The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) reported June 12 that forced displacement has doubled globally in the last decade, while "brutal" funding cuts mean a lack of resources to accommodate the increased number of displaced people dependent on the UNHCR for support. The agency said the increase has been "largely driven by protracted conflicts in Sudan, Myanmar and Ukraine," with a total of 123.2 million people displaced worldwide at the end of 2024. 

Amid the massive war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine and Israel in Gaza, there are dissident Russians and dissident Israelis who are courageously protesting, and resisting the consolidation of a pro-genocide consensus. Recent violent and deadly attacks on perceived Israeli or pro-Israel human targets in the US meanwhile point to the dangers of the notion of collective guilt. In Episode 281 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg urges that dissident minorities must not be dismissed as irrelevant, but encouraged and offered solidarity.

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.

The digitization and literal disembodiment of every sphere of human reality advances with terrifying rapidity—from the Social Security system to the New York subway system. Rather than dropping swipe-cards and bringing back tokens, returning to what was a manifestly superior and more rational system, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority moves to a still more dystopian "contactless" credit system. Similarly, rather than phasing out automobiles, our corporate overlords are now imposing driverless cars, a further step toward making the human race redundant altogether and portending the ultimate abolition of humanity. In Episode 270 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg continues his Spring ritual of reading the George Orwell essay "Some Thoughts on the Common Toad"—which brilliantly critiqued technological hypertrophy, and articulated an imperative for humanistic revolution and scaleback of the mega-machine way back in April 1946.

In Episode 265 of the CounterVortex podcast, Bill Weinberg examines Trump's ultimatum to Ukraine to hand over a large share of its wealth in strategic minerals such as lithium in exchange for continued US military aid—and whether a race with China for control of the lithium and rare earth elements needed for Elon Musk's industrial interests might also be the agenda behind the Trump regime's annexationist designs on Greenland. Trump is meanwhile opening Native American lands in Nevada to lithium exploitation, while Musk's Tesla has sought to grab a share of Bolivia's lithium reserves—now also coveted by China.

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.

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.

Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels have hit a record high in 2024, with still no sign that they've peaked, according to a "carbon budget" assessment by the UK-based Global Carbon Project. The researchers found that burning of oil, gas and coal emitted 41.2 billion tons (37.4 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere in 2024, a 0.8% increase over 2023. When added to emissions generated by land-use changes such as deforestation, a total of 45.8 billion tons (41.6 billion metric tons) of CO2 was emitted in 2024. At this rate, the researchers estimate there's a 50% chance that global warming will exceed the 1.5 Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) warming target set by the Paris Agreement within six years. The findings were published Nov. 13 in the journal Earth Systems Science Data. (LiveScience, DW)