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	A crisis of respect for human rights by OHCHR, United Nations News   23 Feb. 2026   UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres statement to the United Nations Human Rights Council:   "Human rights are under a full-scale attack around the world. The rule of law is being outmuscled by the rule of force. And this assault is not coming from the shadows. Or by surprise. It is happening in plain sight – and often led by those who hold the greatest power.   Around the world, human rights are being pushed back deliberately, strategically, and sometimes proudly. The consequences are devastating. Written in the lives of people who suffer twice: first from violence, oppression, or exclusion – and then again from the world’s indifference.   When human rights fall, everything else tumbles. Peace. Development. Social cohesion. Trust. Solidarity.   This is precisely why the tools of the UN Human Rights Council – such as the Special Rapporteurs, Special Procedures, investigative mechanisms, and the Universal Periodic Review –are essential.   And it is precisely why – as we mark the Council’s 20th anniversary – we also recognize it is more important than ever to translate geopolitical engagement into a path towards strengthening human rights everywhere.   Tomorrow, I shall address the UN Security Council on the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, where tens of thousands of civilians have been killed. It is more than past time to end the bloodshed.   I began this month speaking to the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People about blatant violations of human rights, human dignity, and international law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.   The current trajectory is stark, clear and purposeful: the two-State solution is being stripped away in broad daylight. The international community cannot allow this to happen.   And a few days ago, I was at the African Union Summit where Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sahel and other crises were front and centre.   We are living in a world where mass suffering is excused away … where humans are used as bargaining chips … where international law is treated as a mere inconvenience.   Conflicts are multiplying and impunity has become a contagion. That is not due to a lack of knowledge, tools or institutions. It is the result of political choices. This crisis of respect for human rights does not stand alone. It mirrors and magnifies every other global fracture.   Humanitarian needs are exploding while funding collapses. Inequalities are widening at staggering speed. Countries are drowning in debt and despair. Climate chaos is accelerating.   And technology – especially artificial intelligence – is increasingly being used in ways that suppress rights, deepen inequality, and expose marginalized people to new forms of discrimination both online and offline.   Across every front, those who are already vulnerable are being pushed further to the margins. And human rights defenders are among the first to be silenced when they try to warn us.   In this coordinated offensive, human rights are the first casualty. We see it in a tightening grip on civic space. Journalists and activists jailed. NGOs shut down. Women’s rights rolled back. Children’s rights ignored. Persons with disabilities excluded. Democracies eroding.   The right of peaceful assembly crushed – and I condemn once again the recent violent repression of protests in Iran.   Migrants harassed, arrested and expelled with total disregard for their human rights and their humanity. Refugees scapegoated. LGBTIQ+ communities vilified. Minorities and indigenous peoples targeted. Religious communities attacked. Online spaces poisoned by disinformation and hate – resulting in real-world harm.   Human rights are not a slogan for good times. They are a duty at all times. And so we must stand up for them – and even when it is difficult, inconvenient, or costly. That requires action on three urgent fronts.   First, we must defend our shared foundations – without compromise. The UN Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and the instruments of international human rights law are not a menu. Leaders cannot pick the parts they like and ignore the rest.   And human rights themselves are also not divisible. Economic rights, social rights, cultural rights, civil rights and political rights – these are inherent, universal, inalienable, and interdependent.   Human rights are not only what we defend – they are what lifts the world to a better place. When rights are upheld, people live more freely. Economies grow more fairly. Communities trust more deeply. And peace and stability take hold because dignity takes root.   Human rights are not an obstacle to progress – they are essential to progress. We have seen it time and again, all over the world. Where rights advance, conflict loses ground. Where justice strengthens, violent extremism weakens. Where equality expands, possibility explodes. Where freedom prevails, societies flourish.   So we must change course and let human dignity set the direction. By renewing our commitment to – and respect for – the rule of law at every level. By supporting the pivotal work of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court. By delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals. By accelerating climate action.   Human rights are not West or East, North or South. They are not a luxury – they are not negotiable. They are the foundation of a more peaceful and secure world".   Feb. 2026   United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk statement to the Human Rights Council (Extract):   "The use of force to resolve disputes between and within countries is becoming normalized. Inflammatory threats against sovereign nations are thrown about, with no regard to the fire they could ignite.   The laws of war are being brutally violated. Mass civilian suffering – from Sudan, to Gaza, to Ukraine, to Myanmar – is unfolding before our eyes.   The situation in Gaza remains catastrophic. Palestinians are still dying from Israeli fire, cold, hunger, and treatable diseases. The aid allowed in is not enough to meet the massive needs.   There are concerns over ethnic cleansing in both Gaza and the West Bank, where Israel is accelerating efforts to consolidate unlawful annexation.   Tomorrow marks four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Four interminable and agonizing years. Civilian casualties have soared, and Russia’s systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy and water infrastructure could amount to international crimes.   In Myanmar, five years after the military coup, the awful conflict is claiming even more civilian lives, and the humanitarian situation continues to deteriorate. The recent elections staged by the military have only deepened people’s despair.   Authorities in Iran have violently repressed mass protests with lethal force, killing thousands. Meanwhile, violence and tensions are resurging in South Sudan and Ethiopia.   In Sudan, there must be accountability for the war crimes and potential crimes against humanity committed by the Rapid Support Forces in El Fasher. Such atrocities must not be repeated in Kordofan or elsewhere. All those with influence need to act urgently to put an end to this destructive war.   Across too many violent conflicts today, health and aid workers, journalists are being targeted, in blatant violation of international law. These actions cannot be allowed to become the new normal.   States need to be persistent objectors to violations of the law – by pursuing accountability, and by clearly denouncing egregious crimes with consistency, and without exception.   Developments around the world point to a deeply worrying trend: domination and supremacy are making a comeback.   If we listen to the rhetoric of some leaders, what lurks behind it is a belief that they are above the law, and above the UN Charter.   They claim exceptional status, exceptional danger or exceptional moral judgement to pursue their own agenda at any cost. And why wouldn’t they try, when they are unlikely to face consequences?   They build and sustain systems that perpetuate inequalities within and between countries. Some weaponise their economic leverage. They spread disinformation to distract, silence and marginalize.   A tight clique of tech tycoons controls an outsize proportion of global information flows, distorting public debate, markets, and even governance systems.   Corporate and state interests ravage our environment, robbing the riches of the earth for their own gain.   But people are not watching all this from the sidelines. They are demanding their right to basic living conditions, to fair pay, to bodily autonomy, to self-determination, to be heard, to vote freely, and many other rights.   From Nepal to Madagascar, from Serbia to Peru and beyond, people are demanding equality and denouncing corruption. People are protesting war and injustice in places far from home, expressing solidarity and pressuring their governments to act.   They see human rights as a practical force for good – and they are right. Human rights are anathema to supremacy: they are a direct challenge to those who seek and cling to power. That is what makes human rights radical, and that is what gives them force.   Human rights didn’t magically appear with the Universal Declaration on 10 December 1948. People have been seeking freedom and equality long before these principles were codified in national or international agreements.   In the late 1700s, enslaved people in modern-day Haiti rose up against colonial rule, in the name of racial equality. The American and French revolutions challenged unaccountable authority.   The Abolitionist movement was a rejection of the Transatlantic slave trade – the most brutal system of subjugation. In the early 1900s, women joined together to demand the right to vote. The fight for gender equality continues.   After the bloodshed of two World Wars and the Holocaust, the UN Charter reasserted faith in fundamental human rights, and in the dignity and worth of the human person.   The 20th century then ushered in a period of decolonization, which reaffirmed the right to self-determination. People mobilized to end racial segregation, for labour rights, and to protect the rights of LGBT people.   Mothers marched together to seek justice for their disappeared children, from Argentina to Sri Lanka to Syria. And young people raise their voices for climate justice.   Human rights are the thread that runs through all these movements. And we do not take their achievements for granted.   Tyranny will seize any chance and exploit any opening. We must keep standing up for human rights, in solidarity with each other.   When we come together, we wield more power than any autocrat or tech billionaire. The struggle for human rights can never be derailed by the whims of a handful of leaders with reactionary, supremacist agendas.   While some States are weakening the multilateral system, we need bolder and more joined-up responses. This means calling out violations of international law, regardless of the perpetrators. Too often, denouncing violations by one party is labelled as siding with the enemy. In reality, it is upholding universality, and the pursuit of justice for all.   We need to forge coalitions to champion what unites us, and uphold equality, dignity, and justice for all. Our future depends on our joint commitment to defend every person’s rights, every time, everywhere".   http://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statements/2026-02-23/secretary-generals-remarks-the-human-rights-council-delivered http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/02/high-commissioner-turk-opens-human-rights-council-peoples-pursuit http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/02/high-commissioner-turk-sudan-let-aid-and-keep-weapons-out http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/02/high-commissioner-turk-occupied-palestinian-territory-absence http://www.ohchr.org/en/statements-and-speeches/2026/02/high-commissioner-turk-afghanistan-must-end-persecution-women-and http://www.globalr2p.org/publications/letter-to-un-human-rights-council-members-on-atrocity-prevention-priorities-at-the-councils-61st-session/ Visit the related web page
	Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endanger public health and welfare by Union of Concerned Scientists, agencies USA   16 Mar. 2026   War-driven energy price spikes highlight value of renewables: UN climate chief   The disruption of global energy supplies is being felt worldwide, the UN’s top climate change official warned, as conflict in the Middle East drives oil and gas prices sharply higher – echoing the market turmoil triggered by the war in Ukraine.   Speaking at the 2026 Green Growth Summit in Brussels, Simon Stiell, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), said the volatility underscored the strategic value of renewable energy.   “Renewables turn the tables,” he said during a keynote address to the event, which brings together European climate and environment ministers alongside businesses, investors and other key stakeholders.   “Sunlight doesn’t depend on narrow and vulnerable shipping straits, wind blows without massive taxpayer-funded naval escorts and renewable energy allows countries to insulate themselves from global turmoil and to side-step might-is-right politics.”   Renewable energy delivers on people’s top priorities: security, well-paid jobs, better health and relief from rising living costs, he added.   “Fossil fuel dependency is ripping away national security and sovereignty and replacing it with subservience and rising costs,” he said, adding that the reality is what most voters are demanding, climate action delivers at scale. “Renewables and resilience keep bills down and create far more jobs,” he said.   “Cutting out fossil fuel pollution cleans our air, improving health and quality of life.”   “Some responses to the fossil fuel crisis, incredibly, argue for doubling down on the cause of the problem and slowing the shift to renewable energy even though it is clearly cheaper, safer, and faster to market,”   “This is completely delusional because history tells us, this fossil fuel crisis will happen again and again,” Mr. Steill said, adding that fossil fuel dependency means economies, household budgets and business bottom lines are “at the mercy of geopolitical shocks and price volatility in a chaotic world”.   His message was simple: Meek dependence on fossil fuel imports will leave countries forever lurching from crisis to crisis, with households and industries literally paying the price.   10 Mar. 2026   The Iran war has sent oil and gas prices soaring. Countries invested in renewable energy are better protected. (DW)   Countries that generate more of their power from wind, solar and other renewable sources are better protected from global energy shocks, experts say, as the escalating conflict in the Middle East rattles global markets.   The war has widened since the US and Israel launched strikes on Iran more than 10 days ago. Critical infrastructure in the region has come under attack and the risk of Iranian strikes has essentially shut down the Strait of Hormuz,the crucial waterway used to transport 20% of the world's oil and gas.   The disruption means fuel may struggle to reach the countries that depend on it to generate electricity, heat homes, power industry and run transport. The resulting supply squeeze is pushing prices higher around the world and intensifying cost-of-living pressures.   "Energy is the lifeblood of our societies and our industries," said Antony Froggatt, aviation, shipping and energy expert at Brussels-based NGO Transport & Environment. "And we're still highly dependent on fossil fuels."   The world still gets about 80% of its primary energy from fossil fuels, the main source of greenhouse gas emissions driving climate change. In his second term, US President Donald Trump has doubled down on fossil fuels, scrapping Biden-era green energy and climate regulations aimed at cutting emissions.   That dependence makes economies and societies vulnerable to geopolitical shocks, said Rana Adib, executive secretary of the Renewable Energy Policy Network for the 21st Century (REN21).   Countries with a higher share of "homegrown" renewables in their energy mix are "less vulnerable to these shocks," she argued.   "Once you bring the technology into the countries, the fuel you're using is the sun, is the wind, is the heat that is local," Adib told DW. "And this is a reason why renewable energy as a solution for energy production is much more resilient to those global shocks."   Uruguay bets on wind and hydro   After the financial crisis in 2008, unease about a reliance on oil and gas imports was what drove Uruguay to go all in on renewables.   Two decades ago, the small South American country with a population of 3.5 million embarked on a plan to phase fossil fuels out of its power grid by rapidly expanding wind farms.   Today, more than 90% of the country's electricity comes from renewables — mainly wind, solar, hydropower and biofuels. That figure has reached 98% in some particularly wet and windy years.   "It shows us that a 100% renewable electricity grid is fully possible," said Adib, adding that Uruguay has managed to do so without the massive amounts of storage required for when the sun isn't shining and wind isn't blowing.   Adib said the shift to green power helped limit Uruguay's exposure to past energy price surges.   "During the energy crisis linked to the war in in Ukraine, Uruguay energy prices remained stable," Adib said. "This is extremely important because it means that the inflation does not hit this country in the same way as a country that has a high dependence on fossil fuel imports."   Adib said the investment in renewables created 50,000 jobs and has allowed the country to save $500 million in energy import costs annually. Uruguay is now moving to electrify its public transport system and decarbonize industry.   Another country that has significantly reduced reliance on fossil fuels is Denmark. The oil crisis in the 1970s hit the Scandinavian country hard, prompting it to begin developing renewables early.   Today, more than 80% of Denmark's electricity is supplied by green energy, with wind making up almost 60% of that amount, followed by biogas. The country of 6 million has cut its planet-heating emissions by half since 1990 and wants to have a fossil-fuel free electricity system by 2030.   Its district heating systems, which link up more than 65% of homes, have largely phased out coal and are planned to rely 100% on renewable biomethane by 2030.   Froggatt said having renewables dominate the grid keeps prices down, citing an IMF study showing that every 1% increase in the amount of renewables translates on average to the wholesale electricity price falling by 0.6%.   "And that's in normal circumstances. Obviously, when you have vastly inflated gas prices, then the economic advantage of renewables goes up even higher," he added.   He says that consumers will only be protected from rising oil and gas prices when things like transport and heating are fully electrified, for example, with electric vehicles and heat pumps.   High fossil fuel prices and the vulnerability of the commodities to supply bottlenecks make clean energy more competitive and financially attractive, as well as pressuring governments to find alternative solutions, say analysts.   "The current crisis shows again that we need to enter the renewable-based era and leave the fossil fuel-based era behind" if we want societies and economies that are more resilient, said Adib.   Accelerating renewables to secure a more stable energy supply will take greater investment and system change. Though green power sources are now much cheaper than fossil fuels, oil and gas are highly subsidized. Froggatt says making the switch is not just about slowing climate change, but also about energy security.   http://www.dw.com/en/iran-war-sends-oil-prices-soaring-these-countries-are-better-protected-thanks-to-renewables/a-76294122 http://unfccc.int/news/un-climate-chief-in-brussels-fossil-fuel-dependency-is-ripping-away-national-security-and http://news.un.org/en/story/2026/03/1167135   19 Feb. 2026   The US Trump regime threatens International Energy Agency funding unless it stops publishing its annual road map for how countries can eliminate their planet-warming fossil fuel emissions by 2050, known as its “net zero scenario.”   Many IEA member nations have urged the agency to pay more attention to rapidly growing energy technologies such as solar panels and electric vehicles, as well highlighting the ongoing risks of increasing global warming.   The Trump regime has been pressuring countries and international organizations to scale back efforts to address climate change and instead to continue to rely on fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal, the main drivers of rising global temperatures.   Mr. Trump has withdrawn the United States from the Paris climate agreement, and in October 2025, successfully pressured countries to halt a global agreement to reduce emissions from cargo ships. Mr Trump has dismissed global warming as a “hoax.”   In contrasting remarks President Emmanuel Macron of France said Europe would keep working to move away from fossil fuels and to expand low-emissions energy sources like wind, solar. “Scientists alert us every day about the dramatic risks of climate change,” Mr. Macron said, adding that an “orderly, progressive transition away from fossil fuels is key.”   Global fossil fuel use is still rising year after year, with the IEA projecting that global oil and gas demand could continue rising for decades.   The net zero scenario underlines the changes needed for countries to phase out fossil fuels rapidly to stop adding greenhouse gases to the atmosphere by 2050. Scientists say that doing so is necessary to keep average global warming to around 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit), compared with pre-industrial levels, to limit the risks of ever increasing extreme weather events - heat waves, droughts, floods, sea-level rise, species extinctions, compounding food and water insecurity and other disasters.   In a craven response to US fossil fuels lobbying the IEA said it has not decided whether it would continue to offer its recommended net zero scenario.   http://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/19/climate/us-tells-international-energy-agency-to-drop-its-focus-on-climate-change.html http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2026/02/global-governments-must-use-new-un-general-assembly-resolution-to-turn-icjs-advisory-opinion-on-climate-change-into-robust-action http://insideclimatenews.org/news/11022026/earth-unprecedented-shift-from-warm-to-hot/   Feb. 2026   USA: Donald Trump's regime has repealed the bedrock scientific determination that gives the US government the ability to regulate fossil fuel pollution.   The endangerment finding, which states that the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere endangers public health and welfare, has since 2009 allowed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to limit fossil fuel pollution from vehicles, power plants and other industrial sources.   Former US President Barack Obama said the repeal will leave Americans “less safe, less healthy and less able to fight climate change – all so the fossil fuel industry can make even more money”.   Former US secretary of state John Kerry said: “Repealing the Endangerment Finding takes Orwellian governance to new heights and invites enormous damage to people around the world”.   The ruling removes the government’s ability to impose requirements to track, report and limit fossil fuel pollution from cars and trucks, with transportation is the largest source of climate pollution in the US.   It does not apply currently to regulations on sources of greenhouse gas emissions from power plants and fossil fuel infrastructure, which are regulated under a separate section of the Clean Air Act, but it will open the door to end those standards, too.   Trump’s EPA has separately proposed to find that emissions from power plants “do not contribute significantly to dangerous air pollution” and therefore should not be regulated. Joseph Goffman, who served as EPA air chief under Joe Biden, expects the agency will apply their vehicles-focused arguments to stationary polluters in order to kill the endangerment finding for all sources of greenhouse gas emissions.   “Instead of the entire house of cards of all EPA climate regulation collapsing all at once today, it’s going to be like a row of dominoes falling,” said Goffman, who helped write and implement the Clean Air Act and worked directly on the endangerment finding.   Scientists and environmental advocates have condemned the move as illegal and have promised to take the EPA to court over the rollback, as has the state of California.   “If this reckless decision survives legal challenges, it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more extreme heat deaths, more climate-driven floods and droughts, and greater threats to communities – all while the EPA dismisses the overwhelming science,” Gavin Newsom, the California governor, said in a statement.   Former Vice President Al Gore, a longtime climate advocate, slammed the decision as an “insult” to the American public.   “The Trump Administration’s rollback of the endangerment finding is not only a direct assault on science, knowledge, and public health, it is an insult to the people across the country who are already coping with the disastrous consequences of climate-driven extreme weather events,” said Gore.   Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), the ranking member on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works said: “The Trump EPA has fully abandoned its duty to protect the American people from greenhouse gas pollution and climate change. This shameful abdication will harm Americans’ health, homes, and economic well-being. It ignores scientific fact and common-sense observations to serve big fossil fuel political donors.”   One analysis from the Environmental Defense Fund found the full repeal of the endangerment finding combined with Trump’s proposal to roll back motor vehicle standards would result in as much as 18bn more tons of planet-warming pollution by 2055 – the same as the annual emissions of China, the world’s top polluter – and would impose up to $4.7tn in additional expenses tied to harmful climate and air pollution.   In the repeal of the endangerment finding, the Trump Administration EPA is claiming that the Clean Air Act is only meant to regulate pollution “that harms health or the environment through local and regional exposure”. But there is overwhelming scientific consensus that by trapping heat in the atmosphere, greenhouse gas emissions are intensifying dangerous extreme weather events, allowing diseases to spread faster, and worsening illnesses from allergies to lung disease.   The EPA rollback comes one month after the Trump administration announced it will withdraw the US from the foundational UN Paris Climate agreement, as well as the world’s leading body of climate scientists - the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).   Over the past year, current EPA administrator Lee Zeldin has launched an all-out assault on climate, air, water and chemical protections. The EPA has also removed crucial climate-focused science and data from its webpages.   “This is all part of the Trump administration’s authoritarian playbook to replace facts with propaganda, to enrich fossil fue intrests while harming the rest of us,” said Rachel Cleetus, senior policy director for the climate and energy program at the science advocacy group the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Administrator Zeldin has fully abdicated EPA’s responsibility to protect our health and the environment.”   Statement by Dr. Gretchen Goldman, president and CEO of the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS).   “Today, EPA Administrator Zeldin took a chainsaw to the Endangerment Finding, undoing this long-standing, science-based finding on bogus grounds at the expense of our health. Ramming through this unlawful, destructive action at the behest of polluters is an obvious example of what happens when a corrupt administration and fossil fuel interests are allowed to run amok.   “The science establishing harm to human health and the environment from heat-trapping emissions was clear in 2009. More than fifteen years later, the evidence has only mounted as have human suffering and economic damages.   Meanwhile, the continued burning of fossil fuels is causing global warming emissions to rise. The science, the facts and the law are unassailable: EPA has the obligation and the authority to regulate this pollution under the Clean Air Act, an act of Congress it’s now blatantly violating.   “The transportation sector is the single largest source of U.S. global heat-trapping emissions. By scrapping vehicle global warming pollution standards today, the Trump administration has co-signed the release of more than 7 billion tons of planet-warming emissions nationally in the decades ahead.   “Communities across the country are routinely enduring the consequences and costs of climate change, including deadly heat waves, accelerating sea level rise, worsening wildfires and floods, increased heavy rainfall, and more intense and damaging storms. EPA’s attempts to delay climate action come at a time when scientists warn that the world is on the cusp of breaching 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming—a crucial guardrail to help limit some of the worst climate harms.   “Instead of rising to the challenge with necessary policies to protect people’s wellbeing, the Trump administration has shamefully abandoned EPA’s mission and caved to the whims of deep-pocketed special interests. Sacrificing people’s health, safety and futures for polluters’ profits is unconscionable.   We all deserve better and this attack against the public interest and the best available science will be challenged. UCS stands ready to defend the Endangerment Finding in court and beyond.”   UCS filed comments on behalf of its half a million supporters and its network of more than 22,000 scientists to voice strong opposition to repeal of the endangerment finding and vehicle standards. It also submitted a letter to EPA Administrator Zeldin that was signed by more than 1,000 scientists opposing the repeal of the endangerment finding and urging Administrator Zeldin to stop dismantling critical climate regulations and fulfill the mission of the agency to protect public health.   A federal judge recently declared the Trump administration violated federal law when it secretly formed a “Climate Working Group” and tasked it with writing a dangerously slanted report that the administration then used as a basis for its proposal to overturn the Endangerment Finding last year.   * 24 States sue the E.P.A. for renouncing its Power to Fight Climate Change. The suit accuses the agency of illegally repealing the endangerment finding, the scientific assessment that required it to regulate greenhouse gases:   http://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/19/climate/epa-endangerment-states-lawsuit.html http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/mar/19/us-states-trump-climate-crisis-endangerment-finding   http://www.ucs.org/about/news/trump-administration-takes-chainsaw-science-based-endangerment-finding-endangering-us http://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/epa-unravels-climate-protections http://earthjustice.org/press/2026/earthjustice-endangerment-finding-statement http://www.hrw.org/news/2026/03/06/new-report-warns-trump-epa-undermining-health http://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-00455-6 http://www.bmj.com/content/392/bmj.s192 http://www.ourchildrenstrust.org/press-releases http://www.nrdc.org/press-releases/epa-dismantles-protections-mercury-and-air-toxics-power-plants http://www.ucs.org/about/news/epa-attacks-health-protections-against-mercury-air-toxics http://www.environmentalprotectionnetwork.org/20260220_mats-repeal-release/   http://insideclimatenews.org/news/11022026/as-the-trump-epa-prepares-to-revoke-key-legal-finding-on-climate-change-what-happens-next/ http://blog.ucs.org/science-blogger/internal-doe-documents-confirm-climate-report-was-created-to-justify-administration-policy/ http://www.nrdc.org/media/year-betrayal-epa-under-lee-zeldin#climate http://insideclimatenews.org/news/19122025/trumps-epa-focus-delay-rescind-dismantle/ http://www.edf.org/media/edf-and-partners-vigorously-oppose-trump-administration-attacks-endangerment-finding-and http://blog.ucs.org/kate-cell/disinformation-undermines-our-right-to-science/   Mar. 2026   USA: Conservative Politicians with no scientific expertise target established climate science used by judges. (Inside Climate News)   Scientists, academics, engineers, lawyers, and other experts sounded the alarm this week over the recent decision to remove a chapter on climate science from an influential reference manual designed to help judges understand complex scientific evidence.   For more than 30 years, US federal judges have turned to the Reference Manual on Scientific Evidence for guidance on interpreting complex scientific issues in their courtrooms.   The reference, originally published by the Federal Judicial Center, which was established by Congress in 1994 as a research and education agency for the judicial branch, is now co-published with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.   On Jan. 29, a coalition of 27 Republican attorneys general wrote to the Federal Judicial Center, urging the center to “immediately withdraw” the chapter on climate science from the manual’s fourth edition, claiming it was biased.   Accuracy and impartiality of the manual is vital, West Virginia Attorney General John B. McCuskey, who led the effort, posted. “However, the ‘Reference Manual on Climate Science’ chapter was written by authors who are connected to university climate studies programs that promote legal warfare against States and energy producers to push their left leaning political agendas".   Eight days later, the center informed the Republican attorneys general that it “omitted the climate science chapter” from the reference manual’s latest edition.   Experts who contributed chapters to the more than 1,600-page scientific reference manual, now in its fourth edition, were outraged to see politicians with no scientific expertise target science that didn’t align with their political agendas.   “In February this year, the latest edition of the scientific reference handbook took a troubling turn, in which partisan politics interfered with the latest edition of the handbook,” 28 authors wrote in an open letter.   "The reference manual has been a valuable independent and educational resource for federal and state court judges, who have cited it more than 1,300 times".. “The political attack by the attorneys general on a carefully and rigorously prepared scientific publication should concern us all.”   "The climate science chapter was the target this time, but it doesn’t matter which chapter it is", said Brenda Eskenazi, an environmental health expert at the University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health, who co-authored the manual’s chapter on epidemiology.   “If I tell you how much peer review we went through, how much vetting we went through for each of the chapters, and then for some 27 politicians to come in and say, ‘No, we don’t accept this science,’ its just appalling,”   “It’s appalling that this could become something political when it’s really about science, unbiased science.”   Removing the climate science chapter “is absurd,” says Hank Greely, a bioethicist and director of Stanford University’s Program in Neuroscience and Society. “It’s part of the partisan denial that anything about climate change could be real.”   Last week, Democrats in the US Congress wrote a letter to the Federal Judicial Center, calling its “decision to capitulate to right-wing pressure and remove this chapter … unconscionable,” and demanding that it be reinstated.   The climate science chapter’s co-authors, Jessica Wentz and Radley Horton, posted a response to the Republican attorneys general on Feb. 25.   The attorneys general claimed that the climate science chapter would undermine judicial “impartiality” by offering “conclusive opinions on matters of serious dispute,” wrote Wentz, a legal expert at Columbia University’s Sabin Center for Climate Change Law, and Horton, a Columbia University climate scientist.   Among the findings the attorneys general objected to are that human activities “unequivocally warmed the climate” and that it is “extremely likely” human influence drives ocean warming.   Yet both are direct references to findings issued by authoritative science bodies, including the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and the U.S. Global Change Research Program.   “Both concluded that there is ‘unequivocal’ evidence that human activities have warmed the climate, resulting in widespread changes to the atmosphere, ocean, biosphere, and cryosphere”.   “Omitting the climate science chapter from the Reference Manual deprives judges of a carefully reviewed baseline explanation of the relevant science,” the experts state.   “If political actors can determine which fields of established science are disfavored and off-limits to judicial education, every scientific discipline relevant to complex litigation becomes vulnerable to the same tactic.”   Extensive vetting goes into publishing a scientific resource like the judges’ reference guide. The chapters have gone through extensive internal and external peer review, Eskenazi said. “It’s not the place of politicians to decide that science is not to their liking.”   http://insideclimatenews.org/news/03032026/scientific-reference-manual-for-judges-erased/ http://www.nationalacademies.org/publications/26919   Sep. 2025   A new report from the US National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine says the evidence for current and future harm to human health and welfare created by human-caused greenhouse gases is beyond scientific dispute.   The report focuses on evidence gathered by the scientific community since 2009, when the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that greenhouse gas emissions threaten public health and welfare. The EPA recently gave notice of proposed rulemaking indicating its intention to rescind this finding.   The report says EPA’s 2009 finding was accurate, has stood the test of time, and is now reinforced by even stronger evidence. Much of the understanding of climate change that was uncertain or tentative in 2009 has now been resolved by scientific research, the report says.   “This study was undertaken with the ultimate aim of informing the EPA, following its call for public comments, as it considers the status of the endangerment finding,” said Shirley Tilghman, professor of molecular biology and public affairs, emeritus, and former president, Princeton University, and chair of the committee that wrote the report. “We are hopeful that the evidence summarized here shows the strong base of scientific evidence available to inform sound decision-making.”   To prepare its report, the committee considered widely available datasets that provide information about greenhouse gas emissions, the climate system, and human health and public welfare; a broad range of peer-reviewed literature and scientific assessments.   The report concludes:   Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from human activities are increasing the concentration of these gases in the atmosphere. Human activities, such as the extraction and burning of fossil fuels, cement and chemical production, deforestation, and agricultural activities, emit greenhouse gases, which include carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and fluorinated gases, into the atmosphere. Total global GHG emissions continue to increase. Multiple lines of evidence show that greenhouse gas emissions from human activities are the primary driver of the observed long-term warming trend.   Improved observations confirm unequivocally that greenhouse gas emissions are warming Earth’s surface and changing Earth’s climate. Trends observed include increases in hot extremes and extreme single-day precipitation events, declines in cold extremes, regional shifts in annual precipitation, warming of the Earth’s oceans, a decrease in ocean pH, rising sea levels, and an increase in wildfire severity.   Human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases and resulting climate change harm the health of people in the United States. Climate change intensifies risks to humans from exposures to extreme heat, ground-level ozone, airborne particulate matter, extreme weather events, and airborne allergens, affecting incidence of cardiovascular, respiratory, and other diseases. Climate change has increased exposure to pollutants from wildfire smoke and dust, which has been linked to adverse health effects.   The increasing severity of some extreme events has contributed to injury, illness, and death in affected communities. Health impacts related to climate-sensitive infectious diseases — such as those carried by insects and contaminated water — have increased. New evidence is developing about additional health impacts of climate change, including on mental health, nutrition, immune health, antimicrobial resistance, kidney disease, and negative pregnancy-related outcomes.   Changes in climate resulting from human-caused emissions of greenhouse gases harm the welfare of people in the United States. Climate-driven changes in temperature and precipitation extremes and variability are leading to negative impacts on agricultural crops and livestock, even as technological and other changes have increased agricultural production. Climate change, including increases in climate variability and wildfires, is changing the composition and function of forest and grassland ecosystems.   Climate-related changes in water availability and quality vary across regions in the United States with some regions showing a decline. Climate-related changes in the chemistry and the heat content of the ocean are having negative effects on calcifying organisms and contributing to increases in harmful algal blooms. U.S. energy systems, infrastructure, and many communities are experiencing increasing stress and costs owing to the effects of climate change.   Continued emissions of greenhouse gases from human activities will lead to more climate changes in the United States, with the severity of expected change increasing with every ton of greenhouse gases emitted. Total global greenhouse gas emissions have continued to increase, and additional warming is certain. All climate models — regardless of assumptions about future emissions scenarios or estimates of climate sensitivity — consistently project continued warming in response to future atmospheric GHG increases. Applying fundamental physics of the Earth system leads to the same conclusion. Continued changes in the climate increase the likelihood of passing thresholds in Earth systems that can trigger tipping points or other high-impact climate impacts.   http://www.nationalacademies.org/news/national-academies-publish-new-report-reviewing-evidence-for-greenhouse-gas-emissions-and-u-s-climate-health-and-welfare http://climateandhealthalliance.org/press-releases/cross-cutting-report-reveals-devastating-global-health-impacts-of-fossil-fuels-thru-production-life-cycle-across-human-lifespan http://lancetcountdown.org/2025-report/ http://www.un.org/en/climatechange/information-integrity http://www.unfccc.int/news/step-back-from-climate-cooperation-will-hurt-us-economy-statement-from-un-climate-chief-on-us http://www.ciel.org/news/trump-executive-order-withdraws-un-climate-pacts http://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/campaigns/2026/01/trump-impact-on-global-climate-action/ http://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/press-release/over-3000-climate-litigation-cases-are-reshaping-global-climate   http://wmo.int/news/media-centre/wmo-confirms-2025-was-one-of-warmest-years-record http://climate.copernicus.eu/global-climate-highlights-2025 http://climate.copernicus.eu/rapid-approach-15degc-global-warming-threshold-paris-agreement http://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/07/turk-hails-landmark-icj-ruling-affirming-states-human-rights-obligations http://www.lse.ac.uk/granthaminstitute/news/institute-responds-to-international-court-of-justice-advisory-opinion/ http://insideclimatenews.org/news/11022026/earth-unprecedented-shift-from-warm-to-hot/ http://www.cell.com/one-earth/fulltext/S2590-3322(25)00391-4
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