The climate team has been involved with policy development in several states to cut super-polluting HFC emissions from refrigerants. In Washington state, we co-led an effort for Extended Producer Responsibility (details here) and we’re also coordinating broad stakeholder support for a proposal in New York to take strong action on these greenhouse gases.

China’s updated rules on fluorochemicals are a potential step towards addressing industrial emissions slipping through gaps in the Montreal Protocol. Our Op-Ed in The Hill details how the new rules may help pinpoint and control emissions of HFC-23 and other potent climate warming F-gases, and hold nations accountable to the goals of the global treaty.

In the first prosecution related to the 2020 AIM Act, a California man was arrested for illegally smuggling HFC refrigerants into the U.S., violating regulations to curb the use of these super-polluting greenhouse gases. Avipsa Mahapatra, EIA’s Climate Campaign Director, comments in the Washington Post.

In a new investigative report, EIA reveals a network of over 450 companies that are reaping the rewards of gold prospecting in the Alaska-British Columbia transboundary region, using a complex "Prospect Generator Model". Alaskan and First Nations communities are concerned about how industrial activity in the transboundary region will affect salmon and the livelihoods that depend on them. Read more coverage in CBC and Times Colonist.

Last year, an estimated 325 rhinos were killed in KwaZulu-Natal - a new record for the province and an average of one rhino poached every 27 hours. In South Africa as a whole approximately 499 rhinos were killed, an 11 percent increase from 2022. These grim poaching figures are the result of a perfect storm of problems in South Africa. However, recent high profile arrests and work by civil society groups like Project Rhino give reason for measured optimism about the future.

South Africa’s draft National Biodiversity Economy Strategy proposes to establish a domestic market for rhino horn products and expand the existing trade in ivory products. EIA submitted formal comments calling for the abandonment of the proposal, and in a blog post we explain why this attempt to attract foreign tourists will have devastating effects on the conservation of rhinos, elephants, and other endangered species, and create immense complications for enforcement agencies.

EIA’s new report details how palm oil and cocoa companies are Carving up the Amazon and driving deforestation in Peru, committing illegalities with government complicity. Peru’s congress recently approved legislation that legalized much of the deforestation outlined in EIA’s recent investigation. The law, which is being opposed by indigenous organizations, small farmers and NGOs, will give bad actors impunity, setting a dangerous precedent that may lead to even more destruction. Read more coverage in Reuters and Mongabay.

New wood anatomy analysis from EIA found that Home Depot (HD) is continuing to sell doors containing tropical timber across the U.S. with a high likelihood of being sourced illegally from the Congo Basin, as exposed in the Dictator’s Door. The findings contradict HD’s new wood sourcing policy. EIA’s recommendations for HD include stopping the sale of the doors and implementing full traceability and transparency so that consumers can make educated choices about their purchase.

In a new film airing on one of Germany’s largest public broadcasters, ARD, EIA joins investigative journalists to document links between illegal cattle ranching in the Brazilian Amazon and international leather supply chains. The documentary follows EIA’s investigation Deforestation in the Driver’s Seat, and provides an inside look into EIA’s use of data journalism and undercover field work. The film is a stark reminder of why demand-side regulations such as the U.S. FOREST Act are needed to help stop global deforestation.