Biofuels Push at COP30 Could Accelerate Climate Crisis and Threaten Food Supply

First the plant stalk is harvested, shredded, and crushed. The extracted juice is then combined with bacteria and yeast in large bioreactors, where the sugars are metabolized and converted into ethanol and carbon dioxide. From there, the liquid is typically distilled to maximize ethanol concentration, before it is blended with gasoline. You know the final products as biofuels — mostly made…
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The Real Models for Sustainability in Brazil Are to Be Found Outside COP30

A crowd of protesters — largely Indigenous Amazonian people — marched into a restricted area of the 30th annual United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP30) this month in Belém, Brazil, declaring that their forests are not for sale. “We want our lands free from agribusiness, oil exploration, illegal miners and illegal loggers,” one Tupinamba community leader proclaimed.
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Zumbi dos Palmares: Brazil’s hero of Black resistance

Zumbi dos Palmares: Brazil’s hero of Black resistance

Nov. 20 is Black Consciousness Day in Brazil. A day celebrating the struggle of Black organizations, people, and movements in Brazil. Celebrating the ongoing fight against racism. And, above all, celebrating the history of Brazil’s most historic Black leader: Zumbi dos Palmares.

He was leader of the great Palmares Quilombo, present-day Alagoas, an autonomous state built by escaped slaves in the 1600s.

Palmares would last for roughly a century. It would grow to a population of tens of thousands of people spread out over 11 towns in the forested mountains and hillsides of northeastern Brazil. And they would defend it time and time again against attacks by the Portuguese colonial army.

BIG NEWS! This podcast has won Gold in this year’s Signal Awards for best history podcast! It’s a huge honor. Thank you so much to everyone who voted and supported. 

And please consider signing up for the Stories of Resistance podcast feed on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Spreaker, or wherever you listen. And please take a moment to rate and review the podcast. A little help goes a long way.

The Real News’s legendary host Marc Steiner has also been in the running for best episode host. And he also won a Gold Signal Award. We are so excited. You can listen and subscribe to the Marc Steiner Show here on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

Please consider supporting this podcast and Michael Fox’s reporting on his Patreon account: patreon.com/mfox. There you can also see exclusive pictures, video, and interviews. 

Written and produced by Michael Fox.

Resources:

Culture, Land and Resistance: Brazilians Celebrate Black Consciousness Day

‘Existing and resisting’: Black quilombo communities fight for land, rights in Brazil

Black Consciousness Day in

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Climate Disasters Displace More Than 67,000 People Per Day

As we broadcast from the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, calls are growing for stronger protections for refugees and migrants forcibly displaced by climate disasters. The United Nations estimates about 250 million people have been forced from their homes in the last decade due to deadly drought, storms, floods and extreme heat — mainly in the Global South, where many populations have also…
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At COP30, humanity must choose: Fossil fuel industry profits or a livable planet?

At COP30, humanity must choose: Fossil fuel industry profits or a livable planet?

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP30, began on Nov. 10 in Belém, Brazil, on the edge of the Amazon rainforest. This year’s COP conference has more fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance than any previous conference, but it has also drawn the biggest delegation of Indigenous peoples from around the world—each group representing competing visions for addressing the climate crisis. TRNN Editor-in-Chief Maximillian Alvarez speaks with Dharna Noor, fossil fuels and climate reporter at Guardian US, about what actions are and are not being taken at COP30, and what the results of this year’s climate summit will mean for humanity’s future on a rapidly heating Earth.

Additional links/info:

Dharna Noor, Guardian US, “‘Without our expertise, mistakes get made’: The Cop30 campaign to give workers a voice”

Dharna Noor & Jonathan Watts, Guardian US, “Thousands hit streets of Belém to call for action during crucial Cop30 summit”

Credits:

Studio Production / Post-Production: David Hebden

Transcript
The following is a rushed transcript and may contain errors. A proofread version will be made available as soon as possible.

Maximillian Alvarez:

As the Philippines reel from historic typhoons. As Caribbean countries like Jamaica, Haiti, and Cuba rush to recover from a historic hurricane as Iran scrambles amid a historic drought that as people’s water taps running dry, the weary eyes of a battered world turned to Belém, Brazil, where the 30th UN Climate Summit is currently taking place. The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference, more commonly known as COP30, began on November 10th and will conclude on November 21st. Our guest today just returned to Baltimore from COP30 in Brazil and is here to give us a breakdown of

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As US Skips COP30 in Brazil, the Global South Fights for Climate Financing

As Democracy Now! broadcasts from the COP30 U.N. climate summit, we speak with Kumi Naidoo, the longtime South African human rights and environmental justice activist who is president of the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative. He discusses U.S. absence from climate talks, Gaza, and wealthy countries refusing to take accountability for the climate crisis. “We’re not asking the rich…
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