Ø Ursula von der Leyen was voted in for a second term as president of the European Commission on 18 July. She presented the European Parliament with her political guidelines for the next 5 years, including staying the course on goals set out in the European Green Deal and planning for new measures such as a Clean Industrial Deal, having the 90% emission-reduction target for 2040 enshrined in the European Climate Law, new Clean Trade and Investment Partnerships, stepping up EU green diplomacy and proposing a new Circular Economy Act.

Ø The EU Copernicus Climate Change Service announced that 21 July 2024 was the warmest day in recent history and observed that June 2024 was warmer globally than any previous June in the data record, with an average ERA5 surface air temperature of 16.6°C.

Ø Brazil’s Amazon Pantanal has faced the worst drought in 70 years, exacerbated by climate change and one of the strongest El Nino’s in history. According to NASA Earth Observatory, the intensity of fires in Pantanal has been higher than at the same period in 2020 – when catastrophic fires burned 39,000 km2 or one-third of the whole biome.

Ø The world’s consumption of fossil fuels climbed to a record high in 2023, despite a record rise in the use of renewable energy as well, according to the Energy Institute. Fossil fuels made up 81.5% of the world’s primary energy.

Ø The World Meteorological Organisation warned in July that hurricane Beryl – the earliest Category 5 Atlantic hurricane on record, set an alarming precedent for what is expected to be a very active hurricane season. The WMO highlighted the need for multi-hazard early warnings.

Ø The World Bank was approved on 12 June as host and trustee for the Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage – a major milestone towards operationalising the Fund, in collaboration with the Fund Board.

Ø The Agroecology Coalition, which groups 300 members from of governments, U.N. agencies, NGOs, and grassroots organisations, launched on 14 June its Strategy 2024-2030, on “Accelerating food system transformation through agroecology” to foster increased investments, supportive policies, and promoting market pathways for agroecology.

Ø Denmark, a major pork and dairy exporter, reached a historic agreement in June with farming and conservation groups to introduce a carbon tax on livestock farming, to fulfil its 70% emission reduction target.

Ø Google's emissions were 48% higher in 2023 than in 2019, according to its latest environmental report, due to increasing amounts of energy needed by its data centres, exacerbated by the growth of artificial intelligence.

Ø The Agricultural Transitions Lab for African Solutions (ATLAS) was launched on 10 June at the Paris Peace Forum, held in Morocco. The high-level platform for South-North dialogue and cooperation bringing together stakeholders like international organisations, development banks, foundations, and civil society, is dedicated to driving policy consensus and increased investments for African agriculture.

Ø The Commission Directorate-General for International Partnerships has been ranked in the “Top 10” of most transparent donors in the 2024 Aid Transparency Index, with a score of 83%.