In recognition of her leadership and advocacy, Indigenous Wirdi woman Murrawah Maroochy Johnson has been awarded the 2024 Goldman Environmental Prize. 

 

She joins the Mongabay Newscast to discuss a landmark victory for First Nations rights in Australia, led by her organization Youth Verdict against Waratah Coal, which resulted in the Land Court of Queensland recommending a rejection of a mining lease in the Galilee Basin that would have added 1.58 billion tons of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere over its lifespan.

 

The court case set multiple precedents in Australia, including being the first successful case to link the impacts of climate change with human rights, and the first to include on-Country evidence from First Nations witnesses. 

 

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

 

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

 

Image credit: 2024 Goldman Prize winner Murrawah Maroochy Johnson. Photo courtesy of Goldman Environmental Prize.

 

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Timecodes 

 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:51) An unprecedented victory

(05:33) Including on-Country evidence

(16:17) Future legal implications

(20:34) Challenges of navigating the legal system

(26:14) Looking to the future

(28:16) Credits

Indigenous rights advocate and executive director of SIRGE Coalition, Galina Angarova, and environmental journalist/author of the Substack newsletter Green Rocks, Ian Morse, join us to detail the key social and environmental concerns, impacts, and questions we should be asking about the mining of elements used in everything from the global renewable energy transition to the device in your hand.

 

Research indicates that 54% of all transition minerals occur on or near Indigenous land. Despite this fact, no nation anywhere has properly enforced Free Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC) protocols in line with standards in the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). Further, local communities too seldom benefit from their extraction, while suffering their consequences in the form of reduced air and/or water quality.

 

This conversation was originally broadcast on Mongabay's YouTube channel to a live audience of journalists but the conversation contains detailed insight and analysis on a vital topic listeners of the Newscast will appreciate. Those interested in participating in Mongabay's webinar series are encouraged to subscribe to the YouTube Channel or sign up for Mongagabay's Webinar Newsletter here. 

 

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

 

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

 

Image credit: A symbol for a renewable charging station. (Photo courtesy of Nicola Sznajder/Flickr)

 

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Timecodes 

 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:57) Why are they called 'transition minerals?'

(07:04) Geopolitical tensions and complications

(16:04) Realities of mining windfalls

(26:30) Cartelization concerns

(32:50) Environmental and human rights impacts

(39:46) Reporting on Free Prior and Informed Consent

(46:49) Recycling

(54:45) Additional Indigenous rights concerns

(57:04) Certification schemes and community-led mining initiatives

(01:03:22) Deep-sea mining

(01:09:21) Credits

On this episode of the Mongabay Newscast, journalist Dahr Jamail joins co-host Rachel Donald to discuss the ways many international conflicts are based on resource scarcity.

 

Notable as an unembedded reporter during the US-led Iraq invasion, Jamail expands on the human and ecological costs to these conflicts, the purported reasons behind them, how those justifications are covered in the media, and the continued stress these conflicts put on society. 

 

"There was a saying a ways back by Lester Brown [who] said 'land is the new gold and water is the new oil.' And I think that that perspective is really kind of driving what we're seeing," Jamail says.

 

If you enjoy the Newscast, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

 

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

 

Image credit: A U.S. Army soldier watching a burning oil well at the Rumaila oil field in Iraq in April 2003. Image by Arlo K. Abrahamson/DoD via Wikimedia Commons (Public domain).

 

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Timecodes 

 

(00:00) Introduction

(01:57) From Alaska to Iraq

(10:59) Resource scarcity and the geopolitics of war

(29:31) New horizons and new tensions

(35:09) Post-show discussion

(50:05) Credits

On today's episode, climate activist and founder of the non-profit Force of Nature, Clover Hogan, details list of challenges activists face both from outside and within their movements. 

 

Not only do environmental activists face growing legal and physical threats across the globe, they are also vulnerable to burnout, exhaustion, and ridicule as they navigate a host of other social challenges while doing this work that is poorly compensated.

 

Hogan speaks with co-host Mike DiGirolamo about these challenges and the way forward for more inclusive movements while navigating the noise:

 

“It's no accident that we spend so much of our time thinking about our individual lifestyles and not thinking about how [to] actually hold these systems accountable,” she says.

 

Attention, Google Podcasts users—although that podcast provider is being closed by Alphabet, which is moving all podcasts to its YouTube Music service—you can find our show via any of the podcast apps, so please find and follow the Mongabay Newscast via any of those to not miss an episode!

 

If you enjoy the show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

 

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

 

Image credit: Clover Hogan speaking in Paris, France. Photo courtesy of Clover Hogan.

 

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Timecodes 

 

(00:00) Introduction

(02:10) Force of Nature

(05:36) The challenges activists face

(08:52) The myth of 'perfection'

(16:50) Hostile environments

(25:59) The most surprising 'confessions' of a climate activist

(32:51) Throwing soup on paintings: helpful or harmful?

(39:49) 'Hope' is a verb

(43:53) Climate activism is an intersectional movement

On today's episode of the Newscast, world-renowned primatologist and conservation advocate Dr. Jane Goodall sits down with Mongabay founder and editor-in-chief, Rhett Butler. Goodall is celebrating her 90th birthday this week and reflects upon her long (and continuing) career, sharing reflections, lessons, stories and inspirations that guide her philosophy toward protecting the natural world.

 

Widely recognized for her pioneering work on animal behavior, she explains the importance of having empathy for animals and why it is crucial for meeting conservation goals now and into the future. The iconic conservationist also shares why she thinks that, despite 'doom & gloom' news, humanity can overcome the adversity of its many environmental challenges. 

 

"I've come to think of humanity as being at the mouth of a very long very dark tunnel and right at the end there’s a little star shining. And that's hope. But it's no good sitting, wondering when that star will come to us...We must gird our loins, roll up our sleeves, and navigate around all obstacles that lie between us and the star."

 

View a print version of this interview at the Mongabay website:

https://news.mongabay.com/2024/04/jane-goodall-at-90-on-fame-hope-and-empathy/

 

Editor's Note: Jane Goodall is a member of Mongabay's advisory council.

 

Subscribe to the Mongabay Newscast wherever you get podcasts, and if you enjoy the show, please visit www.patreon.com/mongabay to pledge a dollar or more to keep the show growing, Mongabay is a nonprofit media outlet and all support helps!

 

See all our latest news from nature's frontline at Mongabay's homepage, mongabay.com, or follow Mongabay on any of the social media platforms for updates.

 

Feedback? Send a message to submissions@mongabay.com.

 

Image credit: Photo of Jane Goodall by Rhett Butler/Mongabay.

 

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Timecodes 

 

(00:00) Introduction

(04:09) Reflections on conservation and changes

(05:04) How do you keep hopeful?

(06:40) How can individuals make a positive impact?

(08:36) How can people make their voices heard?

(09:34) Ways to rally around nature

(11:53) Why do you think people connect with your work?

(20:08) Overlooked conservation solutions

(22:29) The importance of empathy

(27:44) Collaboration and hope in conservation

(32:22) Choosing the impact we make