Recent Events

High Seas Treaty Entering the Force

After the 60th ratification of the High Seas Treaty—the minimum number needed for this treaty to come into force—the Treaty is set to enter into force on the 17th of January, 2026. The first Conference of Parties (COP1) will be held to set up rules, institutions, and priorities for the Treaty within a year. This is a milestone in environmental protection. The High Seas Treaty is designed to create marine protected areas in international waters, require rigorous environmental impact assessments before activities take place, share scientific knowledge and marine technology more fairly, and to guarantee funding and capacity building for developing countries. In order to make this happen, discussions are already occurring in the BBNJ Preparatory Commission (PrepCom) meetings at the UN. These discussions set the stage so the Treaty can make changes as soon as it enters the force. By ratifying the High Seas Treaty, countries are securing their position of being able to help shape the future of the High Seas fairly and effectively.

Earthjustice Sues to Stop Arctic Oil Exploration

Earthjustice is a non-profit public interest law organization that provides free legal representation to environmental groups and communities. The Trump administration has actively pursued expanding oil exploration and drilling in the Arctic. ConocoPhillips—a major, multinational energy company focused on exploration and production of oil and natural gas—is working closely with the Trump administration to move an exploratory drilling program towards the Arctic. This program pushes industrialization west into undeveloped and fragile ecosystems, including  areas with significant subsistence, recreational, fish and wildlife, historical and scenic values such as the Colville River and Teshekpuk Lake. Additionally, expanding fossil field infrastructure on public lands increases greenhouse gasses, deeply affecting Alaska’s Arctic which is already warming four times faster than the rest of the planet. Some of these lands are also sacred to the Gwich’in people and are home to irreplaceable wildlife.

Earthjustice is suing the exploratory drilling program for failing to mitigate the serious harm it would cause to the land and wildlife. This lawsuit is part of a decades-long fight to keep oil and gas interests from destroying the Arctic and fighting fossil fuels driving the climate crisis. There are high hopes because Earthjustice previously helped halt the Peregrine oil exploration project, which could’ve led to the release of emissions equal to 170 coal-fired power plants operating for a year, and sued oil and gas development in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. The Trump administration approved this project without taking steps to mitigate harms, which is required by law. It also gave the public only a week of opportunity for input. Earthjustice is continuing decades-long work to keep the healthy climates on Earth healthy, serving as a role model for future climate advocates.

EPA stops calculating deaths prevented

The United States Environmental Protection Agency has recently changed its stance on air pollution policy. It states that it will stop calculating two factors as it shapes its rules: money saved in health care costs and policy-prevented deaths. Now, the remaining factor that will chiefly determine the EPA’s regulations is the cost that they will bear to industry.

This reflects a broader realignment from the EPA under the Trump administration, where environmental regulations are increasingly being loosened in order to benefit industry. Regulations for fine particulate matter and ozone will now be determined more strongly by the interests of corporations. However, the EPA mentioned in a recent statement on the change that it “absolutely remains committed to our core mission of protecting human health and the environment.” Though they are no longer considering the monetary impacts of prevented healthcare impacts, EPA spokesperson Brigit Hirsch stated that “Not monetizing DOES NOT equal not considering or not valuing the human health impact.”

Critics of the change argue that it might enable the dismantling of far-reaching environmental safeguards. In one such example, they criticized the EPA’s new, less-restrictive rules on nitrogen oxide emissions. Nitrogen oxide is a pollutant linked to heart and lung disease. Noha Haggag, lawyer for the Environmental Defense fund, stated that the EPA “recklessly refuses to place any value on protecting the health of millions of Americans from nitrogen oxides pollution in the face of mountains of medical science finding that this pollution contributes to asthma attacks, heart disease and other serious health problems.”

Tips: Promoting Environmental Awareness

Having awareness about our environment is the first step in ensuring that it is being protected and preserved. When we have more knowledge about a topic, it becomes easier for us to communicate with others about it. Here are some tips to help you spread environmental awareness in your community!

1. Utilize social media

Social media allows us all to share our ideas and information with a large audience. Use this to your advantage and spread the word about different topics regarding the environment. When used purposefully, social media can be a great tool to promote environmental awareness

2. Encourage your community to take action

Everyone hopes to live in a clean, safe environment. With this in mind, encourage those you know to help make this a reality. Some examples of community action may include organizing park clean-ups or tree planting events. 

3. Involve the youth in your community

When kids are exposed to the importance of protecting the environment at an early age, they are more likely to take action in the future. Giving presentations in schools, hosting competitions, and encouraging local projects are all great ways to involve the youth. 

4. Hold educational workshops and seminars 

Allowing experts on the environment to come and teach others is a great way to spread awareness. Many of these events can be held in spaces such as public libraries, which helps to make them extremely accessible. There are definitely many with strong environmental backgrounds who would love to share the knowledge and experiences that they have with others, so don’t be afraid to reach out!