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When the annual U.N. climate conference descends on the small Brazilian rainforest city of Belém in November 2025, it will be tempting to focus on the drama and disunity among major nations. Only 21 countries had even submitted their updated plans for managing climate change by the 2025 deadline required under the Paris Agreement. The U.S. is pulling out of the agreement altogether. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, Chinese President Xi Jinping, and the likely absence ofor potential stonewalling bya U.S. delegation will take up much of the oxygen in the negotiating hall. You can tune them out. Trust me, Ive been there. As chair of the California Air Resources Board for nearly 20 years, I attended the annual conferences from Bali in 2007 to Sharm el Sheikh, Egypt, in 2023. That included the exhilarating success in 2015, when nearly 200 nations committed to keep global warming in check by signing the Paris Agreement. In recent years, however, the real progress has been outside the rooms where the official U.N. negotiations are held, not inside. In these meetings, the leaders of states and provinces talk about what they are doing to reduce greenhouse gases and prepare for worsening climate disasters. Many bilateral and multilateral agreements have sprung up like mushrooms from these side conversations. This week, for example, the leaders of several state-level governments are meeting in Brazil to discuss ways to protect tropical rainforests that restore ecosystems while creating jobs and boosting local economies. What states and provinces are doing now The real action in 2025 will come from the leaders of states and provinces, places like Pastaza, Ecuador; Acre and Pará, Brazil; and East Kalimantan, Indonesia. While some national political leaders are backing off their climate commitments, these subnational governments know they have to live with increasing fires, floods, and deadly heat waves. So, theyre stepping up and sharing advice for what works. State, province, and local governments often have jurisdiction over energy generation, land-use planning, housing policies, and waste management, all of which play a role in increasing or reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Their leaders have been finding ways to use that authority to reduce deforestation, increase the use of renewable energy, and cap and cut greenhouse gas emissions that are pushing the planet toward dangerous tipping points. They have teamed up to link carbon markets and share knowledge in many areas. In the U.S., governors are working together in the U.S. Climate Alliance to fill the vacuum left by the Trump administrations efforts to dismantle U.S. climate policies and programs. Despite intense pressure from fossil fuel industry lobbyists, the governors of 22 states and two territories are creating policies that take steps to reduce emissions from buildings, power generation, and transportation. Together, they represent more than half the U.S. population and nearly 60% of its economy. Tactics for fighting deforestation In Ecuador, provinces like Morona Santiago, Pastaza, and Zamora Chinchipe are designing management and financing partnerships with Indigenous territories for protecting more than 4 million hectares of forests through a unique collaboration called the Plataforma Amazonica. Brazilian states, including Mato Grosso, have been using remote-sensing technologies to crack down on illegal land clearing, while states like Amapá and Amazonas are developing community-engaged bioeconomy plans (think increased jobs through sustainable local fisheries and producing super fruits like acaí). Acre, Pará, and Tocantins have programs that allow communities to sell carbon credits for forest preservation to companies. Global Forest Watch uses satellite data to track forest cover change. Green shows areas with at least 30% forest cover in 2000. Pink is forest loss from 2003 to 2023. Blue is forest gain from 2000 to 2020. [Image: Global Forest Watch, CC BY] States in Mexico, including Jalisco, Yucatán, and Oaxaca, have developed sustainable supply chain certification programs to help reduce deforestation. Programs like these can increase the economic value in some of foods and beverages, from avocados to honey to agave for tequila. There are real signs of success: Deforestation has dropped significantly in Indonesia compared with previous decades, thanks in large part to provincially led sustainable forest management efforts. In East Kalimantan, officials have been pursuing policy reforms and working with plantation and forestry companies to reduce forests destruction to protect habitat for orangutans. Its no wonder that philanthropic and business leaders from many sectors are turning to state and provincial policymakers, rather than national governments. These subnational governments have the ability to take timely and effective action. Working together to find solutions Backing many of these efforts to slow deforestation is the Governors Climate and Forests Task Force, which Californias then-Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger helped launch in 2008. It is the worlds only subnational governmental network dedicated to protecting forests, reducing emissions, and making peoples lives better across the tropics. Today, the task force includes 43 states and provinces from 11 countries. They cover more than one-third of the worlds tropical forests. That includes all of Brazils Legal Amazon region, more than 85% of the Peruvian Amazon, 65% of Mexicos tropical forests, and more than 60% of Indonesias forests. From a purely environmental perspective, subnational governments and governors must balance competing interests that do not always align with environmentalists ideals. Pará state, for example, is building an 8-mile (13 kilometer) road to ease traffic that cuts through rainforest. Californias investments in its Lithium Valley, where lithium used to make batteries is being extracted near the Salton Sea, may result in economic benefits within California and the U.S., while also generating potential environmental risks to air and water quality. Each governor has to balance the needs of farmers, ranchers and other industries with protecting the forests and other ecosystems, but those in the task force are finding pragmatic solutions. The week of May 19 to 23, 2025, two dozen or more subnational leaders from Brazil, Mexico, Peru, Indonesia, and elsewhere are gathering in Rio Branco, Brazil, for a conference on protecting tropical rainforests. Theyll also be ironing out some important details for developing what they call a new forest economy for protecting and restoring ecosystems while creating jobs and boosting economies. Protecting tropical forest habitat while also creating jobs and economic opportunities is not easy. In 2023, data show the planet was losing rainforest equivalent to 10 soccer fields per minute, and had lost more than 7% since 2000. But states and cities are taking big steps while many national governments cant even agree on which direction to head. Its time to pay attention more to the states. Mary Nichols is a distinguished counsel for the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the University of California, Los Angeles. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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With around 1 billion searches on ChatGPT each week, Gen Zers are increasingly turning to AI to solve a daily dilemma: what to wear. Last month, OpenAI announced updates to ChatGPTs search function, enhancing the shopping experience with personalized product recommendations and direct purchase links. Users have already begun using these features to plan their outfits. Im going out to dinner tonight, what should I wear? one user asked ChatGPT in a TikTok video. The AI suggested a fitted black cami, black trousers, strappy heels, and silver hoops. Why did ChatGPT kind of slay though? the creator said. @kalitaku Ok but chatGPT lowkey killed it #ai #chatgpt #personalstylist #styling #kalitaku Aesthetic Coffee – Febri Handika Another fashion and lifestyle creator prompted ChatGPT with streetwear, blue denim, and clean aesthetic. The resulting outfit, shared on TikTok, was simple yet stylish. Others are uploading images from Pinterest boards or their wardrobes to generate entire shopping lists. @cassieborgie I love that it gave accessories and shoes tips too. Scandinavian aesthetic here I come! #ootd #clothesinspo #chatgpthack #chatgpt #styleinspo #clothesinspo #outfitinspo #findyourstyle #findmystyle original sound – Cassie While it may be some time before AI-generated outfits appear on runways, OpenAI is embracing its role as personal stylist and shopper. Replacing the group chat, ChatGPT now offers what it calls conversational shopping, OpenAI said. Instead of juggling tabs or scrolling through endless results, you can just have a conversation, Saguna Goel, product lead on the ChatGPT search team, told Vogue Business. Whats really exciting is that this movement is being led by shoppers themselves. Gen Z are definitely out front, but people of all ages are getting involvedand stylists and influencers are now following their lead. Its a fascinating shift, and its only just beginning, she added. For brands, the potential payoff is hugeif they can make themselves discoverable where customers are searching. With no paid placements currently on ChatGPT, AI recommendations level the playing field for small businesses competing with brands that have far larger ad budgets. Still, not everyone is on board. As AI becomes more embedded in daily life, critics say its erasing creative jobs in fashion and other industries, and diluting personal style in favor of fleeting micro-trends. If you ask ChatGPT to plan your next date-night outfit, just know: Someone else might show up wearing the same thing.
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Reports that prominent American national security officials used a freely available encrypted messaging app, coupled with the rise of authoritarian policies around the world, have led to a surge in interest in encrypted apps like Signal and WhatsApp. These apps prevent anyone, including the government and the app companies themselves, from reading messages they intercept. The spotlight on encrypted apps is also a reminder of the complex debate pitting government interests against individual liberties. Governments desire to monitor everyday communications for law enforcement, national security, and sometimes darker purposes. On the other hand, citizens and businesses claim the right to enjoy private digital discussions in todays online world. The positions governments take often are framed as a war on encryption by technology policy experts and civil liberties advocates. As a cybersecurity researcher, Ive followed the debate for nearly 30 years and remain convinced that this is not a fight that governments can easily win. Understanding the “golden key” Traditionally, strong encryption capabilities were considered military technologies crucial to national security and not available to the public. However, in 1991, computer scientist Phil Zimmermann released a new type of encryption software called Pretty Good Privacy (PGP). It was free, open-source software available on the internet that anyone could download. PGP allowed people to exchange email and files securely, accessible only to those with the shared decryption key, in ways similar to highly secured government systems. Following an investigation into Zimmermann, the U.S. government came to realize that technology develops faster than law and began to explore remedies. It also began to understand that once something is placed on the internet, neither laws nor policy can control its global availability. Fearing that terrorists or criminals might use such technology to plan attacks, arrange financing, or recruit members, the Clinton administration advocated a system called the Clipper Chip, based on a concept of key escrow. The idea was to give a trusted third party access to the encryption system and the government could use that access when it demonstrated a law enforcement or national security need. Clipper was based on the idea of a golden key, namely, a way for those with good intentionsintelligence services, policeto access encrypted data while keeping people with bad intentionscriminals, terroristsout. Clipper Chip devices never gained traction outside the U.S. government, in part because its encryption algorithm was classified and couldnt be publicly peer-reviewed. However, in the years since, governments around the world have continued to embrace the golden key concept as they grapple with the constant stream of technology developments reshaping how people access and share information. Following Edward Snowdens disclosures about global surveillance of digital communications in 2013, Google and Apple took steps to make it virtually impossible for anyone but an authorized user to access data on a smartphone. Even a court order was ineffective, much to the chagrin of law enforcement. In Apples case, the companys approach to privacy and security was tested in 2016 when the company refused to build a mechanism to help the FBI break into an encrypted iPhone owned by a suspect in the San Bernardino terrorist attack. At its core, encryption is, fundamentally, very complicated math. And while the golden key concept continues to hold allure for governments, it is mathematically difficult to achieve with an acceptable degree of trust. And even if it was viable, implementing it in practice makes the internet less safe. Security experts agree that any backdoor access, even if hidden or controlled by a trusted entity, is vulnerable to hacking. Competing justifications and tech realities Governments around the world continue to wrestle with the proliferation of strong encryption in messaging tools, social media, and virtual private networks. For example, rather than embrace a technical golden key, a recent proposal in France would have provided the government the ability to add a hidden ghost participant to any encrypted chat for surveillance purposes. However, legislators removed this from the final proposal after civil liberties and cybersecurity experts warned that such an approach would undermine basic cybersecurity practices and trust in secure systems. In 2025, the U.K. government secretly ordered Apple to add a backdoor to its encryption services worldwide. Rather than comply, Apple removed the ability for its iPhone and iCloud customers in the U.K. to use its Advanced Data Protection encryption features. In this case, Apple chose to defend its users security in the face of government mandates, which ironically now means that users in the U.K. may be less secure. In the United States, provisions removed from the 2020 EARN IT bill would have forced companies to scan online messages and photos to guard against child exploitation by creating a golden-key-type hidden backdoor. Opponents viewed this as a stealth way of bypassing end-to-end encryption. The bill did not advance to a full vote when it was last reintroduced in the 2023-2024 legislative session. Opposing scanning for child sexual abuse material is a controversial concern when encryption is involved: Although Apple received significant public backlash over its plans to scan user devices for such material in ways that users claimed violated Apples privacy stance, victims of child abuse have sued the company for not better protecting children. Even privacy-centric Switzerland and the European Union are exploring ways of dealing with digital surveillance and privacy in an encrypted world. The laws of math and physics, not politics Governments usually claim that weakening encryption is necessary to fight crime and protect the nationand there is a valid concern there. However, when that argument fails to win the day, they often turn to claiming to need backdoors to protect children from exploitation. From a cybersecurity perspective, it is nearly impossible to create a backdoor to a communications product that is only accessible for certain purposes or under certain conditions. If a passageway exists, its only a matter of time before it is exploited for nefarious purposes. In other words, creating what is essentially a software vulnerability to help the good guys will inevitably end up helping the bad guys, too. Often overlooked in this debate is that if encryption is weakened to improve surveillance for governmental purposes, it will drive criminals and terrorists further underground. Using different or homegrown technologies, they will still be able to exchange information in ways that governments cant readily access. But everyone elses digital security will be needlessly diminished. This lack of online privacy and security is especially dangerous for journalists, activists, domestic violence survivors, and other at-risk communities around the world. Encryption obeys the laws of math and physics, not politics. Once invented, it cant be un-invented, even if it frustrates governments. Along those lines, if governments are struggling with strong encryption now, how will they contend with a world when everyone is using significantly more complex techniques like quantum cryptography? Governments remain in an unenviable position regarding strong encryption. Ironically, one of the countermeasures the government recommended in response to Chinas hacking of global telephone systems in the Salt Typhoon attacks was to use strong encryption in messaging apps such as Signal or iMessage. Reconciling that with their ongoing quest to weaken or restrict strong encryption for their own surveillance interests will be a difficult challenge to overcome. Richard Forno is a teaching professor of computer science and electrical engineering, and assistant director of the UMBC Cybersecurity Institute at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
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