All Eyes on Climate Crisis: Daily Brief

Rights should be at center of COP26 climate deliberations in Glasgow; COP26 host UK should provide genuine leadership on fossil fuel financing; without China, efforts to reverse deforestation will fail; thousands protests against coup in Sudan; Brazil's government only listens to those who applaud it; education is a fundamental human right, also for girls in Afghanistan; #WhatsHappeningInMyanmar; and some good Belarus news.

Get the Daily Brief by email.

World leaders are meeting in Glasgow this week for the United Nations Climate Conference and the stakes could not be higher. From burning forests to sweltering cities, parched farmlands to storm-battered coasts, the climate crisis is taking a mounting toll on lives and livelihoods around the globe. And unless governments act boldly—and quickly—to massively reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the situation could become unimaginably worse.

In the leadup to the climate summit, the United Kingdom has sought to position itself as a leader in global efforts to end government support for fossil fuels. The question is whether the COP26 host will do what’s necessary to deliver on this promise, and whether other top fossil fuel financers will likewise rise to the occasion to avert a dystopian future.

One of the biggest problems that must be tackled now is deforestation. Did you know that China’s import of millions of tons of beef, soy and other agricultural commodities drives more deforestation globally than any other market – including the United States and the European Union combined?  

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in Sudan over the weekend to show their opposition against the military coup. Three protesters were fatally shot on Saturday, and more than 100 people got injured.

The administration of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has refused to disclose basic information about its review of the most important statement of human rights policy in the country. A change in the rules on October 29, 2021 maintains the requirement to keep discussions secret...

Women across Afghanistan continue to protest, asking for schools to reopen and for women’s right to work. “If the Taliban have really changed, they should prove it by letting our daughters go to school and us to go work." Read this dispatch by HRW's Afghanistan consultant Fereshta Abbasi.

The United States embassy in Myanmar has expressed grave concern about reports of gross violations of human rights that Burmese security forces have perpetuated in Chin State, including reports that forces have set fire to and destroyed more than 100 residences as well as Christian churches. HRW is investigating what may amount to  a war crime.

And there's some good news regarding accountability for crimes against humanity in Belarus.