> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.possibilities.news/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # All We Do Is Win, Win, Win - URL: https://www.possibilities.news/climate-justice-wins-2024/ - Published: 2024-12-19T15:00:23.000Z - Updated: 2025-05-30T21:47:46.000Z - Description: OK, maybe that's not always true — but let's take some time to celebrate the wins, yeah? - Author: Yessenia Funes **Today's edition is available to all subscribers, except for the goodies reserved for paid subscribers only, of course. Upgrade your subscription** [**here**](https://possibilities-2.ghost.io/ghost/?ref=possibilities.news#/portal/account/plans) **to see what I'm reading and to honor the lives of people already dying at the hands of the climate crisis.** --- **LISTENING:** *"we come together holdin' hands and holla THUG LIFE!"* **FEELING:** *happy* **SEEING:** *my friend's gorgeous framed beige and red textile from Udaipur, India* Once a month, I write a story for Atmos, where I'm the editor-at-large. I love having space every month to write about what matters most to me. This month, I took my traditional annual climate wins story back to Atmos. If you've been following my work for a while, you've probably read my past editions. Last year's is [here](https://www.possibilities.news/2023-climate-environmental-justice-wins/). 2022 is [here](https://atmos.earth/environmental-justice-climate-wins-2022/?ref=possibilities.news). 2021 is [here](https://atmos.earth/climate-change-justice-victories-wins-2021/?ref=possibilities.news). That's probably enough from the archive, right? [Subscribe here](https://www.possibilities.news/#/portal/signup) I wanted to highlight here for you all some of the wins I'm most happy about, but please read the full list on Atmos [here](https://atmos.earth/your-2024-climate-wins-wrapped/?ref=possibilities.news). Let's jump right in! --- ### Gaza Student Encampments On April 17, 2024, Columbia University students erected the world’s first [student encampment](https://atmos.earth/how-student-protest-encampments-can-help-build-new-futures/?ref=possibilities.news) to fight for the Palestinian people of Gaza, whom Israel has been [killing](https://atmos.earth/this-genocide-is-about-oil/?ref=possibilities.news) with impunity since the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7, 2023\. The action echoed across the globe with at least [174 encampments](https://www.palestineiseverywhere.com/?ref=possibilities.news) springing up in response. While all students called on their universities and academic institutions to divest from the military, weapons manufacturers, and companies doing business with or in Israel, some also demanded divestment from the [polluters whose oil is fueling the tanks and fighter jets](https://atmos.earth/israels-war-machine-needs-oil-should-the-world-cut-it-off/?ref=possibilities.news) bombing innocent Palestinians. A few student encampments even honored the life of environmental activist Manuel Esteban Páez Terán, known as Tortuguita, whom a Georgia State Patrol trooper [killed](https://atmos.earth/atlanta-cop-city-activist-killed-police-violence/?ref=possibilities.news) last year while he was in an Atlanta protest camp to protect the forest where the city is [building](https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/city-of-atlanta-considers-more-money-for-training-center-security/QDU3PMK5OJD27OH2CD7NLN7BK4/?ref=possibilities.news) a new police training facility. “Glory to the martyrs,” one [sign](https://x.com/NationalSJP/status/1783177764931035361?ref=possibilities.news) at the Columbia camp read, an homage to both Tortuguita and Gaza’s lost ones. “Tortuguita vive. La Lucha Sigue,” it went on in Spanish. “Tortuguita lives. The fight continues.” ### Climate Justice at the ICJ [International spaces](https://atmos.earth/cop29-is-in-the-home-stretch-will-rich-nations-finally-pay-up/?ref=possibilities.news) have historically left me incredibly disappointed. Climate talks have [led us](https://www.theguardian.com/world/commentisfree/2024/nov/29/the-cop29-agreement-failed-island-states-now-the-uns-top-court-must-act-on-climate-harm?ref=possibilities.news) nowhere for nearly three decades now, but maybe international courts — and courts more broadly — are an avenue to less talk, more action. At the International Court of Justice (ICJ), [island nations](https://atmos.earth/a-climate-coup-swarms-the-peace-palace-as-u-n-icj-case-begins/?ref=possibilities.news) are currently [arguing](https://apnews.com/article/eu-world-court-icj-climate-global-warming-e954301f0258509f67e66ae2762da6f6?ref=possibilities.news) that the Court should recognize the legal obligation of high-emitting countries to protect the climate — and their responsibility for the harm that climate change is already causing. [Pacific Island youth](https://www.teenvogue.com/story/icj-climate-case-students-pacific-island-nations?ref=possibilities.news) first began the process of launching the case in 2019\. Five years later, they’re making history at the ICJ. The court’s ruling isn’t expected until next year, but the fact that the ICJ is hearing the case is a win on its own. ### **Klamath River Flows Freely** In October, the last dam on the [Klamath River](https://atmos.earth/yurok-tribe-restorative-justice-klamath-river/?ref=possibilities.news), which runs between California and Oregon, came down. The dam removal project made history as the world’s largest. Now, the salmon—long prevented from returning to their ancestral waters — have [come home](https://apnews.com/article/klamath-dam-removal-salmon-spawning-4240169b4bfa327a6a67383ab536e971?ref=possibilities.news). In fact, the fish now have access to 420 miles of habitat that was previously unavailable to them. Many of these waters feature cold-water springs, giving salmon some reprieve as the planet’s rising temperatures make waters warmer, too. The return of the fish will surely boost the ecosystem, as well as the cultures of local tribes that historically relied on salmon for sustenance. ### Land Back Forever This year, California Gov. Gavin Newsom [gave back](https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/06/18/governor-newsom-announces-historic-land-return-effort-on-the-5th-anniversary-of-californias-apology-to-native-americans/?ref=possibilities.news) over 2,800 acres to the Shasta Indian Nation. In Minnesota, the federal government [returned](https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/minnesota-tribe-leech-lake-land-returned-celebration/?ref=possibilities.news) over 11,000 acres of national forest land to the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe. The Onondaga Nation in New York saw some 1,000 acres [placed back](https://apnews.com/article/native-american-land-rights-onondaga-new-york-9f105760632d6bf7ce26a6e1c324f8a6?ref=possibilities.news) under its stewardship thanks to a legal settlement. Outside the U.S., in Colombia, a court [killed](https://carbonherald.com/amazon-tribes-triumph-in-landmark-carbon-credit-lawsuit-in-colombia/?ref=possibilities.news) a carbon credit scheme that violated the rights of the Pira Parana Indigenous peoples whose lands private companies were negotiating around. Nick Tilsen, CEO and founder of Indigenous rights group NDN Collective, reminds us that land back is about more than transactions, though. “The land back movement is about dismantling the systems that made it possible for the stealing of our land in the first place and that continue to perpetuate our land being stolen today,” he said. “We actually really need to be thinking about land back as an abolitionist type of movement to dismantle some of these systems.” Land back has always been about “liberation” and “justice,” Tilsen emphasized. Indeed, the final victory against the climate crisis will look like a return home for us all — away from consumerism and greed, away from extraction and exploitation. Here’s to more homecomings in 2025 and beyond. 🌀 *This newsletter edition has been pulled from a* [*story first published*](https://atmos.earth/your-2024-climate-wins-wrapped/?ref=possibilities.news) *on Atmos on Dec. 18, 2024, titled "Your 2024 Climate Wins, Wrapped."* ## Rest in Power **While we can't say for certain that climate change led to these specific weather events (we need attribution studies for that), we do know that the Earth's rising temperatures are already creating more disasters like these.** Cyclone Chido roared into the French territory of Mayotte over the weekend. The archipelago is reeling, expecting the death toll to be in the [thousands](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mayotte-cyclone-chido-french-overseas-territory-deaths/?ref=possibilities.news). So far, several hundred dead have been [confirmed](https://apnews.com/article/cyclone-chido-mayotte-deaths-weather-climate-2b49b97217a47e2013dc9021d9324eb5?ref=possibilities.news). The official death toll remains at 14\. In Mozambique, which was also affected, [dozens](https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/mayotte-authorities-fear-hunger-disease-race-help-cyclone-survivors-2024-12-17/?ref=possibilities.news) have died. The situation sounds heartbreaking. On Tuesday afternoon, a 7.3-magnitude [earthquake](https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/12/17/vanuatu-earthquake-port-vila/?ref=possibilities.news) hit Vanuatu. At least 14 people are dead. Yes, scientists are [finding](https://news.miami.edu/stories/2023/09/scientists-study-likely-link-between-climate-and-earthquakes.html?ref=possibilities.news) clearer links between earthquakes and climate change. [In Maryland](https://www.cbsnews.com/baltimore/news/winter-cold-related-illness-death-maryland/?ref=possibilities.news), at least three people have died this year due to the cold. ## Currently Reading I love the type of heart-centered journalism Justin Cook does. His [latest piece](https://progressive.org/magazine/across-a-hundred-muddy-hollers-cook-20241210/?ref=possibilities.news) on the aftermath of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina for The Progressive Magazine is a must-read. He and I have been working closely together as part of the CARES Media Initiative to think about how we can share our journalism approaches with more folks in the industry! [For The Atlantic](https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2025/01/hawaii-monarchy-overthrow-independence/680759/?gift=1ga2TvL-DbuHDQIcYF7oR%5F14eSq%5FRRT%5FQcmu3koyUx0&utm%5Fsource=copy-link&utm%5Fmedium=social&utm%5Fcampaign=share), Adrienne LaFrance goes deep into the history of Hawai'i and the fight for its freedom. The Biden administration has also separated families, [Mica Rosenberg writes for ProPublica](https://www.propublica.org/article/family-separations-biden-russian-immigrants?ref=possibilities.news): "I thought I died at that moment," one mom said about the moment Border Patrol took her 1-year-old daughter. I am so sick and tired of the [nonstop attack](https://www.huffpost.com/entry/republicans-transgender-youth-defense-bill%5Fn%5F67586f42e4b00d5a137d6b94?ref=possibilities.news) on trans kids' rights. Jennifer Bendery at the HuffPost has a vital news story. ## Art ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/0c/1a/0c1a1c44-c395-4236-a843-5697585f81d1/content/images/2024/12/00_xmas-tree.jpeg) ****MERRY SPIRIT** by Yessenia Funes using watercolor paints on paper, 2024. ****What are you reading and seeing? Share in a comment below.** **It's Christmas next week! Don't worry — I'll still have a newsletter for you. Happy Holidays to all who celebrate! xx** \- Yessenia