Category Archives: Climate crisis

Cop26 ends in climate agreement despite India watering down coal resolution

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Glasgow Climate Pact adopted despite last-minute intervention by India to water down language on phasing out dirtiest fossil fuel

Countries have agreed a deal on the climate crisis that its backers say will keep within reach the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5C, the key threshold of safety set out in the 2015 Paris agreement.

Alok Sharma, the UK cabinet minister and Cop president, said the deal was “imperfect” but showed “consensus and support”. He said: “I hope we can leave this conference united having delivered something significant for people and planet together as one.”

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We’re going to need a bigger planet: the problem with fixing the climate with trees

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Planting trees to offset carbon emissions sounds great, but where are we going to put them all?

As the United Nations Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow winds down, many world leaders and corporate boards are embracing an increasingly popular idea to solve climate change: trees.

The United Arab Emirates – one of the biggest oil producers in the world – promised to plant 100m mangroves by 2030. India said it aims to plant enough trees to cover a third of its land area with forests. Earlier this month the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, announced a $1bn fund towards planting trees, “revitalizing” grasslands in Africa and restoring landscapes across the US. And at the start of the conference, more than 100 countries pledged to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030. “These great teeming ecosystems – these cathedrals of nature – are the lungs of our planet,” Boris Johnson said, exalting the effort.

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Pressure mounts on countries to strike Cop26 deal as talks pass deadline

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Deadlock stretched climate summit past its scheduled end with hopes leaders will reach agreement by Saturday

Cop26 climate talks were closing in on a global deal aimed at limiting devastating global warming, with UK organisers hoping for a final agreement to the marathon negotiations on Saturday.

Delegates from nearly 200 nations are tasked with keeping alive the 2015 Paris goal of limiting temperature rises to 1.5C, as warming-driven disasters hit home around the world.

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Cop26 in extra time as leaders warn of the deadly cost of failure

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Delegates are told they must reach a deal to limit global heating or future generations will be forced into violent competition for resources

Children born today will be fighting each other for food and water in 2050 if the Cop26 climate summit fails, exhausted delegates were told as negotiators fight over the final details of a potential deal.

The deadline for the fortnight-long talks to finish came and went as leading figures took to the floor for what they hoped would be the final time, to exhort each other to cooperate in the interests of people threatened by the climate crisis around the world.

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Backed by Climate 200’s $2m war chest, independent challengers circle Coalition seats

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‘Lapsed Liberals’ and grassroots community groups are fielding high-profile candidates. Their target: the balance of power in Australia’s 2022 election

At the last federal election, the Coalition faced challenges from a string of hopeful independents in rural and city seats, largely running on climate issues. With two exceptions – Zali Steggall in Warringah and Helen Haines in Indi – they came up short.

Next year the independents will be back for another shot, focusing on heartland Coalition seats in New South Wales and Victoria. The difference this time is there is a road-tested model of how to mobilise the local community and run a campaign, and a $2m war chest on offer from Climate 200, a group established by the climate activist Simon Holmes à Court.

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Is our planet overpopulated? We ask the expert

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Global development lecturer Heather Alberro on whether rising birth rates are really to blame for the climate crisis

Whether it’s Meghan and Harry limiting themselves to two children, or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez discussing the “legitimate” concern of parenting through climate catastrophe, the ethical question of whether to add more people to the planet has touched society. But is the world overpopulated in the way we think? I asked Heather Alberro, lecturer in global sustainable development at Nottingham Trent University.

Where did the idea of overpopulation come from?
It started with 19th-century economist Thomas Malthus, who argued that population growth would always outstrip available resources. That’s known as a “Malthusian argument”.

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Cop26 targets too weak to stop disaster, say Paris agreement architects

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Figueres, Tubiana and Fabius warn that leaders must improve plans next year if world is to stay within crucial 1.5C limit

World leaders will have to return to the negotiating table next year with improved plans to cut greenhouse gases because the proposed targets agreed at the Cop26 summit are too weak to prevent disastrous levels of global heating, the three architects of the Paris agreement have warned.

Christiana Figueres, the former UN climate chief who oversaw the 2015 Paris summit, and Laurence Tubiana, the French diplomat who crafted the agreement, have told the Guardian the deadline is essential if the world is to avoid exceeding its 1.5C temperature limit. Laurent Fabius, the former French foreign minister who also oversaw Paris, added: “In the present circumstances [targets] must be enhanced next year.”

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Cop26: End trillions in subsidies given to fossil fuel industry, says UN chief – day 11 live

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All the latest news from the UN climate change conference in Glasgow

The UN’s António Guterres is underwhelmed by the pledges so far.

Bit of a theme here in the final push of the summit to make Cop26 a world-saver, rather than a historical disappointment. Lots of voices calling for more “ambition”.

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Nature under threat: a Cop26 photographic competition – in pictures

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The Earth Project, in collaboration with Nature Picture Library photography competition, aims to raise awareness of the huge challenges faced by nature, as well as the impacts of climate change on global ecosystems. Some of the world’s leading photographers came together to illustrate nature under threat, linking to one of the main goals of Cop26: to help protect and restore ecosystems in countries adversely affected by the climate crisis

  • The overall winning images, by Rivoni Mkansi of a rhino being dehorned to deter poaching; by Doug Gimesy of little blue penguins silhouetted against Melbourne city, and by Jo-Anne McArthur of pigs in an industrial farm, were selected by an online vote for three galleries

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US and China announce surprise climate agreement – video

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The United States and China, the world's two largest emitters of carbon dioxide, unveiled a deal to ramp up cooperation tackling the climate crisis. US climate envoy John Kerry and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua announced the framework agreement at the UN climate conference in Scotland. Both billed it as way to tip the summit toward success. 'In the area of climate change', Xie Zhenhua said. 'There is more agreement between China and the US than divergence, making it an area with huge potential for cooperation'.

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Cop26 draft calls for tougher emissions pledges by next year

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Move is recognition of gap between current pledges and goals but critics say it does not go far enough

A draft of the Cop26 negotiation outcome published overnight urges countries to strengthen their 2030 greenhouse gas emissions targets by the end of next year in a recognition of the yawning gap between current pledges and the landmark 2015 Paris agreement.

The text, released by the Cop26 president, Alok Sharma, called on all countries to increase their short-term commitments in 2022, which would be a step forward. It also asks them to agree to an annual high-level ministerial round table focused on raising ambition further starting next November.

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‘See these glaciers, before they melt’: living on the frontline of global heating

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From extreme weather obliterating homes to rising sea levels ruining crops, climate breakdown is a terrifying daily reality for many

Throughout the 2021 United Nations climate change conference, the Guardian will be publishing the stories of the people whose lives have been upended – sometimes devastated – by the climate breakdown.

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World’s ‘calamitous’ water crisis being ignored in climate talks – WaterAid

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Cop26 summit focusing on slowing down global heating at expense of current impact on water-stressed regions, says head of WaterAid

A global water crisis is being ignored at Cop26 to the detriment of billions of people’s lives, according to the charity WaterAid.

Water had not had “nearly enough” attention at the climate conference in Glasgow, with urgent action needed, said Tim Wainwright, chief executive of WaterAid.

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Cop26: We have to change behaviour if we’re going to cut emissions, say health chiefs – day eight live

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• Climate crisis is driving up deadly combination of temperature and humidity, says study released at Cop26
• Tuvalu minister gives Cop26 speech while standing in the sea – video

India’s indigenous Adivasi people have denounced Narendra Modi for hypocrisy, saying he proclaimed his green credentials at Cop26 while planning to massively expand coal mining on their lands.

The India prime minister’s plan to open 55 new coal mines, expand 193 existing ones and produce 1 billion tonnes of coal a year would destroy the land and livelihood of many Adivasi people, they said, noting that 80% of the new mines will be on Adivasi land.

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‘We are sinking’: Tuvalu minister gives Cop26 speech standing knee deep in seawater – video

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Tuvalu's foreign minister has given a speech to the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow standing knee-deep in seawater to show how his low-lying Pacific island nation is on the frontline of the climate crisis. The video of Simon Kofe standing in a suit and tie at a lectern set up in the sea delivering his speech draws attention to Tuvalu's struggle against rising sea levels. 

'We will not stand idly by as the water rises around us. We are not just talking in Tuvalu, we are mobilising collective action at home, in our region, and on the international stage to secure our future,'  Kofe said

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Cop26: Obama criticises China and Russia for ‘dangerous absence of urgency’ – day eight live

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Day eight at the Glasgow summit focuses on loss, adaptation and damage

The fossil fuel industry has hundreds of people accredited to the key climate talks in Glasgow - giving the sector a bigger delegation than any country, campaigners have claimed.

Analysis of the UN’s provisional list of named attendees suggests 503 delegates at Cop26 who are either directly affiliated with fossil fuel companies or are part of country delegations but are affiliated to oil, gas or coal firms, PA reports.

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Hit $100bn target or poor countries face climate disaster, the Gambia tells Cop26

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West African nation’s environment minister says richer countries must finally honour funding commitment made at Cop15 in 2009

Rich countries must hit their $100bn climate finance target in the last week of Cop26 or it will be catastrophic for the poorest nations suffering the most from the climate crisis, the Gambian environment minister has warned.

In an interview with the Guardian as he prepared to leave for Glasgow, Lamin B Dibba urged developed countries to finally honour the annual funding commitment that was made 12 years ago at the Copenhagen climate summit (Cop15) – but which has never been achieved.

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Armed attack on Brazilian Amazon community while delegate at Cop26

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Witnesses say tents in forest in disputed area of Pará state set alight and residents beaten

A land defender from Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon, said armed men attacked a forest community she defends while she was at the Cop26 talks in Glasgow.

Claudelice Silva dos Santos, a Cop26 delegate and nominee for the 2019 Sakharov prize, said she had received a phone call sounding the alarm after about 30 pickup trucks arrived at the São Vinicius camp at the Tinelli farm in Nova Ixipuna, home to about 80 families, at about 3pm local time on 3 November.

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Few willing to change lifestyle to save the planet, climate survey finds

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Exclusive: poll of 10 countries including US, UK, France and Germany finds people prioritising measures that are already habits

Citizens are alarmed by the climate crisis, but most believe they are already doing more to preserve the planet than anyone else, including their government, and few are willing to make significant lifestyle changes, an international survey has found.

“The widespread awareness of the importance of the climate crisis illustrated in this study has yet to be coupled with a proportionate willingness to act,” the survey of 10 countries including the US, UK, France and Germany, observed.

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