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The post The damage of four lost years – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

Making polluters pay for losses suffered by communities on the frontline of climate impacts is a priority for youth activists, as they prepare to engage with UN negotiations

The post Youth activists demand damages for climate victims at virtual ‘mock Cop26’ appeared first on Climate Home News.

Air travel is heating the climate at approximately three times the rate of the sector's carbon dioxide emissions alone, report finds, with major policy implications

The post EU urged to address aviation’s full climate impact, including non-CO2 emissions appeared first on Climate Home News.

The International Maritime Organization set minimal curbs on shipping's 1Gt carbon footprint this decade. Here's how the EU, US and China could decarbonise the sector

The post As UN action on ship emissions falls short, attention turns to regions appeared first on Climate Home News.

As developing countries prepare to negotiate a scaling up of climate finance at next year's Cop26, the UK host faces criticism for reneging on its aid commitment

The post UK aid budget cuts undermine trust ahead of Cop26 summit, experts warn appeared first on Climate Home News.

Veteran diplomat John Kerry said the next US administration would treat the climate crisis as "the urgent national security threat it is"

The post Joe Biden picks John Kerry as the US’ presidential envoy on climate change appeared first on Climate Home News.

EU leaders endorsed Riyadh's contentious "circular carbon economy" vision at the G20 summit, in exchange for a renewed commitment to phasing out fossil fuel subsidies

The post Saudis and Europeans reach compromise on climate as G20 projects unity appeared first on Climate Home News.

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The post Johnson bids for climate glory – Climate Weekly appeared first on Climate Home News.

Campaigners describe ban as "meaningless", as concessions to Russia allow most ships to continue using heavy fuel oil in the sensitive polar region until 2029

The post UN shipping body approves Arctic heavy fuel oil ‘ban’, delayed for a decade appeared first on Climate Home News.

Justin Trudeau presented a bill to the Canadian parliament to set five-yearly carbon targets from 2030 to 2050, but was criticised for a lack of immediate action

The post Canada sets out to enshrine 2050 net zero emissions goal in law appeared first on Climate Home News.

Shut off from microfinance and benefits, members of the Hindu minority in coastal Bangladesh have struggled to rebuild their lives after Cyclone Amphan

The post In Bangladesh, the marginalised Munda face extra barriers to climate adaptation appeared first on Climate Home News.

To align near-term policy with its 2060 carbon neutrality goal, China needs to stop building new coal-fired power plants after 2020, researchers say

The post China is set to meet UN climate deadline, experts say, but coal pathway is uncertain appeared first on Climate Home News.

The UK prime minister's plan for a "green industrial revolution" sends a strong political signal, but more is needed for a credible decarbonisation strategy ahead of Cop26

The post Boris Johnson has further to go on climate to show true leadership appeared first on Climate Home News.

Experts are calling for relief and resilience funding for Nicaragua and Honduras, as warming seas fuel extraordinarily intense storms

The post Hurricanes Iota, Eta devastate parts of Central America in record-breaking season appeared first on Climate Home News.

Brazilian campaigners are fighting in the Supreme Court to reinstate anti-deforestation policies and resources slashed by the Bolsonaro administration

The post Bolsonaro’s attack on the Amazon breaches Brazil’s constitution, climate lawyers argue appeared first on Climate Home News.

The UK premier majored on hydrogen, nuclear and carbon capture in a package aiming to set the bar for hosting Cop26 climate talks next year

The post Boris Johnson sets out 10-point plan to get UK on track for net zero appeared first on Climate Home News.

A package of fuel efficiency measures agreed at the International Maritime Organization is expected to shave just 1% off shipping emissions this decade

The post Anger as UN body approves deal that allows ship emissions to rise to 2030 appeared first on Climate Home News.

Turning out black and Latino voters, who are hardest hit by climate change and pollution, is seen as key to Democrat chances of winning US Senate control in January

The post Climate campaigners target critical US Senate runoffs in Georgia appeared first on Climate Home News.

Russia has no plans to end its contribution to climate change before the end of the century and is aggressively expanding Arctic gas production for the Asian market

The post Russia resists tougher climate targets in dash for Arctic gas appeared first on Climate Home News.

SSE, Scottish Power and National Grid have been named as sponsors of next year's UN climate summit in Glasgow, with SSE defending a "transition" investment in gas power

The post First named Cop26 sponsors are big investors in offshore wind – and a gas plant appeared first on Climate Home News.

As nations went into lockdown to contain the spread of Covid-19, factories halted and cars sat idle, clearing the skies above polluted cities and sending climate-changing emissions to historic lows. But the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere ― the accumulation of past and current emissions ― remained virtually unchanged, according to the World Meteorological Organization’s annual estimate.

Read more on E360 →

Even as winter darkness descends across the Arctic, a year of record-breaking heat continues. Temperatures last weekend across the entire Arctic basin hit 12 degrees Fahrenheit above normal, scientists announced, with some areas measuring as high as 30 degrees F or more above the norm.

Read more on E360 →

Close ties between the ruling elite and the coal industry have helped perpetuate South Africa’s dependence on the dirtiest fossil fuel for electricity. But now residents of the nation’s most coal-intensive region are suing to force the government to clean up choking air pollution.

Read more on E360 →

Humans are driving large shifts in fire activity around the world, from increasing the size and severity of wildfires to burning ecosystems where blazes were historically rare or absent. Now, scientists have found that these changes in fire activity are threatening more than 4,400 species, from birds to mammals to crops.

Read more on E360 →

Scientists have created the first global distribution map for bees, analyzing nearly 6 million public records of where individual species have appeared around the world. The project, published in the journal Cell Biology, found that bee diversity is higher in the Northern Hemisphere than in the Southern, and that bees prefer temperate regions over the tropics.

Read more on E360 →

A slate of new mega-projects in development around the world — including roads, waterways, railways, and dams — will open up vast tracts of land to natural resource extraction and deforestation, derailing government and private sector pledges to curb forest loss, according to a new report.

Read more on E360 →

Rising seas and stronger storms are increasing the risks of living along the world’s coasts. As governments look to move millions of people out of harm’s way, geographer Jola Ajibade says they must ensure that managed retreat is done in a just and equitable way.

Read more on E360 →

Rising ocean temperatures are driving hurricanes to carry more moisture, allowing them to stay stronger for longer once they’ve made landfall and reach communities farther inland, according to new research published in the journal Nature. Today’s hurricanes, the study found, weaken almost twice as slowly once over land as they did 50 years ago.

Read more on E360 →

As numbers of North Atlantic right whales keep declining because of entanglements with fishing gear and fatal ship strikes, conservationists are using acoustic technology and waging an escalating legal battle to push for more aggressive action to protect the world’s rarest cetacean.

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Global renewable electricity installation will hit a record level in 2020, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA), in sharp contrast with the declines caused by the coronavirus pandemic in the fossil fuel sectors.

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A team of Dutch students has created an electric vehicle made entirely out of waste, from plastics recycled from the ocean to household trash. The two-seater car has a top speed of 56 miles per hour and can travel as far 137 miles on a single charge, Reuters reported.

Read more on E360 →

A broad coalition brought Joe Biden to victory. If activists want real progress on climate in a Biden administration, environmentalist Bill McKibben writes, they need to learn how to press their case aggressively without alienating those they must work with to get things done.

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West Africa’s top court has ruled that Guinea is responsible for the deaths of six people and the unlawful arrest, injury, or torture of 15 others in the village of Zogota during a 2012 conflict over abusive mining practices. The Economic Community of West African States’ Court of Justice, found that Guinean authorities violated protesters’ human rights and ordered the state to pay the villagers $463,000 in damages, as well as legal fees.

Read more on E360 →

American voters approved ballot measures worth nearly $3.7 billion this election in support of parks, climate resilience, and land conservation, according to an analysis by the nonprofit Trust for Public Land. Many of the successful measures focused on improving equitable access to parks, as well as countering the disproportionate impact of climate change on low-income communities and communities of color.

Read more on E360 →

Green hydrogen, which uses renewable energy to produce hydrogen from water, is taking off around the globe. Its boosters say the fuel could play an important role in decarbonizing hard-to-electrify sectors of the economy, such as long-haul trucking, aviation, and heavy manufacturing.

Read more on E360 →

New research indicates that snow cover across the U.S. Northeast is declining as a result of climate change, and that by 2100 as much as 59 percent of the region will not accumulate any snow. The study also found that the transition period from winter to spring — known as the vernal window, or more commonly, mud season — is likely to occur earlier and last longer, with major impacts on rivers and forested ecosystems.

Read more on E360 →

The United States generates more plastic waste than any other country in the world — producing 42 million metric tons, or 286 pounds per person, in 2016 alone, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances. The research also found that the U.S. is the third-largest contributor of plastic pollution in coastal environments.

Read more on E360 →

From African shantytowns to the backstreets of China’s cities, small-scale businesses that recycle the lead from auto batteries are proliferating. Experts say the pollution from these unregulated operations is a lethal threat – with children being the most vulnerable to poisoning.

Read more on E360 →

Scientists have completed a “dramatic” decades-long restoration of an ancient oak woodland in Illinois — a rare success story that researchers say holds key lessons for ecological restoration at a time when forests are increasingly seen as a critical tool for fighting climate change, according to a new study published in the journal PLOS ONE.

Read more on E360 →

Global carbon emissions from energy use dropped 8 percent in 2020 due to coronavirus-related economic shutdowns — a decline equal to two-and-a-half years of energy sector emissions, according to a new report from the energy research group BloombergNEF (BNEF). The drop means that global greenhouse gas emissions likely peaked in 2019, the report found, and will not rise to that level again even as the global economy rebounds from the pandemic.

Read more on E360 →

Report suggests tree growth will not store nearly as much carbon as scientists hoped

Global heating appears to be making trees drop their leaves earlier, according to new research, confounding the idea that warmer temperatures delay the onset of autumn.

The finding is important because trees draw huge amounts of carbon dioxide from the air and therefore play a key role in managing the climate.

My mother, Frances Alexander, who has died aged 84, was a Liberal Democrat councillor and mayor of High Wycombe. She also founded the friendship and travel organisation Women Welcome Women Worldwide and the Wycombe Environment Centre. The story of her life was making things happen.

Having nursed her father on his deathbed, who had suffered all his life from the consequences of being gassed in the first world war, Frances believed passionately in a peaceful, united Europe. In 1984 she started Women Welcome Women as a European project to promote continental friendship. Soon women from around the world were joining, and there are now thousands of members holding gatherings around the world, gaining in confidence through travel and feeling part of a global family.

Virtual summit an awkward swan song for Trump who skipped some sessions to play golf

G20 leaders meeting remotely pledged on Sunday to “spare no effort” to ensure the fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines worldwide, but offered no specific new funding to meet that goal.

The virtual summit hosted by Saudi Arabia was an awkward swan song for Donald Trump, who skipped some sessions on Saturday to play golf, paid little attention to other leaders’ speeches and claimed the Paris climate agreement was designed not to save the planet but to the kill the US economy.

The New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was among members of the 'Squad', a group of progressive Democrats, who spoke at a Sunrise Movement rally in Washington to push Joe Biden on tackling the climate emergency.

AOC said they would urge Biden to 'keep his promises' to working families, women, minorities and climate activists as he fills his cabinet.

In July, Biden outlined an ambitious climate plan that would spend $2tn over four years investing in clean-energy infrastructure while vowing to cut carbon emissions from electrical power to zero in 15 years

• Climate activists ramp up pressure on Biden with protest outside Democratic headquarters
• Why Biden calls Trump a 'climate arsonist' – video explainer

Bags are still on sale despite a phasing out in England for amateur users

Growing plants, both in houses and gardens, has been hugely popular this year, helping to raise spirits during the coronavirus lockdowns. But gardeners and the horticulture industry often use peat compost from peatlands.

Peatlands hold vast amounts of carbon that was absorbed by living sphagnum moss. When the moss dies it does not fully decompose in the waterlogged ground, and healthy peatlands can lock away the carbon for thousands of years.

Related: World heritage status for Scottish peat bogs could help UK hit net zero goals

Evidence is not so much in the number of tropical storms the Atlantic has seen, but in their strength, intensity and rainfall

Paddling in a canoe through the flood waters left by Hurricane Eta in his rural village near the north coast of Honduras, Adán Herrera took stock of the damage.

“Compared with Hurricane Mitch, this caused more damage because the water rose so fast,” said Herrera, 33, a subsistence farmer who is living on top of a nearby levee with his wife and child while they wait for the water to recede. “We’re afraid we might not have anything to eat.”

Related: 'Everything buried in mud': Hurricane Eta's devastating blow to Honduras

Related: 'People are dying': how the climate crisis has sparked an exodus to the US

Related: 'Overwhelming': Central America braces for new storms in wake of Hurricane Eta

Climate litigator David Barnden had a landmark win this month against a major superannuation fund. He tells Guardian Australia he is just getting started

In the public imagination, blockbuster litigation involves grand courtrooms, passionate advocacy and granite-faced judges. These hallmarks were curiously absent from the recent denouement to a lawsuit between 25-year-old Mark McVeigh and his superannuation fund, Rest. No grand oratory from robed barristers, no victory-speeches on the courtroom steps – just a press release and a confidential settlement agreement.

What the conclusion to McVeigh v Rest lacked in symbolism, it made up for in substance. McVeigh’s case, which has resulted in Rest committing to a net zero carbon footprint by 2050 and a suite of short-term measures, is one of the most significant climate litigation outcomes in Australia to date. Its mastermind? A softly-spoken Sydney solicitor, with dual passions for surfing and climate action.

Related: Australian super fund agrees to factor climate crisis into decisions in ‘groundbreaking' case

For anyone who takes time to understand the likely predictions, it is really difficult to turn a blind eye to it

I certainly hope the time comes that I am out of a job

The extremes of the past year will soon become commonplace, as rivers dry and temperatures rise

Since 1910, Australia has warmed by 1.44C and the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have been accelerating.

Neither of those facts would be tangible or noticeable for the everyday Australian.

Related: Rising levels of carbon dioxide increasing extreme weather events in Australia, report finds

Related: Flooding could occur daily in Sydney by the end of this century because of climate change

Environmental activists urge governments and companies to start acting, not only to drastically cut greenhouse gas emissions, but to achieve restoration as well

The climate crisis is here now. No matter how quickly we reach zero emissions, the terrible impacts of the climate crisis will not just go away. They will continue to cause millions to suffer for centuries to come, even in the most ambitious scenarios. As such, no matter how quickly it is done, solely cutting emissions is not enough.

This is why we believe the ideal solution to the climate crisis would be to go beyond net zero, and start to restore the climate. This would be done by, on top of reducing emissions to zero, removing huge amounts of greenhouse gases (GHGs) from the atmosphere. As such, we aim to restore the climate to as close to a safe climate as possible.

A US president who recognises the threat will make a huge difference, but environmentalists must push hard

There is no question that Joe Biden’s win will make a big difference to international efforts to deal with the climate emergency. A US president who recognises global heating as an “existential threat” will be a vital extra pillar propping up the teetering edifice of climate diplomacy. Four years of Donald Trump have done huge damage to the US’s reputation. But the world’s biggest economy, and second-biggest emitter of greenhouse gases (after China), remains vastly influential. With President Biden in charge, the prospects for next year’s Cop26 talks in Scotland, when drastic emissions cuts must be agreed if the world is to stand a chance of avoiding catastrophic heating, are already brighter.

President Trump’s withdrawal of the US from the Paris agreement was a key plank of his nationalist “America first” agenda and an act of sabotage against both the UN climate process and the principle of a rules-based international order. It also gave cover to the world’s other climate vandals: Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Russia and Australia. With Mr Biden, that cover is gone, and ecocidal policies such as Amazon rainforest destruction and coal-power expansion should come under renewed and relentless pressure. It is striking that the president-elect put climate at the heart of his phone calls with foreign leaders.

Climate agencies say fossil fuel burning is driving the increase of dangerous bushfires and days of extreme heatwaves

Australia’s climate has entered a new era of sustained extreme weather events, such as dangerous bushfires and heatwaves, courtesy of rising average temperatures, a new report by the nation’s two government climate science agencies has found.

Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, mostly from fossil fuel burning, has driven more dangerous bushfires, rising sea levels and a rapid rise in the days where temperatures reach extreme levels, the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO said in Australia’s latest State of the Climate Report.

Related: Australia should cut emissions quickly and lead world in renewable energy, incoming chief scientist says

Related: Australian PM says net zero climate target not brought up in first call with Joe Biden

When Joe Biden formally takes over the presidency in January he will face some of the greatest crises to hit the US in recent history: a pandemic that has killed more than 200,000 Americans, a devastated economy, a rapidly overheating climate and a deeply fractured nation.

The Guardian's Lauren Gambino looks at how Biden and the vice-president-elect, Kamala Harris, plan to 'heal' the country after four years of Trumpism – and the challenges they will face with the prospect of having to navigate these times without a majority in the Senate

• How Joe Biden beat Donald Trump in the fight for America’s soul – video

Physicist Dr Cathy Foley will be tasked with gathering evidence to guide a potential rapid shift away from fossil fuels

Australia’s incoming chief scientist wants the country to be a global renewable energy leader and “bold and ambitious” in rapidly cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Physicist Dr Cathy Foley, who will replace Dr Alan Finkel in January, told Guardian Australia she believed the Morrison government was serious about rapidly shifting the country to a low-emissions economy.

Related: 'Immense' potential of renewable energy could propel Australia to net zero 2050 target

Related: NSW promises to build more renewable energy than Victoria and Queensland combined

Dozens of people have died this year as Theta becomes 29th major storm

The annual record for the number of major storms forming in the Atlantic has been shattered, with Subtropical Storm Theta becoming the 29th named event in a hyperactive hurricane season.

The US National Hurricane Center said the development of Theta, currently churning through the heart of the Atlantic, had broken a record that stood since 2005, when there were 28 named storms.

Professors Chris Rapley, Sarah Bracking, Bill McGuire, Simon Lewis and Jonathan Bamber are inviting people across the scientific community to join their pledge to prevent catastrophic climate disruption

Noting the increasing severity of the global heating crisis and the need for action that transcends election cycles spelt out in your article (This election isn’t about the next four years. It’s about the next four millennia, 3 November) we are launching a new science oath for the climate. It is a pledge of scrutiny, integrity and engagement, and we invite our fellow scientists and researchers to join us.

Science has no higher purpose than to understand and help maintain the conditions for life to thrive on Earth. We may look beyond our planet with wonder and learn, but this is our only viable home. Our dwelling, though, is critically threatened by the loss of the stable climate that has allowed humanity to flourish. We pledge to act in whatever ways we are able, in our lives and work, to prevent catastrophic climate disruption. To translate this pledge into a force for real change, we will:

Explain honestly, clearly and without compromise, what scientific evidence tells us about the seriousness of the climate emergency.

Not second guess what might seem politically or economically pragmatic when describing the scale and timeframe of action needed to deliver the 1.5C and 2C commitments, specified in the Paris climate agreement. And to speak out about what is not compatible with the commitments, or is likely to undermine them.

To the best of our abilities, and mindful of the urgent need for systemic change, seek to align our own behaviour with the climate targets, and reduce our own personal carbon emissions to demonstrate the possibilities for change.

Australian Medical Association, Unilever and Atlassian among groups supporting Zali Steggall’s bill in newspaper ads

The independent MP Zali Steggall has called on Australia’s chief scientist, Dr Alan Finkel, to issue a clear opinion on whether the country should commit to cutting greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.

Steggall is due to present to parliament on Monday long-promised climate change legislation that would include a target of net zero by 2050 that could be ratcheted up in line with changing scientific evidence.

Related: Scott Morrison pressured by Britain, France and Italy to announce 'bold' climate action

Related: Net zero: what if Australia misses the moment on climate action?

Related: By 2020 standards, Angus Taylor's low-emissions technology statement is not really a climate policy | Adam Morton

Tim Flannery has been speaking about climate change for decades – but he’s finding it harder and harder to be the bearer of bad news

Being a bearer of bad news is never easy. I’ve been writing and talking about climate change for decades now. Constant exposure hardens one to even the most horrific reality, and I’ve coped by acting like a jolly hangman – or at least not giving in publicly to the helplessness I sometimes feel as I relate the latest findings.

But as the news darkens, I’m having difficulty talking to young people about it. I can tell an optimistic story about developing technologies and the role they can play in helping avert the worst of the crisis. But we have now left action so late that some very severe climate impacts seem unavoidable. When I try to imagine how I, as a young person, would react to such news, I find it hard to continue my work.

Related: Thirty books to help us understand the world in 2020

Related: Overwhelming majority believe Australia is already experiencing climate change

The Climate Cure: Saving the Climate Emergency in the Era of COVID-19 by Tim Flannery is out now through Text Publishing

Time is running out to act on global heating. Electing Donald Trump the first time cost us dearly; a second term would be catastrophic

All American elections determine the character of the country for the next four years. And they have a lot to say about what the world will feel like too – that’s what it means to be a superpower.

But this election may determine the flavor of the next four millennia – maybe the next 40.

That’s because time is the one thing we can’t recover, and time is the one thing we’ve just about run out of in the climate fight. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in its 2018 report made it clear that we had until 2030 to make fundamental transformations in our energy system – which they defined as cutting by half the amount of carbon that we pour into the atmosphere.

Read that sentence again. Because it carries deep political implications. Very few of the problems that government deals with are time limited in quite the same fashion. Issues like housing or education or healthcare last throughout our lifetimes, and we take bites out of them when we can, hopefully moving two steps forward for every one we retreat.

Related: Six steps we are taking to confront the climate crisis

Bill McKibben is an author and Schumann distinguished scholar in environmental studies at Middlebury College, Vermont. His most recent book is Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

As temperatures rise, farmers are being forced to adapt, experimenting with new breeds and cooling methods

• Climate Countdown: The US is set to exit the Paris climate agreement on 4 November. Read more about what’s at stake

South-west of Phoenix, Arizona, in the hottest desert in North America, Beth and Tim Wilson use sprinklers to cool their 300 pigs. Nearby, the Adams Natural Meats bison ranch employs shaders and misters. North of the city, chicken farmer Dave Jordan says he cannot put his 10,000 birds out to pasture.

“If they were out in the sun, they would just get cooked.”

Related: Alleged animal abuse in US dairy sector under investigation

Related: 'You got it': how bird flu turned one US farmer's life upside down

The giant land is the only place on Earth not touched by Covid. A British team is on a mission to protect it while also doing vital research

This week, 40 men and women will emerge from quarantine and board the Royal Research Ship James Clark Ross as it prepares to sail from Harwich in Essex to the South Atlantic. Their mission is straightforward. They will attempt to salvage scientific operations in Antarctica while also keeping it Covid-free.

The continent is the only place on Earth that is still untouched by the pandemic – though keeping the virus at bay there has come at a cost. All major research projects in the Antarctic have been halted. As a result, no senior British scientist will have embarked on a mission to the continent this year for the first time in decades.

Related: Antarctica: an ecosystem under threat - in pictures

Related: Antarctica: 60% of ice shelves at risk of fracture, research suggests