13 h. ago Climate change is in the news during COP30. We've got tips to tackle your climate anxiety

Global leaders have descended upon Brazil for COP30, and with the conference often comes a lot of negative news that evokes climate anxiety and dread

Politics

34 h. ago How Scotland's forests can deliver future prosperity with higher wages, affordable homes and more

Planting more trees and using the wood to build energy-efficient homes would help tackle climate change and the biodiversity crisis, while creating jobs and wealth

Society

41 h. ago Top UN official warns inaction on climate crisis ‘will never be forgiven’ as Cop30 opens in Brazil

Simon Stiell told ministers from nearly 200 countries in Belém that governments dragging their feet on cutting fossil fuel use would be held responsible for famines, conflicts, and economic turmoil

Events

2 d. ago Rich countries have lost enthusiasm for tackling climate crisis, says Cop30 chief

Brazil’s André Corrêa do Lago says countries should follow China’s lead on clean energy as conference beginsCop30: what are the main issues?Net zero to NDCs: your Cop30 jargon busterRich countries have lost enthusiasm for combating the climate crisis while China is surging ahead in producing and using clean energy equipment, the president of the UN climate talks has said.More countries should follow China’s lead instead of complaining about being outcompeted, said André Corrêa do Lago, the Brazilian diplomat in charge of the Cop30 conference, which begins on Monday. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Swinney calls for swift and decisive action in tackling climate crisis

Gillian Martin is representing Scotland at the Cop30 summit in Brazil.

Events

3 d. ago ‘Existential and urgent’: what impact will ICJ climate ruling have on Cop30?

Decision by international court of justice hailed as a gamechanger for climate justice and accountabilityIn July 2025, the international court of justice delivered a landmark decision that clarified that all states were bound under international law to tackle the human-made climate crisis, which the judges unanimously concluded posed an “urgent and existential threat” to the planet’s life-sustaining systems and therefore humanity itself.The ICJ advisory opinion built on rulings from hundreds of climate lawsuits across the world over the past decade or more, and added further legal weight to strong decisions from the inter-American court of human rights in July 2025 and the international tribunal on the law of the sea in May 2024. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Why world will fail to tackle climate change unless politicians realise one simple fact

Politicians need to maintain the support of their electorates if they are to succeed in the fight against climate change

Politics

4 d. ago Prince William hits out at big business for ‘falling short’ in tackling climate change

William blasted major companies for ‘not doing nearly enough’ after a tour of Brazil for the Earthshot Prize awards and Cop30 summit

Politics

4 d. ago Prince Willliam hits out at big business for ‘falling short’ in tackling climate change

William blasted major companies for ‘not doing nearly enough’ after a tour of Brazil for the Earthshot Prize awards and Cop30 summit

Politics

4 d. ago I wish we could ignore Bill Gates on the climate crisis. But he’s a billionaire, so we can’t | George Monbiot

Money talks – and his essay denouncing ‘near-term emissions goals’ at Cop30 mostly argues the case for letting the ultra-rich off the hookLet’s begin with the fundamental problem: Bill Gates is a politics denier. Though he came to it late, he now accepts the realities of climate science. But he lives in flat, embarrassing denial about political realities. His latest essay on climate, published last week, treats the issue as if it existed in a political vacuum. He writes as if there were no such thing as political power, and no such thing as billionaires.His main contention is that funds are very limited, so the delegates at this month’s climate summit in Brazil should direct money away from “near-term emissions goals” towards climate “adaptation” and spending on poverty and disease.George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist Continue reading...

Society

6 d. ago Prince William tells Cop30 'courage and unwavering commitment' needed to tackle climate crisis

The Prince of Wales made a landmark speech at the global climate summit in the Amazon in Brazil

Politics

6 d. ago How could Tropical Forest Forever fund proposed at Cop30 tackle deforestation?

Scheme aims to raise $125bn to invest in bonds, with returns used to reward tropical countries for conservationAs a battle-scarred veteran of the war against nature, Garo Batmanian has spent 45 years trying to defend the Amazon rainforest. For most of that time, the resistance he leads has been outfunded and outgunned by those who profit from destruction. The most Batmanian felt he could achieve was to slow the advance of the chainsaws and tractors.But the director-general of Brazil’s forest service feels there could be a chance at the Cop30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, next week, not just of an even fight, but perhaps a victory. There is one condition: world governments must rally behind an initiative being launched by the host nation – the Tropical Forest Forever Facility (TFFF). Continue reading...

Politics

7 d. ago ‘We’re leading the way’: Starmer defends plans for green economy before Cop30

PM defies critics calling for a slowdown as he flies to Brazil, where he may have frosty reception after opting out of tropical forest fundUK opts out of flagship fund to protect Amazon and other threatened tropical forestsThe UK will lead on tackling the climate crisis, the prime minister vowed on Wednesday, despite critics calling for a slowdown, because shifting to a low-carbon economy will cut bills, boost economic growth and bring national renewal.But his words risked being overshadowed by a bitter row over funding for tropical forest preservation at the UN Cop30 climate conference. Continue reading...

Politics

8 d. ago On eve of UN climate talks in Brazil, a call for less talking and more doing

World leaders and diplomats have gathered for 30 years to tackle climate change, but progress has been slow

Politics

9 d. ago Ridicule as Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin flies 5,700 miles to COP30 in Rio de Janeiro to battle 'climate crisis'

Tracy Brabin took to X on Monday to share a snap of herself in Belem, where the UN climate conference will take place from November 6 to November 25.

Events

1 week ago Bank of England must better address climate risk to tackle inflation, WWF says

The central bank is being urged to take a series of actions to better respond to environmental risks.

Economics

1 week ago World leaders, remember that future generations will judge you. At Cop30, you can define how | Gordon Brown

Keir Starmer is taking the lead on tackling the climate crisis. With the US backing away, now is the moment when other nations must step upWith the once-familiar pillars of the old world order crumbling and the US stepping away from action on climate crisis, it falls to others to assume global environmental leadership. Those leaders who understand the urgency should seize the opportunity afforded by Brazil hosting Cop30 this month to build a coalition of committed countries determined to turn back the climate deniers.Many now see China – the most successful manufacturer of solar, wind, battery and electric vehicle technologies – as the global low-carbon powerhouse. But its national emission goals, recently submitted to the UN, are underwhelming and it is unclear whether China is willing to take up the mantle of climate leadership. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Rising heat kills one person a minute worldwide, major report reveals

Biggest analysis of its kind finds millions are dying each year because of failure to tackle climate crisisRising global heat is now killing one person a minute around the world, a major report on the health impact of the climate crisis has revealed.It says the world’s addiction to fossil fuels also causes toxic air pollution, wildfires and the spread of diseases such as dengue fever, and millions each year are dying owing to the failure to tackle global heating. Continue reading...

Events

2 w. ago Africa’s children: 20 years on, what happened to the millennium babies?

In 2005, the Guardian documented the births of 10 babies as a way to tell the story of millions across the continent. We caught up with three of them, finding hardship – and hopeTwenty years ago, the Guardian featured 10 newborn babies in countries across Africa, describing their births, their families and the environments they had been born into. We followed these babies at five-year intervals up to 2015 – the date the United Nations had set for achieving the millennium development goals – as a way to tell stories that might be those of millions of others across the continent as they worked to provide the best chance for their children.Although some progress was made, the millennium development goals were not met by 2015 and that year UN member states adopted a new approach – the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development with 17 goals for ending poverty and inequality, while also tackling the climate crisis. With five years to go, only 18% of those goals are on track to be met. Conti...

Politics

3 w. ago World’s landscapes may soon be ‘devoid of wild animals’, says nature photographer

Margot Raggett, whose latest compilation shows animals scrubbed from natural habitats, calls for rethink on UK accelerated housebuildingMargot Raggett has spent the past decade raising money for conservation efforts around the world but, right now, she feels nervous about the future. “It does feel like we’ve taken a backward step,” she said.The wildlife photographer has raised £1.2m for the cause in the past 10 years through her Remembering Wildlife series, an annual, not-for-profit picture book featuring images of animals from the world’s top nature photographers. The first edition was published in 2015, when the Paris climate agreement was being drafted but, in the years since, efforts to tackle the climate crisis have been rolled back. Continue reading...

Culture