Brazil: fatal landslide
At least two people have died after heavy rain caused a mudslide which engulfed the BR-376 motorway in Parana state. The whereabouts of around thirty people are unknown. Several vehicles are thought to have been buried under the rubble on the coastal road. Aerial pictures show lorries lying on their sides hanging perilously over the edge of the motorway. Social media footage showed motorists battling through muddy flood water before the landslide. Some people online have asked why the road was not closed earlier. Access to a major port for grains and sugar shipments has been cut off. About 80% of goods exported from Paranagua, the country's second-biggest port for grains and sugar, are delivered by truck. The state authority has declined to estimate the total losses.
Canada: deforestation rules 'burdensome'
Ailish Campbell, Canada's ambassador to the EU,said its proposed rules to curb deforestation add ‘burdensome’ requirements and will hurt trade between Canada and the EU. The rules aim to limit the trade of products linked to deforestation worldwide. Climate campaigners have called Canada's resistance to the rules shocking. In a letter to the EU, Ms Campbell says Canada supports the objectives of the proposed deforestation regulation, but is greatly concerned that some elements will cause trade barriers for Canadian exporters. She asks for several revisions to the regulation, including providing a delay and a clearer definition for what falls under forest ‘degradation’ - a practice that climate advocates say is widely seen in Canada. In March, over 90 scientists penned an open letter to prime minister Trudeau outlining concerns about the rate of industrial logging in old-growth forests, which they said had ‘unique and irreplaceable ecological values’.
India: Modi scolds Putin
Narendra Modi, India's prime minister, has called for the Ukraine war to end. He warned that geopolitical struggles could ‘lead to humanitarian crises’. In a thinly veiled swipe at the Russian president, he said, ‘Our era need not be one of war. Indeed, it must not be one!’ The comments echoed his previous criticism of Mr Putin in September. India has abstained from condemning Moscow’s actions in Ukraine at the UN as the government balances its ties with Russia and the West, but has shifted its stance as the war intensifies and energy and food shortages pose greater global threats. Mr Modi said the world’s greatest challenges ‘can be solved not by fighting each other, but only by acting together’. India hosts the next G20 summit, whose theme is One Earth, One Family, One Future.
Christian climate activists
Christian climate activists have been protesting at Church House, Westminster, to highlight the Church of England's strategy of continuing to invest in fossil fuels. They also left handprints of fake blood and oil on the walls of offices of BAE Systems, Britain's arms manufacturer, to protest against their policy of supplying weaponry to conflicts; this increases the vulnerability of people living on the front lines of climate change. These actions follow the conclusion of COP27, which is being widely criticised for the presence of representatives from oil and gas companies. The activists believe the Church should show moral leadership in rejecting profits from investments in companies that continue to fuel climate suffering. Also, behind government decisions to double down on fossil fuel development (sign off new oil exploration licences and allow big energy companies to rake in record profits) lies a network of companies and organisations which are profiting from this destructive path.
