Vanuatu — an island nation that’s barely culpable for, yet extremely vulnerable to, climate change — has announced the world’s strongest pollution reduction targets. Already carbon-negative, Vanuatu pledged to produce 100% of its electricity from renewable energy by 2030 while also reducing fossil fuel consumption to near zero. It also called for the creation of a UN financial facility to provide affordable financing for affected communities to adapt to the impacts of climate change. Vanuatu estimates it will need $1.2 billion to meet its new targets by 2030 — about one-third of the funding allocated in the Inflation Reduction Act for carbon capture tax credits. Wealthy nations responsible for most historic climate pollution have resisted calls to compensate countries for losses and damages they have suffered due to climate change and this issue will likely be prominent at COP27 in Egypt this November. (Thomson Reuters Foundation, The Guardian)