Stark findings add pressure on Cop27 negotiators to deliver meaningful funding to vulnerable countriesThe heavy rain behind recent devastating flooding in Nigeria, Niger and Chad was made about 80 times more likely by the climate crisis, a study has found.The finding is the latest stark example of the severe impacts that global heating is already wreaking on communities, even with just a 1C rise in global temperature to date. It adds pressure on the world’s nations at the UN Cop27 climate summit in Egypt to deliver meaningful action on protecting and compensating affected countries. Continue reading...

President-elect says he will work to save Amazon rainforest and key ecosystems in rousing Cop27 speechPresident-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has told the world that “Brazil is back” at Cop27, vowing to begin undoing the environmental destruction seen under his far-right predecessor, Jair Bolsonaro, and work towards zero deforestation of the Amazon rainforest.Followed by a carnival atmosphere wherever he went on Wednesday, Lula told the climate summit that his administration would go further than ever before on the environment by cracking down on illegal gold mining, logging and agricultural expansion, and restoring climate-critical ecosystems. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Campaigners from Greenpeace beam film on to PM’s North Yorkshire mansion from van parked outsideEnergy crisis campaigners have projected scenes of people struggling with fuel poverty on to Rishi Sunak’s Yorkshire mansion on the eve of the autumn statement.Activists from Greenpeace parked a van outside the prime minister’s £1.5m constituency home and used it to beam the trailer of a hard-hitting documentary on to the facade of the Georgian manor house. Continue reading...

Lula says ‘Brazil is back’ and proposes Cop30 to be held in the Amazon as anxiety rises over some countries’ attempts to unpick climate commitmentsSUMMARY:The Brazilian president-elect, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Lula for short), addressed Cop27 and promised that “Brazil is back”.He confirmed that Germany and Norway will reopen the Amazon fund, called for Cop30 to be held in the Amazon rainforest, and announced that he would be setting up a ministry for Indigenous people.Lula also said it was time to reform the UN and the global settlement. “The world has changed.”Elsewhere, Costa Rica, which has a new leader, has backed away from the coalition it cofounded to end oil and gas.Interest in a proposal to “phase down all fossil fuels” is growing, with even the US now giving (extremely qualified) support.There is continuing anxiety over the progress of glacial loss and damage negotiations. The Alliance of Small Island States, a negotiating bloc, fear many developed countries are backtracking on their commitment to make progress.There is anxiety countries are trying to backslide on their climate commitments, with the first tentative drafts of decisions from the summit showing attempts to unpick agreements and water down promises. Continue reading...

Excess profits look set for a levy in the autumn statement – but first define ‘excess’ and for whom“It’s like entering a lottery: you know something’s coming your way, but you’ve got no idea exactly what,” says one chief executive of a large UK electricity generator about the looming windfall tax on his sector. It’s a fair comment. Government thinking on the generators – as opposed to the North Sea oil and gas producers, who already have a levy – has been spinning like a wind turbine for six months.Back in May, then-chancellor Rishi Sunak said he was “urgently evaluating” the scale of excess profits being made by generators on the entirely sensible grounds that not all windfall profits have been made by firms producing dirty hydrocarbons. Nuclear power plants, windfarms, solar farms, hydro projects and biomass burners may also be doing very nicely thanks to a UK energy system that ties the price of electricity to the price of gas. Continue reading...

Brazil’s president elect beat Jair Bolsonaro, under whose watch deforestation had rocketed, in last month’s electionThis liveblog is now closedA long-mooted deposit return scheme in the UK will not be in place for a further two years, the UK environment secretary said on Wednesday, writes Fiona Harvey, Guardian environment correspondent.“It will be another couple of years at least,” Thérèse Coffey told journalists at Cop27. “Scotland has not started theirs yet. We are getting on with our environmental targets and a business plan and Elms. We are coming up to the fifth anniversary of the 25 year environment plan.”Let’s talk to the secretary-general of the UN for the next op to be done in Brazil, in the Amazon. I think it is important that the people who defend the Amazon know the region and the concrete reality. Continue reading...

In the short time that we have to prevent catastrophic global heating, population rises are irrelevant, writes Ian Brown, while Daniel Rodriguez says the problem is overconsumption in the westI am hugely disappointed to see John Vidal suggesting that slowing population growth can help solve the climate crisis, when he fully acknowledges that the rich generate orders of magnitude more emissions than the poor (It should not be controversial to say a population of 8 billion will have a grave impact on the climate, 15 November). Population growth will cause many problems, not least increased resource consumption, but our ability to “solve” climate change in the here and now has nothing to do with future population growth because of the relative timescales involved. To argue otherwise is not controversial, it is merely wrong.We have less than 10 years to bend the curve downwards on emissions, whereas doing the same with population is impossible. As the late Swedish academic Hans Rosling made clear, global heating is the fault of the overconsumption of the richest billion people on Earth and the next richest billion trying to adopt the same way of life. It has very little to do with the poorest billions, where future population growth is concentrated. Continue reading...

New modelling suggests climate change-driven variability will be detectable decades earlier than previously expected

Environmental protection agency says E coli and other contaminants are within safe levels but warn residents not to enter or drink flood waters

Exclusive: Documents show Anthony Roberts made the call in less than a week, after predecessor rejected previous request

California, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Iowa and Tennessee suffered most disasters, with over 300m people living in those countiesNinety percent of the counties in the US suffered a weather disaster between 2011 and 2021, according to a new report.Some endured as many as 12 federally declared disasters over those 11 years. More than 300 million people – 93% of the population – live in these counties. Continue reading...

Figure of £559m comes day before government is expected to expand windfall tax on power sectorThe electricity generator and network company SSE has reported a more than tripling of profits thanks to soaring energy prices – a day before the government is expected to expand a windfall tax on the power sector.The company, which is based in Perth, Scotland, and runs gas-fired power stations alongside hydroelectric plants and windfarms, reported a 221% increase in adjusted pre-tax profits year on year to £559m in the six months to the end of September. Continue reading...

Conservation groups have also condemned the legislation, with National Parks Association ‘extremely alarmed’

After years of progress, a surge in rebel attacks has revived painful memories around the park in DRC, which also faces a threat of drilling within its boundariesWhen Justin Katenga arrived at Matebe power station at dawn, the fighting was already under way. He had woken up a few miles away, in the headquarters of Virunga national park in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to the sound of heavy artillery echoing across the valley, underscoring the urgency of the evacuation planned for civilian staff in the facilities across the river from the frontline.As Katenga entered the plant’s perimeter with his team, bullets whistled above their heads, lodging in the buildings’ walls; one engineer fainted in fear on the spot. Katenga, the deputy south sector warden of the park, took time to talk to the guards who had stayed behind to secure the site. The M23 rebel militia – fighting government forces in the area – had been gaining ground and were expected to break through and overrun that section of the park. Yet abandoning it would cut off 80% of the power supply to Goma, the capital city of North Kivu province and home to 2 million people. Continue reading...

Gulf petrostate hired PR firms to stress its part in next year’s climate summit before this year’s had begunThe United Arab Emirates has been using its role as the host of next year’s UN climate conference to launder its international reputation, long before this year’s event – Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh – began.The Emirates, which will host Cop28 in November 2023, hired public relations and lobbying agencies specifically to promote its role as the future host before this year’s conference had began, an unusual move that exceeded the promotional efforts of past host nations and suggests an increased Emirati role in this year’s Cop27 conference. Continue reading...

Leaders say December biodiversity summit in Montreal is ‘unprecedented’ chance to turn tide on nature lossThe architects of the Paris agreement have urged world leaders to reach an ambitious sister deal for nature at the Cop15 biodiversity conference this December while warning that limiting global heating to 1.5C is impossible without protecting and restoring ecosystems.On biodiversity day at the Cop27 climate conference in Egypt, Christiana Figueres, Laurence Tubiana, Laurent Fabius and Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who helped design the Paris agreement, said that Cop15 would be an “unprecedented” opportunity to turn the tide on nature loss. Continue reading...

Australian climate change minister asked to take over struggling summit negotiations over how to fund climate financing for poor countries

Labor party’s environment wing says it’s ‘disappointing’ Albanese government has not joined partnership which would build consensus across OECD

Russian event at Cop27 interrupted by protesters repeatedly shouting ‘you are war criminals’. This live blog is closedThree days before India’s environment minister boarded a flight to Egypt for this year’s UN climate summit, Cop27, the country’s finance minister was busy with a new announcement.“India needs greater investment in coal production,” said Nirmala Sitharaman at the Delhi launch of India’s biggest ever coalmine auction, where 141 new sites for coalmines will be sold off to the highest bidder.Sustainable food systems deliver food security and nutrition for all, without compromising the welfare of future generations through harmful economic, social and environmental practices. In the context of the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture, this means taking a particular focus on sustainable food production, nutrition and dietary shifts, as well as food loss and waste.If food security and the livelihoods of farmers are truly to be at the heart of climate negotiations in the future, then food systems need to be recognised in the Koronivia Process and this process decisively taken forward at Cop27.Part of the challenge is to ensure that the Koronivia Process addresses food systems as a whole -- from production, to nutrition, to diets. This would mean a stronger set of outcomes for the benefit of people, nature, and climate alike. Continue reading...

Independent inquiry to look at possible role of freeport dredging and chemical pollutant in die-offsThe UK government is to set up an independent expert panel to investigate the cause of the mass die-offs of crabs and lobsters on the north-east coast of England, it has announced.The panel will consider the impact of dredging around a freeport development in Teesside and the presence of pyridine, a chemical pollutant, among other potential causes, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said. Continue reading...

Tentative drafts are emerging but some countries appear to be seeking to water down commitments agreed last year

Climate activists in Austria have attacked a painting by Gustav Klimt, with one throwing a black, oily liquid at it and another glueing himself to the glass covering the painting. Members of Letzte Generation Österreich (Last Generation Austria) tweeted that they had targeted the 1915 painting Death and Life at the Leopold Museum in Vienna to protest against their government’s use of fossil fuels. After throwing the liquid at the artwork, which was not damaged, one activist was pushed away by a museum guard while another glued his hand to the glass over the painting

Brazil president-elect’s decision to fly on a jet owned by a health industry mogul criticised by both opponents and supportersBrazil’s president-elect has faced a backlash at home after flying to the Cop27 environmental summit on a private jet owned by a millionaire businessman.Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was elected on 30 October and has vowed to undo much of the environmental damage wrought by the outgoing far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro. Continue reading...

Minister warns rightwing Tory MPs in danger of misreading public mood in similar way to US Republicans

Return of one of one of Britain’s rarest fish confirmed after DNA found in water samples above fish passesFor nearly two centuries, one of Britain’s rarest fish has been shut out of its spawning grounds by large weirs.But the endangered twaite shad has now returned to its historic spawning habitat on the River Severn, thanks to four new fish passes that enable the migratory fish to negotiate weirs and swim up river to lay eggs. Continue reading...

Queensland’s Gladstone council is pinning its hopes on a 10-year energy transition plan, amid concerns for its future in a net zero world

Critics says India’s plans to increase coal production to 1bn tonnes a year are environmentally devastating and unnecessary

Conference in Sharm el-Sheikh follows decade-long crackdown on civil society in Egypt

Chemical exposure and lifestyle choices probably to blame for reduction resulting in ‘sharp decline in probability of conception’The rate at which human sperm counts are decreasing has more than doubled since the turn of the century, and the mean level has dropped below a threshold that makes conception significantly more difficult.These findings are part of a new peer-reviewed study published today in the Human Reproduction Update journal that includes data from 53 countries and is the first meta-analysis to check levels in Central America, South America and Asia. Continue reading...

Hundreds waited to be rescued from their rooftops while others clung to trees as torrents of water rushed through the town

An ambitious forest management plan in the country’s Carpathian mountains is bringing state foresters ever closer to the dens of brown bears, a protected speciesWe’re on the hunt for brown bear dens in Poland’s Carpathian mountains, on the border with Ukraine. The lairs lie within the gnarled caverns that naturally form at the base of decaying fir trees when they get to about 130 years old. Each den is slightly different – some have rocky bottoms, others have been lined with beech leaves, making a sort of woodland mattress. Looking inside gives an insight into the character of each bear, just like visiting a friend’s house.We pass half a dozen caverns in a 15-hectare (37-acre) area on the steep, rocky woodland slope of Lutowiska forest district, just outside Bieszczady national park. There are an estimated 110 brown bears left in Poland and this slope is dense with dens and likely to be home to one mother and one or two cubs, with many others passing through. Continue reading...

Data shows E coli and intestinal enterococci at levels unsafe for swimming at Wolvercote Mill Stream, near OxfordThe only official bathing water area on the River Thames has failed tests for bacteria associated with sewage pollution, data shows.A section of Wolvercote Mill Stream, at Port Meadow, two miles outside Oxford, was designated as an official bathing area in April after a campaign by local people. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Raw sewage releases exploit ‘monopoly’ of suppliers, argue corporate wrongdoing specialistsWater companies could be forced to pay their customers hundreds of millions in fines due to sewage pollution, a leading firm specialising in corporate wrongdoing has said.Fideres LLP, which has conducted investigations into issues ranging from Covid test prices to cryptocurrency scams, is now setting its sights on England’s water companies. Continue reading...

England’s tally of 80 confirmed incidents is second-highest figure since records beganThere were 108 confirmed incidents of illegal persecution of birds of prey across Britain in 2021, according to the RSPB’s annual bird crime report.England’s tally of 80 confirmed persecution incidents was the second-highest figure since records began in 1990, after an unprecedented surge in wildlife crime during the pandemic year of 2020. That year, a record 137 known incidents of bird of prey persecution were logged by the RSPB, with lockdowns seemingly creating an increased opportunity to kill raptors without detection. Continue reading...

The Guardian and dozens of international media titles publish a joint editorial calling for radical thinking on how to fund climate action in poorer countries

This editorial calling for action from world leaders on the climate crisis is published today by more than 30 media organisations in more than 20 countries

The case for rapid transition to renewables is stronger, but some developments are making it harderOn a breezy day in May, the Met Office issued a pithy forecast which would prove telling: “Quite windy.” In fact, on 25 May the UK set a record for wind power generation, 19.9 gigawatts – enough to cover more than half of Britain’s electricity needs, or boil 3.5m kettles. So plentiful was the wind power that National Grid was forced to ask some turbines in the west of Scotland to shut down, as the network was unable to store such a large amount of electricity.The episode represents a landmark which underlines both the progress of Britain’s renewables industry and the potholes in the road to replacing fossil fuels. Just six months earlier, global leaders met in Glasgow with renewable energy high on the agenda. Continue reading...

All four of the billionaire Atlassian co-founder’s proposed new directors secured seats on the board of Australia’s largest carbon emitter

Emergency services say they are mounting one of the biggest-ever flood responses in New South Wales’ history

Combined emissions from 15 companies surpass Russia’s and equate to more than 80% of EU’s methane footprint, study findsThe combined methane emissions of 15 of the world’s largest meat and dairy companies are higher than those of several of the world’s largest countries, including Russia, Canada and Australia, according to a new study.The analysis from the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy and Changing Markets Foundation found that emissions by the companies – five meat and 10 dairy corporations – equate to more than 80% of the European Union’s entire methane footprint and account for 11.1% of the world’s livestock-related methane emissions. Continue reading...

Previous summit’s president tells ministers no ‘backsliding’ must be allowed over climate crisis ‘red line’Alok Sharma, the former UK cabinet minister who presided over the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow last year, has warned delegates at Cop27 that the possibility of limiting global heating to no more than 1.5C may be at risk.“We’ll either leave Egypt having kept 1.5C alive, or this will be the Cop where we lose 1.5C,” Sharma said at the opening on Monday of the high-level ministerial roundtable on pre-2030 ambition. Continue reading...

As negotiations develop, some countries pushed to weaken the goal of keeping a global temperature increase to 1.5CThis liveblog is now closedWe’ve been reporting a lot on the lack of food at Cop (it’s been on our reporters’ minds for obvious reasons).But my colleague Damian Carrington has found that vegan campaigners have capitalised on the burger shortage. Continue reading...

‘Proof of life’ note says writer, who has been on hunger strike, is drinking water againThe family of the jailed British-Egyptian democracy activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah say they have received proof of life, in the form of a letter in which he says he has ended his water strike after six days but will continue his hunger strike.“I’m sure you’re really worried about me,” Abd el-Fattah wrote to his mother, in a cautiously worded letter as his communications are heavily monitored by the Egyptian authorities. Continue reading...

Scientists say the world’s largest sand island helped create clearer water conditions for reef growth

Despite Labor’s increased emissions target, Australia has only improved four places to 55th out of 63 in the annual indexAustralia continues to trail other developed countries in addressing the climate crisis, in part due to the Albanese government’s support for new fossil fuel developments, according to an analysis released at the Cop27 UN conference in Egypt.The climate change performance index, published by Germanwatch, the NewClimate Institute and the Climate Action Network with input from 450 climate and energy experts and campaigners, found Australia was still a “very low performing country”. It ranked 55th on a list of 63 countries and country groupings, up from 59th last year. Continue reading...

Secret court set up under energy charter treaty accused of conflicts of interest, self-regulation issues and institutional biasA secret court system that allows fossil fuel investors to sue governments for vast amounts of money has been accused of institutional bias, self-regulation issues and perceived conflicts of interest, as the drumbeat of EU countries leaving threatens to turn into a samba march.On Wednesday, the EU will be meeting to discuss reform of the energy charter treaty (ECT) but at the end of last week, Germany became the latest European country to announce its intention to leave the treaty. Slovenia exited earlier in the week, after similar moves by France, the Netherlands, Spain and Poland. The UK is now one of the last large economies to remain in the ECT. Continue reading...

Australia is back as a ‘constructive collaborator’ in negotations, he will tell summit, as he calls for more commitment from institutions

Leaders from Achuar and Wampis peoples say Petroperú is responsible for spills in their territoryNative leaders from the Peruvian Amazon are to travel to the US this week to lobby banks to cut financial ties with Peru’s state oil company, Petroperú.Leaders from the Achuar and Wampis peoples say the state company is responsible for oil spills in their territory that violate their human rights by polluting their water sources and irreparably damaging their fishing and hunting grounds. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed

Shadow climate change secretary says group would cooperate to cut energy prices and promote clean technologyThe UK under a Labour government would form an “anti-Opec” alliance of countries dedicated to renewable energy, to bring down energy prices and promote clean technology, the shadow climate change secretary, Ed Miliband, has said.A clean power alliance would enable countries to cooperate to source components more cheaply, boost the expansion of wind, solar and other forms of low-carbon power, and potentially to share or export electricity across connected grids. Continue reading...