16 h. ago Pacific island states urge rich countries to expedite plans to cut emissions

Developed countries pressed to submit national plans well before Cop30 as time runs out to avoid 1.5C temperature riseRich countries are dragging their feet on producing new plans to combat the climate crisis, thereby putting the poor into greater danger, some of the world’s most vulnerable nations have warned.All governments are supposed to publish new plans this year on cutting greenhouse gas emissions, but so far only a small majority have done so, and some of the plans submitted have been inadequate to the scale of action needed. Continue reading...

Events

16 h. ago Giorgia Meloni faces awkward weekend at funeral of pope whose values she opposed

Italian PM and pontiff could not have been further apart on issues such as migration, climate crisis and economyIt is an awkward weekend for Giorgia Meloni. The Italian leader will host a gathering of world leaders to say goodbye to a much-revered pope whose public views – from the treatment of people fleeing war to the climate crisis – were diametrically opposed to hers.While Pope Francis was a staunch advocate for asylum seekers, and blessed the vessels that saved refugees at sea, Meloni once said Italy should “repatriate migrants back to their countries and then sink the boats that rescued them”. Continue reading...

Events

30 h. ago ‘A sweeping catastrophe’: 20 years after Hurricane Katrina, a photo exhibit honors Mississippi victims

Hurricane Katrina: Mississippi Remembers captures the grief and resilience of survivors in the Magnolia stateTwenty years ago this August, the United States Gulf coast was irrevocably changed when Hurricane Katrina, one of the deadliest and costliest storms to ever hit the country, made landfall. Making landfall as a strong category 3, the storm, which was so vast it stretched the length of the Mississippi Gulf coast all the way into Alabama, hit the Mississippi-Louisiana coastal border before continuing northward.Since then, superstorms fueled by the climate crisis have become relatively commonplace in the country, but the impact of Katrina endures to this day. Immediately following the storm, the country and world were enthralled by tragic stories out of New Orleans, where the levees failed to a catastrophic effect and the local, state and federal responses were disastrous. But Mississippi, which received the maximum impact from the storm surge, was largely left out of the nationa...

Events

40 h. ago Lifesize herd of puppet animals begins climate action journey from Africa to Arctic Circle

The Herds project from the team behind Little Amal will travel 20,000km taking its message on environmental crisis across the worldHundreds of life-size animal puppets have begun a 20,000km (12,400 mile) journey from central Africa to the Arctic Circle as part of an ambitious project created by the team behind Little Amal, the giant puppet of a Syrian girl that travelled across the world.The public art initiative called The Herds, which has already visited Kinshasa and Lagos, will travel to 20 cities over four months to raise awareness of the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Politics

59 h. ago Giant icebergs once drifted off the coast of Britain, scientists find

Discovery could provide valuable clues as to how the climate crisis might affect Antarctica, says studyGiant, flat-topped icebergs the size of the city of Cambridge drifted off the coast of Britain during the last ice age, according to a study that has uncovered evidence of their existence for the first time.A series of distinctive, comb-like grooves found preserved in sediment near Aberdeen in Scotland were left behind by the underside of huge “tabular” icebergs that dragged across the North Sea floor between 18,000 and 20,000 years ago, the researchers said. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Xi contrasts China’s clean energy promises with Trump turmoil

Virtual meeting of leaders also hears UN’s António Guterres proclaim ‘no group or government’ can stop green revolutionChina will continue to push forward on the climate crisis, Xi Jinping has said while appearing to criticise the “protectionism” of Donald Trump’s tariff policies.The Chinese president was attending a closed-door virtual meeting with the UN secretary general, António Guterres, Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and about a dozen other heads of state and government to discuss the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago UN chief: no group or government can stop clean energy future

Remarks by António Guterres follow virtual meeting with world leaders including China’s Xi JinpingNo government or fossil fuel interest can hold the world back from pursuing a clean energy future, the the UN secretary general has said, after a key meeting with the president of China.António Guterres held a closed-door virtual meeting with Xi Jinping of China on Wednesday, along with Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva; the EU commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, and about a dozen other heads of state and government, to discuss the climate crisis. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago A surprising number of Americans want climate action. But why aren’t there more?

Support for climate action is growing in the US, but partisan divides and fossil fuel interests hold swayOver the last 12 months, the United States has endured a rash of disasters worsened by the climate crisis: devastating wildfires in southern California, a catastrophic hurricane in western North Carolina, and deadly heatwaves across the country.Americans increasingly believe global heating is a serious threat that will affect them personally – and 74% want to see more climate action. Yet while that sounds high, it is still lower than most other countries around the world. What explains this disparity? Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago ‘An outlier’: why does the US rank low on demands for climate action?

Support for climate action is growing in the US, but partisan divides and fossil fuel interests hold swayOver the last 12 months, the United States has endured a rash of disasters worsened by the climate crisis: devastating wildfires in southern California, a catastrophic hurricane in western North Carolina, and deadly heatwaves across the country.Americans increasingly believe global heating is a serious threat that will affect them personally – and 74% want to see more climate action. Yet while that sounds high, it is still lower than most other countries around the world. What explains this disparity? Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago Nearly half of Americans breathing in unsafe levels of air pollutants – report

American Lung Association’s study says almost 156 million people live in areas with unhealthy levels of soot or smogAlmost half of Americans are breathing in dangerous levels of air pollutants, a new report shows, a rise compared with a year ago and likely to further increase in coming years thanks to the climate crisis and the Trump administration’s sweeping environmental rollbacks.Just over 156 million people live in neighborhoods with unhealthy levels of soot or smog – a 16% rise compared with last year and the highest number in a decade, according to the American Lung Association (ALA) annual state of the air report. Continue reading...

Politics

3 d. ago A silent majority of the world’s people wants stronger climate action. It’s time to wake up | Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope

About 89% of the public want their governments to do more to tackle the climate crisis – but don’t know they’re the majorityThe Guardian is joining forces with dozens of newsrooms around the world to launch the 89% Project – and highlight the fact that the vast majority of the world’s population wants climate action. Read moreA superpower in the fight against global heating is hiding in plain sight. It turns out that the overwhelming majority of people in the world – between 80% and 89%, according to a growing number of peer-reviewed scientific studies – want their governments to take stronger climate action.As co-founders of a non-profit that studies news coverage of climate change, those findings surprised even us. And they are a sharp rebuttal to the Trump administration’s efforts to attack anyone who does care about the climate crisis.Mark Hertsgaard and Kyle Pope are the co-founders of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago NatWest changes its policy over investing in oil and gas companies

Changing its language around what it can invest in raises serious questions over the bank’s formerly-pioneering green policy, campaigners say

Events

4 d. ago Tariffs will raise prices. But the climate crisis is the real inflation risk | Mark Blyth and Nicolò Fraccaroli

As temperatures rise and countries back off their decarbonization efforts, we must confront a reality central banks can’t correctInflation is, at base, a tax on consumption – and it hits the poor the hardest, since they consume more of their incomes and the rich consume less.That’s one reason for concern over Donald Trump’s tariffs, which will disproportionately affect the poor. When the 90-day pause on the tariffs expires, it is reasonable to expect prices to rise, and by a lot.Mark Blyth is a political economist and professor at Brown University. Nicolò Fraccaroli is a visiting scholar at Brown University Continue reading...

Economics

4 d. ago How the climate crisis will push up prices for your Easter chocolate

Data shared with The Independent shows an increasing risk to cocoa crops from extreme heat

Events

4 d. ago Berlin’s ancient ‘Dicke Marie’ oak feels effects of prolonged dry spell

The tree, believed to be city’s oldest, had already been damaged by the region’s increasingly arid climateAn ancient English oak believed to be Berlin’s oldest tree is suffering the effects of a prolonged dry spell in the German capital, local authorities have said, compounding already significant damage to its once lush canopy and branches.“Dicke Marie” (Fat Marie), as Berliners affectionately call the tree located in the northern Tegel Forest, has been deprived of essential moisture in recent years as a result of extended periods of sparse rainfall blamed on the climate crisis, according to natural resource officials. Continue reading...

Politics

4 d. ago Pope Francis hailed as ‘unflinching global champion’ on climate crisis

Officials and campaigners from around world pay tribute to pontiff who put environment at heart of his papacyPope Francis, groundbreaking Jesuit pontiff, dies aged 88He declared destroying the environment a sin, warned that humanity was turning the glorious creation of God into a “polluted wasteland full of debris, desolation and filth”, and located the cause of the climate crisis in people’s “selfish and boundless thirst for power”.The messages Pope Francis delivered on the climate and environmental crises were forceful and direct. He called the leaders of fossil fuel companies into the Vatican to hold them to account; declared a global climate emergency, in 2019; and in his final months, held a conference on “the economics of the common good”. Continue reading...

Events

4 d. ago Activate climate’s ‘silent majority’ to supercharge action, experts say

Making concerned people aware their views are far from alone could unlock the change so urgently needed‘Spiral of silence’: climate action is very popular, so why don’t people realise it?The Guardian is joining forces with dozens of newsrooms around the world to launch the 89 Percent Project—and highlight the fact that the vast majority of the world’s population wants climate action. Read moreA huge 89% majority of the world’s people want stronger action to fight the climate crisis but feel they are trapped in a self-fulfilling “spiral of silence” because they mistakenly believe they are in a minority, research suggests.Making people aware that their pro-climate view is, in fact, by far the majority could unlock a social tipping point and push leaders into the climate action so urgently needed, experts say. Continue reading...

Politics

5 d. ago The Trump administration is sabotaging your scientific data | Jonathan Gilmour

Burying our heads in the sand won’t stop the climate crisis or pandemics. We’re taking action to preserve government toolsUnited States science has propelled the country into its current position as a powerhouse of biomedical advancements, technological innovation and scientific research. The data US government agencies produce is a crown jewel – it helps us track how the climate is changing, visualize air pollution in our communities, identify challenges to our health and provide a panoply of other essential uses. Climate change, pandemics and novel risks are coming for all of us – whether we bury our heads in the sand or not – and government data is critical to our understanding of the risks these challenges bring and how to address them.Many of thesedata remains out of sight to those who don’t use them, even though they benefit us all. Over the past few months, the Trump administration has brazenly attacked our scientific establishment through agency firings censorship and fundin...

Politics

5 d. ago Pope Francis: The first Latin American and Jesuit to lead the Roman Catholic Church

Former Archbishop of Buenos Aires sought to bring ‘common touch’ and modernising influence to Vatican, speaking passionately on the need to address modern concerns like the climate crisis as a moral imperative

Politics

6 d. ago ‘Cañahua chose me’: can an ancient relative of quinoa revive rural Bolivia’s economy?

The effects of the climate crisis and a lack of jobs are driving young people away from the Andean highlands but a long-shunned crop could stem the tideFew young people remain in Bolivia’s highland plateau, the Altiplano. The rising frequency and severity of extreme weather events, such as drought and frost, have reduced their economic prospects and migration has accelerated as the environment becomes more unpredictable.“The climate isn’t like it used to be,” says Nico Mamani Lima, a farmer and agronomist from Ayo Ayo. Continue reading...

Politics