climate change

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[Steve Donziger] We are calling on the UN to launch an investigation into the case against Greenpeace

What do you think when you watch the Trump Administration abduct foreign students and lock them up in ICE detention centers? Or when you see legal immigrants snatched from their communities and dumped into a gulag in El Salvador?

For me, it is a stark reminder of how fragile our justice system can be. 

It is clear to me that these vicious attacks on vulnerable people and SLAPP harassment lawsuits brought against environmental groups like Greenpeace are deeply interconnected. It’s all about attacking the rule of law.

That is why we must work together to defend the climate justice movement and our country from one of the most dangerous threats we have ever faced.

I want to give you a quick update.

In North Dakota, with trial monitors (from R to L) Marty Garbus, Sara Vogel and Scott Badenoch

As a result of a patently unfair trial in a pro-Trump county in North Dakota, Greenpeace was hit last month with an utterly grotesque $669 million jury verdict.
This was the largest damages judgment against a climate group in history. 

The case against Greenpeace – a SLAPP harassment lawsuit – was brought by Trump’s friend and billionaire oil tycoon Kelcy Warren. Warren said in an interview that climate activists “should be removed from the gene pool” because they are bad for the country.

The rhetoric is hateful. But it’s also coldly calculated.

With legendary civil rights attorney Marty Garbus in front of the courthouse in Morton County, North Dakota

This verdict that was essentially bought by Warren is an attack not just on a major environmental organization, but also an attack on the entire climate justice movement.

We are fighting back and we need your help. Our plan is to deliver a major blow to Warren and other oligarchs who think they can silence our movement with abusive lawsuits.

We made our first move this week. 
We sent a powerful 7-page letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights asking that the trial against Greenpeace in North Dakota be put squarely on the international stage. We also are pushing for UN officials to launch an investigation into the flagrant violations of Greenpeace’s fair trial rights.

This letter was released by the independent trial monitoring team that I helped organize. The team includes the legendary attorney Marty Garbus, who represented Nelson Mandela and Daniel Ellsberg.

There is no doubt that the verdict against Greenpeace poses a grave threat to free speech, the rule of law, judicial fairness, and Indigenous rights.

That threat is being turbo-charged right now by Trump and his attacks on the rule of law.

Greenpeace was a stand-in for all of us. The group just took a major bullet for our movement and the planet. Now, we must do all we can to protect Greenpeace and the broader right to advocate. That is so necessary to save our planet and what’s left of our democracy.

We need resources to spread this work far and wide. Funds will be used to write and publish a comprehensive report on the trial – and enlist what we will hope will be hundreds of attorneys and scholars from around the world to support our findings.

This is what we believe is the best way to protect Greenpeace and our right to protest. 

I know that major events are moving at a dizzying pace. I am asking each of you to take the time to focus for a few minutes on this one opportunity.

Please join us as we work to help protect human rights and our sacred right to protest in the age of Trump’s attacks on the rule of law. Donate $50, $25, $500, $15, $1000, $5, $5,000 or whatever you can today.

I know all of you care profoundly about these issues and have gone to great lengths to support my advocacy. I remain deeply grateful. Let’s keep rolling! 
Thank you,

Steven Donziger

https://www.facebook.com/reel/1099263962219881/?

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An astronaut who spent 178 days in space reveals a “big lie” he realized when he saw the Earth.


Ron Garan, a former NASA astronaut, has spent 178 days in space and accumulated more than 114 million kilometers traveling in 2,842 orbits around Earth. His journey, however, hasn’t been just about impressive numbers. During one of those trips, he experienced something that few humans have ever experienced: the so-called Overview Effect, a phenomenon that transforms the way we see our planet.
The Overview Effect — or “Overview Effect” — is a reality shock common among astronauts. By observing the Earth from space, they realize, viscerally, that the planet is a unique, fragile and interconnected system. For Garan, the experience was so remarkable that he describes it as a “great awakening”. In an interview with the site Big Think, he revealed: “Certain things become undeniably clear when you’re up there.”
From his window on the International Space Station, Garan witnessed breathtaking natural phenomena: lightning storms that resembled paparazzi flashes, the northern lights dancing like glowing curtains, and the Earth’s atmosphere so thin you could “almost touch with your hands.” But it was the fineness of that layer that had him on his toes. “I realized that everything that sustains life on Earth depends on a fragile layer, almost like paper,” he explained.
The atmosphere, with its few kilometers thick, is what protects all life forms from hostile conditions of space. For Garan, this view has highlighted a paradox: while the biosphere is vibrant and full of life, human systems treat the planet as a “subsidy to the global economy.” In other words, we prioritize economic growth at the expense of the natural systems that sustain us. “We’re living a lie,” he stated.
The astronaut also pointed out how problems like global warming, deforestation, and loss of biodiversity are treated as isolated issues when, in fact, they are symptoms of a larger problem: human disconnection with the planet. “From space, it becomes clear that we do not see each other as part of a whole. “As long as we do not change this mentality, we will continue to be in crisis,” he said.
The solution, according to Garan, is a radical change of priorities. Instead of thinking about “economy, society, planet”, we should reverse the order: “planet, society, economy”. This simple exchange reflects the need to place environmental health as the basis for all other decisions. “This is the only way we will really evolve,” he argued.
Another crucial point is independence . Garan compared the Overview Effect to “a lightening lamp” — an epiphany about how every human action, however small it may seem, affects the global balance. “We will not have peace on Earth until we recognize that everything is interconnected,” he affirmed.
Since returning to Earth, Garan has dedicated himself to projects that promote sustainability and global cooperation. His message is clear: We urgently need to rethink our place in the world. Have you ever stopped to imagine what it would be like to see the Earth from this perspective? While that doesn’t happen, Garan’s vision reminds us that every choice — from energy consumption to resources usage — is a step toward preserving (or destroying) this delicate “shell” we call home. “

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Cutting Methane to #BuyMoreTime – The U.S. Leads the Way

Durwood Zaelke, President of IGSD, Rick Duke, Deputy Special Envoy for Climate at the U.S. Department of State, and David Kanter, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies at New York University, joined our #BuyMoreTime session from COP29 in Baku earlier this year.

With just one month left in his presidency, Joe Biden has unveiled a transformative climate plan targeting a 61-66% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035. For the first time, the U.S. NDC includes a 35% reduction in methane emissions, aligning perfectly with our #BuyMoreTime campaign‘s call to tackle short-term warming and stabilize global temperatures.

Methane’s inclusion is a game-changer: it delivers rapid cooling, sets a benchmark for transparency, and provides a model for global climate action. This commitment also addresses other pollutants like HFCs and nitrous oxide, demonstrating how targeted policies can amplify climate strategies.

The big question: Will this bold vision survive under Donald Trump’s administration? Read more in our full article to uncover why optimism persists, driven by strong state, local, and private-sector efforts–and find out how you can help push progress forward!

https://bit.ly/49UjNcW

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We will not go quietly into the sea’: Hearings for world’s biggest climate case conclude at the ICJ

Vanuatu and other vulnerable states gave impassioned evidence – aided by a few European allies. Now they wait for the World Court’s opinion.

A landmark legal case to establish countries’ climate responsibilities is wrapping up in The Hague today after two weeks of hearings.

Judges at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) heard from more than 100 countries and organisations between 2 to 13 December, making this the biggest ever legal case in terms of participation.

At its heart is an attempt by vulnerable countries to create a tighter framework of accountability that sets clear international legal obligations for climate action. The small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu has led efforts to secure an advisory opinion from the ICJ, which is now due next year.
https://bit.ly/3ZUa42W