A window into what we’re reading at the Stimson Center’s Environmental Security Program 

New Report On Women’s Access to UN Indigenous and Community Land Rights Funding (Mongabay) 

A study published by the Rights and Resources Initiative and the Women in the Global South Alliance reveals that despite the central role women play in conservation and community resilience, 50% of women’s organizations lack core funding and rely heavily on volunteer labor. The report assessed how network members are benefitting in real terms from the $1.7 billion in funding for Indigenous and community land rights pledged at the 2021 UN climate conference. 

The new study concludes that current funding models are too rigid and too focused on short-term grants, rather than on long-term institutional capacity building. At least 90 organizations surveyed cannot operate beyond one year, due to their lack of reserve funding. The authors urge donors to shift to more flexible, trust-based partnerships with simplified reporting systems and to provide more unrestricted core funding for women-led conservation initiatives. 

Impact of China’s Renewable Energy Expansion on Global Transition Assessed (New York Times) 

A new report quantifies just how China’s manufacturing investments since 2010 have driven down solar panel, battery, and wind turbine costs by 60-90%.  The broader impacts have been substantive. Chinese companies supply 80% of global solar panels and 60% of wind turbines. More than 90% of wind and solar projects commissioned last year now cost less than fossil fuel alternatives. Countries including Mexico, Bangladesh, and Malaysia surpass the U.S. in renewable electricity usage due to affordable Chinese technologies. 

China does continue to burn more coal than the rest of the world combined, yet the country’s emissions have plateaued as coal plants begin to serve in backup roles. In 2024, China met 84% of electricity demand growth with renewables, and the clean energy sector contributed $2 trillion to its economy. 

READ | China’s Role in Financing the Energy Transition in the Global South 

Pollution from COVID Masks Poses Looming Public Health Threat (The Guardian) 

At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, an estimated 129 billion disposable face masks were used every month. Most of these face coverings ended up in landfills, or as litter in other environments now. With no recycling infrastructure available to cope with this massive influx, millions of tons of these masks have now become widespread environmental pollutants. Their degradation poses long-term risks to public health due to microplastic contamination and chemical leaching. 

Researchers at Coventry University found that all masks which they tested leached microplastics when submerged in water for 24 hours. Masks of FFP2 and FFP3 quality release four to six times more particles than other kinds. The study also estimated that a staggering 128 to 214 kg of Bisphenol B, an endocrine-disrupting chemical, were released into the environment from pandemic mask usage. The presence of such levels of endocrine disruptors could affect hormonal systems for generations. 

READ | Mountains and Molehills: Medical Waste in China and the U.S.