Environment | The Guardian

Narendra Modi’s Cop26 promise has proved divisive but many observers say only western help can ensure its success

As yet unnamed company claims it could enable ‘clean’ flights running on liquid ammonia by 2030A British company being launched at the Cop26 summit on Friday will unveil technology it claims could enable zero-carbon emission flights running on liquid ammonia by 2030.It aims to build lightweight reactors to “crack” the chemical to produce hydrogen to burn as fuel, a design it says could allow existing planes to be modified to store liquid ammonia rather than paraffin. Continue reading...

At the UN climate summit in Glasgow, global environment editor Jonathan Watts examines the emissions-cutting pledges from world leaders as time runs out to prevent catastrophic global heatingBoris Johnson began the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow by telling fellow world leaders the world was at “one minute to midnight” on the Doomsday Clock and must act now to avert a climate disaster.The Guardian’s global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, has been in Glasgow all week to follow the events as they unfolded. He tells Nosheen Iqbal there have been significant announcements on deforestation, methane reduction and climate finance, but the final week of the conference must have more commitments on reducing global emissions if the target of limiting global heating to 1.5C is to be kept alive. Continue reading...

Australia accused of going backward as Cop26 pledge backed by five of world’s biggest coal power users

‘Gas is the new coal’, says Climate Analytics report that finds it the fastest growing source of carbon dioxide emissionsThe escalating rollout of gas for heating, electricity and cooking is turning it into the “new coal” and its use worldwide must be slashed by nearly a third this decade to avoid disastrous climate effects, according to a new report.Gas has often been referred to as a “bridge fuel” as it emits around half the carbon dioxide of coal, and many countries have embraced it while also promising to transition to renewable energy in order to cut planet-heating emissions. Continue reading...

Fatih Birol says ‘big step forward’ is possible only if all commitments are implemented in fullThe climate pledges agreed so far at the Cop26 conference could keep the world’s rising temperatures to within 1.8C of pre-industrialised levels, according to the International Energy Agency – but only if the commitments are implemented in full.Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, told delegates at the conference that despite the pessimism ahead of the Cop26 talks, a “big step forward” was possible if all the pledges set out to date were “fully achieved”. Continue reading...

We’ll be following events in Glasgow and around the UK today

Problem is causing £8bn a year in health damage but can be tackled cost-effectively, say scientistsSixty per cent of the tiny particles polluting the air in the UK are from ammonia leaking from farms, according to research.The ammonia is released from livestock manure and urine and the overuse of synthetic nitrogen fertilisers. The gas drifts into cities and reacts with other air pollutants to form tiny particulate matter, called PM2.5, which is the deadliest form of air pollution. Continue reading...

Exclusive: The Institute of Public Affairs paid for ads that experts say are based on ‘faulty analysis’ on job losses

New research comes months after Australian government lobbied to keep coral reef off world heritage ‘in danger’ list

How much time do we have and what needs to be done to avoid catastrophic consequences of global heating?

$11tn fossil fuel asset crash could cause 2008-style financial crisis, warns new study

Pictures from day four of the UN climate change summit in Glasgow, as the focus turns to accelerating the global transition to clean energy Continue reading...

The financial sector is helping to drive the climate crisis. Radical government action is needed to overhaul the systemDespite the stark warnings of climate breakdown from the IPCC and the UN, it’s business as usual for fossil fuel capitalism. An astonishing 56% of the G20 nations’ Covid-19 recovery funds for energy have gone to fossil fuel companies.In April, the Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero (GFANZ) chaired by Mark Carney was launched to bring together leading financial corporations to redirect finance towards achieving net zero by 2050. Yet many of its signatories remain among the world’s top backers of fossil fuels. Some have even issued new financing to companies expanding fossil fuel infrastructure since signing up with the GFANZ.Mariana Mazzucato is professor in the economics of innovation and public value at University College London, and the founding director of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP). Her latest book is Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism; Matthew Thompson is Research Fellow in Rethinking Public Value at IIPP.

Actors, politicians and firms lend support to 21x Club’s call to pull investments out of industries that harm planetThe actors Stephen Fry and Kelly Macdonald and the former Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson have joined a coalition of campaigners calling on the public to harness the untapped power of their pensions to tackle the climate crisis.They are among the celebrities, activists and businesses joining the 21x Club, launched at the Cop26 summit in Glasgow by the Make My Money Matter campaign, set up by Richard Curtis, the screenwriter, director and Comic Relief co-founder. Continue reading...

Cop26 is told that millions of lives at risk without focus on preparing for problems that are already inevitable

If an ageing pipeline under the Great Lakes spills, it would be devastating. But Canada is trying to block Michigan from shutting it downCanada would be apoplectic if the US government marched into a Canadian court and argued that the province of Ontario has zero authority over an American company operating an aging, corroded pipeline under Canada’s pristine Georgian Bay. Yet this is the exact approach Canada is taking in US courts by arguing that the state of Michigan has zero authority to order the shutdown of an aging and dangerous pipeline operated by a Canadian company under the Straits of Mackinac – where any spill would have catastrophic ramifications for the Great Lakes.Canada’s strained position is premised on ignoring the plain text of the 1977 US Canada Pipeline Treaty: “Pipeline[s] shall be subject to regulations by the appropriate governmental authorities … with respect to such matters as the following: (a) pipeline safety … ; (b) environmental protection.”Lana Pollack was appointed by President Obama to chair the US Section of the International Joint Commission. The IJC was established by the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909 to assist the US and Canadian governments in managing and protecting waters shared by the two countries. The views expressed are Pollack’s, not those of the IJC Continue reading...

Oil companies and the banks that finance them are making empty promises – and getting credit for them tooJPMorgan Chase won glowing headlines last year when the global investment bank unveiled a commitment to counter the climate crisis.The press amplified JPMorgan’s message – sometimes in JPMorgan’s own words. Fortune published a commentary article trumpeting the bank’s plans to “tackle climate change”. Six paragraphs into the piece, the writers noted they worked for the investment firm. (They were actually its top executives.) Continue reading...

Prof David Reay is in for the long haul, attempting to transform his Scottish farm to remove a lifetime’s environmental impactFrogs hopping around his sheep field were a sure sign to Prof David Reay that the land wanted to be boggy. It had been grazed for centuries and keeping a particular area dry had been a constant battle. “The frogs were still coming back, as if to say, ‘where’s my pond?’ So what I want to do as part of this is give them back some of their pond,” says Reay, who is creating what he hopes to be a pioneering carbon farm on the Mull of Kintyre, a remote peninsula on the west coast of Scotland.Reay, a professor of carbon management, bought his farm three years ago. It lies in the village of Glenbarr, on the west side of the peninsula, which is best known for inspiring the Paul McCartney song of the same name. Reay’s dream was to buy some land that could enable him to remove his and his wife’s lifetime’s carbon footprint from the atmosphere. Continue reading...

Utopia is within our reach if we address the colonial, racist and oppressive roots of our current planetary crisisYoung people know that our generation already disproportionately feels the effects of the climate crisis. Almost all of the intense heatwaves that have hit Europe since 1950 occurred during my lifetime. It’s likely they will only get worse.Unfortunately, Poland, where I live, has clung to an energy model driven by burning fossil fuels for too long. This irreversible destruction violates our right to life, health, property and values ​​of the natural world. That is why at 17 years old, I decided to take the Polish government to court in June 2021 over its failure to act on the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Annual cuts of 2.5% would keep aviation’s contribution to global warming at about 0.04C, research suggestsA modest diet in our flying habits would be enough to level off the global heating caused by the aviation industry. That’s the surprising conclusion from a study, which also warns that if the aviation industry continues to grow at current rates then it will be responsible for around nearly 0.1C of heating by 2050.Taking a flight adds to global heating in two ways. The first is from the direct effect of burning jet fuel and producing carbon dioxide, which remains in the atmosphere. The second is from indirect effects caused by tailpipe emissions in the upper atmosphere, resulting in cirrus clouds that trap additional heat and complex chemical reactions that alter the balance of greenhouse gases such as ozone and methane. Continue reading...

Farmers for Climate Action chief tells Rural Network Facebook Live event Australia’s stance is about protecting the gas industry

Researchers take sticky beak at bin chicken DNA to see if city-dwellers could revive country populations

Fossil fuels are surging in post-pandemic recovery as scientists warn 1.5C emission limits will be reached in 11 yearsGlobal 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...

Report into lobbying tactics names ExxonMobil and Chevron as worst, while carmaker Toyota takes thirdExxonMobil and Chevron are the world’s most obstructive organisations when it comes to governments setting climate policies, according to research into the “prolific and highly sophisticated” lobbying ploys used by the fossil fuel industry.The biggest US oil companies, as well as American Petroleum Institute, a lobby group, were found to be the worst offenders in a global report by lobbying experts at the thinktank InfluenceMap. It concluded that companies were manipulating governments to take “incredibly dangerous paths” in their approach to climate action. Continue reading...

Critics say pledge to end use of dirtiest fuel source in 2030s and 40s does not go far enoughMore than 40 countries have agreed to phase out their use of coal-fired power, the dirtiest fuel source, in a boost to UK hopes of a deal to “keep 1.5C alive”, from the Cop26 climate summit.Major coal-using countries, including Canada, Poland, Ukraine and Vietnam, will phase out their use of coal for electricity generation, with the bigger economies doing so in the 2030s, and smaller economies doing so in the 2040s.More than 20 governments and financial institutions, including the UK, US and Denmark, agreed to phase out overseas finance for all fossil fuels.Research showed that the world could be on track to limit global heating to 1.9C, if commitments from India and other countries on greenhouse gas emissions are fulfilled.Data seen by the Guardian revealed fossil fuel companies were using the energy charter treaty to sue governments for the losses they incur from national commitments to decarbonise.Ireland was told it would need to cull 1.3m animals to meet climate targets.The UK chancellor, Rishi Sunak, told the Cop26 conference London would become a global hub for net zero investment. Continue reading...

Remote Indigenous housing models are not fit for purpose, and it will be ‘quite difficult’ to remain in communities if nothing changes

Labour accuses PM of ‘staggering hypocrisy’ over flight from Glasgow to go to Daily Telegraph reunion at private clubBoris Johnson has been accused of “staggering hypocrisy” after it emerged that he flew back to London from the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow by private jet to go to a dinner at a men-only private members’ club.The prime minister is reported to have attended the exclusive private members’ club The Garrick in the West End for a reunion of Daily Telegraph journalists. He flew 400 miles on Tuesday night from Glasgow to London, according to the Daily Mirror. Continue reading...

Summary of the main developments on the third day of the UN climate summit in Glasgow

Catch up on all the events in Glasgow on Wednesday, where the focus was on financeYellen says a price tag can be put on the action needed, and that it’s estimated at $100-150tn. She says a lot will depend on how public finance is used to direct adaptation and mitigation domestically.She says the US is stepping up by quadrupling the level of international climate finance to more than $11bn a year by 2024. Continue reading...

Council property has been restored to habitability by locals after reports of activists having to sleep roughActivists in Glasgow have “re-opened” a disused building to house climate justice campaigners visiting the city for the Cop26 summit, as those forced to camp because of lack of affordable accommodation face plummeting temperatures.The Glasgow city council property in Tradeston, a former homeless services unit, has been restored to habitability over the past few days by a group of local activists frustrated at reports of visitors forced to sleep rough. Continue reading...

Bloom of the plant, which emits a putrid odor of rotting flesh, began Sunday and quickly drew visitors to botanical gardenThe bloom of a giant and stinky Sumatran flower nicknamed the “corpse plant” because it smells like a dead body is drawing huge crowds to a southern California botanical garden.The bloom of the Amorphophallus titanum plant began Sunday afternoon at the San Diego Botanic Gardens in Encinitas. By Monday morning, timed-entry tickets had sold out, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported, and more than 5,000 people were expected to have visited the garden by Tuesday evening. Continue reading...

Vital rulings on the world’s energy future are being made behind closed doors and others may be unknown

Treaty allows energy corporations to sue governments for billions over policies that could hurt their profits

Biologists heartened as 79 nests of endangered reptile recorded in Broward county this year after low of 12 in 2017.The number of leatherback turtle nests found along some south Florida beaches reached record numbers this year, surprising biologists.The 79 nests laid by endangered turtles along beaches in Broward county this year is nearly double the previous record, according to the South Florida SunSentinel. The previous record was 46 in 2012, and the record low for leatherback nests was 12 in 2017. Continue reading...

Renewable energy received $3.3bn in the same period between 2010 and 2020 but researchers say that gap has narrowed

UK among countries at Cop26 vowing to divert funds to low-carbon energy from 2022

Lower-than-normal wind speeds and supply chain problems pile pressure on Ørsted and VestasTwo of the world’s biggest wind energy companies have warned of difficult conditions as slower-than-usual winds and supply chain difficulties delay manufacturing.Ørsted, a Danish company, said lower-than-normal wind speeds throughout the third quarter had affected its earnings. Across the first nine months of 2021 slow winds cost the company 2.5bn Danish kroner (£290m) compared with the previous year. Ørsted makes about two-thirds of its revenues from offshore wind including off the UK’s coasts. Continue reading...

Summit president’s comments on finance day accused of trying to commercialise climate activismAlok Sharma, the UK cabinet minister and president of the Cop26 summit, has been accused of appropriating the climate activism movement after he told conference delegates “you are the new Swampys”.Opening the summit’s finance day, which aims to channel cash towards transitioning global economies to net zero carbon emissions, Sharma recalled climate protests of the 1990s. Continue reading...

University of Melbourne research suggests India’s plans could make sizeable difference to projections

Indian foreign secretary says price and popularity of renewables behind Modi’s 2070 net zero targetThe staggering take-up of solar power in India has enabled the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to announce a more ambitious climate plan at the Cop26 conference in Glasgow, according to the country’s foreign secretary.India’s commitment to get half of its energy from renewables and to reach net zero by 2070 was arguably the most positive news from the opening phase of the UN gathering. Continue reading...

Experts says global heating a significant factor in more regular disappearance of Scotland’s ‘Sphinx’ patchThe UK’s longest-lasting snow patch, which has survived countless summers on a remote mountainside in the Cairngorms, has melted away for only the eighth time in 300 years as the Cop26 climate talks take place in Glasgow.Nicknamed “the Sphinx”, the hardy patch of snow is found on Braeriach, Scotland’s third-highest mountain at 1,296 metres (4,252ft), near Aviemore. It had shrunk to the size of an A4 piece of paper in recent weeks before finally disappearing in mild weather. Continue reading...

With more than a third of the country’s greenhouse gases coming from farming, Dublin faces huge pressure over reduction aimsUp to 1.3 million cattle would have to be culled in Ireland to reach anticipated government targets for reducing greenhouse gases in the agriculture sector, a new report has concluded.

Long-imperiled birds offer scientific breakthrough after genetic testing highlights rare phenomenonThe California condor is the largest flying bird in North America, with a 10ft wingspan that enables it to soar up to 15,000ft – nearly half the height of a commercial airplane. Now the birds can claim another superlative feat: scientists have discovered that females can reproduce without a male partner, in a rare phenomenon known as parthenogenesis.Oliver Ryder, the director of conservation genetics for the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, has called the recent findings a “eureka moment”. Continue reading...

A governance facility in Papua New Guinea is among projects Australia claims as ‘significantly focused’ on climate adaptationAustralia has been accused of “greenwashing” its aid to the Pacific, with the government claiming that major projects are significantly focused on climate adaptation when they have little or no link to climate change or the environment.The accusations, in a new report by Greenpeace Australia Pacific, come after Scott Morrison announced an additional $500m for international climate finance for projects in the Indo-Pacific on the first day of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow. Continue reading...

Can the Middle East wean itself off oil? Plus: the return of Abba

This greenwashing tactic has failed – to pursue it now would be to blow a huge hole in the Paris agreement

Living Language Land includes Namibian bushman’s word for ‘magical journey’ and one from Philippines to denote ‘a forest within a forest’Western leaders at the Cop26 climate summit have been urged to embrace a far more holistic view of humanity’s place in the natural world by an art project celebrating indigenous minority languages.The Living Language Land project has identified 25 words from minority languages and dialects around the world – including Native American Lakota, Murui, a native language of Colombian and Peru, and Scots Gaelic – that highlight each culture’s ties to their land. Continue reading...

Everyone knows that the people inside that building are not going to be the ones who solve the climate crisis

The handwaving and complexity obscure a simple truth: nation states must stop funding dirty industriesIn some respects, preventing climate breakdown is highly complicated. But in another, it’s really simple: we need to leave fossil fuels in the ground. All the bluster and grandstanding, the extravagant promises and detailed mechanisms discussed in Glasgow this week amount to nothing if this simple and obvious thing doesn’t happen.A recent study in the scientific journal Nature suggests that to stand a 50% chance of avoiding more than 1.5C of global heating, we need to retire 89% of proven coal reserves, 58% of oil reserves and 59% of fossil methane (“natural gas”) reserves. If we want better odds than 50-50, we’ll need to leave almost all of them untouched.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnistCop26 and a greener future, with George Monbiot. Join a Guardian Live online event on climate justice on Thursday 4 November at 8pm. Tickets at gu.com/guardianlive Continue reading...