US Resistance Delays Vote on Shipping Decarbonization Rules (Mongabay)

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has voted 57-49 to postpone the adoption of the “net-zero framework” until October 2026.  As the shipping sector’s first binding deal on global greenhouse gas emissions, the agreement would have established progressively stricter intensity limits starting in 2028. The framework also imposed substantial fees for noncompliance, with high emitters facing up to $1.5 million in additional annual fees by 2035 that could raise fuel costs by roughly 20%. Low-emission vessels would be rewarded with tradable carbon allowances.

The United States dominated discussions and actively worked to prevent the deal’s adoption, joined by other oil-exporting countries including Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Russia. President Donald Trump called the framework a “Global Green New Scam Tax on Shipping,” and US negotiators characterized it as an illegitimate international tax with dire economic consequences. Proponents of the deal faced threats of tariffs, new port fees, and visa restrictions during the talks, prompting them to decry the tactics as bullying which undermined years of multilateral climate work.

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The Impacts of Aid Cuts on Refugees in Malawi (The New Humanitarian)

The UN refugee agency has received only 23% of the $26.3 million needed for 2025 operations at Dzaleka Refugee Camp in Malawi, which is home to 56,000 refugees from the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Somalia, and Ethiopia. These cuts have triggered a dramatic decline in essential services, as longtime UNHCR staff depart, offices stand empty, and equipment is sold off. Partner organizations like Plan International have withdrawn entirely from the camp, thus shutting down child protection, health services, education programs, and livelihood support.

Critical programs at Dzaleka also have disappeared, including youth-friendly health services providing contraceptives, HIV testing, and counseling. Other cuts include $50 monthly stipends for volunteer workers, as well as access to a youth center, while university scholarships are uncertain. The resulting desperation has driven increased theft and petty crime in the camp, pushing young women into survival sex work. Reduced oversight also has allowed human trafficking networks to flourish, and now leaves refugees without legal protection or advocacy against potential forced repatriation.

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As Extreme Weather Spirals, the UN Calls for Worldwide Early Warning Systems (Al-Jazeera)

A new report by the UN’s World Meteorological Organization called for gaps in global monitoring and forecasting networks to be plugged, as climate-induced catastrophes increase. The agency found that nearly half of all countries lack early-warning systems for extreme weather events as natural hazards are expected to increase in frequency and severity in the coming decades. In the past 50 years, weather and climate-related hazards have killed more than 2 million people. Ninety percent of those deaths have occurred in developing countries.

The past decade has seen major progress in adoption to meet this challenge. The number of countries using a form of multi-hazard warning system has risen from 52 to 108. Yet half of 62 systems assessed by the organization operate at a basic capacity, while a further 16 percent work at less than basic capacity. The crisis in early warning system adoption is even worse in fragile and conflict-affected states, which further illustrates the inequalities in access to them.

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