🌿 Climate & Environment

April 20th, 2026

Today's top 5 stories, curated by Daily Direct.

Grist

War, climate change, and AI: What’s at stake at this year’s UN Indigenous forum

The UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues convenes in New York this week, drawing the largest global gathering of Indigenous delegates to address pressing threats from armed conflict, climate disruption, and artificial intelligence. The stakes are high — and access itself has become a flashpoint, with the U.S. creating significant visa barriers that are preventing some representatives from attending. Who gets a seat at the table is increasingly as contested as the issues on the agenda.

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Guardian Environment

Burning wood for power worse for climate than gas equivalent, report finds

Burning wood for electricity generation produces worse climate outcomes than gas — even when paired with carbon capture and storage technology, according to new research. The findings are a direct challenge to UK government plans to subsidize bioenergy with carbon capture (BECCS), a technology many policymakers have treated as a cornerstone of net-zero strategies. The study raises hard questions about whether biomass energy deserves its current status as a low-carbon solution.

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Inside Climate News

Rights of Nature Defender Wins Goldman Prize for Protecting Colombia’s Magdalena River From Fracking

Yuvelis Morales Blanco, a Colombian activist who grew up on the banks of the Magdalena River, has won the Goldman Environmental Prize for her successful campaign to protect the waterway from fracking. Her grassroots efforts helped secure legal recognition of the river's rights, a landmark victory against the country's entrenched fossil fuel industry. The win highlights the growing power of Rights of Nature frameworks as a tool for communities fighting industrial extraction.

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Mongabay

Asia’s longest free-flowing river contaminated by arsenic linked to Myanmar mines

Arsenic contamination linked to upstream mining operations in Myanmar is threatening the Salween River, Asia's longest free-flowing waterway. The pollution poses serious risks to communities along both sides of the Thai-Myanmar border who depend on the river for food and livelihoods. The findings raise urgent questions about cross-border environmental accountability in a region where regulation remains weak.

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Carbon Brief

Revealed: Scientists tell Colombia fossil-fuel transition summit to ‘halt new expansion’

Scientists have issued a direct call to nations gathered at Colombia's landmark fossil-fuel transition summit, urging governments to stop approving new oil, gas, and coal projects. The recommendation represents one of the most explicit demands yet from the scientific community to policymakers on supply-side climate action. With countries historically focused on curbing demand rather than restricting extraction, the push to halt expansion marks a significant escalation in the policy debate.

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