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.
Continue reading...• 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.
Continue reading...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
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...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.
Continue reading...Up to 100,000, including Kahnawake Mohawk delegates, brave Glasgow rain as 22 arrested after scientists blockade bridge
People on almost every continent were gathering for marches and rallies on Saturday to mark a Global Day for Climate Justice, halfway through the Glasgow climate change summit.
Activists in the Philippines, eight hours ahead of the UK, had already finished their rally as protesters gathered in Scotland. There were also rallies in South Korea, Indonesia, the Netherlands and France. The Belgian arm of Extinction Rebellion occupied a street in Brussels.
Continue reading...As rivers run dry, the desperate search for water has led to a rise in domestic abuse, conflict and illness
All photos by Cyril Zannettacci/Agence Vu for Action Against Hunger
Continue reading...Environment minister of country home to world’s third-biggest rainforest says deforestation pledge must not halt development
Indonesia has questioned the terms of a Cop26 deal to end deforestation by 2030, days after joining more than 100 countries in signing up to it.
The nations agreed on the multi-billion-dollar plan at the climate conference in Glasgow this week to stop cutting down trees on an industrial scale in under a decade.
Continue reading...Fossil fuels are surging in post-pandemic recovery as scientists warn 1.5C emission limits will be reached in 11 years
Global carbon emissions are shooting back to the record level seen before the coronavirus pandemic levels, new analysis has shown. Scientists said the finding is a “reality check” for the world’s nations gathered at the Cop26 climate summit.
The emissions driving the climate crisis reached their highest ever levels in 2019, before global coronavirus lockdowns saw them fall by 5.4%. However, fossil fuel burning has surged faster than expected in 2021, the international research team said, in stark contrast to the rapid cuts needed to tackle global heating.
Continue reading...Welcome to our monthly roundup of the biggest issues in farming and food production, with must-read reports from around the web
As UN climate talks take place in Glasgow, the role of cows and other farm animals in human-induced climate emissions – and what can be done about it – has been in the spotlight.
The world’s biggest meat and dairy companies are being “given a free pass by governments” over the lack of clear targets to reduce climate emissions, say campaigners, who have published a new ranking of the worst offenders.
Cutting methane is the biggest opportunity to slow global heating between now and 2040, say experts, who lament that “no country has a real target to reduce its livestock-related emissions or meat consumption”.
Brazil and Argentina, two of the biggest producers of beef products and animal feed crops in the world, are reported to have argued strongly against UN recommendations that reducing meat consumption is necessary to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The net zero climate pledges made this year by the world’s largest meat company, JBS, have been critiqued as an attempt to “avoid scrutiny from shareholders and investors” in a new report by the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.
Can the Middle East wean itself off oil? Plus: the return of Abba
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Few regions on Earth are more central to hopes of reining in global temperature increases than the Middle East. Financed by the west’s insatiable demand for fossil fuels, cities filled with air-conditioned skyscrapers and shopping malls have risen from the desert, and it’s not surprising that Gulf monarchies made rich and powerful by oil have paid little heed to thoughts of an economic transition to renewables, even though the region is warming at twice the rate of the rest of the world. But, asks our diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour, could the long-term view be about to change?
The Cop26 climate conference got under way in Glasgow this week, amid a flurry of announcements and expectation. Follow the Guardian’s extensive coverage here.
Continue reading...As poverty and lost livelihoods fuel threats in the home, those who have found refuge still risk their lives walking miles in search of water
The setting sun brings a warm glow to the huts in the village of Umoja in Samburu county, Kenya. Christine Sitiyan sits outside her home with her beadwork, carefully running the thin thread through tiny bead holes, hoping she can finish the colourful belt she is making before darkness sets in. The traditional belt can fetch 3,000 Kenyan shillings (£20), enough to cover her needs for a month.
This tranquil scene is very different from her troubled past. Like many girls in her community, Sitiyan never finished school but was married off as a young teenager. Seven years later, with two children, she left her husband, unable to endure the beatings from a man she says could no longer fend for the family in an increasingly harsh environment.
Continue reading...Unclear if ‘Freya’ is conducting protest lie-in or just waylaid, though Dutch navy note her choice of ‘Walrus-class submarine’
The disruption from the climate emergency being experienced by marine wildlife reached a new high in the first week of Cop26, when a female walrus was discovered sleeping on a submarine in a naval base in North Holland.
Walruses normally live in the polar regions – several hundred miles north. This particular animal is one of at least two of the species that have been seen far from their Arctic habitat. Another wandering walrus, seen off the Scilly Islands, France, Spain and West Cork, Ireland, has since been sighted back in Icelandic waters.
Continue reading...Cop26 countries must take action to stop record heat becoming an annual event, say experts
The heatwaves and wildfires that caused devastation in Europe this summer would not have happened without global heating, new analysis shows.
The summer of 2021 was the hottest on record in the continent, with average temperatures about 1C above normal. The elevated heat caused wildfires and premature deaths.
Continue reading...Billionaire Amazon founder says experience made him realise how ‘finite and fragile’ Earth is; US president confirms pledge to slash global methane emissions
Insulate Britain protesters have blocked a major carriageway near Manchester Airport, in one of the climate group’s first protests outside of London.
Footage from LBC on Twitter shows a small group of protestors in orange hi-vis jackets blocking the carriageway near the intersection of junction 6 of the M56 and the A538, as well as several police vans.
Continue reading...The president of the Pacific island state of Palau has told the Cop26 summit that parallels could be drawn between the climate crisis and the traditional Palau story of a boy who grew into a giant and 'wouldn’t stop growing ... depleting all the natural resources'. Surangel Whipps Jr said the story was 'eerily reminiscent' of today’s climate crisis. Speaking about the environmental impact on island nations, he added: 'There is no dignity to a slow and painful death: you might as well bomb our islands'
Continue reading...World leaders have convened on Glasgow for the first day of the UN’s climate conference
Travel chaos hampered many delegates and observers’ arrival in Glasgow for Cop26 yesterday, with a tree on the tracks taking out the west coast main line for a large part of the day. Trains on the east coast line were also delayed after overhead wires near Peterborough sustained damage.
Guardian reporters Patrick Greenfield (who ended up having to hire a van from Luton and drive to Glasgow) and Phoebe Weston (who endured a heavily delayed journey up the east coast line) have more details here.
1. The arrival. Here we go again. Teams of jet-lagged lobbyists, diplomats, journos, bankers and business folk queue with delegations of indigenous peoples and youth groups, lawyers, NGOs and economists to enter the parallel universe that is a UN climate Cop. Within hours, the complaints will start about the price of coffee, the distance between meeting rooms, the Glaswegian accents, the rain, the trains, the traffic, the UN security, the heavy policing and the dearth of good restaurants.
Continue reading...President of China, world’s worst emissions source, calls for more support for developing countries
China’s president, Xi Jinping, has called on developed countries to “provide support to help developing countries do better” in dealing with the climate crisis, in a written statement to the Cop26 climate conference that fails to make any new significant pledges.
The Chinese leader also urged all parties to take stronger actions to “jointly tackle the climate challenge”, and said his country would “speed up the green and low-carbon energy transition, vigorously develop renewable energy, and plan and build large wind and photovoltaic power stations”.
Continue reading...