Monrovia, June 19 -- With erratic weather crippling agriculture, thousands of rural Liberians are turning to charcoal for survival-fueling deforestation and putting the country's climate goals at risk. Mangroves and old-growth forests under threat as weak enforcement and lack of data mean charcoal is largely invisible in national climate planning. Clean energy efforts stall, due to cost, broken equipment, and lack of market access, forcing communities back to tree cutting and deepening poverty.

By Aria Deemie, climate and environment reporter with New Narratives

SENJEH DISTRICT, Bomi County, Liberia - Sweat beads on Charles McGill's brow as he lifts a cutlass and slams it into a log, the forest crackling with midday heat. At 89, he sho...