, worth billions of euros of EU taxpayers’ money, are directed to propping up high-emissions meat and dairy production, and to promote meat and dairy products.
The EU is at a crossroads – poised to make crucial decisions on the future of CAP for 2028–2034. Right now, it has the opportunity to support a transition to healthy sustainable diets – a huge economic opportunity with multiple benefits for EU food security, climate mitigation, nature and health. Or continue with a broken status quo.
Key findings:
– Beef and lamb received an estimated 580 times more CAP subsidies than legumes such as lentils and beans in 2020.
– Dairy received an estimated 554 times more CAP subsidies than nuts and seeds in 2020.
– Meat and dairy received over 10 times more CAP subsidies than fruit and vegetable production, and more than 16 times more than cereal production.
– Overall, the EU directed three times more CAP subsidies to production of high-emitting animal-sourced foods than to plant-based foods in 2020 – around 77% of total CAP subsidies (€39 billion out of €51 billion).
– The estimated €39 billion in CAP subsidies spent on animal-sourced foods in 2020 makes up nearly a quarter (23%) of the EU’s total budget of €168.7 billion for 2020.
Solutions
Calls have been growing for agricultural subsidies to be reformed to support a shift to healthy sustainable diets and reduced livestock numbers – including the EU’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors, the European Court of Auditors, the World Bank, and the 2025 EAT-Lancet Commission.
The benefits this could bring are huge.
The adoption of the plant-rich Planetary Health Diet in high-income countries could reduce agricultural production emissions by an estimated 61%. It could also reduce the EU’s reliance on food imports, boost agricultural incomes, reduce EU fertiliser use by about a quarter, reduce deaths from air pollution, and prevent up to up to 10–39% of cancers in Europe.
Policy recommendations
We recommend that EU policymakers:
– Support protein diversification through increased CAP funding and support for farmers engaged in growing plant-based foods for direct human consumption.
– Increase CAP funds available for the promotion and marketing of plant-based wholefoods and alternative proteins.
– CAP subsidies for livestock farmers should be made conditional on meeting limits on livestock stocking density per hectare.
– End all use of EU funds for the promotion and marketing of meat and dairy.
- Support a just transition in the livestock sector, through an Agri-food Just Transition Fund (AJTF).
– Ensure that CAP subsidies support nature restoration, of habitats such as peatlands, wild grasslands and woodlands.
- Introduce an EU Action Plan for Plant-based Foods to support the production and consumption of more plant-based foods across every stage of the supply chain, which:
- Promotes the public procurement of healthy sustainable plant-rich diets in public institutions like schools and hospitals
– Provides increased financial support through CAP and other means, for the increased production and processing of plant-based foods for direct human consumption – particularly agroecologically produced foods.
- Reform dietary guidelines to factor in both health and sustainability – aligning more with the Planetary Health Diet.
Water-related violence almost doubled globally in two years, thinktank says | Water | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/23/water-related-violence-increase-pacific-institute
▻https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/2e97729edd7baf4f5c7460e66897f00ee8fb8982/0_0_4248_3398/master/4248.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&precrop=40:
Water-related violence has almost doubled since 2022 and little is being done to understand and address the trend and prevent new and escalating risks, experts have said.
There were 419 incidents of water-related violence recorded in 2024, up from 235 in 2022, according to the Pacific Institute, a US-based thinktank.
The institute has compiled evidence of hundreds of years of water-related conflicts, including cases of water being a trigger for violence, a weapon of conflict or a casualty of conflict.
“We’re seeing more conflicts and they are multicausal,” said Dr Peter Gleick, a co-founder and senior fellow at the institute. “The climate crisis and extreme weather play a part but there are lots of other factors such as state failure and incompetent or corrupt governments, and lack of or misuse of infrastructure.”
Joanna Trevor, Oxfam’s water security lead, said the charity had also seen “an increase in localised conflicts over water due to climate change and water insecurity”.
Recent examples include tensions over an Indus River water-sharing treaty between India and Pakistan after a terrorist attack, Russia targeting hydropower dams in Ukraine, Israel destroying Gaza’s water systems, and protests over water supplies in South Africa.
“In Gaza, Israel systematically weaponised water,” Trevor said. “They deliberately targeted water systems and desalination plants and blocked repairs. Wastewater contaminated drinking water due to the destruction of sewage and storm water infrastructure, and people have been attacked while waiting or queueing for water.
“In east Africa and the Sahel, water is becoming increasingly insecure and people are moving into new areas to access water, which in itself can trigger competition and conflict with the host population.”
Ça par exemple ! Je venais juste d’évoquer le problème des #pénuries en #eau :
▻https://seenthis.net/messages/1155150
Prendre une douche, boire au robinet, arroser un champ. Dans une large partie du monde, ces gestes quotidiens reposent désormais sur une ressource qui ne se renouvelle plus : l’eau. Un nouveau rapport de l’ONU décrit ce basculement et affirme que la planète est entrée dans une « ère de faillite hydrique mondiale ».
‘If you’re flushing the toilet with grey water, people should know’: how China turned rain into an asset | Water | The Guardian
▻https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/jan/16/grey-water-how-china-turned-rain-into-asset
‘If you’re flushing the toilet with grey water, people should know’: how China turned rain into an asset
Architects and designers have recycled ancient practice of collecting rainwater to make buildings ecologically friendly
By Amy Hawkins, senior China correspondent
When the legendary Taiwanese rock band Mayday were due to perform in Beijing one evening in May 2023, some fans were worried that the rainy weather could affect the show. Mayday were taking to the stage in Beijing’s National Stadium, also known as the Bird’s Nest, built for the 2008 Olympics. Like the real-life twig piles that give the building its nickname, the stadium is built with an intricate and highly porous lattice, made of steel.
“Don’t worry too much,” reassured an article published by the official newsletter for China’s ministry of water resources. “The Bird’s Nest also has its ‘secret weapon’!”