World doubles down on fossil fuels 🌿 Governments are world’s biggest oil and gas producers 🌿 Egypt after COP 27

Hi, Everyone!

I’m Amanda Magnani, a Brazilian (photo)journalist and OptOut News’ climate editor. Every other week, I bring you the most important climate news from our network—with an extra serving of decolonial perspectives. ✨🌿

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Before we start, have you already checked out our latest OptOut Cast? I spoke with Nick Cunningham, Gas Outlook’s North American correspondent, about Howe Sound, a UNESCO biosphere reserve in British Columbia that is being threatened by a liquified natural gas (LNG) initiative. You can listen now on Spotify!

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World doubles down on fossil fuel 🌿 Governments are world’s biggest oil and gas producers 🌿 Israel’s gas production

With COP 28 set to start in two weeks, calls for phasing out fossil fuels are growing across the world. Problem is: so are “carbon bombs," major expansion projects with the potential to overwhelm the levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, Yale Environment 360 reports.

A new U.N. report shows that we are well beyond falling short on delivering in the Paris Agreement targets. By 2030, countries are on track for producing twice as much oil and gas as the line for limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, as reported in WhoWhatWhy.

What makes this problem so hard to tackle is that governments own and operate the 13 largest fossil fuel companies on Earth, which corresponds to roughly 90% of global production, Planet Critical reports. No wonder last year’s COP 27 hosted over 600 industry representatives–and no wonder the president of COP 28 is the CEO of Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNO), the world's 12th largest oil company by production.

Meanwhile, North American and European leaders fail to condemn Israel’s brutal retributive campaign in Gaza as the country grants licenses for exploration of natural gas on the coast, where reserves are valued at $524 billion. According to Planet Critical, Israel is not entitled to the entire reserve, which is partially in Palestine. But LNG is seen as an important source of social-economic development in the region and seems to be enough to justify a U.S.-Israel energy cooperation that also includes the promise of assistance on “regional safety and security issues."

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And More:

🛢️ “The Arctic Is Becoming One Giant Construction Site,” by The New Republic.

🛢️ “Florida fails to ask for federal funds to help poor people buy solar panels,” by Florida Phoenix.

🛢️ “How global warming shakes the Earth,” by Colorado Newsline.

🛢️ “Burned Out: Documents Reveal The Gas Industry’s Use Of Tobacco Tactics Over Gas Stove Emissions,” by DeSmog.

🛢️ “Without Tree Cover, Urban Californians Are Hit Harder By Heat, Air Pollution,” by Capital & Main.

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Decolonizing Climate Change

🌱 “Water projects in NM to receive $235M from Interior for tribal water fund settlements,” by Source NM.

🌱 “Commentary: The importance of building climate resilience grounded in environmental justice,” by Maryland Matters.

🌱 “Plastic’s life-cycle costs overwhelmingly fall on poor countries,” by Grist.

🌱 “Workers Are Dying From the Heat: Why Is It so Hard to Protect Them?” by In These Times.

🌱 “Colette Pichon Battle on Climate Justice Reparations,” by The Laura Flanders Show.

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To Lighten Your Heart

💚  “Jarod K. Anderson On Nature’s Shared Heartbeat,” by Atmos.

💚 “More states strive to make parks, trails accessible to people with disabilities,” by Source NM.

💚 “The power of design in sustainable, equitable solutions,” by Colorado Newsline.

💚 “Minnesota adjusts solar incentives to prioritize low-income households,” by Minnesota Reformer.

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Global South Corner

We’re on the countdown for COP 28, which means it’s been a year since COP 27, in Sharm El-Sheik, Egypt. So for this week’s Global South Corner, I talked to Alaa Emara, Egyptian microbiologist and Science & Environmental Journalist.

“I attended the conference and it was a huge event, with more than 35,000 participants from around the world. Everyone called for climate justice,” Emara recalled.

COP 27 was marked by some important victories, like the decision to create a Loss and Damage fund, which will be hammered out during this year’s COP. At the same time, by the end of the event, many activists around the world were disappointed, as no significant new steps were taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

When asked about how hosting the event impacted the country, Emara told me that climate awareness has increased in Egyptian every-day life. “The word climate change has become very familiar, and has spread through social media,” she said.

Since then, Egypt has started investing more on renewable energy, particularly through tax incentives to boost green hydrogen investments.

If you want to know a bit more about hydrogen and the climate crisis, check out our Instagram reel where I talked to Paula Diaz, Latin American editor at Climate Tracker.

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That’s all for now, folks! If you’re a climate journalist and want to keep the conversation going, join us in our Discord group. Over there, I will share new opportunities and resources every week, and you can let me know who—or what—you want to see next on the Global South Corner.

If you have any questions or suggestions, hit me up at amanda@optout.news.

Obrigada and have a great week!

The OptOut Media Foundation (EIN: 85-2348079) is a nonprofit charity with a mission to educate the public about current events and help sustain a diverse media ecosystem by promoting and assisting independent news outlets and, in doing so, advance democracy and social justice.

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