UN biodiversity chief: Some politicians backsliding on climate action, but public is not

Government backtracking on environmental promises is being driven by politicians and vested interests, not the public, the acting UN biodiversity chief has said, as he called for greater support for those experiencing short-term costs from green policies.

David Cooper, acting executive secretary for the UN convention on biological diversity (CBD), told the Guardian he believed the public mood was not moving against greater environmental protections, and that vested interests opposed to action on the climate crisis and nature loss were trying to frustrate progress.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/oct/11/politicians-not-public-driving-green-uturns-says-un-biodiversity-chief-david-cooper

In a first since dam removal in Olympic NP, Tribe catches salmon in free-flowing Elwha River

ELWHA RIVER — With the plonk of fishing tackle in clear, green water, the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe’s first fishery on a free-flowing river in more than a century got underway.

“I am so proud of my tribe today,” said Russell Hepfer, vice chairman of the tribe, to a gathering of more than 100 people from the community and beyond to share in ceremony before starting the fishery on Monday. There was a welcome song, a prayer song and, of course, a salmon song.

https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/environment/tribe-catches-coho-salmon-on-free-flowing-elwha-river-a-first-since-dam-removal/

Conservation groups dismayed, disappointed at Biden decision to build border wall in Texas county

The Biden administration’s decision to waive environmental, public health and cultural protections to speed new border wall construction has enraged environmentalists, Indigenous leaders and community groups in the Rio Grande valley.

“It was disheartening and unexpected,” said Laiken Jordahl, a borderlands campaigner with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), amid concerns of the impact on essential corridors for wild cats and endangered plants in the area. “This is a new low, a horrific step backwards for the borderlands.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/06/biden-border-wall-indigenous-climate-rio-grande