The biggest climate summit in town is in full swing.

Happening in the World: In the first major deal that came out of the climate summit COP26, more than 100 world leaders promised to end and reverse deforestation by 2030. At the moment, the deal is fortified by a pledge of nearly $19.2bn of public and private funds. This comes after the 2014 New York Declaration on Forests that was a voluntary and legally non-binding agreement whereby about 40 governments had aimed to halve deforestation by 2020—the agreement failed because deforestation still continues at an alarming rate and this makes some experts skeptical about this new deal. However, the deal does newly include key countries like Brazil (stretches of the Amazon rainforest are cut down here)—so experts are hopeful that this could be good news (BBC).

Happening in the US: COVID-19 positivity rates are surging in the Navajo Nation, with more than 100 confirmed cases a day several times in the past week—this comes after cases reached their lowest point with single digits in June and July. Notably, indigenous leaders have always urged their communities to get vaccinated—and the rate of fully vaccinated tribal members stands at about 70% which is significantly higher than the national average of 58%. Consequently, experts and tribal leaders are unsure about why this surge is occurring. Jonathan Nez, the president of the Navajo Nation, suggested that the virus may have been brought back by members of the community that commute to urban areas in neighboring Arizona and New Mexico for work, given that these areas have less stringent COVID-19 regulations than the tribe. Still, this outbreak is less severe than the nation’s first two outbreaks of last winter and the spring of 2020 (NYT).

Happening in NYC: Eric Adams was elected as mayor of New York City, becoming the second Black mayor in the city’s history—following Democrat David Dinkins who was elected in 1989. The former police officer won the election by addressing New Yorkers’ anxiety over public safety as the city springs back to life from an unprecedented public health crisis. Although experts had predicted a near-certain victory for Adam in the general elections, his success in the primary race had not been as predictable given his incredibly small margin of victory over Kathryn Garcia (Gothamist).

Happening in Our Community: The Columbia Climate School is hosting a panel discussion today at 1:00 PM amongst key leaders in energy and climate, as a way to empower students to better understand what’s happening at COP26. The event is a collaboration between Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde and Columbia’s Climate School—and most of the panelists will be in person in Glasgow. You can find more information on how to register for the online event here. Alternatively, you could also register for the in-person event in Glasgow and get on the very next flight out of New York.

the leaders of our world via Flickr