Jessica Corbett argues that since humans are responsible for 75% of fires, we have the unique opportunity to find solutions. Fires have increased 13% compared to last year. Furthermore, in addition to being aggravated by climate change, fires themselves also hasten the climate crisis by releasing millions of tons of carbon into the atmosphere and destroying biodiversity. Steps such as increasing Paris Accord NDCs, halting deforestation, improving GHG accounting, and working with indigenous communities all promise a way forward.

In July, Greta Thunberg and climate activists began to once again take to the streets armed with masks and placards. In her meeting with German chancellor Angela Merkel on August 20th, Thunberg shared an open letter, signed by 125,000 people, urging EU leaders to address the climate emergency. While the European Commission's recovery plan earmarks 25% of the €750 billion fund to climate action, Thunberg and many activists judge such action as insufficient, saying the world is still in a state of climate crisis denial.

Oil and gas giants, including Exxon, Mobil, and Chevron, have "reported some of the worst financial results in history" and thus are shifting to petroleum-based plastic investments, spending $200 billion in the past decade. After China refused to accept plastic trash in 2018, exports to African countries including Kenya quadrupled to more than 1 billion pounds of waste. Kenya has some of the strongest anti-plastic laws in the world with restrictions on imports and a ban on plastic bags, bottles, and straws, even signing the Basel Convention that restricts shipments of plastic waste to developing countries. US trade deal representatives, however, in negotiating a new deal with Kenya, have begun pushing for the loosening of the country's restrictions.

A Mexican court recently agreed to hear a case brought by 15 young people against the Mexican government for failing to address the climate crisis. While Mexico's previous government set emissions-reduction targets, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has not reaffirmed these goals" and instead promoted tree-planting schemes. Mexican oil company Pemex was the "ninth biggest energy producer of carbon and methane emissions globally between 1965 and 2018. Despite the demands of some Pemex lenders to adapt to climate change and reduce emissions, Lopez Obrador insists on reviving the country's oil industry. Failure to address the climate crisis could, however, make it difficult for the oil giant to receive credit.