Negotiations ran late last night, and as delegates begin to leave the outcome of the summit remains unclearCivil society campaigners from the developing world have accused the rich countries of spreading duplicitous narratives" over their role in the Cop30 climate talks over the past fortnight.As the talks in Belem, Brazil, passed the deadline for their resolution on Friday, European countries indicated they would walk away from any deal that did not include a commitment for roadmap" to phase out fossil fuels.The world lost the climate gamble. Now it faces a dangerous new realityTen years ago the world's leaders placed a historic bet. The 2015 Paris agreement aimed to put humanity on a path to avert dangerous climate change. A decade on, with the latest climate conference ending in Belem, Brazil, without decisive action, we can definitively say humanity has lost this bet. Continue reading...

Trend is adding to waste crisis' owing to individual packaging and potential for unwanted items, campaigners sayThe trend for Advent calendars aimed at adults is superfluous consumerism" that adds to excessive and wasteful consumption, according to environmental groups.While once children excitedly opened a door each day to see what festive picture lay behind it, adults can now count down the days to Christmas with calendars containing everything from luxury beauty products to instant mashed potato. Continue reading...

National Trust begins planting the 49 trees of hope' so the illegally felled tree can live on in a positive waySaplings from the felled Sycamore Gap tree are to be planted across the UK, including at a pit disaster site, a town still healing from the Troubles and a place which became an international symbol of peace, protest and feminism.The National Trust said planting of 49 saplings, known as trees of hope", would begin on Saturday. It is hoped that the sycamore will live on in a positive, inspirational way. Continue reading...

Summit president Andre Correa do Lago issued plea to preserve Paris agreement with countries unable to reach compromise on scheduled final dayAn informal stocktake plenary is now underway [see live feed at the top of the blog]. Here the presidency will update parties on the state of the negotiations.My colleague Damian Carrington will be keeping across the main developments. Continue reading...

UK energy secretary says UN climate talks must find way to keep proposals alive despite significant resistanceSupporters of a global phaseout of fossil fuels must find creative" ways to keep the proposal alive, including making it voluntary rather than binding, the UK energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has said in the closing stages of the UN climate talks.As the Cop30 summit in Brazil carried on past the Friday night deadline, the prospect of countries agreeing on the need for a roadmap to a global transition away from fossil fuels" looked increasingly dim. A first draft of the potential outcome text from the summit had contained the formulation, but in the updated draft text produced on Friday by the Brazilian presidency it had been excised. Continue reading...

President of talks urges ministers and high-ranking officials to find common ground as conference nears its end

Exclusive: Concession follows fierce criticism of the workaround but may not be enough to convince minor party

Australian Marine Conservation Society's GoodFish guide aims to showcase the most environmentally friendly seafood sources

Here are some of the standout images from this year's Nature Conservancy Australia Oceania photo contest. Winners were chosen from over 3,500 entries from across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands Continue reading...

Nearly 13m people are hoarding millions of dollars' worth of the stylish 50 peso note, featuring Mexico's cutest critterFor most of her life, Gorda was just an axolotl who lived in a museum in Mexico City - that is, until she became the star of the country's favourite banknote.The note, which features a depiction of Gorda as the model for Mexico's iconic species of salamander, went into circulation in 2021, dazzling the judges of the International Bank Notes Society, who declared it the Note of the Year. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Summit leadership releases new text despite 29 nations threatening to block progress without commitmentA new draft text on the outcome of the Cop30 climate talks has been published that contains no mention of a phase-out of fossil fuels, despite countries supporting such action having threatened to block any agreement without it.The Guardian revealed on Thursday night that at least 29 nations supporting a phase-out of fossil fuels at the climate summit had sent a letter to the Brazilian Cop presidency threatening to block any agreement that did not include such a commitment, in a significant escalation of tensions at the crunch talks. The leaked letter demanded that the roadmap be included in the outcome of the talks, which are due to end on Friday but are likely to continue into the weekend. Continue reading...

Climate sceptics tell us that more people die of extreme cold than extreme heat. What's the truth?I began by trying to discover whether or not a widespread belief was true. In doing so, I tripped across something even bigger: an index of the world's indifference. I already knew that by burning fossil fuels, gorging on meat and dairy, and failing to make even simple changes, the rich world imposes a massive burden of disaster, displacement and death on people whose responsibility for the climate crisis is minimal. What I've now stumbled into is the vast black hole of our ignorance about these impacts.What I wanted to discover was whether it's true that nine times as many of the world's people die of cold than of heat. The figure is often used by people who want to delay climate action: if we do nothing, some maintain, fewer will die. Of course, they gloss over all the other impacts of climate breakdown: the storms, floods, droughts, fires, crop failures, disease and sea level rise. But is this claim, at least, correct?George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

This week's best wildlife photographs from around the world Continue reading...

The enormous, serpentine fish, regarded in Japanese folklore as a herald of disaster, usually live deep below the surface and are only sighted when sick or dying

But Sunshine state Republicans might oppose drilling off state's famous beaches that keep tourism dollars coming inThe Trump administration on Thursday announced new oil and gas drilling off California's and Florida's coasts, setting the stage for a political showdown - including with Sunshine state Republicans who have largely opposed petroleum development in the Gulf of Mexico.This announcement comes as the US petroleum industry, despite contending with low crude prices, has been pushing for an entree to additional offshore drilling areas. The industry's move for increased access also marks an effort to increase jobs and US energy independence, according to the Associated Press. Continue reading...

Event thrown into confusion and 13 treated for smoke inhalation after conference centre evacuated

US speaker emerita criticizes Trump's anti-climate stance and his remarks to the UN general assemblyPresident Trump is the biggest con job in American history," said Nancy Pelosi, the US speaker emerita, to reporters on Thursday while criticizing his anti-climate agenda.Donald Trump told the UN general assembly in September that the climate crisis was the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world". But he was projecting", Pelosi said at a press conference. The meeting was convened by Democrats on the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works to comment on the US's official absence from the United Nations Cop30 climate summit in Belem, Brazil, where 195 countries are represented. Continue reading...

UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres earlier used speech at Belem summit to urge countries to find compromises in final hours of negotiationsInside the halls of Cop30 you see people from all around the world, and it can be easy to forget that there are many people who remain unrepresented.On Thursday morning, Magne Tony was standing with compatriots from French Guiana outside the entrance to the conference centre, trying to push pieces of paper into the hands of arriving delegates and observers headed: Our Amazon is dying".The main problem is that France are in 9,000 kilometres from Amazonia, from South America, and they're taking decisions. [But] they don't really know what is the problem really. They're taking the decisions from their own mind and the problem is that they're far from reality.That's why we decided to alert the people in the world about [our] problems: water coming up, getting enough to eat, more heat - in some parts of French Guiana, people don't have water.These crises, a consequence of Western capitalist madness, primarily affect the most vulnerable: women and communities dependent on forests and rivers. But they also concern all of humanity: French Guiana is part of the Amazon, a regulator of the global climate and essential to planetary balance.We remind you that French Guiana is the last colony in South America without self-determination. We will not be able to protect our environment or guarantee our food and energy self-sufficiency, essential for our collective survival, as long as decisions are made in Paris without consulting the affected communities or taking into account local specificities. Continue reading...

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says he is ready to fight for transition roadmap despite opposition from some states

Scourge of goldfish has become growing problem as fish are released by pet owners into increasingly warm watersCity officials in Canada's capital city, Ottawa, plan to cull thousands of feral goldfish from a stormwater pond, a decision that reflects the pervasive spread of the species throughout the region.Earlier in the year, city staff removed 5,000 fish from the city's Celebration Park. But as many as 1,000 more are believed to still be living in the water. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Guidance distributed to MPs seeks to pre-empt questions about plan's compatibility with Paris agreement, indicating opposition is aware of potential breach

It's a climate-vulnerable nation, while also being the world's sixth-largest greenhouse-gas emitter. Global investment in climate action is vital Continue reading...

The reason for the disappearance of Lac Rouge in Quebec, Canada, is not confirmed, but the trigger may have been a combination of heavy rainfall and wildfires having rendered the surrounding soil more water-repellent.Tree root systems allow for greater water retention, meaning soil is able to absorb more water as snow melts in spring. Nicolas Mainville, the conservation and climate director at Snap Quebec, said: 'Flying over the area reveals how huge swathes of forest have been completely removed by salvage logging and post-fire scarification.'The forest is fragile. It is time to better protect the land' Continue reading...

Experts fear plan, one of many attempts Trump's made to dismantle wildlife protection, will speed up extinction crisisThe Trump administration presented a new plan to roll back regulations in the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Wednesday, a move experts fear will accelerate the extinction crisis if adopted.The proposed changes would allow the federal government more power to weigh economic impact against habitat designations, remove safeguards against future events - including the impacts from the climate crisis - and rescind the blanket rule" that automatically grants threatened species the same protections as those designated as endangered. Continue reading...

Study finds rising seas could flood facilities handling waste, sewage, and oil and gas - and coastal states most at riskMore than 5,500 toxic sites nationwide could face coastal flooding by 2100 due to rising sea levels, according to new research.The study, published on Thursday in Nature Communications and led by scientists at the University of California, warns that if heat-trapping pollution continues unabated, rising seas will flood a wide range of hazardous facilities including those handling sewage, toxic waste, oil and gas, as well as other industrial pollutants. Continue reading...

Researchers in British Columbia catch sea wolves in the act after placing camera to solve mystery of damaged trapsThe clues read like something from mystery novel: crab traps, suspiciously hauled ashore by unseen hands, had been damaged by baffling teeth marks. The bait inside was missing.The question for researchers in the remote corner of British Columbia was: whodunnit? As with many crimes of opportunity in the modern era, the culprit was unmasked by a remote camera. Continue reading...

Sussan Ley's offer allows a clear path to pass laws to rewrite Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act in final sitting week

While the outcome is a let down for those who want Australia to do better on climate, Chris Bowen looks set to play a pivotal role in the UN talks

Scientists discover thousands of sea creatures have made their homes amid the detritus of abandoned second world war munitions off the coast of GermanyIn the brackish waters off the German coast lies a wasteland of Nazi bombs, torpedo heads and mines. Thrown off barges at the end of the second world war and forgotten about, thousands of munitions have become matted together over the years. They form a rusting carpet on the shallow, muddy seafloor of the Bay of Lubeck in the western tip of the Baltic Sea.Over the decades, the Nazi arsenal was ignored and forgotten about. A growing number of tourists flocked to the sandy beaches and calm waters for jetskiing, kite surfing and amusement parks. Beneath the surface, the weapons decayed. Continue reading...

Fortnight-long event to be held in Antalya but Australian climate change minister Chris Bowen expected to lead the negotiations

Australia had been pushing to host climate conference next year with south Pacific nations, which are increasingly threatened by rising seas and climate-fuelled disastersPapua New Guinea has voiced frustration after Australia ditched a bid to co-host next year's UN climate talks with its Pacific island neighbours.We are all not happy. And disappointed it's ended up like this," foreign minister Justin Tkatchenko told Agence France-Presse after Australia ceded hosting rights to Turkey. Continue reading...

As president Lula tries to find common ground between negotiating countries, planetary scientists say emissions must be urgently cutMother Earth is watching over Cop30. I am taking care to watch over all the decisions taken here about me," she told the Guardian. The blessing card she presented said: Knowing the powerful impact my thoughts can have on others and the environment, I choose to create a positive mindset."This beautiful vision is in everyday life Nazare Oliveira, an indigenous woman from Belem, and a descendant of the Potyguar people. She is part of the international spiritual organisation Brahma Kumaris, led by women and which uses meditation to emphasise the concept of identity as souls rather than bodies and the idea that humanity and nature are one.This is my fifth COP. I've been around since COP26 in Glasgow and this has been the most militarised COP I've attended. We had really high expectations because I'm from Latin America, and this is also the Latin American COP - apart from the Amazonian and the Brazilian Cop.So we had really high expectations of also being able to demonstrate, protest and exercise our right to the civic space. But we have encountered heavy militarisation and a heavy crackdown on civil society protesting outside the venue.I think it's very disconcerting. Like it was definitely a very racist letter where the UN seems to want to inflict power over the autonomous territory of Brazilian authorities.I think this is a confrontation that is needed. What's happening in between civil society, the military and the UN, it's a reflection of the tension that exists within this space. So I hope for this COP that the United Nations authorities and the Brazilian authorities open their eyes and they realise that what they are doing, what they are inflicting with the militarisation of COP is completely opposite of what they have been preaching in the last three years.Brazil knew that they wanted to host this COP since three years ago, probably even earlier. So the way that they are responding to it does not show that they were ready to receive all this flow of international civil society. So my hope is that they can release, relax the heavy militarization that they're putting in the space and allow us to use the civic space to demonstrate. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Andre Correa do Lago says rise of clean energy must be acknowledged and rich countries need to do more

We want to hear about how these shifts showed up in your everyday lives this yearThe climate crisis is reshaping our lives: extreme weather events are intensifying, extinctions are accelerating and the urgency for both adaptation and intervention only increase.But there are also the smaller, more personal impacts. Perhaps it's not being able to fish with your kids in the place where your childhood memories were made because the river has dried up. Maybe it's not being able to gather around a campfire in the summer, due to wildfire risks and restrictions. It can be the loss of a favorite tree, a personal sacrifice you've made for the greater good, or a change you've observed through the seasons. Continue reading...

Governments across the continent have attacked green rules with increasing ferocity - all while professing their commitment to existing climate targets Don't get This Is Europe delivered to your inbox? Sign up hereTo little fanfare and few international headlines, Denmark just announced one of the world's most ambitious climate targets.The unusually wind-powered and cycle-friendly Nordic nation - whose ruling Social Democrats suffered a setback in elections on Tuesday - promised on Monday to cut planet-heating pollution by at least 82% by 2035 from 1990 levels. The goal inches past the UK's landmark 81% target for that year and races ahead of the EU's rather wide goal of 66.3% to 72.5%. Continue reading...

If it makes impact on Friday, it would be the earliest cyclone of the season to make landfall in Australia since 1973

Report commissioned by conservationists suggests some recorded new growth is misclassified or otherwise not equivalent to losses in species-heavy forests

Exclusive: A top official in Beijing's Cop delegation says China is committed to clean energy - but US's absence is a problemChina is committed to the energy transition needed to avert climate breakdown - but does not want to take the lead alone in the absence of the US, one of the country's senior advisers has told the Guardian.Wang Yi said China would provide more money to vulnerable countries, but the EU's climate commissioner has warned Beijing is not doing enough to cut emissions. Continue reading...

Drone footage shows hundreds of tonnes of rubbish piled up in a field in a small village in Oxfordshire. The illegal waste was left by fly-tippers between the River Cherwell and the A34 near Kidlington. It is said to be 150 metres long and at least 6 metres high, according to local media

Fallout from increased emissions linked to president's America First' policies expected to most affect those in poor, hot countriesThis article is co-published with ProPublica, a non-profit newsroom that investigates abuses of power.New advances in environmental science are providing a detailed understanding of the human cost of the Trump administration's approach to climate. Continue reading...

Almost two out of three corals across popular tourism spots at the world heritage-listed Ningaloo reef have died after an unprecedented marine heatwave hit the Western Australia region, scientists have discovered. The areas in Ningaloo's northern lagoon have undergone a 'profound ecological simplification' with coral species that were keystones to the habitat among those killed

Analysis of new-builds in Birmingham suggests all-electric homes not only use less energy but vary in peak usageSome of the first homes in the UK designed to meet new building standards put less pressure on the electricity grid than expected, a study has found.The all-electric properties in Handsworth, Birmingham, have heat pumps, which use electricity to provide heat rather than oil or gas. Continue reading...

Researchers from New Zealand's conservation department conducting an annual grasshopper survey near Lake Tekapo on the South Island have spotted a rare pink grasshopper. The species - the robust grasshopper - is native to New Zealand and is the country's largest lowland grasshopper. The pink hue is thought to be caused by a genetic mutation, as the insect is typically grey or brown like the river stones of its native habitat in the MacKenzie basin

Analysis published at Cop30 summit shows adhering to pledges offers world hope of avoiding climate breakdownSticking to three key climate promises - on renewables, energy efficiency and methane - would avoid nearly 1C of global heating and give the world hope of avoiding climate breakdown, analysis published at the Cop30 climate summit suggests.Governments have already agreed to triple the amount of renewable energy generated by 2030, double global energy efficiency by then, and make substantial cuts to methane emissions. Continue reading...

The Neoliner Origin set off on its inaugural two-week voyage from France to the US with the aim of revolutionising the notoriously dirty shipping industryIt is 8pm on a Saturday evening and eight of us are sitting at a table onboard a ship, holding on to our plates of spaghetti carbonara as our chairs slide back and forth. Michel Pery, the dinner's host, downplays the weather as a tempete de journalistes" - something sailors would not categorise as a storm, but which drama-seeking journalists might refer to as such to entertain their readers.But after a white-knuckle night in our cabins with winds reaching 74mph or force 12 - officially a hurricane - Pery has to admit it was not just a journalists' storm", but the real deal. Continue reading...

Young humpback whale was found washed ashore and individuals had rallied together to try to helpA humpback whale stranded off the coast of Oregon was euthanized on Monday following a failed rescue attempt from several organizations and agencies.On Saturday, the young whale was found washed ashore near San Marine state park, KOMO News reported. Over the weekend, individuals rallied together to try to help the mammal, who appeared to be caught in a fishing net, but were unsuccessful. Continue reading...

Thousands of youth activists from around the world presented a global youth statement calling for full, fast, fair fossil phase-out"We should not fear the forces of denial and delay, UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband has warned, because they are losing this fight".Speaking to delegates at Cop30, the Labour politician acknowledged the existence of climate deniers and delayers across the world - including in the UK - and described them as well funded, well organised, and determined". Continue reading...

Countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America, Pacific and Europe plead for transition to be central outcome of talksMore than 80 countries have joined a call for a roadmap to phasing out fossil fuels, in a dramatic intervention into stuck negotiations at the UN Cop30 climate summit.Countries from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Pacific joined with EU member states and the UK to make an impassioned plea for the transition away from fossil fuels" to be a central outcome of the talks, despite stiff opposition from petrostates and some other major economies. Continue reading...

Leah Lendel was bitten by a bull shark as she was snorkeling with her family from a beach in Boca GrandeA 10-year-old girl whose hand was reattached after it was severed in a shark attack has spoken of her remarkable recovery after a miracle" six-hour operation that has allowed her to resume knitting outfits for her beloved Barbie dolls.Leah Lendel's right hand was left hanging by shreds of skin after the bite by a 9ft bull shark as she was snorkeling with her family at a beach in Boca Grande, Florida, in June. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Tshering Tobgay says his country is doing a lot more than our fair share' on climate and west must cut emissions for the happiness of your people'The wealthy western countries most responsible for the climate crisis would improve the health and happiness of their citizens by prioritising environmental conservation and sustainable economic growth, according to the prime minister of Bhutan, the world's first carbon-negative nation.Bhutan, a Buddhist democratic monarchy and biodiversity hotspot situated high in the eastern Himalayas, is among the world's most ambitious climate leaders thanks to its people's connection with nature and a strong political focus on improving gross national happiness rather than just GDP, Tshering Tobgay told the Guardian. Continue reading...