cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/42785623

Archived

China is positioning itself as the world’s champion for renewable energy and has been heavily investing in the sector for the last 20 years. On the other hand, in order to support its renewables sector and consolidate the supply chain, it has also been financing mega-projects that exploit natural resources such as coal and oil — particularly in Africa.

Between development, dependence, and the energy transition, some environmentalists worry that China is playing a double game that is harming Africa in its fight against environmental injustice.

[...]

Some scholars have raised concerns that under the current model, large loans from China are further increasing its debt and putting some African countries in impossible financial positions.

In an analysis published in November 2023, Jana de Kluiver, a researcher specializing in Africa at the Institute for Security Studies, warned of growing concerns about Chinese loans in Africa: Research by AidData has shown that Chinese public lenders, motivated by profit, often include conditions in their loan agreements that can put a strain on already fragile African economies. These include bans on collective restructuring and strict confidentiality clauses. Such conditions can limit the ability of borrowing countries to make independent and sovereign financial decisions.

[...]

The numerous projects implemented with Chinese support have enormous consequences and local impacts. Massive population displacements benefit Chinese companies that set up shop to carry out projects. Deforestation and environmental degradation are detrimental to the livelihoods of local and vulnerable communities. Between inequalities and responsibilities, climate injustice is becoming increasingly glaring.

The FILIMBI citizen movement, a Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)-based pro democracy movement, spoke out against this dynamic in November 2024. According to an article by Projet AfriqueChine, the movement points the finger at Chinese illegal gold miners in the region for polluting the Arwini River in the northeast of the country.

[...]

Between promises of a greener Africa and the continued exploitation and use of carbon, coupled with the vulnerability of populations who, in addition to suffering the consequences of climate change, face social damage such as famine and lack of housing, the continent finds itself caught in the middle of conflicting interests.

[...]

China’s Renewable Push Meets Climate Reality In Africa - Worldcrunch

^{eva.zichangliu@gmail.com (Worldcrunch)}

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-09-22/trump-cancels-trail-bike-lane-grants-deemed-hostile-to-cars?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc1ODU2Nzk4NywiZXhwIjoxNzU5MTcyNzg3LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUMlpXMlpHT1QwSkswMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiIzQkE0RTIzQkI2RDk0QzcyOUU1QkVDMTAxNTQxN0M2NCJ9.ty_6UgktL9HtwcOR53llL5QLIqhdS7yUGIIaktiLsjQ

Iran has signed a $25 billion agreement with Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom to build four nuclear power plants in Iran, IRNA news agency said on Friday.

Archived version: archive.is/20250926100724/reut…

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation. n Iran, IRNA news agency said on Friday.

https://www.sfgate.com/news/bayarea/article/calmatters-newsom-signs-climate-overhaul-21060646.php

Ukrainian intelligence released an intercepted call from Donetsk in which a Russian commander threatened to shoot any soldier who tried to retreat, shouting, “Victory or death.”

Archived version: archive.is/newest/kyivpost.com…

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

• The Trump administration canceled nearly half a billion dollars in federal funding for California’s largest offshore wind project.
• The state is staying the course with voter-approved funding from the California climate bond and other efforts to support wind development.
• California has an ambitious goal of 25 gigawatts of floating offshore wind energy by 2045.

Archived copies of the article:
* archive.today
* web.archive.org
* ghostarchive.org

Despite federal setbacks, California will build out offshore wind

The Trump administration canceled nearly half a billion dollars in funding for California's largest offshore wind project, but the state is persevering toward its ambitious goals.

^{Hayley Smith (Los Angeles Times)}

You won’t have to enable Windows Backup to get extended Windows 10 security updates in the European Economic Area.

Microsoft forced to make Windows 10 extended security updates truly free in Europe

^{Tom Warren (The Verge)}

The report compiled by more than 50 international researchers compares fossil fuel expansion against the goals of the Paris climate accord, and found a chasm between promises and reality.

The Production Gap Report 2025 :: Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI)

Climate goals and fossil fuel plans don't add up, experts say

Countries are still planning to increase production of fossil fuels to levels incompatible with global commitments on climate change, according to new research published on Monday.

^{Science X (Phys.org)}

cross-posted from: lemmy.sdf.org/post/42722173

Archived

Countries around the globe condemned China’s hypocritical plans for a nature preserve on Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing has wreaked environmental havoc with its artificial island-building as it seeks control over maritime territory to which it has no legal claim.

The Philippines faces constant coercion from China near the shoal and elsewhere inside its internationally recognized exclusive economic zone (EEZ). Beijing, which illegally claims most of the South China Sea, deploys coast guard, navy and maritime militia vessels to harass Philippine fishing, humanitarian missions, and routine military and law enforcement patrols. The aggression has continued even after an international tribunal’s 2016 ruling that invalidated China’s arbitrary claims to the South China Sea and found that Beijing violated Philippine rights to Scarborough Shoal.

Manila quickly denounced China’s declaration of an “island nature reserve” on the shoal. The move “is less about protecting the environment and more about justifying [China’s] control over a maritime feature that is part of the territory of the Philippines,” stated National Security Advisor Eduardo Año. “It is a clear pretext toward eventual occupation.”

[...]

Australia and Japan joined Indo-Pacific partners in calling for China to comply with the tribunal ruling, while the United Kingdom opposed “any unilateral activity that changes the facts on the ground and raises tensions in the South China Sea.”

Experts called China’s actions an example of lawfare — purposely misinterpreting the law to change the status quo — and pointed to Beijing’s history of causing environmental damage in the South China Sea.

“This isn’t environmental protection — it’s environmental lawfare,” Ray Powell, director of the SeaLight Project at Stanford University’s Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation, told the U.S. Naval Institute News. He cited “highly destructive methods” used by Chinese fishing crews and reports that Beijing has destroyed more than 1,800 hectares of coral reef in the South China Sea with its artificial island-building. The international tribunal also found that China harmed coral reefs and inflicted “irreparable damage to the marine environment.”

[...]

Beijing has long used encroachment in an attempt to exert control over its neighbors’ territory. Analysts say such gray-zone tactics — sometimes called salami slicing — are small enough to avoid a military response but accumulate to China’s benefit. Examples include:

• China’s aggressive interference with Philippine resupply missions to its military outpost on Second Thomas Shoal, which Beijing wants Manila to abandon.
• Beijing’s artificial island-building in the contested Paracel and Spratly chains. By militarizing the features, China hopes to establish de facto authority over economically important stretches of sea.
• Regular China Coast Guard intrusions near the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, an effort to challenge Tokyo’s control over the resource-rich territory.
• Fish farms and marine platforms that Beijing built without permission where its EEZ overlaps with the Republic of Korea’s in the Yellow Sea.
• Military harassment of self-governed Taiwan, which China claims as its territory and threatens to annex by force.
• Infrastructure projects Beijing has built along its de facto border with India and Chinese patrols into disputed territory, all aimed at asserting authority and upending the status quo.

China tries to mask its environmental destruction, control Scarborough Shoal with nature preserve

FORUM Staff Countries around the globe condemned China’s hypocritical plans for a nature preserve on Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, where Beijing has wreaked environmental havoc with its ar

^{IPDForum (Indo-Pacific Defense FORUM)}

US president open to Kyiv’s request for long-range cruise missile that would bring Moscow within striking distance

Archived version: archive.is/20250926115715/tele…

Disclaimer: The article linked is from a single source with a single perspective. Make sure to cross-check information against multiple sources to get a comprehensive view on the situation.

https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-cop30-united-nations-belem-conference-6ff64fb65d1ed62b1fd930df6ad74a4d

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/21/opinion/geoengineering-planet-cooling-sulfur.html?unlocked_article_code=1.nk8.5VPs.iBBvF7p_8gut

The water cycle has become increasingly erratic and extreme, swinging between deluge and drought, according to a new report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). It highlights the cascading impacts of too much or too little water on economies and society.

From drought to deluge: WMO report highlights increasingly erratic water cycle

The State of Global Water Resources report says only about one-third of the global river basins had “normal” conditions in 2024. The rest were either above or below normal – the sixth consecutive year of clear imbalance.

^{World Meteorological Organization}

It came up last night that there should maybe be a comm for remote work people, so now there is.

!RemoteWork@fedia.io