Welcome back: President Trump’s musings about acquiring Greenland and annexing Canada have renewed focus on the raw materials buried under the melting permafrost. But extracting minerals from the North carries high, and enduring, risks and costs.

Current estimates put the cost of cleaning up a former gold mine in Canada's Northern Territories at $3.2 billion, making it the most expensive mine remediation in the country's history. Local activists and environmental scientists fear toxic arsenic left over from the mining will lurk in the ground forever. The locals call it "poison place." See below for the full story.

Meanwhile, the world’s biggest climate conference is coming to the Amazon. Some have raised concerns about the area's ability to accommodate an influx of people big enough to fill a large football stadium, but the Brazilian economist preparing to lead the talks says the challenge of hosting tens of thousands of delegates in a relatively remote and poor city on the edge of the rainforest can help highlight why climate action is needed.

Finally, a new Toyota electric-powered sport-utility vehicle is on sale for about $15,000, complete with sunroof and cup holders. There is just one catch: To buy one, you have to be in China.

Read on for more on these stories and other sustainability news.

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There are 237,000 metric tons of arsenic trioxide locked in the subterranean caverns of Giant Mine on the edge of Yellowknife, in Canada’s Northwest Territories -- an unwanted byproduct from what was once one of the largest gold mines in the country. Consider that it only takes 140 milligrams of arsenic trioxide to kill a person; there’s enough of the poison here to kill 1.7 trillion people, the WSJ's Vipal Monga writes.

Company and government officials hoped the arsenic would remain frozen underground forever. But mining operations and climate change caused the permafrost to melt, raising fears in the city of 20,000 people that toxic material could mix with the runoff and slither into the nearby waters of Great Slave Lake, the world’s 10th-largest freshwater body.

Giant Mine is a warning for governments and companies that want to mine the riches of the North, say environmentalists and local activists.

Belém, a city on Brazil’s northeast coast that is considered the gateway to the Amazon Rainforest, will be the stage for the COP30 climate summit in November, and some have raised concerns about its ability to accommodate an influx of people big enough to fill a large football stadium, WSJ Pro Sustainable Business's Yusuf Khan writes.

A new road, somewhat controversially, has been built through the Amazon; cruise ships will be moored nearby to house delegates for the duration of the two-week conference; thousands will have to fly into the tropical venue via Brazil’s largest cities of Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Brasilia.

But CEO Ana Toni said that hosting the United Nations climate talks in Belém, home to more than a million people, will demonstrate how important it is to act on climate, especially given global warming passed 1.5 degrees celsius for the first time last year.

“In having a COP in the Amazon ... we want to accelerate action. We are confident this is the right message to bring to the world now,” she said.

A majority of new vehicles sold in China are either fully electric or plug-in hybrids. In the U.S., by contrast, the traditional combustion engine still powers about eight in 10 new vehicles, the WSJ's Peter Landers writes.

Most Chinese buyers these days are buying a local brand. Some, such as BYD, have begun to gain international recognition, but the malls are filled with dealers that offer brands virtually unknown abroad—Zeekr, Lynk & Co, Aion, Aito and many more.

The price difference is overwhelming. Chinese car buyers no longer need to debate whether an EV can be made affordable, not when a decent starter model costs $10,000 and a luxury seven-seater with reclining massage chairs can be had for $50,000. 

Auto executives once dreamed of a world car that could be designed once and sold everywhere. That world has fractured, and nowhere more so than in the two biggest markets, China and the U.S., which together account for nearly half of global vehicle sales.

• Oil tumbles after OPEC+ agrees another large supply hike. (WSJ)
   
• HSBC Asset Management's head of sustainability to depart. (Reuters)
   
• ISSB proposes easing corporate Scope 3 requirements. (ESG Dive)
   
• EPA announces broad reorganization. (AP)
   
• Lessons from Patagonia and Apple on selling circularity. (Trellis)
   
• Europe’s first grid crisis may not be its last. (FT)
   
• What Australia’s vote means for climate in a major coal economy. (NYT)
   
• Thousands of falling satellites put atmosphere at risk. (Bloomberg)

WSJ Pro Sustainable Business gives you an inside look at how companies are tackling sustainability. Send comments to bureau chief Perry Cleveland-Peck at perry.cleveland-peck@wsj.com and reporters Clara Hudson at clara.hudson@wsj.com and Yusuf Khan at yusuf.khan@wsj.com. Follow us on LinkedIn at wsjperry, clara-hudson and yusuf_khan.