Axios

With a global initiative on deforestation announced in Glasgow Monday, there's a spotlight shining on places like the Amazon.

• Researchers say that land status, such as whether a swath of rainforest is within a protected reserve or recognized indigenous lands, can be the determining factor in deforestation.

GLASGOW, Scotland — John Kerry, in a quick aside with a few reporters here, offered the glass-half-full take on why a bunch of voluntary pledges to ward off climate change catastrophe is good reason for real hope.

Driving the news: The U.S. special climate envoy, moments after 100+ nations agreed to steeply reduce the potent planet-warming gas methane, was asked about the absence of ways to enforce it.

At COP26 on Tuesday, the largest carbon emitter in Africa struck a deal with several industrialized countries, including the U.S., for funding its much-needed shift from coal.

The big picture: The $8.5 billion deal with the U.S., Britain, France, Germany and the European Union will finance a "Just Energy Transition Partnership" to reduce emissions and ensure coal workers are not left behind by the shift to renewables.

With world leaders now departed, the real negotiating begins. And signs point to a revival of the High Ambition Coalition, a key bloc of countries that fought for the inclusion of the 1.5°C temperature target in Paris.

Driving the news: The U.S. formally rejoined the coalition Tuesday, which contains a mix of European, small island and other climate-vulnerable nations. The coalition issued a leaders' statement showing what a formal Glasgow outcome could look like.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) will introduce a resolution on Wednesday calling on the Pentagon to release a report on its annual greenhouse gas emissions, after the agency skipped a July 1 deadline set out in an annual defense spending bill.

Why it matters: The Pentagon has long sounded alarms about climate change posing a national security threat, including in a dire risk assessment released last month. Yet the U.S. military itself remains a massive consumer of fossil fuels — and a larger source of greenhouse gases than many nations.

GLASGOW, Scotland — President Biden's declaration Tuesday that Xi Jinping has “walked away” from an opportunity to help save the planet showed the intensity of the simmering rivalry and mutual distrust that have been lingering in the back of the COP26 climate summit.

Why it matters: The U.S. and China combine for nearly 40% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, meaning that any major climate breakthroughs require both superpowers on board.

Pacific Gas & Electric reached a $125 million settlement with California's energy regulator Tuesday over the 2019 Kincade Fire, which burned more than 77,000 acres, destroyed hundreds of homes and injured four people in Sonoma County.

The big picture: The California Public Utilities Commission said in a statement the proposed settlement would address "multiple violations" that its safety and enforcement division found — notably a worn power line that investigators said "failed" and broke off a transmission tower during the blaze.

Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men in the world, made a climate philanthropy pledge to spend $2 billion on restoring natural habitats and transforming food systems in a speech at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

Why it matters: This is in addition to the $1 billion for conservation and biodiversity the Bezos Earth Fund committed to in September.

The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will issue subpoenas to top fossil fuel companies Tuesday over several "key documents" they have not turned over to the committee.

Why it matters: The subpoenas will come days after the committee held a "landmark" hearing with fossil fuel executives and amid a broader discussion on climate disinformation and what the industry knew about climate change.

GLASGOW, Scotland —  As world leaders departed Glasgow on Tuesday, U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson contended that the crucial COP26 climate summit was producing real progress, but there was “a very long way to go” to make it a success.

Why it matters: Johnson is hosting the most significant climate gathering since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, but the early gains have been at the margins and not on the scale envisioned by many participants in a conference Johnson has called the “last, best hope” to save the planet. Now, the negotiating phase really begins.

105 world leaders on Tuesday signed onto the Global Methane Pledge, a U.S. and EU joint initiative, to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 at the COP26 conference in Glasgow, Scotland.

Why it matters: "Though it's less abundant than longer-lived carbon dioxide, methane is dozens of times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere," Axios' Andrew Freedman reports.

Big-dollar efforts from public and private entities announced Tuesday could yield carbon emissions reductions in the electricity sector, via land and forest conservation and other means.

Why it matters: A running theme at COP26 is corporations and nonprofits teaming up to build momentum toward climate solutions.

Bolder action to cut greenhouse gas emissions, to mobilize development financing and to potentially design a carbon trading deal are on the agenda for COP26 underway in Glasgow, Scotland.

The big picture: What global leaders actually commit to could signal investors as to the upcoming pace of change and the regions where it'll happen.

On Tuesday, leaders of more than 90 countries will sign the U.S. and E.U.-sponsored Global Methane Pledge, which is designed to cut emissions of the powerful but short-lived planet-warming gas.

Why it matters: The significance of this pledge at the COP26 summit shouldn't be overlooked. Though it's less abundant than longer-lived carbon dioxide, methane is dozens of times more powerful at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

The Biden administration announced Tuesday plans to reduce methane emissions from the gas and oil sector.

Why it matters: For the first time ever, the Environmental Protection Agency would move to regulate new and existing oil and gas operations for methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas, Biden administration officials said at a briefing.

Human-caused climate change is the main driver behind increased wildfire risk in the U.S. West, according to a study published Monday.

Why it matters: Researchers hadn't expected human-caused global warming to take over from natural climate variability as the main contributor to fire weather until much later this century, around 2080, per the Los Angeles Times.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg joined protesters Monday at a demonstration outside the COP26 conference to call out world leaders for failing to meet their goals to address global warming.

What they're saying: "No more blah blah blah," said Thunberg, whose solo climate strikes in 2018 gained international attention, said outside the summit. "No more whatever the f--k they're doing inside there."