Human Rights Watch (HRW) announced on May 16 that former Chadian prime minister and opposition leader Succès Masra was arrested at his residence in the capital N'Djamena, urging authorities to immediately release Masra unless they can substantiate the charges against him. HRW's Central Africa director Lewis Mudge stated: "The Chadian government should be seeking ways to dialogue with the political opposition, rather than shutting them down through the use of intimidation and violence."

In Episode 273 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg happily notes how the entire political spectrum in Greenland has united against Trump's design to annex the country—and breaks down how the MAGA agenda for the Arctic interlocks with Putin's agenda for Europe, and the world. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

Some of the world's poorest countries, including nations grappling with protracted humanitarian crises, are among those most affected by US President Donald Trump's new trade tariffs regime, which has compounded pre-existing economic strains and debt woes. Asian markets will be particularly hard hit, including imports to the US from Myanmar to be charged at 45%, and Bangladesh at 37%. Big charges were also imposed on fragile economies in the Middle East and North Africa, with Syria at 41%, Libya at 31%, and Iraq at 39%. But among the worst effects will likely be felt in Africa, where Trump's decision has created an "inexplicably cruel situation," according to the Center for Global Development (CGD). "It is hard to fathom that the administration set out to destabilize poor African countries and unclear what they hope to gain," wrote CGD researchers. The tariffs have effectively tanked the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA), which allowed duty-free imports to the US for 32 countries and was credited with helping economic growth. Lesotho and Madagascar could be among the Trump tariffs' biggest losers, CGD predicted. Amid existential financial worries in the international aid sector—triggered by Trump's closure of USAID—economists have also raised the possibility of a global trade war, with far-reaching ramifications for inflation and the cost of living worldwide.

US conservation groups filed a lawsuit against President Donald Trump on Feb. 19, asserting that the administration violated the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act by issuing an executive order reversing withdrawals of oil and gas leases. The groups filed the suit in the US District Court for the District of Alaska, alleging that the protected waters affected by Trump's order have extensive marine biodiversity that provides social and scientific benefits. The conservationists also noted that the deafening sounds of exploration and drilling activities injure marine life and degrade their habitat, and that the development of just one oil lease would create a 75% chance of an oil spill greater than 1,000 barrels. Pollution from vessels and aircraft around the areas could also cause significant harm, even if an oil spill were not to occur. The conservationists further asserted that surveys and drilling harm commercial fishing, and thereby ultimately harm local economies.

US President Joe Biden issued two memoranda on Jan. 6 to prohibit new offshore drilling within three ocean and coastal regions, compromising over 625 million acres. One of the memoranda withdraws the entire eastern US Atlantic coast and the eastern Gulf of Mexico as well as the Pacific Coast along California, Oregon and Washington. The other orders the withdrawal of certain portions of the Northern Bering Sea in Alaska. According to the White House press release, the withdrawals in these regions are aimed at protecting "coastal communities, marine ecosystems, and local economies—including fishing, recreation, and tourism—from oil spills and other impacts of offshore drilling."

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul on Dec. 26 signed a bill into law empowering the state government to levy heavy fines on fossil fuel companies. The fines will go to a "superfund" that pays for addressing environmental damages caused by human-driven climate change. The Climate Change Superfund Act creates an adaptation cost recovery program which will be paid for by fossil fuel companies and is estimated to raise $75 billion over 25 years. Climate change is expected to cost New York taxpayers half a trillion dollars in repair and preparations for extreme weather between now and 2050.

Paraguay authorities have arrested 26 suspects, dismantled two criminal networks, and identified 12 companies engaged in systematic illegal deforestation and trafficking of native tree species. The Paraguayan government, along with INTERPOL and 14 other agencies, launched Operation Panthera Onca to combat environmental crimes and the exploitation of natural resources in the Tri-Border Region where Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina meet.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, commenced hearings Dec. 2 on the obligations of states concerning climate change. The oral proceedings are scheduled to run for nine days at the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands.

The request for an advisory opinion from the ICJ was submitted in March 2023, following the unanimous adoption of Resolution 77/276 by the UN General Assembly. The resolution sought the court's guidance on the obligations of sates to "ensure the protection of the climate system…for present and future generations," and the legal implications of "acts and omissions [that] have caused significant harm to the climate system." The second question especially addresses the international community's legal responsibilities to small island developing States, which are disproportionately threatened by the adverse effects of climate change.