By Chris Lang Mary Nichols, the chair of the California Air Resources Board since 2007, is a leading contender to head the Environmental Protection Agency under the new US President-Elect Joe Biden. “If they offered it, I would take it,” Nichols told the Associated Press.
Category: USA

The Green Gigaton Challenge: Bringing REDD back from the dead, using Norway’s oil money to “grease the wheels”
By Chris Lang Thomson Reuters Foundation recently reported that, “Norway is doubling the price it guarantees developing nations to keep their tropical forests standing, in a step to slow catastrophic losses and encourage big companies to invest far more in nature to combat climate change.”

The return of the carbon cowboys: How NIHT Inc failed to get free, prior and informed consent for REDD in New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
By Chris Lang A US-based company called NIHT Inc has big REDD plans for the provinces of New Ireland and East New Britain in Papua New Guinea. So far, the NIHT Topaiyo REDD+ Project covering an area of 10,443 hectares of forest, has been registered by Verra. The project is in the south of the…

US government stops funding to WWF, WCS and other conservation organisations because of human rights abuses
By Chris Lang In autumn 2019, the US government suspended US$12.3 million of funding to the Central Africa Regional Program for the Environment (CARPE). This followed a bipartisan congressional oversight investigation to examine whether US conservation funds were supporting eco-guards who committed human rights abuses.

Savraj Gata-Aura sentenced to four years in prison for his role in the Bar Works investment scam
By Chris Lang On 27 July 2020, Savraj Gata-Aura was sentenced to four years in prison for his part in the Bar Works investment scam. More than 800 investors handed over more than US$40 million supposedly as investments in the Bar Works co-working space company. Gata-Aura co-founded Bar Works in 2015 with serial scammer Renwick…