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Forest Service orders Arrowhead bottled water company to shut down California pipeline

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Wednesday, August 7, 2024

In a decision that could end a years-long battle over commercial extraction of water from public lands, the U.S. Forest Service has ordered the company that sells Arrowhead bottled water to shut down its pipeline that collects water from springs in the San Bernardino Mountains. The Forest Service notified BlueTriton Brands in a letter last month, saying its application for a new permit has been denied.District Ranger Michael Nobles wrote in the July 26 letter that the company “must cease operations” in the San Bernardino National Forest and submit a plan for removing all its pipes and equipment from federal land.The company has challenged the denial in court.Environmental activists praised the decision.“It’s a huge victory after 10 years,” said Amanda Frye, an activist who has campaigned against the taking of water from the forest. “I’m hoping that we can restore Strawberry Creek, have its springs flowing again, and get the habitat back.”She and other opponents say BlueTriton‘s operation has dramatically reduced creek flow and is causing significant environmental harm.The Forest Service announced the decision one month after a local environmental group, Save Our Forest Assn., filed a lawsuit arguing the agency was illegally allowing the company to continue operating under a permit that was past its expiration date.The company has denied that its use of water is harming the environment and has argued it should be allowed to continue piping water from the national forest.BlueTriton Brands and its predecessors “have continuously operated under a series of special use permits for nearly a century,” the company said in an email.“This denial has no legal merit, is unsupported by the facts, and negatively impacts the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians,” the company said, adding that the tribe uses a portion of the water that passes through the pipeline and relies on that water for firefighting needs.Representatives of the tribe did not respond to a request for comment.If the Forest Service decision stands, it would prevent the company from using the namesake source of its brand, Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water.The springs in the mountains north of San Bernardino, which have been a source for bottled water for generations, are named after an arrowhead-shaped natural rock formation on the mountainside.State officials have said that the first facilities to divert water in the Strawberry Creek watershed were built in 1929, and the system expanded over the years as additional boreholes were drilled into the mountainside.At the base of the mountain and near the company’s water pipeline stands the long-closed Arrowhead Springs hotel property, which the San Manuel tribe bought in 2016. The company has said that under a decades-old agreement, a portion of the water that flows through the 4.5-mile pipeline goes to the Arrowhead Springs property, and a portion of the water is delivered to a roadside tank and hauled on trucks to a bottling plant.The Forest Service has been charging a permit fee of $2,500 per year. There has been no charge for the water.Controversy over the issue erupted when the Desert Sun reported in 2015 that the Forest Service was allowing Nestlé to siphon water using a permit that listed 1988 as the expiration date.The Forest Service then began a review of the permit, and in 2018 granted a new permit for up to five years. The revelations about Nestlé piping water from the forest sparked an outpouring of opposition and prompted several complaints to California regulators questioning the company’s water rights claims, which led to a lengthy investigation by state water regulators.BlueTriton Brands took over the bottled water business in 2021 when Nestlé’s North American bottled water division was purchased by private-equity firm One Rock Capital Partners and investment firm Metropoulos & Co. (Last month, BlueTriton and Primo Water Corp. announced plans to merge and form a new company.)State officials determined last year that the company has been unlawfully diverting much of the water without valid water rights — agreeing with Frye and others, who had questioned the company’s claims and presented historical documents. The State Water Resources Control Board voted to order the company to halt its “unauthorized diversions” of water. But BlueTriton Brands sued to challenge that decision, arguing the process was rife with problems.In the July Forest Service letter, Nobles said the company was repeatedly asked to provide “additional information necessary to assure compliance with BlueTriton’s existing permit” but that the requests were “consistently left unanswered.”Nobles said that under the regulations, he may consider whether the water used exceeds the “needs of forest resources.”He also said that while the company had said in its application that the water would go for bottled water, its reports showed that 94% to 98% of the amount of water diverted monthly was delivered to the old hotel property for “undisclosed purposes,” and that “for months BlueTriton has indicated it has bottled none of the water taken,” while also significantly increasing the volumes extracted.“This increase represents significantly more water than has ever been delivered previously,” Nobles wrote. “The hotel and conference facility on the property is not operating, and there is no explanation of where the millions of gallons of water per month are going.”He said the decision is final and cannot be appealed.Nobles ordered the company to “stop use of the BlueTriton pipeline” within seven days “by severing or blocking the pipe at each tunnel or borehole” at a dozen sites; to remove the locks on its equipment; and to submit a plan within three months for removing all of its infrastructure.Forest Service officials did not respond to an email requesting comments about the decision.BlueTriton’s spokesperson said the Forest Service has agreed to a “temporary 30-day stay for the sole purpose of supplying the needs of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, including for fire prevention.”“We will continue to operate in compliance with all state and federal laws while we explore legal and regulatory options,” the spokesperson said.The company argues in the lawsuit that the Forest Service has violated federal law with a decision that is “arbitrary and capricious.”BlueTriton said studies by its scientific consultants have found that the taking of water “has not negatively affected the Strawberry Canyon environment.”Records show about 319 acre-feet, or 104 million gallons, flowed through the company’s pipes in 2023.In the rugged canyon downhill from the springs, Strawberry Creek has continued flowing in recent years. But when Frye has hiked along the creek, she has found that its western fork, located downhill from the boreholes, is just a trickle, forming a series of puddles among the bushes and trees.“Our goal was to get that water back in the creek and protect the forest,” Frye said. “The proof will be when the pipes and all that infrastructure is taken out and it’s restored. But I think we’re nearing the end.”

The Forest Service told bottled water company BlueTriton Brands to stop piping water out of a California national forest. The company is suing to challenge the decision.

The Forest Service notified BlueTriton Brands in a letter last month, saying its application for a new permit has been denied.

District Ranger Michael Nobles wrote in the July 26 letter that the company “must cease operations” in the San Bernardino National Forest and submit a plan for removing all its pipes and equipment from federal land.

The company has challenged the denial in court.

Environmental activists praised the decision.

“It’s a huge victory after 10 years,” said Amanda Frye, an activist who has campaigned against the taking of water from the forest. “I’m hoping that we can restore Strawberry Creek, have its springs flowing again, and get the habitat back.”

She and other opponents say BlueTriton‘s operation has dramatically reduced creek flow and is causing significant environmental harm.

The Forest Service announced the decision one month after a local environmental group, Save Our Forest Assn., filed a lawsuit arguing the agency was illegally allowing the company to continue operating under a permit that was past its expiration date.

The company has denied that its use of water is harming the environment and has argued it should be allowed to continue piping water from the national forest.

BlueTriton Brands and its predecessors “have continuously operated under a series of special use permits for nearly a century,” the company said in an email.

“This denial has no legal merit, is unsupported by the facts, and negatively impacts the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians,” the company said, adding that the tribe uses a portion of the water that passes through the pipeline and relies on that water for firefighting needs.

Representatives of the tribe did not respond to a request for comment.

If the Forest Service decision stands, it would prevent the company from using the namesake source of its brand, Arrowhead 100% Mountain Spring Water.

The springs in the mountains north of San Bernardino, which have been a source for bottled water for generations, are named after an arrowhead-shaped natural rock formation on the mountainside.

State officials have said that the first facilities to divert water in the Strawberry Creek watershed were built in 1929, and the system expanded over the years as additional boreholes were drilled into the mountainside.

At the base of the mountain and near the company’s water pipeline stands the long-closed Arrowhead Springs hotel property, which the San Manuel tribe bought in 2016. The company has said that under a decades-old agreement, a portion of the water that flows through the 4.5-mile pipeline goes to the Arrowhead Springs property, and a portion of the water is delivered to a roadside tank and hauled on trucks to a bottling plant.

The Forest Service has been charging a permit fee of $2,500 per year. There has been no charge for the water.

Controversy over the issue erupted when the Desert Sun reported in 2015 that the Forest Service was allowing Nestlé to siphon water using a permit that listed 1988 as the expiration date.

The Forest Service then began a review of the permit, and in 2018 granted a new permit for up to five years. The revelations about Nestlé piping water from the forest sparked an outpouring of opposition and prompted several complaints to California regulators questioning the company’s water rights claims, which led to a lengthy investigation by state water regulators.

BlueTriton Brands took over the bottled water business in 2021 when Nestlé’s North American bottled water division was purchased by private-equity firm One Rock Capital Partners and investment firm Metropoulos & Co. (Last month, BlueTriton and Primo Water Corp. announced plans to merge and form a new company.)

State officials determined last year that the company has been unlawfully diverting much of the water without valid water rights — agreeing with Frye and others, who had questioned the company’s claims and presented historical documents. The State Water Resources Control Board voted to order the company to halt its “unauthorized diversions” of water. But BlueTriton Brands sued to challenge that decision, arguing the process was rife with problems.

In the July Forest Service letter, Nobles said the company was repeatedly asked to provide “additional information necessary to assure compliance with BlueTriton’s existing permit” but that the requests were “consistently left unanswered.”

Nobles said that under the regulations, he may consider whether the water used exceeds the “needs of forest resources.”

He also said that while the company had said in its application that the water would go for bottled water, its reports showed that 94% to 98% of the amount of water diverted monthly was delivered to the old hotel property for “undisclosed purposes,” and that “for months BlueTriton has indicated it has bottled none of the water taken,” while also significantly increasing the volumes extracted.

“This increase represents significantly more water than has ever been delivered previously,” Nobles wrote. “The hotel and conference facility on the property is not operating, and there is no explanation of where the millions of gallons of water per month are going.”

He said the decision is final and cannot be appealed.

Nobles ordered the company to “stop use of the BlueTriton pipeline” within seven days “by severing or blocking the pipe at each tunnel or borehole” at a dozen sites; to remove the locks on its equipment; and to submit a plan within three months for removing all of its infrastructure.

Forest Service officials did not respond to an email requesting comments about the decision.

BlueTriton’s spokesperson said the Forest Service has agreed to a “temporary 30-day stay for the sole purpose of supplying the needs of the San Manuel Band of Mission Indians, including for fire prevention.”

“We will continue to operate in compliance with all state and federal laws while we explore legal and regulatory options,” the spokesperson said.

The company argues in the lawsuit that the Forest Service has violated federal law with a decision that is “arbitrary and capricious.”

BlueTriton said studies by its scientific consultants have found that the taking of water “has not negatively affected the Strawberry Canyon environment.”

Records show about 319 acre-feet, or 104 million gallons, flowed through the company’s pipes in 2023.

In the rugged canyon downhill from the springs, Strawberry Creek has continued flowing in recent years. But when Frye has hiked along the creek, she has found that its western fork, located downhill from the boreholes, is just a trickle, forming a series of puddles among the bushes and trees.

“Our goal was to get that water back in the creek and protect the forest,” Frye said. “The proof will be when the pipes and all that infrastructure is taken out and it’s restored. But I think we’re nearing the end.”

Read the full story here.

Photos courtesy of

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More Logging Is Proposed to Help Curb Wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest

U.S. officials are proposing increased logging on federal lands across the Pacific Northwest under changes to a sweeping forest management plan that’s been in place for three decades

U.S. officials would allow increased logging on federal lands across the Pacific Northwest in the name of fighting wildfires and boosting rural economies under proposed changes to a sweeping forest management plan that’s been in place for three decades.The U.S. Forest Service proposal, released Friday, would overhaul the Northwest Forest Plan that governs about 38,000 square miles (99,000 square kilometers) in Oregon, Washington and California.The plan was adopted in 1994 under President Bill Clinton amid pressure to curb destructive logging practices that resulted in widespread clearcuts and destroyed habitat used by spotted owls. Timber harvests dropped dramatically in subsequent years, spurring political backlash.But federal officials now say worsening wildfires due to climate change mean forests must be more actively managed to increase their resiliency. Increased logging also would provide a more predictable supply of trees for timber companies, officials said, helping rural economies that have suffered after lumber mills shut down and forestry jobs disappeared.The proposal could increase annual timber harvests by at least 33% and potentially more than 200%, according to a draft environmental study. The number of timber-related jobs would increase accordingly.Harvest volumes from the 17 national forests covered by the Northwest Forest Plan averaged about 445 million board feet annually over the past decade, according to government figures. Cutting more trees would help reduce wildfire risk and make communities safer, the study concluded. That would be accomplished in part by allowing cuts in some areas with stands of trees up to 120 years old — up from the current age threshold of 80 years.The change could help foster conditions conducive to growing larger, old growth trees that are more resistant to fire, by removing younger trees, officials said.A separate pending proposal from President Joe Biden's administration aims to increase protections nationwide for old growth trees, which play a significant role in storing climate change-inducing carbon dioxide.“Much has changed in society and science since the Northwest Forest Plan was created,” Jacque Buchanan, regional forester for the Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region, said in a statement. He said the proposal would help the agency adapt to shifting conditions, as global warming increases the frequency of droughts and other extreme weather events.The proposed plan also calls for closer cooperation between the Forest Service and Native American tribes to tap into tribal knowledge about forest management. Tribes were excluded when the 1994 plan was crafted.Environmentalists greeted the proposal with skepticism. The group Oregon Wild said it was “deeply troubling” that the Forest Service would release the proposal just ahead of a change in presidential administrations.“It appears that the Forest Service wants to abandon the fundamental purpose of the Northwest Forest Plan–protecting fish and wildlife and the mature and old-growth forests they need to survive,” John Persell, an attorney for the group, said in a statement.A draft environmental study examined several potential alternatives, including leaving the existing plan’s components in place or changing them to either reduce or increase logging. A timber industry representative who co-chaired an advisory committee on the Northwest Forest Plan said the proposed plan resulted from discussions involving committee members, the Forest Service and others.“We want to see a modern approach to federal forest stewardship that protects us from catastrophic wildfires, reduces toxic smoke, meaningfully engages tribes, and delivers for our rural communities and workers,” said Travis Joseph, president of the American Forest Resource Council.The publishing of the proposal begins a 120-day public comment period. The Forest Service's environmental review is expected to be completed by next fall and a final decision is due in early 2026.Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

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How do you save a rainforest? Leave it alone

Research shows that, instead of replanting rainforests, allowing them to bounce back naturally would work best

Johnny Appleseed’s heart was in the right place when he walked all over the early United States planting fruit trees. Ecologically, though, he had room for improvement: To create truly dynamic ecosystems that host a lot of biodiversity, benefit local people, and produce lots of different foods, a forest needs a wide variety of species. Left on their own, some deforested areas can rebound surprisingly fast with minimal help from humans, sequestering loads of atmospheric carbon as they grow. New research from an international team of scientists, recently published in the journal Nature, finds that 830,000 square miles of deforested land in humid tropical regions — an area larger than Mexico — could regrow naturally if left on its own. Five countries — Brazil, Indonesia, China, Mexico, and Colombia — account for 52 percent of the estimated potential regrowth. According to the researchers, that would boost biodiversity, improve water quality and availability, and suck up 23.4 gigatons of carbon over the next three decades. “A rainforest can spring up in one to three years — it can be brushy and hard to walk through,” said Matthew Fagan, a conservation scientist and geographer at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and a coauthor of the paper. “In five years, you can have a completely closed canopy that’s 20 feet high. I have walked in rainforests 80 feet high that are 10 to 15 years old. It just blows your mind.” That sort of regrowth isn’t a given, though. First of all, humans would have to stop using the land for intensive agriculture — think big yields thanks to fertilizers and other chemicals — or raising hoards of cattle, the sheer weight of which compacts the soil and makes it hard for new plants to take root. Cows, of course, also tend to nosh on young plants. Planting a bunch of the same species of tree — à la Johnny Appleseed — pales in comparison to a diverse rainforest that comes back naturally. Secondly, it helps for tropical soil to have a high carbon content to nourish plants. “Organic carbon, as any person who loves composting knows, really helps the soil to be nutritious and bulk itself up in terms of its ability to hold water,” Fagan said. “We found that places with soils like that are much more likely to have forests pop up.” And it’s also beneficial for a degraded area to be near a standing tropical forest. That way, birds can fly across the area, pooping out seeds they have eaten in the forest. And once those plants get established, other tree-dwelling animal species like monkeys can feast on their fruits and spread seeds, too. This initiates a self-reinforcing cycle of biodiversity, resulting in one of those 80-foot-tall forests that’s only a decade old. The more biodiversity, the more a forest can withstand shocks. 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A career archaeologist with the U.S. Forest Service says managers have been engaging in irresponsible and illegal behavior that has resulted in damage to Native American sites across the forested slopes of North Carolina

Spear points, hammer stones and picks lost to history under layers of leaves, roots and rocks — it was the evidence Scott Ashcraft was looking for. The ancient tools were inadvertently unearthed in 2021 by a bulldozer fighting a wildfire along a steep slope in western North Carolina. Ashcraft, a career U.S. Forest Service archaeologist, knew these wooded mountainsides held more clues to early human history in the Appalachian Mountains than anyone had imagined.He tried for years to raise the alarm to forest managers, saying outdated modeling that ignored the artifacts sometimes hidden on steep terrain — especially sites significant to Native American tribes — needed to be reconsidered when planning for prescribed fires, logging projects, new recreational trails and other work on national forest lands. 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In 2022, President Joe Biden issued a memo aimed at setting minimum standards for how agencies should carry out consultations with tribes.It appears that system broke down in North Carolina, said Valerie Grussing, the executive director of the National Association of Tribal Historic Preservation Officers. The group has been in discussions with tribes and top forest officials about violations there.“What’s happened at the forest unit and the regional level is egregious. It’s unconscionable,” she said. “It’s not just a breaking of the federal trust responsibility, but of established relationships.”James Melonas, supervisor of the four forests in North Carolina, said in a statement that an independent group of experts was tapped last year to review several projects to ensure compliance with federal laws and tribal consultation obligations after “an internal concern” was raised.The experts recommended more training for employees on the requirements of the National Historic Preservation Act and a full review of the forest heritage program. Regional forest officials said that internal review was done in May, confirming that obligations were met.“Honoring this rich tribal heritage along with co-stewardship of these lands with tribal nations is a top priority for the Forest Service," Melonas said.Some tribal officials say the Forest Service did not reach out to them when conducting the reviews.Ashcraft’s attorneys have partnered with the legal nonprofit Whistleblower Aid. They contend that Ashcraft has put his career on the line to bring attention to what they described as the “willful destruction of Native American heritage sites.”Andrew Bakaj, chief legal counsel for Whistleblower Aid, said virtually none of the key stakeholders with knowledge of the violations were interviewed as part of the agency's review and the report has been kept out of the public eye.The concerns raised by the whistleblower are not the first time the Forest Service has been accused of not following procedures. Documents obtained by the AP in 2016 revealed that portions of the Trail of Tears were ripped up in eastern Tennessee when an employee approved the construction of berms and trenches without authorization. The Forest Service later apologized to the Cherokee Nation and other tribes.Ashcraft has surveyed vast tracts of forest over his 31-year career. Without further investigation of steep slopes, he said the extent of the damage done in western North Carolina as a result of managers relying on outdated modeling can't be fully known.The whistleblower disclosure provides examples in which forest managers have allegedly tried to obstruct further archaeological investigations on steep slopes. It states that recreational trail projects – including a multimillion-dollar effort to expand hiking and biking networks east of Asheville -- have already been built over some areas and that prescribed burns have been implemented despite the need for more assessments and tribal consultation.“These actions are irreparably damaging or destroying an untold sum of Native American cultural and archeological sites including some of great significance. This conduct continues to this day,” Ashcraft warned in his letter.The intent isn't to stop work on forest lands, Ashcraft said, but rather to document sites before they're altered or reroute work in cases where areas are more sensitive and need protection.The Center for the Investigation of Native and Ancient Quarries has worked with Ashcraft and other scientists to uncover dozens of sites — many of which have a “surprising density” of Native American cultural materials and evidence of land use dating back thousands of years.Within the scar of the Seniard Creek Fire south of Asheville, they turned up stone axes and other tools used for digging at quartz and soapstone quarries — all examples of what researchers described as engineering feats by sophisticated societies that called this region home about 6,000 years ago."Here we are at higher elevations and steeper slopes with an absolutely magnificent resource eroding downslope,” said Philip LaPorta, executive director of the center and adjunct senior research scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory.LaPorta said discoveries like the one near Asheville should make people think differently about how Indigenous people used steep landscapes.The whistleblower disclosure was shared with the Cherokee Nation, the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, the Catawba Indian Nation, the Muscogee Nation and the United Keetoowah Band.The Eastern Band of Cherokee were hopeful about having more meaningful and frequent consultations with forest managers after the agency adopted a revised plan for the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests in 2023. However, a specialist with the tribe said not much has changed. In his letter, Ashcraft wrote that the identification and preservation of Native American heritage sites goes beyond a single agency, tribe or whistleblower. "It concerns all of us,” he wrote. “Protection of these resources is a duty shared by actors across state and federal government, sovereign tribes as well as civil society. When one fails — spectacularly and in bad faith — it is up to the rest to step in.”For Native Americans, Grussing said it goes beyond the artifacts found in a particular spot. It's an intangible energy that comes from being connected to a place.“That's what is at stake," she said. "These are irreplaceable cultural resources and places. They’re nonrenewable.”Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Photos You Should See - Sept. 2024

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Global carbon emissions inch upwards in 2024 despite progress on EVs, renewables and deforestation

As world leaders gather at COP29 to consider reducing emissions, the latest global carbon budget shows CO₂ emissions from fossil fuels are still going up, not down, despite some promising signs.

Susan Santa Maria, ShutterstockCarbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions from fossil fuels continue to increase, year on year. This sobering reality will be presented to world leaders today at the international climate conference COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan. Our latest annual stocktake shows the world is on track to reach a new record: 37.4 billion tonnes of CO₂ emitted from fossil fuels in 2024. This is an increase of 0.8% from the previous year. Adopting renewable energy and electric vehicles is helping reduce emissions in 22 countries. But it’s not enough to compensate for ongoing global growth in fossil fuels. There were also signs in 2023 suggesting natural systems may struggle to capture and store as much CO₂ in the future as they have in the past. While humanity is tackling deforestation and the growth in fossil CO₂ emissions is slowing, the need to reach an immediate peak and decline in global emissions has never been so acute. The Global Carbon Project The Global Carbon Budget is an annual planetary account of carbon sources and sinks, which soak up carbon dioxide and remove it from the atmosphere. We include anthropogenic sources from human activities such as burning fossil fuels or making cement as well as natural sources such as bushfires. When it comes to CO₂ sinks, we consider all the ways carbon may be taken out of the atmosphere. This includes plants using CO₂ to grow and CO₂ being absorbed by the ocean. Some of this happens naturally and some is being actively encouraged by human activity. Putting all the available data on sources and sinks together each year is a huge international effort involving 86 research organisations, including Australia’s CSIRO. We also use computer models and statistical approaches to fill out the remaining months to the end of the year. Fossil fuel emissions up This year’s growth in carbon emissions from fossil fuels is mainly from fossil gas and oil, rather than coal. Fossil gas carbon emissions grew by 2.4%, signalling a return to the strong long-term growth rates observed before the COVID pandemic. Gas emissions grew in most large countries, but declined across the European Union. Oil carbon emissions grew by 0.9% overall, pushed up by a rise in emissions from international aviation and from India. The rebound in international air travel pushed aviation carbon emissions up 13.5% in 2024, although it’s still 3.5% below the pre-COVID 2019 level. Meanwhile, oil emissions from the United States and China are declining. It’s possible oil emissions have peaked in China, driven by growth in electric vehicles. Coal carbon emissions went up by 0.2%, with strong growth in India, small growth in China, a moderate decline in the US, and a large decline in the European Union. Coal use in the US is now at its lowest level in 120 years. The United Kingdom closed its last coal power plant in 2024, 142 years after the first one was opened. With strong growth in wind energy replacing coal, the UK CO₂ emissions have almost been cut in half since 1990. Changing land use Carbon emissions also come from land clearing and degradation. But some of that CO₂ can be taken up again by planting trees. So we need to examine both sources and sinks on land. Global net CO₂ emissions from land use change averaged 4.1 billion tonnes a year over the past decade (2014–23). This year is likely to be slightly higher than average with 4.2 billion tonnes, due to drought and fires in the Amazon. That amount represents about 10% of all emissions from human activities, the rest owing to fossil fuels. Importantly, total carbon emissions – the sum of fossil fuel emissions and land-use change emissions – have largely plateaued over the past decade, but are still projected to reach a record of just over 41 billion tonnes in 2024. The plateau in 2014–23 follows a decade of significant growth in total emissions of 2% per year on average between 2004 and 2013. This shows humanity is tackling deforestation and the growth of fossil CO₂ emissions is slowing. However, this is not enough to put global emissions on a downward trajectory. Annual CO₂ emissions continue to increase, reaching a record high in 2024. The shaded area around each line shows the uncertainty in the estimates. Global Carbon Project, CC BY More countries are cutting emissions – but many more to go Fossil CO₂ emissions decreased in 22 countries as their economies grew. These countries are mainly from the European Union, along with the United States. Together they represent 23% of global fossil CO₂ emissions over the past decade (2014–23). This number is up from 18 countries during the previous decade (2004–13). New countries in this list include Norway, New Zealand and South Korea. In Norway, emissions from road transport declined as the share of electric vehicles in the passenger car fleet grew – the highest in the world at over 25% – and biofuels replaced fossil petrol and diesel. Even greater reductions in emissions have come from Norway’s oil and gas sector, where gas turbines on offshore platforms are being upgraded to electric. In New Zealand, emissions from the power sector are declining. Traditionally the country has had a high share of hydropower, supplemented with coal and natural gas. But now wind and particularly geothermal energy is driving fossil generation down. We are projecting further emissions growth of 0.2% in China, albeit small and with some uncertainty (including the possibility of no growth or even slight decline). China added more solar panels in 2023 than the US did in its entire history. Individual country emissions vary widely, but there are some signs of progress towards decarbonisation. Global Carbon Budget 2024/Global Carbon Project, CC BY-ND Nature shows troubling signs In the 1960s, our activities emitted an average of 16 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year globally. About half of these emissions (8 billion tonnes) were naturally removed from the atmosphere by forests and oceans. Over the past decade, emissions from human activities reached about 40 billion tonnes of CO₂ per year. Again, about half of these emissions (20 billion tonnes) were removed. In the absence of these natural sinks, current warming would already be well above 2°C. But there’s a limit to how much nature can help. In 2023, the carbon uptake on land dropped 28% from the decadal average. Global record temperatures, drought in the Amazon and unprecedented wildfires in the forests of Canada were to blame, along with an El Niño event. As climate change continues, with rising ocean temperatures and more climate extremes on land, we expect the CO₂ sinks to become less efficient. But for now, we expect last year’s land sink decline will recover to a large degree as the El Niño event has subsided. About half of the CO₂ emissions were removed from the atmosphere by forests and oceans. When we tally up all of the sources compared to the sinks, the budget should balance. We find a slight imbalance of 1.6Gt/year due to limitations of the data. Global Carbon Budget 2024/Global Carbon Project, CC BY Looking ahead Our latest carbon budget shows global fossil fuel emissions continue to increase, further delaying the peak in emissions. Global CO₂ emissions continue to track in the middle of the range of scenarios developed by the Intergovenmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). We have yet to bend the emissions curve into the 1.5–2°C warming territory of the Paris Agreement. This comes at a time when it’s clear we need to be reducing emissions, to avoid worsening climate change. We also identified some positive signs, such as the rapid adoption of renewable energy and electric cars as they become cheaper and more accessible, supporting the march toward a net-zero emissions pathway. But turning these trends into global decarbonisation requires a far greater level of ambition and action. Pep Canadell receives funding from the National Environmental Science Program - Climate Systems Hub. Corinne Le Quéré receives funding from the UK Natural Environment Research Council and the UK Royal Society. She was granted a research donation by Schmidt Futures (project CALIPSO – Carbon Loss In Plants, Soils and Oceans). Corinne Le Quéré is a member of the UK Climate Change Committee. Her position here is her own and does not necessarily reflect that of the Committee. Glen Peters receives funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.Judith Hauck receives funding from the European Research Council (OceanPeak) and the European Union's Horizon Europe research and innovation program (OceanICU – Improving Carbon Understanding). The work reflects only the authors' view; the European Commission and their executive agency are not responsible for any use that may be made.Julia Pongratz receives funding from German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.Pierre Friedlingstein receives funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme Robbie Andrew receives funding from the Norwegian Environment Agency and the European Union's Horizon Europe.

Forests

Climate

Education

Campaigners in Italy urge pope to stop ‘sacrifice’ of 200-year-old tree for Xmas

Twenty-nine-metre tall fir destined to be chopped down and transported to St Peter’s Square in the VaticanEnvironmental campaigners in Italy’s northern Trentino province have started a campaign to stop the felling of a 200-year-old fir tree intended to form the centrepiece of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations.The so-called “Green Giant” is 29 metres tall and is due to be chopped down next week in a forest in the Ledro valley before being transported to the Vatican and positioned in St Peter’s Square, where it will then be unveiled on 9 December. Continue reading...

Environmental campaigners in Italy’s northern Trentino province have started a campaign to stop the felling of a 200-year-old fir tree intended to form the centrepiece of the Vatican’s Christmas decorations.The so-called “Green Giant” is 29 metres tall and is due to be chopped down next week in a forest in the Ledro valley before being transported to the Vatican and positioned in St Peter’s Square, where it will then be unveiled on 9 December.The Vatican’s Christmas tree tradition began in 1982 and ever since then a fir is donated each year, either from a region in Italy or another European country. The gift is often a source of pride.But several environmental associations in Trentino are determined to foil this year’s plan. They have written an open letter to Pope Francis asking him to stop what they described as “a useless sacrifice”. Meanwhile, more than 40,000 people have signed a petition and residents in Ledro, a town with a population of about 600, are reportedly planning a road-block protest to prevent the tree’s passage to Rome.The letter reminded the pontiff, who often lambasts climate crisis deniers, that some of his encyclicals have focused on safeguarding the environment.“It is inconsistent to talk about fighting climate change and then perpetuate traditions like this, which require the elimination of such an ancient and symbolic tree,” the associations wrote.The petition’s appeal urged people to sign against “the purely consumerist practice” of using living trees “for mere advertising purposes and a few ridiculous selfies”.However, Renato Girardi, the mayor of Ledro, hit back, telling the Italian press that he hadn’t expected “such malice”.“They are ruining the Christmas festivities just for a plant,” he added. “We only want to donate a fir tree, and I would like to underline that if it wasn’t donated it would end up in a sawmill.”He added that the valley’s forests are managed in compliance with PEFC, the European Commission forestry certification system.“The fir tree that will be removed is part of one of the lots that must be felled for the correct cultivation of the forest,” he said.Girardi denied claims by the campaigners that 39 more trees would be torn down and dispatched to the Vatican to adorn the internal areas of the tiny city-state in an operation alleged to cost €60,000 (£50,000).“There is no shortage of inaccuracies [in their appeal],” Girardi told the online newspaper, il Dolomiti. “It is true that 40 trees will go towards the Vatican but only one will be cut down in the woods of the Ledro while the other 39 will be purchased from specialised nurseries, because the Holy See had expressed, from the beginning preferred Nordmann fir trees suitable for interiors because they do not lose their needles. These trees have another particular characteristic: they do not grow in Ledro.”The cost of chopping down and transporting the Green Giant was, in fact, €6,000, he said.A spokesperson for the Vatican did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Forests

Climate

Crisis

Suggested Viewing

Among Giants

Among Giants begins three years into the McKay tree-sit- a response to Green Diamond Resource Company’s clearcutting of redwood forests. Atop his tiny platform a hundred feet up in the ancient redwood canopy, Farmer must battle the elements and avoid isolation as he fights for a sustainable future. The film uses a restrained verite style that reflects the pace of life in the tree village. As Farmer outlasts a vicious storm, counts the rings on a felled tree, and trumps through a recent clear cut, the film asks questions about what it means to follow one’s beliefs and make a difference in the world.

Forests

Activism

Nature

The Big Green

Jeanne's last cutting tree site has been destroyed by environmental activists. While she tries to save some equipment, she ends up stuck on the first branch of a 30 meters high, centuries-old tree. Her only hope: to climb higher to find some network and call for help.‍

Forests

Technology

Fiction

The Windshield Effect

As a child, Julian and his mother, Sylvie, could spend hours out in nature admiring the soundtrack of the plentiful insects. One day, a grown Julian is out on a run in those same woods and when he takes off his ear buds, realizes he cannot hear anything at all. A trip to the audiologist assures him there is nothing wrong with his ears, but he is still left shaken. Back in the forest, he comes to the realization that the insects themselves have gone silent in a mass die off. Also known as the "Windshield Phenomenon" that documents how bugs no longer splatter on windshields as we drive as insect populations are down more than 45% over the last 4 decades.

Forests

Extinction

Nature

Dipsas Speaks

Dipsas Speaks is a poetic reflection on the human-wildlife conflict in the Andean Amazon cloud forest of Ecuador, one of the most biodiverse places on the planet. Dipsas klebbai, a snake, observes changes in her world. 100% wildlife cast.

Forests

Conservation

Animals

Where Do They All Go?

Join us on an quiet trip into the woods and see all the sites, big and small, that you may not have noticed before. There are critters, birds, deer, trees, and great bodies of water that will capture your eye for you to gaze upon. But be forewarned, some day these great sites may disappear in place for something more modern. So enjoy what time you have to gaze on such sites, it may be your last.

Land Use

Experimental

Forests

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Forest Service orders Arrowhead bottled water company to shut down California pipeline

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More Logging Is Proposed to Help Curb Wildfires in the US Pacific Northwest

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Whistleblower Sounds Alarm About Destruction of Tribal Sites in North Carolina

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Campaigners in Italy urge pope to stop ‘sacrifice’ of 200-year-old tree for Xmas

Suggested Viewing

Among Giants

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The Windshield Effect

Dipsas Speaks

Where Do They All Go?

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sign up for our mailing list to stay informed on the latest films and environmental headlines.

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