Stories of Outrage + Optimism: News Roundup 15 July 2024

Dear Stubborn Optimist,

There is no shortage of stories of outrage in our news feeds but in this regular mini round-up we’ll be highlighting three you should know about, as well as three stories of optimism you might have missed.

This week we're starting with optimism...

🌱 OPTIMISM 1:

A ‘lost area’ of Welsh rainforest will be returned to its former state: a rich Celtic woodland protecting rare plants and animals. Story by The Guardian.

🔥 OUTRAGE 1:

Early and unusually severe wildfires have destroyed 760,000 hectares of the world’s biggest wetland ecosystem, the Pantanal in Brazil. Wildlife is being wiped out in one of the most biodiverse places on earth. Story by The Guardian.

🌱 OPTIMISM 2:

US officials announced a record breaking $241 million settlement with Marathon Oil over alleged air pollution violations on a North Dakota indigenous reservation, part of the Biden administration’s work on enforcement in the oil and gas sector. Story by Reuters.

🔥 OUTRAGE 2:

Australia’s Human Rights Law Centre has published the ‘Protest in Peril’ report which has found people’s ability to come together freely and peacefully to speak out on issues they care about is being steadily eroded in Australia, with climate protestors disproportionately affected. Story by Human Rights Law Centre.

🌱 OPTIMISM 3:

In Colombia a controversial carbon credit deal in the Amazon rainforest was anulled, in a case brought by six local tribes who said had been signed without their consent. Story by RFI.

🔥 OUTRAGE 3:

Record breaking heat waves continue to affect millions across the globe with very high temperatures causing disruption, illness and death across continents. This week we also saw new research on how exposure to high temperatures amplifies health risks across diseases, demographics, climates, and countries. Stories by The Guardian, New York Times, CNN, and Science Direct.

That's it for this week. As always, we keep our eyes wide open to fully see and feel the 'bad' news, while leaving space for acknowledging progress, which is always happening, sometimes faster than we think.

Are there any climate news stories you would add? 🤔

With stubborn optimism,

The Outrage + Optimism team.

Note: Each news item we’ve included is a complex story in its own right, reduced here to a couple of sentences as a potential signpost for further reading.

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