1 week ago ‘Important steps’: what Cop30 deal means for climate unity and Global South

A joint declaration at the Cop30 summit in Brazil – struck without United States participation after Washington withdrew from the Paris climate pact – has kept fragile climate cooperation alive for the Global South even as the meeting fell short of a fossil fuel phase-out. Observers said the outcome revealed both the limits of strained multilateralism and the room that still existed for developing nations to influence the global transition, with several pointing to the UN climate change summit’s...

Politics

1 week ago China, allies drive agenda at G20 South Africa summit amid US no

The G20 summit in Johannesburg delivered major wins for African countries on debt, climate and critical minerals processing, but the progress was undercut by an unprecedented US boycott. The United States will host the event next year when it takes over the rotating Group of 20 presidency. But when the summit ended on Sunday, there was no US leader present for the ceremonial handover. With the US a no-show, China and its allies drove the consensus on a Global South agenda that has dominated G20...

Politics

2 w. ago Fire breaks out at Brazil’s Cop30 talks, forcing delay at critical phase

A fire broke out Thursday inside the UN climate summit venue in Brazil, burning through the roof and causing a panicked evacuation and the suspension of talks entering a crucial phase. The blaze engulfed pavilions in the summit site in Belem around 2pm, torching a hole through its fabric ceiling, sparking a rush for the exit as smoke filled the corridors and people cried “fire!” It was the third major incident since the Cop30 negotiations started last week in the Amazon region, after Indigenous...

Events

2 w. ago ‘We can’t have it all’: Turkey to host UN climate summit as Australia budges

Turkey will host next year’s UN climate summit while Australia will lead the conference’s negotiations among governments under a compromise deal taking shape in talks in Brazil, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday. The annual Cop conferences are the world’s main forum for driving climate action. The compromise would resolve a stand-off between Australia and Turkey over who would stage Cop31. Both bid in 2022 to host it and refused to stand down. The two sides were now...

Politics

2 w. ago Can Brazil’s Cop30 spark a climate breakthrough in the Amazon?

With a direct letter sent to nations and a draft text released on Tuesday, host country Brazil is shifting the UN climate conference into a higher gear. The letter sent late on Monday comes during the final week of the first climate summit in the Amazon rainforest, a key regulator of climate because trees absorb carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that warms the planet. Cop30 President Andre Correa do Lago later released a proposal with 21 options for negotiators to choose from on four sticky and...

Politics

2 w. ago Cop30: climate protesters rally in Brazil at UN summit’s halfway mark

Thousands of people marched through the streets of Belem on Saturday to press for action from negotiators holding tough talks at the United Nations’ Cop30 climate conference in the Amazonian city. Under a baking sun, indigenous people mixed with activists gathered in a festive atmosphere, blasting music from speakers, carrying a giant beach ball of Earth and holding a flag of Brazil emblazoned with the words “Protected Amazon”. It was the first major protest outside the annual climate talks...

Politics

3 w. ago Takeaway from Cop30: climate action needs to be up close and local

Spectating from afar during the Cop30 UN climate summit in Belem on the edge of Brazil’s Amazon forests, it is easy to despair. Despite 30 years of concerted global diplomacy and exhaustive scientific evidence of the gravity of global warming, carbon dioxide emissions continue to rise, as do global temperatures. Brazil’s rainforest continues to burn. Global oil and gas production remains robust. Governments procrastinate and funding promises still fail to materialise. Worst of all, the world’s...

Politics

3 w. ago While the US Sits Out the World’s Biggest Climate Summit, China Is Stepping Up

While the US Sits Out the World’s Biggest Climate Summit, China Is Stepping Up  atmos.earth

Politics

3 w. ago At Cop30, California Governor Newsom seizes spotlight and takes aim at Trump

With US President Donald Trump skipping the UN’s climate summit in the Amazon, California Governor Gavin Newsom grabbed the spotlight on Tuesday and unleashed a barrage of attacks on the fossil fuel agenda of his political nemesis. The well-coiffed Democrat - seen as a potential 2028 presidential candidate - blasted Trump for twice leaving the Paris climate accord and for “doubling down on stupid” through his support of Big Oil. Newsom said a future Democratic administration would rejoin the...

Politics

3 w. ago UN climate summit looks to China as latest data shows flat emissions trend

UN climate summit looks to China as latest data shows flat emissions trend  Financial Times

Politics

4 w. ago Brazil’s Lula opens Cop30 demanding courage – and cash – to save the planet

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva kicked off the Cop30 climate summit on Thursday, urging leaders to turn promises into action while highlighting his country’s work within the Brics group to reaffirm the importance of climate finance, capacity building and technology transfer in global cooperation. The meeting comes amid the notable absence by the United States. President Donald Trump, who ordered the country’s withdrawal from the Paris Agreement in January, declined an invitation...

Politics

4 w. ago Rio raids, Venezuela crisis threaten to overshadow Brazil’s UN climate summit

Fallout from lethal police raids in Rio de Janeiro and mounting regional fears about US military intervention in Venezuela are threatening to overshadow the major United Nations climate summit set to begin in Brazil. The Cop30 gathering in the northern city of Belem was supposed to provide President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva a chance to showcase the environmental challenges facing the Amazon rainforest while spurring an aggressive response to climate change. Instead, the pair of crises sparked...

Events