Climate crisis could kill over a million moreDonald Trump's policies are fueling death across the Global South.
Hello and welcome to the Ekō newsletter. Climate deathAs if the consequences of cutting USAID weren’t enough, a new analysis from ProPublica and The Guardian projects that US President Donald Trump’s climate policies will result in over a million excess deaths in the future. Researchers found that Trump’s emissions standards rollback, among other policies, will lead to excess gases in the next decade and damage global efforts to tackle the climate crisis. One analysis estimates the president’s agenda will add 7 billion tons of emissions to the atmosphere by 2030. Unsurprisingly, most of the impact will be felt in the Global South. Leaders from around the world are gathering for the COP30 conference in Belem, Brazil, in hopes of negotiating some solution to the crisis. But Trump and the US government are nowhere to be found. “Prior to Trump, we had the most ambitious climate policy that the US has ever come up with—our best effort to date by far of addressing this growing problem. When we roll these things back, it is fundamentally affecting the damages we’re going to see around the world.”—Marshall Burke, Stanford University Doerr School of Sustainability economist (ProPublica) (The Guardian) (Grist) (Irish Times) (Carbon Brief) In other newsNo cease, all fire Attacks continue in Lebanon and Gaza as Israel flouts both international law and the ceasefire negotiated last month. In Lebanon, at least 13 people are dead after Israel struck a Palestinian refugee camp in the south of the country. Attacks on Gaza left 25 dead and over 77 wounded. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said, unsurprisingly, that he does not consider the war to be over. Since the ceasefire, Israel has carried out 393 strikes on Gaza. (Drop Site) (Al Jazeera) (AP) G20 exposes inequality of crises The G20 is set to meet this weekend in Johannesburg as the climate crisis impacts South Africa. Major storms have pummeled South Africa for a decade. Weather disasters have impacted the Global South even as richer countries continue to add to warming. Trump is boycotting the event over unfounded, racist conspiracy theories about anti-white attacks in South Africa. The US president is threatening the summit against issuing a statement from the G20. Still, some researchers and advocates are hopeful that the conference could lead to action on climate—even symbolically. “The ravages of the climate are directly linked to the ravages of inequality,” Open Society Foundations President Binaifer Nowrojee (ISS Africa) (ABC) (AP) (Bloomberg) Mexican sovereignty under attack Trump has continually threatened to send the US military to neighbouring Mexico, but he has, so far, been rebuffed. Recently, however, the rhetoric has been heating up. The US president is musing about striking inside Mexico. Such a move would be a massive escalation and risk a broader conflict. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum has rejected the offer, calling for cooperation instead. But the US leader has continued to suggest that the military might make the move. It’s a sticky situation for Mexico, which is inseparably tied to the US economically. US and Mexican companies have interests in maintaining a strong and, importantly, peaceful relationship. But weapons providers also have an interest in conflict on the border. “We’ve said this with the State Department, with Marco Rubio, and they have understood, so much so that the understanding we have with them is one of collaboration and coordination. And the first points make very clear the respect for sovereignty, respect for our territoriality, and that there is collaboration and coordination without subordination.”—Claudia Sheinbaum (El Pais) (Democracy Now!) (NBC) Here’s your campaign of the day
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