The 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP16) on Nov. 2 adopted several important agreements regarding an expanded role for indigenous peoples and local communities in biodiversity preservation efforts. A new agreement on Article 8J of the Convention aims to enhance the place of indigenous knowledge and participation in crafting the Global Biodiversity Framework.

The Amazon rainforest has seen a record-setting wildfire season this year, fueled by an historic drought and scorching temperatures. In Brazil, the cumulative total estimated carbon emissions from the fires so far in 2024 has reached 183 megatons, according to Europe's Copernicus atmospheric monitoring service—equivalent to the total annual emissions of the Netherlands. The most impacted states are Amazonas and Mato Grosso do Sul, where the great expanse of the Pantanal wetlands are located. The unprecedented fires come even as overall deforestation (defined as the permanent conversion of forest for another use, such as logging, mining or farming) has dropped in Brazil since President Luiz Inácio "Lula" da Silva took office in January 2023. Fires now account for a much higher proportion of forest loss.

Six First Nations from northern Ontario announced Aug. 12 the initiation of a lawsuit challenging the provincial Mining Act, arguing that the legislation infringes upon their treaty rights and other guarantees under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The central contention is that the Act enables prospectors and mining companies to stake claims on Crown lands, including traditional Indigenous territories, without prior consultation, due to a digital claim-staking process that was introduced in 2018. This mechanism allows claims to be registered online within minutes, without the knowledge of affected First Nations. 

Tens of thousands of people filled the streets of Belgrade Aug. 10 following weeks of near-daily protests in more than fifty cities and towns across Serbia to demand a ban on lithium and boron mining in the country. Protesters blockaded the city's two main railway stations, leading to several arrests. Leaders of the activist groups Ne Damo Jadar (Jadar is Not For Sale) and the Association of Serbian Environmental Organizations (SEOS) said they were briefly detained before the rally by police, who warned them that they could face criminal charges if there was any move to block roads or rail lines. President Aleksandar Vučić accused the anti-mining movement of attempting to topple the government in a "color revolution."

Tech companies now acknowledge that they are failing to meet their carbon emission reduction goals because of the mega-computing necessary for artificial intelligence—as if AI were something good and inevitable rather than ultra-dystopian. Meanwhile, the nuclear industry exploits carbon concerns to lubricate its comeback—with even countries like Kenya now planning reactors, amid oppressive and iniquitous social conditions. Even apart from the risk of devastating accidents, the normal functioning of nuclear power constitutes an ongoing disaster due to the dilemmas of waste disposal and the despoliation of indigenous lands by uranium mining. Climate disaster versus nuclear disaster is a false choice posed by omnicidal techno-capitalism. The only way to salvage a dignified human future lies in the abolition of fossil fuels, nuclear power and artificial intelligence alike. So argues Bill Weinberg in  Episode 234 of the CounterVortex podcast. Listen on SoundCloud or via Patreon.

The ruling junta in Niger has revoked the operating license of French nuclear fuel producer Orano at one of the world's largest uranium mines. State-owned Orano announced June 20 that it had been ordered out of the Imouraren mine in Niger's north. The junta reportedly cited the company's slowness in developing the mine, which has been repeatedly put off due to a plunge in world uranium prices following the Fukushima disaster. 

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) on March 22 conducted notification of judgment in the case of Comunidad de La Oroya v. Peru, addressing the Peruvian state's responsibility for damages suffered by 80 residents of La Oroya district, Junín region. The IACHR ordered the payment of compensation to the victims for damages incurred.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on March 5 dismissed a child labor case against technology companies and refused to hold them accountable for their alleged complicity in the use of children in cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Former cobalt miners and their representatives filed a lawsuit against Alphabet (Google), Apple, Dell Technologies, Tesla and Microsoft under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2008 (TVPRA). The TVPRA penalizes anyone who "knowingly benefits financially from participating in a venture that engaged in trafficking crimes." They claimed that the companies were involved in a "venture" with their suppliers that engaged in forced labor of children to obtain the metal.