Andy Rowell

There was more good news from the Arctic yesterday, when Norwegian oil company Statoil announced it was “exiting” the region, following recent exploration results in neighbouring oil and gas leases.

In a major set-back for the oil giant, BP’s highly controversial application to drill in one of Australia’s last great wilderness areas, the Great Australian Bight, has been rejected for falling short of environmental standards.

As I pointed out last week, one of the ground-breaking developments in the lead up to the Paris climate talks later this month has been the announcement by the New York Attorney’s office that it was investigating Exxon for misleading the public and shareholders about climate change.

Once again the veterans of the Exxon Valdez have been proved right, after their warnings about the use of toxic dispersants during the subsequent Deepwater Horizon oil spill look to have been vindicated by new academic research.

Every year today is the one day that I dread. Even now twenty years on, today does not feel like any other day. It is not a normal day. It was twenty years ago today that the world watched in horror when the Nigerian junta murdered the writer and activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other Ogoni.

To start with one huge, massive, significant step forward. Victories do not come sweeter than this. After years of campaigning by millions of people from grass-roots activists, First Nations, farmers and ranchers to environmental groups such as Oil Change International, Sierra Club, 350.org and many others, President Obama announced on Friday that the controversial Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline is dead.