Category Archives: Climate crisis

UN chief appeals for ‘massive’ help as flood-hit Pakistan puts losses at $30bn

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Countries most responsible for climate crisis must ‘end war with nature’, says António Guterres

The UN secretary-general, António Guterres, has said the world owes impoverished Pakistan “massive” help in recovering from the summer’s devastating floods because the country bears less blame than many others for the climate crisis.

Months of heavy monsoon rains and flooding have killed 1,391 people and affected 33 million while half a million people have become homeless. Planeloads of aid from the United States, the United Arab Emirates and other countries have begun arriving, but Guterres said there is more to be done to help a country which contributes less than 1% of global emissions.

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‘A new way of life’: the Marxist, post-capitalist, green manifesto captivating Japan

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Kohei Saito’s book Capital in the Anthropocene has become an unlikely hit among young people and is about to be translated into English

The climate crisis will spiral out of control unless the world applies “emergency brakes” to capitalism and devises a “new way of living”, according to a Japanese academic whose book on Marxism and the environment has become a surprise bestseller.

The message from Kohei Saito, an associate professor at Tokyo University, is simple: capitalism’s demand for unlimited profits is destroying the planet and only “degrowth” can repair the damage by slowing down social production and sharing wealth.

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‘A revolution is coming’: Pakistani artist says floods must be catalyst for change

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Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, grandson of Pakistan’s hanged reforming prime minister, saw devastation and desperation after recent floods

A Pakistani artist whose work centres on the Indus River delta, its wildlife and the climate crisis has told of his return to his home village and seeing the devastation its swollen waters had brought.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, who is named after his grandfather, the former prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, said he met people fearful for what the future may bring and heard the sound of houses collapsing into the water.

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NSW becomes first state to treat carbon dioxide as pollutant to ensure industries cut emissions

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Environment Protection Authority’s climate policy plans to reclassify greenhouse gas and offer incentives to transition from fossil fuels

New South Wales will be the first state in Australia to start treating carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases as pollutants, which will eventually require polluters to develop plans to cut emissions.

The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) on Thursday launched an eight-week consultation period for its draft climate change policy and related action plan. It marks the first step to require that polluters are on a trajectory towards net zero emissions by 2050.

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Tory MP begins ‘net zero tour’ of UK to highlight benefits of action

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Chris Skidmore urges new PM to ignore ‘tiny vocal minority in Westminster’ arguing against climate target

Top green Conservative Chris Skidmore is to embark on a net zero tour to show that “normal people are getting on with” decarbonisation, and urge the new prime minister to ignore the “Westminster bubble” that is pouring scorn on the climate target.

Skidmore, a former energy minister, will on Thursday visit green schemes across north-west England, including a home insulation demonstration in Salford and a peat restoration project in Oldham.

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China reports ‘most severe’ heatwave and third driest summer on record

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Average temperature in August was 1.2C higher than norm, which caused widespread drought

China recorded its highest temperatures and one of its lowest levels of rainfall in 61 years during a two-month summer heatwave that caused forest fires, damaged crops and hit power supplies, the national meteorological agency said.

The average national temperature in August, 22.4C, was 1.2C higher than the seasonal norm, while average rainfall fell 23% to 82mm, the third lowest since records began in 1961, according to Xiao Chan, the vice-director of China’s national meteorological administration.

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Cost of living and climate are higher global priorities than Ukraine, poll finds

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But there remains strong support in many countries for Russian military withdrawal from Ukraine, survey finds

The cost of living is ranked by most voters globally as a more important issue than liberating Ukraine from Russian occupation, but there is still strong support for a Russian military withdrawal, according to a survey showing global preoccupations.

Majorities in 16 of the 22 largest countries believe Russia should leave the territory it has occupied in Ukraine, the survey shows. The polling in 22 countries of more than 21,000 citizens also underlines the extent to which the global south is less engaged with the war in Ukraine than Europeans.

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Dutch city becomes world’s first to ban meat adverts in public

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Haarlem’s move is part of efforts to cut consumption after meat was found to contribute to climate crisis

A Dutch city will become the first in the world to ban meat adverts from public spaces in an effort to reduce consumption and greenhouse gas emissions.

Haarlem, which lies to the west of Amsterdam and has a population of about 160,000, will enact the prohibition from 2024 after meat was added to a list of products deemed to contribute to the climate crisis.

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US farmers face plague of pests as global heating raises soil temperatures

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Milder winters could threaten crop yields as plant-eating insects spread northwards and become more voracious, researchers say

Agricultural pests that devour key food crops are advancing northwards in the US and becoming more widespread as the climate hots up, new research warns.

The corn earworm (Helicoverpa zea) is considered to be among the most common farm pests in the US, ravaging crops such as maize, cotton, soya and other vegetables. It spends winter underground and is not known to survive in states beyond a latitude of 40 degrees north (which runs from northern California through the midwest to New Jersey), but that is changing as soils warm and it spreads to new areas, according to research led by North Carolina State University.

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Australia politics live: RBA interest rates decision due; climate bill to pass Senate with Pocock amendments

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Labor’s signature climate change legislation will pass the Senate with some minor changes

Delayed rate pain

While the interest rate increases are hitting those already on variable rates, those who are on fixed rates which are about to expire are going to feel a lot of pain, when their repayments jump to include the cumulative increase all at once.

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Flash flood watch under way for 80m in eastern US as heatwaves broil west

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Western Georgia sees ‘one-in-1,000-year rainfall event’ as homes and businesses flood

More than 80 million people in the eastern US were under flash flood watches late on Monday, marking still more extreme weather in a country reeling from record heatwaves in some regions, as the US increasingly feels the effects of the climate crisis.

In Georgia, the threat of torrential downpours became a reality Sunday afternoon, spurring a flash flood emergency in western portions of the state, CNN reported.

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Anthony Albanese promises resources sector ‘orderly’ reduction in emissions

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Labor is under pressure on climate policy from Greens who propose ban on high-carbon projects

Anthony Albanese has promised to work with the resources sector to “reduce emissions in a predictable and orderly way” as Labor comes under increased pressure from the Greens to ban emissions intensive projects.

Albanese made the comment to the minerals industry parliamentary dinner on Monday, suggesting the “cooperation and dialogue” Labor achieved at the two-day jobs and skills summit “should be the rule” not a “48-hour exception”.

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Heatwave in North America threatens to break global September temperature record

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Temperatures nearing record of 52.2C set in Mecca, California, in 1950


Western areas of North America are continuing to suffer a significant heatwave that is threatening to break the highest global September temperature record. The global record in September is 52.2C (126F), in 1950 in Mecca, California. On 1 September this year, temperatures at Furnace Creek in Death Valley reached a scorching 51.3C (124.4F), less than a degree off the all-time record.

In the following days, several Canadian provinces’ September records were broken, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, and British Columbia. On 2 September Lytton in British Columbia reached 39.6C (103F), only 0.4C off the September record for all of Canada. Records in many other cities also fell on 2 and 3 September. The remainder of this week will stay anomalously hot, about 10C above average, with a continued threat of records falling but the heat is expected to move away eastwards later this week.

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Dutton withdraws Albanese ‘liar’ allegation in question time – as it happened

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Anthony Albanese insists stage-three tax cuts worth $243bn will go ahead

There has been a lot of talk around the incoming (July 2024) stage-three tax cuts given they will cost the budget $243bn over 10 years (at this point); overwhelmingly benefit men earning over $180,000; and destroy Australia’s progressive tax system (everyone earning between $40,000 and $200,000 will pay the same tax rate).

You make a choice about what you do, your initiatives and the initiatives we are making are positive ones that will make a difference to people, including our childcare policy.

It’s really important that our payments keep up with inflation. That’s why they’re indexed twice a year, and every little bit helps. This indexation will be particularly big this month, because inflation is particularly challenging.

And we know that it won’t solve every problem for everybody, but it’s important that we try and make sure that those payments keep up. That’s what the indexation is about. It will be welcome even as we acknowledge that times will still be tough for a lot of people.

I’ve been really upfront with people before the election, during the election and after the election. I’ve said to you many times over the last six months or so that it would be too expensive to continue that petrol price relief indefinitely. I think Australians understand that we’ve inherited a budget which is heaving with a trillion dollars in Liberal party debt, and that means some difficult decisions including this one.

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Rich nations owe reparations to countries facing climate disaster, says Pakistan minister

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Sherry Rehman, the country’s climate change minister, insists rich polluters must pay their due as country is hit by devastating floods

Rich polluting countries which are predominantly to blame for the “dystopian” climate breakdown have broken their promises to reduce emissions and help developing countries adapt to global heating, according to Pakistan’s minister for climate change, who said reparations were long overdue.

Close to 1,300 people are dead and a third of Pakistan is under floodwater after weeks of unprecedented monsoon rains battered the country – which only weeks earlier had been suffering serious drought.

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Pakistan appeals for ‘immense’ international response to floods

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Unprecedented flooding in the country during monsoon season has left at least 1,265 people dead

Pakistan has appealed to the international community for an “immense humanitarian response” to unprecedented flooding that has left at least 1,265 people dead.

According to initial government estimates, the rain and flooding have caused $10bn (£8.7bn) in damage.

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Aid continues to arrive in Pakistan as deaths from floods pass 1,200

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Planes bring food, medicine and tents to disaster zone, with officials blaming floods on climate change

Planes carrying fresh supplies are forming a humanitarian air bridge to flood-ravaged Pakistan as the death toll passed 1,200, officials have said with families and children at special risk of disease and homelessness.

The ninth flight from the United Arab Emirates and the first from Uzbekistan were the latest to land in Islamabad overnight as a military-backed rescue operation elsewhere in the country reached more of the 3 million people affected by the disaster.

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More Australians worried about climate change than ever before, but conservatives less so

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Rightwing voters in Australia less concerned about climate than those in most other comparable nations, Pew survey finds

Rightwing voters in Australia are less likely to consider climate change a major threat compared to rightwing voters in most other comparable nations, according to a major international survey.

The latest Pew Research Centre survey, however, showed that overall more Australians are worried about climate change than ever before.

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Japan’s hottest city to give out umbrellas to protect children from sun

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After an increase in the number of days when the mercury rose to at least 35C, 9,000 yellow fibreglass umbrellas will be handed out to children in Kumagaya

Children living in Japan’s hottest city will be given specially designed umbrellas to protect them from the heat, after a summer that saw record-breaking temperatures in many parts of the country.

Local authorities in Kumagaya in Saitama prefecture have devised an umbrella that keeps out the rain and doubles as a parasol, the Mainichi Shimbun reported.

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Urgent aid appeal launched as satellite images show a third of Pakistan underwater

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Humanitarian workers expect conditions to worsen as monsoon rains continue and say millions face a terrible winter

Aid workers have appealed for urgent donations to fight the “absolutely devastating” impact of flooding in Pakistan, as new satellite images appeared to confirm that a third of the country is now underwater.

As the UK’s Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) launched an appeal to raise funds for the 33 million people affected, the European Space Agency released stark images based on data captured by its Copernicus satellite.

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