COP30 and a deadly drug crackdown

Climate Focus

By Sharon Kimathi, Energy and ESG Editor, Reuters Digital

Hello,

The countdown to COP30 begins now!

COP, or the Conference of the Parties, is the annual United Nations climate summit. This year, it's being held in Belem, a port city in Brazil's lower Amazon region between November 6 and November 21.

Brazil was also in the spotlight this week due to one of its bloodiest police operations, which killed at least 132 people. Grisly images showed a favela street lined with corpses. A Brazilian ministry official assured that upcoming COP30-linked events in Rio and other cities will be safe, following the crackdown on a drug gang.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who will join Brazilian officials in presiding over the summit, urged Brazil to investigate promptly and ensure police actions comply with international human rights standards.

COP30 attendees told Reuters they remain undaunted. 

Rio will host a climate summit for local leaders next week, alongside Prince William's Earthshot Prize. 

Business and banking leaders will meet in Sao Paulo to discuss climate finance, while world leaders gather in Belem for negotiations later in November.

Brazil's COP30 president said the country aims to help developing nations secure more climate adaptation funding. 

A recent U.N. report estimates the world will need $310 billion annually by 2035 to prepare for rising seas, hotter days, and other climate impacts – 12 times current spending.

Adaptation funding still lags behind investments in emissions-reducing technologies. The U.N.'s Adaptation Gap Report was released on Wednesday, the same day Hurricane Melissa devastated Jamaica with flooding, landslides, and power outages.

Scientists say warmer oceans fuel stronger hurricanes with heavier rainfall and greater storm surges, underscoring the urgency of adaptation.

Hurricane Melissa's confirmed death toll climbed to 49, according to official reports, after it wreaked destruction across much of the northern Caribbean and picked up speed as it headed past Bermuda in the North Atlantic.

Authorities in Haiti, which was not directly hit but nevertheless suffered days of torrential rains from the slow-moving storm, reported at least 30 deaths and 20 more missing.

Jules Marcelin, who had two family members die in deadly flooding caused by Hurricane Melissa, shows the damage to his home, in Petit Goave, Haiti. REUTERS/Egeder Pq Fildor

In Vietnam, the death toll from the heavy floods in its central region has risen to 13, the government said, as residents of the flooded Hoi An started clean-up operations. Floods triggered by record rainfall have inundated a large swath of central Vietnam over the past days, with the UNESCO-listed former imperial capital Hue and Hoi An the worst hit.

Over in the United States, heavy rains lashed New York this week, killing two people in the city, Mayor Eric Adams said. Media have reported flooding and damage, while officials at the city's JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports said flight schedules were disrupted. The National Weather Service also issued coastal flood warnings for parts of the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

I'm no detective, but maybe someone should investigate the questionable deaths of the Net Zero alliance groups. Almost all the climate change-busting initiatives from asset managers to banking and insurance are practically dead. But what happened? Was it a bloody murder, a suicide, or a slow illness? 

Three Reuters articles look into the most recent events.

The first is about the Net Zero Asset Managers Initiative (NZAM), which dropped some targets for its remaining members after pressure from U.S. Republican politicians who accused it of breaching antitrust rules. 

The second is on State Street, the world's fourth-biggest asset manager, pulling the bulk of its operations out of the NZAM despite the group's efforts to retain members by relaxing its rules.

The third is a comment from Ethical Corp Magazine on what the death of the Net Zero Banking Alliance tells us about the usefulness of these climate alliances. Click here for more.

Exxon Mobil has sued California over its climate disclosure laws, arguing that Senate Bills 253 and 261 violate its First Amendment rights by forcing it to promote views it opposes. The company is seeking to block the enforcement of the laws.

In North Dakota, State District Judge James Gion reduced the $667 million in damages awarded against Greenpeace for its role in Dakota Access Pipeline protests. The amount owed to Energy Transfer is now capped at $345 million, with the judge ruling some damages were excessive or duplicative.

Meanwhile, the European Court of Human Rights sided with Norway's government in a climate case brought by young activists who argued Arctic oil exploration endangered their future.

Click here for a brief video explainer on how climate change is impacting hurricanes and typhoons, as scientists say that oceans have absorbed about 90% of the warming caused by heat-trapping greenhouse gas emissions over the last 40 years. This additional heat can fuel a storm's intensity and power stronger winds.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright directed the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to consider a rule that will speed up the connection of power-hungry data centers to electric grids.

The Energy Department said the rule would reduce study times and costs for improving the grid, while also reducing the time needed for additional power to come online. The rule also pushes FERC to consider whether reviews for grid projects, which sometimes take years, can be done in 60 days.

That's the estimated damage caused by a severe cyclone that battered India's eastern coast, flooding farms, roads, and buildings across the southern state of Andhra Pradesh, according to authorities.

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