Corporate Coopting of COP28? Environmental Racism in Birmingham, Biobanking and more

Leaked documents from the team leading the COP28 climate talks now underway in Dubai point to corporate coopting of the UN climate negotiations. COP28 President Sultan Al Jaber is also CEO of the UAE national oil company Adnoc, which according to the documents has used the COP process to try to cut oil and gas deals with companies and countries. Also, in North Birmingham, Alabama, racist zoning practices and industrial coke production have plagued Black communities for decades. Despite a growing focus on environmental justice from the federal government, it’s yet to be clear how new funds will help the communities in North Birmingham. And scientists are turning to high tech solutions to preserve genetic diversity of endangered species, including biobanking in which cells and living tissues are frozen. A new project aims to biobank 24 endangered mammals to start, and we explore the science of using biobanked material to restore healthy populations of black-footed ferrets, Mexican wolves and more. -- As a non-profit media organization we could not produce high-quality journalism that educates and inspires you to be fully informed about climate change and environmental issues without your help. If you haven’t yet contributed to Living on Earth this giving season, please consider making a donation by going to LoE.org and clicking on donate at the top of the page. Thank you for your support!