<p>The Nature Conservancy and the state government of Quintana Roo announced the creation of a Coastal Management Trust, the world’s first insurance policy for a coral reef. The policy aims to protect the Mesoamerican Reef, a 600-mile-long coral reef second only to the Great Barrier Reef in size. The reef is insured under a parametric policy that applies when certain conditions occur; in this case, if a Category 4 or 5 hurricane hits a 37-mi (60 km) stretch of the coast. When the policy is triggered, an immediate payout to repair and restore coral reefs occurs.

<p>A new report released by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) finds that 20 REDD+ projects in Mai-Ndome, a province of the Democratic Republic of Congo, do not address two primary goals of the strategy: forest conservation and economic development. In the report, RRI claims that the REDD+ projects are sidelining local communities and infringing on their rights to control what happens to their forest homes.

<p>To achieve its Paris Agreement commitments to increase its natural gas use to 50% by 2020, Hong Kong utility CLP Power is pursuing a liquefied natural gas project. Hong Kong is in the process of making a deal with Royal Dutch Shell to supply the city with fuel. CLP Power is building a new gas-fired generation unit and plans to start operations by 2020. Currently, CLP Power is finalizing the environmental impact assessment study and plans to submit it to the Hong Kong government soon.