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The Guardian
UN says a global ‘backlash’ against climate action is being stoked by fossil fuel companies
Temperatures reach 45C in parts of the country and 225 people seek treatment for heatstroke
As the climate crisis causes heavier and more frequent floods across the US, one in four small businesses are one disaster away from shutting down
Melting of ice is slowing planet’s rotation and could disrupt internet traffic, financial transactions and GPS
Warning after intensification of storm aided by unusually hot ocean waters in much of Beryl’s path. Hurricane Beryl, which slammed into Texas on Monday after wreaking havoc in the Caribbean, was supercharged by “absolutely crazy” ocean temperatures that are likely to fuel further violent storms in the coming months, scientists have warned.
Blackened trees, dead animals and scorched earth – early wildfires have already devastated Brazil’s Pantanal and local people worry they may lose the battle to save them
Economic growth allows the few to grow ever-wealthier. Ending poverty and environmental catastrophe demands fresh thinking
Small increase in temperature of intruding water could lead to very big increase in loss of ice, scientists say
Scientists warn of ‘scary’ feedback loop in which fires create more heating, which causes more fires worldwide
The contaminants have also recently been found in testes and semen amid concerns about falling male fertility
This year elections are taking place across the globe, covering almost half of the world’s population. It is also likely to be, yet again, the hottest year recorded as the climate crisis intensifies. The Guardian asked young climate activists around the world what they want from the elections and whether politics is working in the fight to halt global heating.
Sudden cut in pollution in 2020 meant less shade from sun and was ‘substantial’ factor in record surface temperatures in 2023, study finds
Winter downpours also made 20% wetter and will occur every three years without urgent carbon cuts, experts warn
‘Catastrophic’ global decline due to dams, mining, diverting water and pollution threatens humans and ecosystems, study warns
Human-caused climate crisis brought soaring temperatures across Asia, from Gaza to Delhi to Manila
Nous avons demandé à 380 climatologues de renom ce qu’ils pensaient de l’avenir… Ils sont terrifiés, mais déterminés à continuer à se battre. Exclusif : Une enquête menée auprès de centaines d’experts révèle une image terrifiante de l’avenir, mais ils préviennent que la lutte contre le changement climatique ne doit pas être abandonnée.
Een enquête van de Britse krant The Guardian onder 380 vooraanstaande klimaatwetenschappers levert ontnuchterende resultaten op. Amper 1 op de 20 gelooft nog in het meest optimistische scenario. Toch moet de wereld blijven strijden tegen elke fractie opwarming.
Climate scientists have told the Guardian they expect catastrophic levels of global heating. Here’s what that would mean for the planet
Editorial: Top experts believe global temperatures will rise by at least 2.5C above pre-industrial levels by 2100. That frightening prediction must spur us to action
Exclusive: Survey of hundreds of experts reveals harrowing picture of future, but they warn climate fight must not be abandoned
Exclusive: Planet is headed for at least 2.5C of heating with disastrous results for humanity, poll of hundreds of scientists finds
Outgoing special rapporteur David Boyd says ‘there’s something wrong with our brains that we can’t understand how grave this is’
Oil and gas equipment intended to cut methane emissions is preventing scientists from accurately detecting greenhouse gases and pollutants, a satellite image investigation has revealed. Energy companies operating in countries such as the US, UK, Germany and Norway appear to have installed technology that could stop researchers from identifying methane, carbon dioxide emissions and pollutants at industrial facilities involved in the disposal of unprofitable natural gas, known in the industry as flaring.
Unesco joint research dating back 15 years found violence and intimidation against about 750 reporters and 44 murders
Marcus Decker dared to protest the climate crisis and was punished. Now he could be deported, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Cost of environmental damage will be six times higher than price of limiting global heating to 2C, study finds
The law will come into force in national parks within two years and in all of the country’s marine protected areas by 2030
Weak government climate policies violate fundamental human rights, the European court of human rights has ruled
If the anomaly does not stabilise by August, ‘the world will be in uncharted territory’, says climate expert
Environmental pledges are being shredded to please agribusiness and appease extremists. It’s a terrible mistake, says environmental writer Arthur Neslen
World’s fossil-fuel producers on track to nearly quadruple output from newly approved projects by decade’s end, report finds
Dr Sarah Benn has long been concerned about the climate crisis, diligently recycling until she was “blue in the face”. But the rise of the climate activist group Extinction Rebellion in 2019 inspired her and her husband to go further. “We thought: well, if we don’t do it then who else is going to?”
Activist accuses Sweden of being ‘very good at greenwashing’ as group sits outside building’s main entrance. Greta Thunberg has accused Sweden of being “very good at greenwashing” as she staged a protest along with about 50 other activists outside her home country’s parliament.
Dangers of wildfires, extreme weather and other factors outgrowing preparedness, European Environment Agency says
Scientists express concern over health impacts, with another study finding particles in arteries
In Munich I heard both Ukrainians and Alexei Navalny’s widow tell us why Putin must be defeated, says Guardian columnist Timothy Garton Ash
Rapid ocean warming and unusually hot winter days recorded as human-made global heating combines with El Niño
Companies knew for decades recycling was not viable but promoted it regardless, Center for Climate Integrity study finds
Collapse in system of currents that helps regulate global climate would be at such speed that adaptation would be impossible
Exclusive: Meeting took place days after BP reported record profits while households were squeezed by high energy bills
EN
In a world built by plutocrats, the powerful are protected while vengeful laws silence their critics
(02/02) - George MonbiotIn the UK and around the world, those who challenge rich corporations are being hounded and crushed with ever-more inventive penalties, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Existing production destroys more value than it creates due to medical and environmental costs, researchers say
Grâce à leur prix modique, les nouilles instantanées ont conquis les rues et les troquets africains. Mais ce plat lyophilisé est un produit ultratransformé qui présente des risques pour la santé, avertit “The Guardian”.
Total is 20% higher than thought and may have implications for collapse of globally important north Atlantic ocean currents The Greenland ice cap is losing an average of 30m tonnes of ice an hour due to the climate crisis, a study has revealed, which is 20% more than was previously thought. Some scientists are concerned that this additional source of freshwater pouring into the north Atlantic might mean a collapse of the ocean currents called the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation (Amoc) is closer to being triggered, with severe consequences for humanity.
New paper claims unless demand for resources is reduced, many other innovations are just a sticking plaster Record heat, record emissions, record fossil fuel consumption. One month out from Cop28, the world is further than ever from reaching its collective climate goals. At the root of all these problems, according to recent research, is the human “behavioural crisis”, a term coined by an interdisciplinary team of scientists.
Exclusive: First months of conflict produced more planet-warming gases than 20 climate-vulnerable nations do in a year, study shows
James Hansen says limit will be passed ‘for all practical purposes’ by May though other experts predict that will happen in 2030s
Ce sigle effrayant, pour “Wounded child, no surviving family”, utilisé par les travailleurs humanitaires reflète la réalité d’un conflit dans lequel 40 % des victimes seraient des mineurs, rappelle “The Guardian”. Et la situation ne peut qu’empirer.
Avec la disparition de son patrimoine matériel, de ses universitaires, de ses artistes et même de ses cimetières, c’est toute une nation, avec sa population, sa culture et son identité propres, qui est en train d’être effacée dans l’enclave palestinienne, écrit la chroniqueuse Nesrine Malik dans ce texte émouvant.
Oil cartel warns ‘pressure may reach a tipping point’ and that ‘politically motivated campaigns put our prosperity’ at risk
Humanity faces ‘devastating domino effects’ including mass displacement and financial ruin as planet warms
‘We need you,’ says Scientist Rebellion, which includes authors of IPCC reports on climate breakdown, as diplomats meet for Cop28
Exclusive: UAE’s Sultan Al Jaber says phase-out of coal, oil and gas would take world ‘back into caves’
World Meteorological Organization says 2023 will be hottest year on record, leaving ‘trail of devastation and despair’
It’s obscene that the super-rich can criminalise protest, while they burn the world’s resources and remain untouched by the law, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Saudi Arabia is driving a huge global investment plan to create demand for its oil and gas in developing countries, an undercover investigation has revealed. Critics said the plan was designed to get countries “hooked on its harmful products”. Little was known about the oil demand sustainability programme (ODSP) but the investigation obtained detailed information on plans to drive up the use of fossil fuel-powered cars, buses and planes in Africa and elsewhere, as rich countries increasingly switch to clean energy.
Daily atmospheric carbon dioxide data from Hawaiian volcano more than double last decade’s annual average
Global fall averaged 4.2% between 2010 and 2022 but would have been far more if vehicle sizes stayed same
World Meteorological Organization sees ‘no end in sight to the rising trend’, largely driven by fossil fuel burning
When Rishi Sunak granted 27 new North Sea licences this week, he wasn’t thinking about the survival of the living world, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Exclusive: UK climate campaign group Possible calls for ‘polluter pays’ tax based on vehicle size
UK has led the way, with countries across the continent making mass arrests, passing draconian new laws and labelling activists as eco-terrorists
The renowned US scientist’s new book examines 4bn years of climate history to conclude we are in a ‘fragile moment’ but there is still time to act
Maar liefst 98 procent van de Europeanen leeft in een gebied met een schadelijke luchtkwaliteit. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek in opdracht van de Britse krant The Guardian.
Guardian investigation finds 98% of Europeans breathing highly damaging polluted air linked to 400,000 deaths a year
Human activity has caused species groups to go extinct 35 times faster than they have over the past 500 years
Techniques such as solar radiation management may have unintended consequences, scientists say
First complete ‘scientific health check’ shows most global systems beyond stable range in which modern civilisation emerged
Forecast downturn still ‘nowhere near steep enough’ to limit temperature rise to 1.5C, says watchdog
Study highlights conflict between Washington’s claims of climate leadership and its fossil fuel growth plans
Colombia was the deadliest country and a fifth of the 177 recorded killings took place in the Amazon rainforest, says Global Witness
Extreme weather is ‘smacking us in the face’ with worse to come, but a ‘tiny window’ of hope remains, say leading climate scientists
Heatwaves, wildfires and floods are just the ‘tip of the iceberg’, leading climate scientists say
Cooperation is not only in the best interests of all countries, but is absolutely necessary for the survival of the planet
Link to climate activism is seven times stronger for anger than it is for hope, say Norwegian researchers
Human-caused climate disruption and El Niño push temperature in mountains to 37C
The celebrated science broadcaster and environmental activist says we have to stop elevating the economy and politics over the state of our world
Antarctica’s sea ice levels are plummeting as extreme weather events happen faster than scientists predicted
Exclusive: Long list of ‘sensitive’ topics for petrostate include oil and gas production, emissions and Yemen war crimes
les scientifiques du climat sont horrifiés et exaspérés par les prévisions mondiales. Par 7 experts du Climat - Alors que l’hémisphère nord brûle, les experts ressentent une profonde tristesse – et du ressentiment – en redoutant ce qui attend l’été australien. Le Guardian Australia a demandé à sept éminents climatologues de décrire ce qu’ils ressentent alors qu’une grande partie de l’hémisphère nord est engloutie par des vagues de chaleur torrides et qu’un certain nombre de records climatiques terrestres et océaniques mondiaux sont battus.
A collapse would bring catastrophic climate impacts but scientists disagree over the new analysis
As the northern hemisphere burns, experts feel deep sadness – and resentment – while dreading what lies ahead this Australian summer
After hottest day ever, researchers say global heating may mean future of crop failures on land and ‘silent dying’ in the oceans
le scientifique qui a tiré la sonnette d’alarme sur le climat dans les années 80 annonce le pire pour l’avenir. James Hansen, qui a témoigné devant le Congrès sur le réchauffement de la planète en 1988, affirme que le monde s’approche d’une « nouvelle limite climatique ».
James Hansen, who testified to Congress on global heating in 1988, says world is approaching a ‘new climate frontier’
Energy firms have made record profits by increasing production of oil and gas, far from their promises of rolling back emissions
Climate breakdown and crop losses threaten our survival, but the ultra-rich find ever more creative ways to maintain the status quo, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Three brush fires burning in rural areas across Riverside county, where 1,000 homes are under evacuation orders
Plutonium spike in Canadian lake sediments marks dawn of new epoch in which humanity dominates planet
Many of those who drowned near Greece last month were escaping environmental crises in Pakistan, says author Fatima Bhutto
EN
The biggest gold rush in history is about to start in the deep sea – leaving devastation in its wake
(07/07) - Guy StandingApplications to mine the seabed in our ocean commons can be made from 9 July, says Guy Standing, author of The Blue Commons
Emmanuel Macron’s government is at least doing the bare minimum to avert the planetary crisis – and putting the UK to shame, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Countries in debt distress thrown financial lifeline but critics say measures fall short of what is needed
Amazon rainforest and other ecosystems could collapse ‘very soon’, researchers warn
Research allays fears that rapid scaling back of production would hit people’s savings and pensions hard
Taxing world’s wealthiest people could help poorer countries shift economies to low-carbon and recover from climate damage
World Bank says subsidies costing as much as $23m a minute must be repurposed to fight climate crisis...
As climate policy is weakened, extreme weather intensifies and more refugees are driven from their homes – and the cycle of hatred continues, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
La compagnie pétrolière émiratie Adnoc a pu lire des courriels adressés à l'organisation de la COP28 sur le climat, ou en émanant, et a été consultée sur la manière de répondre à des journalistes, affirme le journal britannique The Guardian mercredi.Les Émirats arabes unis ont choisi Sultan al-Jaber, patron du géant pétrolier émirati Adnoc, pour présider la grande conférence de l'ONU sur le climat en fin d'année. Ce choix a été critiqué notamment par des ONG et des parlementaires européens et américains, mais le dirigeant a conservé sa double occupation.
State Farm will almost entirely stop issuing new policies in California – with climate-exacerbated wildfires and bad public policy a large reason why
Ice-free summers inevitable even with sharp emissions cuts and likely to result in more extreme heatwaves and floods
Going beyond climate disruption, the report by the Earth Commission group of scientists presents disturbing evidence that our planet faces growing crises of water availability, nutrient loading, ecosystem maintenance and aerosol pollution. These pose threats to the stability of life-support systems and worsen social equality.
Recycled and reused food contact plastics are “vectors for spreading chemicals of concern” because they accumulate and release hundreds of dangerous toxins like styrene, benzene, bisphenol, heavy metals, formaldehyde and phthalates, new research finds.
Hundreds of students and graduates vow not to work for ‘climate wreckers that insure those responsible for the climate crisis’
World is on track for 2.7C and ‘phenomenal’ human suffering, scientists warn. Up to 1 billion people could choose to migrate to cooler places, the scientists said, although those areas remaining within the climate niche would still experience more frequent heatwaves and droughts. However, urgent action to lower carbon emissions and keep global temperature rise to 1.5C would cut the number of people pushed outside the climate niche by 80%, to 400 million.
Record sea surface temperatures suggest the Earth is headed for ‘uncharted territory’ in terms of sea level rise, coastal flooding and extreme weather
Abusive, often violent tweets denying the climate emergency have become a barrage since Elon Musk acquired the platform, say UK experts
Chemicals yield profit of about $4bn a year for the world’s biggest PFAS manufacturers, Sweden-based NGO found
Higher rates slow the renewable energy transition and shield oil and gas producers from competition by low-carbon producers
Fourth year in a row in which number of people facing food crises increased substantially
The 21-year-old Iraqi, who lived by a smoke-choked oilfield, died of cancer. His message must be heard, says journalist Jess Kelly
Un rapport de référence appelle à une révision de la gestion mondiale des ressources en eau et de son gaspillage. Source : The Guardian, Fiona HarveyTraduit par les lecteurs du site Les-Crises Le m…
Recent leaks from oil sands tailings ponds have contaminated water, sowing mistrust among local First Nations people
How to Blow Up a Pipeline makes a case for sabotage, but hope remains that we can build rather than destroy, says campaigner Natasha Walter
Andreas Malm says he has no hope in ‘dominant classes’, and urges more radical approach to climate activism.
Pools and well-watered gardens at least as damaging as climate emergency or population growth
Those with higher levels of PFAS in their blood had 40% lower chance of conceiving within a year of trying
Campaigners say Rosebank, with a potential yield of 500m barrels, would seriously undermine legal commitment to net zero
UK tops all league tables for highly polluting form of travel, with a flight taking off every six minutes last year
Population likely to peak sooner and lower than expected with beneficial results – but environment is priority
An investigation by conservationists has found evidence that deep-seabed mining of rare minerals could cause “extensive and irreversible” damage to the planet.The report, to be published on Monday by the international wildlife charity Fauna & Flora, adds to the growing controversy that surrounds proposals to sweep the ocean floor of rare minerals that include cobalt, manganese and nickel. Mining companies want to exploit these deposits – which are crucial to the alternative energy sector – because land supplies are running low, they say.
I cannot support laws that defend those who destroy the planet, and criminalise those who try to protect it, says Jolyon Maugham KC
Pie-in-the-sky fantasies of carbon capture and geoengineering are a way for decision-makers to delay taking real action
Six KCs among more than 120 mostly English lawyers to sign pledge not to act for fossil fuel interests
Avian flu has decimated the marine creatures on the country’s Pacific coastline and scientists fear it could be jumping from mammal to mammal
Since 1992, the IPCC has highlighted rising greenhouse gases, marking their ‘widespread and unprecedented’ impacts by 2014
IPCC report says only swift and drastic action can avert irrevocable damage to world
Misguided policies are hurting the poorest in society; our focus should be on reducing inequality not increasing GDP
Research finds waste flushed down toilets and sent to sewage plants probably responsible for significant source of water pollution
The excessive use of phosphorus is depleting reserves vital to global food production, while also adding to the climate crisis
An unprecedented rise in plastic pollution has been uncovered by scientists, who have calculated that more than 170tn plastic particles are afloat in the oceans. They have called for a reduction in the production of plastics, warning that “cleanup is futile” if they continue to be pumped into the environment at the current rate.
Vast releases of gas, along with future ‘methane bombs’, represent huge threat – but curbing emissions would rapidly reduce global heating
With the continent holding enough ice to raise sea levels by many metres if it was to melt, polar scientists are scrambling for answers
Popularity of sport utility vehicles driving higher oil demand and climate crisis, say experts
Guardian analysis of data in light of Ohio train derailment shows accidental releases are happening consistently
The steady destruction of wildlife can suddenly tip over into total ecosystem collapse, scientists studying the greatest mass extinction in Earth’s history have found. Many scientists think the huge current losses of biodiversity are the start of a new mass extinction. But the new research shows total ecosystem collapse is “inevitable”, if the losses are not reversed, the scientists said.
Former UN secretary general calls for rich countries to honour promises made to the developing world after years of failure
Last year, 3 million were displaced in the US. Millions more will follow – and neither they, the government or the housing market are ready
Major mapping project reveals PFAS have been found at high levels at thousands of sites
It’s not ‘the whole truth and nothing but the truth’ if campaigners cannot explain their motivations to a jury, says Guardian columnist George Monbiot
Past governments blamed the growing of coca – the base component of cocaine – for clearcutting, but a recent study shows otherwise
A train derailed and flooded a town with cancer-causing chemicals. But something larger, and more troubling, is at work.
The world is at risk of descending into a climate “doom loop”, a thinktank report has warned. It said simply coping with the escalating impacts of the climate crisis could draw resources and focus away from the efforts to slash carbon emissions, making the situation even worse.
An increase in the pace at which sea levels are rising threatens “a mass exodus of entire populations on a biblical scale”, the UN secretary general has warned. The climate crisis is causing sea levels to rise faster than for 3,000 years, bringing a “torrent of trouble” to almost a billion people, from London to Los Angeles and Bangkok to Buenos Aires, António Guterres said on Tuesday. Some nations could cease to exist, drowned under the waves, he said.
Canadian author and professor of climate justice cautiously hails loss and damage agreements at Cop27. " I think the most important thing is to just find other people. Trying to think through this by yourself is a recipe for feeling like a failure and getting dispirited very, very quickly. The benefit of being part of a broader movement is knowing that some people are doing some things, and other people are doing other things, and nobody has to do everything."
Black Mountains College in Wales aims to prepare students for life during a planetary emergency. The college is this year offering a radical new degree course designed to prepare students for a career in times of climate breakdown, and build a generation with the innovative skills and ideas required to tackle the crisis.
Claimants ClientEarth say the oil company’s plan puts the company at financial risk as the world transitions to clean energy, The directors of oil major Shell are being personally sued over their climate strategy, which the claimants say is inadequate to meet climate targets and puts the company at risk as the world switches to clean energy.
We are a species that is superb at killing, says veteran oceanographer, who calls for us to stop treating fish like crops and give them the respect they deserve
The fallout when the industry fails to act is still smaller than the rewards for pumping out more pollution
Examination of trees alive at the time shows three years of severe drought that may have caused crop failures and famine
Wind, water and solar energy is cheap, effective and green. We don’t need experimental or risky energy sources to save our planet
Dozens of people have been imprisoned, as changes in the law are used to curb protest. Is it part of a turn towards a more authoritarian state?
Une étude relayée par le quotidien “The Guardian” fait le lien entre concentration de particules fines et capacité à prendre des décisions stratégiques. Pour les joueurs d’échecs, plus la qualité de l’air est mauvaise, plus le risque de faire des erreurs augmente.
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund threatens to vote against boards on firms it holds investments with over lax climate and social targets
Letters: I risked prison to stand up against an system that will lead to ecological and societal collapse – we must look for alternative economic models, writes Zoe Cohen
Researchers found that exceeding the 2C increase has a 50% chance of happening by mid-century
Three “super-tipping points” for climate action could trigger a cascade of decarbonisation across the global economy, according to a report. Relatively small policy interventions on electric cars, plant-based alternatives to meat and green fertilisers would lead to unstoppable growth in those sectors, the experts said. But the boost this would give to battery and hydrogen production would mean crucial knock-on benefits for other sectors including energy storage and aviation.
Several US states say news that Exxon scientists predicted global heating accurately strengthens their lawsuits against company
More than 40% of land vertebrates will be threatened by extreme heat by the end of the century under a high emissions scenario, with freak temperatures once regarded as rare likely to become the norm, new research warns. Reptiles, birds, amphibians and mammals are being exposed to extreme heat events of increasing frequency, duration and intensity, as a result of human-driven global heating. This poses a substantial threat to the planet’s biodiversity, a new study warns. Under a high emissions scenario of 4.4C warming, 41% of land vertebrates will experience extreme thermal events by 2099, according to the paper, published in Nature.
Investigation into Verra carbon standard finds most are ‘phantom credits’ and may worsen global heating
Carbon offsets can help achieve emissions goals, some experts argue, while others say they are actively dangerous
Carbon credits and offsets do not have a great record but the funds they raise are a vital part in fight against deforestation
It beggars belief that the UN thought it a good idea to allow an authoritarian petro-state to host the already compromised summit, says Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of climate hazards
The oil giant Exxon privately “predicted global warming correctly and skilfully” only to then spend decades publicly rubbishing such science in order to protect its core business, new research has found.
Group says forcing polluters to store carbon dioxide underground is needed to help world reach net zero
Humanity is now a ‘geological superpower’ and declaring a new epoch is critical to tackling its impact, scientists say
Over the past 12 months, courts from Indonesia to Australia have made groundbreaking rulings that blocked polluting power plants and denounced the human rights violations of the climate crisis. But 2023 could be even more important, with hearings and judgments across the world poised to throw light on the worst perpetrators, give victims a voice and force recalcitrant governments and companies into
People in developing countries are feeling increasingly angry and “victimised” by the climate crisis, the US climate envoy John Kerry has warned, and rich countries must respond urgently. “I’ve been chronicling the increased frustration and anger of island states and vulnerable countries and small African nations and others around the world that feel victimised by the fact that they are a minuscule component of emissions,” he said. “And yet [they are] paying a very high price. Seventeen of the 20 most affected countries in the world, by the climate crisis, are in Africa, and yet 48 sub-Saharan countries total 0.55% of all emissions.”
The climate protest group Extinction Rebellion is shifting tactics from disruptions such as smashing windows and glueing themselves to public places in 2023, it has announced. A new year resolution to “prioritise attendance over arrest and relationships over roadblocks”, was spelled out in a 1 January statement titled “We quit”, which said “constantly evolving tactics is a necessary approach”.
Scientists are to pick a location that sums up the current Anthropocene epoch when Homo sapiens made its mark
EN
‘Battle for the nation’s soul’: Norway faces debate about gas and oil wealth | Norway | The Guardian
(01/01) - Philip OltermannRussia’s war in Ukraine has earned Norway billions – and caused controversy. Thanks to oil and gas reserves in the waters off its coast, Norway is not only extremely rich but getting richer still. Already the World Bank’s seventh wealthiest country by GDP per capita at the start of this year, the resource-rich Scandinavian country’s profits have ballooned to record levels over the last 12 months, as prices on the energy markets tripled due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Norway replaced bellicose Moscow as Europe’s largest supplier of gas.
Overall, however, the climate crisis is bleaker than it has ever been. In October, a slew of reports laid bare how close the planet had neared to irreversible climate breakdown, with one UN study stating there was “no credible pathway in place to 1.5C”, the internationally agreed limit for global heating, and that progress on cutting carbon emissions was “woefully inadequate”.
Most expensive storm cost $100bn while deadliest floods killed 1,700 and displaced 7 million, report finds
The world’s reliance on hi-tech capitalist solutions to the climate and ecological crises is perpetuating racism, the outgoing UN racism rapporteur has warned. Green solutions including electric cars, renewable energy and the rewilding of vast tracts of land are being implemented at the expense of racially and ethnically marginalised groups and Indigenous peoples, Tendayi Achiume told the Guardian in an interview.
The number of insects splattered on vehicle number plates in Britain fell by 64% between 2004 and 2022, according to a survey. Each summer citizen scientists record the number of insect splats on their number plates on an app after a journey. The latest Bugs Matter report, produced by Kent Wildlife Trust and Buglife, found another drop in 2022 compared with 2021, with the long-term decrease jumping by five percentage points.
More than two decades on from the protocol, country shows enthusiasm for nuclear restarts over renewables
It’s not just indifference. It’s an active, and deadly, cavalier attitude towards the lives of others: an example other nations follow
A climate protester who blocked a lane of traffic on Sydney Harbour Bridge has been sentenced to 15 months in prison with a non-parole period of eight months, with human rights advocates labelling the punishment “disproportionate”.
Fossil fuels, fisheries and farming: the world’s most destructive industries are protected – and subsidised – by governments
We know that the easiest way for a politician to secure power is to appease those who already possess it, those whose power transcends elections: the oil barons, the media barons, the corporations and financial markets. We know that this power appoints the worst possible people at the worst possible time. We know how, as elderly billionaires seek to grab ever more of the life that slips from them, they create a death cult....
All students at the University of Barcelona will have to take a mandatory course on the climate crisis after the establishment agreed to meet the demands of activists conducting a sit-in occupation. The announcement came after a seven-day occupation by a group from the anti-fossil fuel organisation End Fossil Barcelona.
In his Cop27 speech this week, our will-he-go, won’t-he-go prime minister said that stopping the planet dangerously overheating was still within our grasp, leaving many wondering just what planet he was on. According to Rishi Sunak, last year’s Cop26 climate conference in Glasgow was all about keeping alive the possibility of preventing the global average temperature rise since the Industrial Revolution from climbing above 1.5C. That is “alive”, as in connected to a drip, in a coma and suffering cardiac arrest every few hours.
Rich countries must urgently develop a plan to assist countries suffering the ravages of extreme weather, as failure to take early action on the climate crisis has left them increasingly vulnerable, developing nations have said. The V20 – made up of the 20 vulnerable countries facing the worst impacts of the climate crisis, and least able to cope with them – set out its proposals on Monday for how rich countries should pay for the “loss and damage” caused by the climate crisis.
António Guterres is heading to Cop27 for what is likely to be another blistering attack on complacency and foot-dragging
António Guterres says gap between developed world and poorer countries is biggest issue facing Cop27 talks
Africa is the continent most vulnerable to the climate crisis, but with the right support at Cop27 it can build a stronger, greener future
From the seemingly inexorable increase of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere to the rapid growth in green energy
Vast carbon store may be close to point where it could flip from absorbing CO2 to releasing it, research shows. The Congo peatlands are a huge carbon “timebomb” that could be triggered by the climate crisis, research has shown.
A dramatic increase in funding for climate adaptation is needed to save millions of lives from “climate carnage”, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has said. Climate adaptation includes preparing defences against rising floods, shelters against intensifying cyclones and emergency plans to protect people during worsening heatwaves and droughts. Guterres said only a small fraction of the required finance was given by rich nations to protect vulnerable people.
Materials put into domestic compost are failing to disintegrate after six months – the only solution is to use less. Most plastics marketed as “home compostable” don’t actually work, with as much as 60% failing to disintegrate after six months, according to research.
The sediments preserved in these cliffs in Devon were laid down in the early Triassic period, just after the greatest mass extinction in the history of multicellular life that brought the Permian period to an end 252m years ago. Around 90% of species died, and fish and four-footed animals were more or less exterminated between 30 degrees north of the equator and 40 degrees south.
Methane emissions in the UK could be cut by more than 40% by 2030 with a raft of inexpensive policies, according to an environmental thinktank. The government has pledged to cut emissions of methane, a greenhouse gas that has more than 80 times the global heating power of CO2, by at least 30% by 2030. The move was trumpeted by Boris Johnson when he was prime minister after the UK joined more than 100 other countries to make the pledge at Cop26 in Glasgow.
Filter-feeding whales are consuming millions of particles of microplastic pollution a day, according to a study, making them the largest consumers of plastic waste on the planet. The central estimate for blue whales was 10m pieces a day, meaning more than 1bn pieces could be ingested over a three- to four-month feeding season. The weight of plastic consumed over the season was estimated at between 230kg and 4 tonnes.
“The Guardian” alerte sur une dégradation du climat “catastrophique”, alors même que deux sociétés énergétiques européennes enregistrent des bénéfices records. Un constat qui pousse le quotidien britannique à se demander : est-il encore possible de faire machine arrière ?
Failure to cut carbon emissions means ‘rapid transformation of societies’ is only option to limit impacts, report says
Joint committee on national security strategy criticises ‘severe dereliction of duty’ by ministers as threat grows
Key UN reports published in last two days warn urgent and collective action needed – as oil firms report astronomical profits The climate crisis has reached a “really bleak moment”, one of the world’s leading climate scientists has said, after a slew of major reports laid bare how close the planet is to catastrophe.
Scientists warn world ‘is heading in wrong direction’ amid rise in nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide and methane.Atmospheric levels of all three greenhouse gases have reached record highs, according to a study by the World Meteorological Organization, which scientists say means the world is “heading in the wrong direction”.
As part of a major reform of the EU’s anti-pollution legislation, the European Commission said it planned to tighten air quality standards, including on one of the most dangerous pollutants, fine particulate matter. Water standards are also going to be stricter, with 25 substances added to a control list, such as the category of PFAS (also known as “forever chemicals”), the substance Bisphenol A, pesticides including glyphosate, and antibiotics.
The EU is on track to break a promise to cut methane emissions by 30% by 2030 made due to a “policy vacuum” on livestock emissions, a report has warned.Most of Europe’s methane emissions come from agriculture – particularly livestock – but the EU has avoided using policy levers such as its €387bn common agricultural policy to directly tackle the problem
A large majority of the UK public supports nonviolent direct action to protect the environment, according to an opinion poll. People also strongly backed solar power on farmland and opposed fracking. The poll indicates the unpopularity of a recent swathe of government policies, with more than twice as many people saying they trusted Labour to protect the environment as said they trusted the Conservatives.
The destruction of global forests slowed in 2021 but the vital climate goal of ending deforestation by 2030 will still be missed without urgent action, according to an assessment. The area razed in 2021 fell by 6.3% after progress in some countries, notably Indonesia. But almost 7m hectares were lost and the destruction of the most carbon- and biodiversity-rich tropical rainforests fell by only 3%. The CO2 emissions resulting from the lost trees were equivalent to the emissions of the entire European Union plus Japan.
Industry groups representing some of the world’s largest companies are “opposed to almost all major biodiversity-relevant policies” and are lobbying to block them, according to a new report. Researchers found that 89% of engagement by leading industry associations in Europe and the US is designed to delay, dilute and block progress on tackling the biodiversity crisis, which scientists say is as serious as the climate emergency.
Denmark ‘gets ball rolling’ at UN ahead of protests as poor nations call for greater collective commitment. Youth groups in Africa are preparing to embark on a series of climate demonstrations on Friday to highlight the problem of “loss and damage” to poor countries blighted by climate breakdown, as only one rich country has so far stepped up with funding for the problem.
New coal power projects are becoming “effectively uninsurable” outside China because so many insurance companies have ruled out support for them, a report has found. Recent commitments to stop underwriting coal by prominent US insurers AIG and Travelers have brought the number of coal insurance exit policies to 41, according to the latest industry scorecard by the climate campaign Insure Our Future.
Concerns about climate change shrank across the world last year, with fewer than half of those questioned in a new survey believing it posed a “very serious threat” to their countries over the next 20 years.
The amount of heat accumulating in the ocean is accelerating and penetrating ever deeper, with widespread effects on extreme weather events and marine life, according to a new scientific review.
Some two dozen climate liability suits have been making their way through the courts since 2015, bolstered by media investigations and attribution studies that are able to accurately pinpoint the precise contribution climate change has made to the damages inflicted by extreme weather events. A 2021 study in the journal Nature, for example, found that just over $8bn (£7bn) of the $62.7bn (£55.3bn) in damages caused by Superstorm Sandy across New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, is attributable to sea-level rise caused by climate change.
Lost nets, lines and hooks trap wildlife for years as they float in the ocean, sink to the bottom or are washed ashore
Governments may say they’re doing all they can to halt the climate crisis. Don’t fall for it – then we might still have time to turn things around ‘Stop setting things on fire’: nine great ideas to save the planet Greta Thunberg Greta Thunberg Sat 8 Oct 2022 09.00 BST Maybe it is the name that is the problem. Climate change. It doesn’t sound that bad. The word “change” resonates quite pleasantly in our restless world. No matter how fortunate we are, there is always room for the appealing possibility of improvement. Then there is the “climate” part. Again, it does not sound so bad. If you live in many of the high-emitting nations of the global north, the idea of a “changing climate” could well be interpreted as the very opposite of scary and dangerous. A changing world. A warming planet. What’s not to like?
I became a climate activist 16 years ago. Back then, not many people cared about climate change. The eye rolls were audible. Media coverage was scarce, and what little there was glibly included “both sides”. It was frustrating and tragic to see such a clear and present danger and to know that it was still mostly avoidable, yet ignored by society.
Campaigners say protesters arrested for blocking roads getting ‘lost in prison system’ while on remand. Speaking from inside the jail, he said: “The only good thing about my situation is that it seems to give an extra platform for my views. I spend most afternoons writing speeches and they have been read out all over the world – Italy, Sweden, Canada.”
A beauty company has appointed a director to represent nature on its board, giving the natural world a legal say in its business strategy. Faith In Nature, which sells soap and haircare products, as well as household cleaners and shampoo for dogs, says it is the first company in the world to give nature a formal vote on corporate decisions that might affect it
Billboards hijacked across Europe to highlight role of airline emissions in climate crisis
Healthy teenagers are more prone to irregular heartbeats after breathing in fine particulate air pollution, according to the first major study of its impact on otherwise healthy young individuals. The findings have raised concern among researchers because heart arrhythmias, which can increase the risk of heart disease and sudden cardiac death, appear to be triggered even when air pollution is within common air quality limits.
The World Health Organization (WHO) and almost 200 other health associations have made an unprecedented call for a global fossil fuel non-proliferation treaty. A call to action published on Wednesday, urges governments to agree a legally binding plan to phase out fossil fuel exploration and production, similar to the framework convention on tobacco, which was negotiated under the WHO’s auspices in 2003. “The modern addiction to fossil fuels is not just an act of environmental vandalism. From the health perspective, it is an act of self-sabotage,” said the WHO president, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Governments and businesses failing to change fast enough, says United in Science report, as weather gets increasingly extreme. Despite intensifying warnings in recent years, governments and businesses have not been changing fast enough, according to the United in Science report published on Tuesday. The consequences are already being seen in increasingly extreme weather around the world, and we are in danger of provoking “tipping points” in the climate system that will mean more rapid and in some cases irreversible shifts.
Giant ice sheets, ocean currents and permafrost regions may already have passed point of irreversible change
"Les calottes glaciaires géantes, les courants océaniques et les régions de pergélisol pourraient avoir déjà franchi le point de basculement irréversible. Selon une importante étude, la crise climatique a conduit le monde au bord de plusieurs points de basculement "désastreux". Elle montre que cinq points de basculement dangereux ont peut-être déjà été franchis en raison du réchauffement planétaire de 1,1 °C causé par l'humanité à ce jour.
Group says ‘climate disaster’ vehicles targeted in nine countries including the UK, France and Canada
As those most responsible for the crisis recede into history, our energy is better spent responding to the world we have created
Tech billionaires are buying up luxurious bunkers and hiring military security to survive a societal collapse they helped create, but like everything they do, it has unintended consequences
Carbon capture and storage schemes, a key plank of many governments’ net zero plans, “is not a climate solution”, the author of a major new report on the technology has said. Researchers for the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) found underperforming carbon capture projects considerably outnumbered successful ones by large margins.
In An Inconvenient Apocalypse, authors Wes Jackson and Robert Jensen style themselves as heralds of some very bad news: societal collapse on a global scale is inevitable, and those who manage to survive the mass death and crumbling of the world as we know it will have to live in drastically transformed circumstances. According to Jackson and Jensen, there’s no averting this collapse – electric cars aren’t going to save us, and neither are global climate accords. The current way of things is doomed, and it’s up to us to prepare as best we can to ensure as soft a landing as possible when the inevitable apocalypse arrives.
Global public subsidies for fossil fuels almost doubled to $700bn in 2021, analysis has shown, representing a “roadblock” to tackling the climate crisis. Despite the huge profits of fossil fuel companies, the subsidies soared as governments sought to shield citizens from surging energy prices as the global economy rebounded from the Covid-19 pandemic.
US and UK financial institutions have been among the leading investors in Russian “carbon bomb” fossil fuel projects, according to a new database of holdings from recent years.
While more extreme threats are unlikely to be realised, sticking to the precautionary principle is just plain common sense. A middle of the road route would be to no one’s advantage – so, as for most situations wherein the risk is hard to quantify, there is only one sensible way forward: to hope for the best, while preparing for the worst.
A great upheaval is coming. Climate-driven movement of people is adding to a massive migration already under way to the world’s cities. The number of migrants has doubled globally over the past decade, and the issue of what to do about rapidly increasing populations of displaced people will only become greater and more urgent. To survive climate breakdown will require a planned and deliberate migration of a kind humanity has never before undertaken.
An estimated 4.5tn tobacco filters are littered each year and many end up in oceans with deadly consequences
Pet cats kill songbirds by the million, as well as rodents and other wildlife. But how much of a threat do they really pose, and should they be kept indoors? Expert opinion is divided
As the world remembers Hiroshima, it must also recommit to the increasingly fragile non-proliferation treaty. The alternative is unthinkable
Two of the UK’s leading hospitals have had to cancel operations, postpone appointments and divert seriously ill patients to other centres for the past three weeks after their computers crashed at the height of last month’s heatwave.
At his remote woodland home, Ben Green is trying to stay positive about a collapse of the food supply
Germany’s Rhine, one of Europe’s key waterways, is just days away from being closed to commercial traffic because of very low levels caused by drought, authorities and industry have warned. Crucially, the impending crisis could lead energy companies to cut their output, one of the country’s biggest gas companies has said.
A new database of extreme weather studies makes clear how far policymaking is lagging behind the reality of climate chaos
Thames Head is now more than 2 miles downstream as forecasters warn of further high temperatures to come
A coal-fired power plant that had been mothballed has become the first of its kind to be put back on to the network in Germany, as debate rages over how Europe’s largest economy will cope without Russian gas. The facility in Lower Saxony, which is owned by the Czech energy company EGH, has received emergency permission to run until April in an attempt to boost energy production.
Scientists say there are ample reasons to suspect global heating could lead to catastrophe. The risk of global societal collapse or human extinction has been “dangerously underexplored”, climate scientists have warned in an analysis. They call such a catastrophe the “climate endgame”. Though it had a small chance of occurring, given the uncertainties in future emissions and the climate system, cataclysmic scenarios could not be ruled out, they said.
Scientists think we need to pay attention to a measure of heat and humidity – and it’s edging closer to the limits of human survivability
Blistering heatwaves are just the start. We must accept how bad things are before can we head off global catastrophe, according to a leading UK scientist.
Energy prices are rocketing, inflation is soaring and millions are being starved of grain. Surely Johnson knew this would happen?
School and university students all over the world are planning to take school strikes one step further and occupy our campuses to demand the end of the fossil economy. Taking a lesson from student activists in the 1960s, the climate justice movement’s youth will shut down business as usual. Not because we don’t like learning, but because what we’ve learned already makes it clear that, without a dramatic break from this system, we cannot ensure a livable planet for our presents and futures.
It’s not too late to avert the climate crisis from becoming even more deadly – but the window is closing
Report says global south has been ‘used as place to dump waste’ and that people of colour are suffering disproportionately
Joe Biden is under pressure to declare a national climate emergency as temperatures soar across the US and Europe. Facing political gridlock in Washington, the president could make such an announcement – which would unlock federal resources to address the crisis – as soon as this week, the Washington Post reported on Tuesday.
Residents of an Indonesian island threatened by rising sea levels have begun legal action against the cement producer Holcim. The claim for compensation, filed in Switzerland by three men and one woman, is understood to be the first major climate damages lawsuit against a cement company.
Climate scientists have expressed shock at the UK’s smashed temperature record, with the heat soaring above 40C for the first time ever on Tuesday. Researchers are also increasingly concerned that extreme heatwaves in Europe are occurring more rapidly than models had suggested, indicating that the climate crisis on the European continent may be even worse than feared. Temperature records are usually broken by fractions of a degree, but the 40.2C recorded at Heathrow is 1.5C higher than the previous record of 38.7C recorded in 2019 in Cambridge.
Chief meteorologist says extreme temperatures ‘entirely consistent’ with human-induced climate crisis
Can we talk about it now? I mean the subject most of the media and most of the political class has been avoiding for so long. You know, the only subject that ultimately counts – the survival of life on Earth. Everyone knows, however carefully they avoid the topic, that, beside it, all the topics filling the front pages and obsessing the pundits are dust. Even the Times editors still publishing columns denying climate science know it. Even the candidates for the Tory leadership, ignoring or downplaying the issue, know it. Never has a silence been so loud or so resonant.
He has weaponised food, energy and refugees, spreading economic and political pain across the continent. Sanctions don’t work, a land for peace deal would be a disaster. Only the military route remains
Most people think Brexit has gone badly, a UK survey finds, and Johnson has left behind a mess of problems for a new PM
Europe is in danger of highly damaging “very, very strong conflict and strife” this winter over high energy prices, and should make short-term return to fossil fuels to head off the threat of civil unrest, the vice-president of the European Commission has warned. Frans Timmermans, the second most senior official in the EU, said the threat of unrest this winter, a deliberate outcome of Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, must take precedence over the climate crisis.
Greenhouse gas has undergone rapid acceleration and scientists say it may be due to atmospheric changes
The US supreme court is helping to destroy our climate. But it was a much smaller decision, closer to home, that was the final straw for me
In 2005, I was the lead counsel on behalf of the US in one of the biggest corporate accountability legal actions ever filed. That trial proved that the tobacco industry knew it was selling and marketing a harmful product, that it had funded denial of public health science, and had used deceptive advertising and PR to protect assets instead of protecting consumers.
In Madrid, the organisation showed a great sense of purpose. But beware a divided Europe and a US still tired of paying for the continent’s security
In a major environmental case, the court has made clear that it would rather represent the interests of corporations and the super-rich than the needs and desires of the vast majority of Americans – or people on Earth
The EPA ruling means it may now be mathematically impossible through available avenues for the US to achieve its greenhouse gas emissions goal
It may sound like Marxism, but the proposal aimed at taming prices and cutting Putin’s funds came from the G7
President Zelenskiy and Ukraine want it finished by winter, but Russia still holds the balance of power
There’s a simple way to unite everyone behind climate justice – and it’s within our power
In March, the north and south poles had record temperatures. In May in Delhi, it hit 49C. Last week in Madrid, 40C. Experts say the worst effects of the climate emergency cannot be avoided if emissions continue to rise
António Guterres compares climate inaction to tobacco firms dismissing links between smoking and cancer
As the climate movement hits another impasse, activists Luisa Neubauer and Kumi Naidoo explain why we need to mobilise many more people from all walks of life
Drought blighting country’s longest waterway continues as economic hub battles climate crisis
Atlanta wants to build a police training facility in a forested area amid community opposition
Years before the climate crisis was part of national discourse, this memo to the president predicted catastrophe
Climatenomics lays out how ‘supply chain disruptions’ has become a euphemism for the effects of climate change
An investor’s rant gives an insight into the City’s short-termist view of the environment crisis
Models indicate that there could be between 25 and 30 extreme events a year by mid-century
An alarming trend shows average temperatures have increased by at least 2F since 1970, with even higher spikes in the west and south-west
Governments not listening to people with disabilities despite them being at high risk, say researchers
Heatwaves becoming more frequent and are beginning earlier, according to Spanish meteorological office
Researchers call for recognition of latest online strategies used to derail climate action
Three former UN climate heads say gap between government promises and actions will change environment irreversibly
Vegetated areas above the treeline in the Alps have increased by 77% since 1984, the study says. While retreating glaciers have symbolised the speed of global heating in the Alpine region, researchers described the increases in plant biomass as an “absolutely massive” change.
Strong climate action could wipe $756bn from individuals’ pension funds and other investments in rich countries
Soaring temperatures in subcontinent, which have caused widespread suffering, would be extraordinarily rare without global heating
The Bank of England governor warned last week of ‘apocalyptic’ food price rises. Yet war in Ukraine, climate change and inflation are already taking their toll all over the world. Apocalypse is an alarming idea, commonly taken to denote catastrophic destruction foreshadowing the end of the world. But in the original Greek, apokálypsis means a revelation or an uncovering. One vernacular definition is “to take the lid off something”.
Humankind is revealed as simultaneously insignificant and utterly dominant in the grand scheme of life on Earth by a groundbreaking new assessment of all life on the planet. The world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things, according to the study. Yet since the dawn of civilisation, humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of plants, while livestock kept by humans abounds.
The cost of decommissioning the UK’s seven ageing nuclear power stations has nearly doubled to £23.5bn and is likely to rise further, the public accounts committee has said. The soaring costs of safely decommissioning the advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs), including Dungeness B, Hunterston B and Hinkley B, are being loaded on to the taxpayer, their report said.
For the past few years, scientists have been frantically sounding an alarm that governments refuse to hear: the global food system is beginning to look like the global financial system in the run-up to 2008.
Exclusive: Nearly half existing facilities will need to close prematurely to limit heating to 1.5C, scientists say
The world’s leading energy economist has warned against investing in large new oil and gas developments, which would have little impact on the current energy crisis and soaring fuel prices but spell devastation to the planet.
Planned drilling projects across US land and waters will release 140bn metric tons of planet-heating gases if fully realised, an analysis shared with the Guardian has found. The study, to be published in the Energy Policy journal this month, found emissions from these oil and gas “carbon bomb” projects were four times larger than all of the planet-heating gases expelled globally each year, placing the world on track for disastrous climate change.
Oil and gas majors are planning scores of vast projects that threaten to shatter the 1.5C climate goal. If governments do not act, these firms will continue to cash in as the world burns
Countries should move from coal to renewable energy without shifting to gas as a “transition” fuel to save money, as high gas prices and market volatility have made the fossil fuel an expensive option, analysis has found. Natural gas has long been touted as a “transition” fuel for economies dependent on coal for their power needs, as it has lower carbon dioxide emissions than coal but requires similar centralised infrastructure, and gas-fired power stations take only a couple of years to build. Earlier this year, before Russia invaded Ukraine, the European Commission angered green campaigners by including gas as a “bridge” to clean energy in its guidebook for green investment.
PFAS-tainted sewage sludge is used as fertilizer in fields and report finds that about 20m acres of cropland could be contaminated
Climate analysts are astounded by such a high reading during the rainy season, and is the third monthly record this year
The war in Ukraine is laying bare a generational divide over what lessons Germany should draw from its own history of waging bloody conflicts, as some of the country’s leading artists and intellectuals line up in favour of or against supplying Kyiv with weapons in a series of open letters.
April temperatures at unprecedented levels have led to critical water and electricity shortages
Russia has nearly doubled its revenues from selling fossil fuels to the EU during the two months of war in Ukraine, benefiting from soaring prices even as volumes have been reduced.
Many are still missing after this month’s floods. Extreme weather is becoming more frequent, and it can be devastating
For the first time the world is in a position to limit global heating to under 2C, according to the first in-depth analysis of the net zero pledges made by nations at the UN Cop26 climate summit in December.
UV filters absorbed by Posidonia oceanica may have damaging effects on ecosystems, scientists warn
Protesters from Just Stop Oil may be breaking the law and yet still be morally right in the face of future disaster
Today’s oceans are a tumult of engine roar, artificial sonar and seismic blasts that make it impossible for marine creatures to hunt or communicate. We could make it stop, so why don’t we?
As climate crisis allows new maritime routes to be used, sooty shipping emissions accelerates ice melt and risk to ecosystems
Only the boldest leadership can unite the EU against the delusional tyrant in Moscow. The German chancellor has the chance to provide it
Germany is bracing for supplies to be cut by Moscow in retaliation for sanctions or as part of an energy embargo
Strong measures by Europe could quickly deprive Russia of oil and gas income worth billions, experts say
Armed conflict between the world’s two superpowers, while not yet inevitable, has become a real possibility. The 2020s will be the decade of living dangerously
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), made up of the world’s leading climate scientists, has now published all three sections of its landmark comprehensive review of climate science.
It is vital Moscow understands that escalation will not be risk-free, and expects a proportionate response
New data suggests forests help keep the Earth at least half of a degree cooler, protecting us from the effects of climate crisis
Environmentalists once saw abstraction as the biggest obstacle to climate action. How, they wondered, could one focus the public on the distant future? Today, we confront the opposite problem, with the very immediacy of the crisis generating a strange paralysis. When the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that global heating made extreme flooding more common, its new report at the end of February spurred relatively little discussion – in part because of the water covering swathes of Queensland and New South Wales. As tinnies plucked desperate residents from the deluge, who could give due weight to the warning from Prof Brendan Mackey, one of the IPPC authors, that the science clearly projected “an increase of heavy rainfall events?”
Inflation is a disease that disproportionately afflicts the poor. Even before Vladimir Putin unleashed his brutal war on Ukraine, whose byproducts include soaring energy and food prices, inflation was already over 7.5% in the US and above 5% in Europe and the UK. Calls for its taming are, therefore, fully justified – and the interest rate rise in the US, with the same expected in the UK, comes as no surprise. That said, we know from history that the cure for inflation tends to devastate the poor even more. The new wrinkle we face today is that the supposed solutions threaten not only to deal another cruel blow to the disadvantaged but, ominously, to snuff out the desperately needed green transition.
The Ukrainian crisis has revived an old debate: how to effectively sanction a state like Russia? Let’s say it straight away: it is time to imagine a new type of sanction focused on the oligarchs who have prospered thanks to the regime in question. This will require the establishment of an international financial register, which will not be to the liking of western fortunes, whose interests are much more closely linked to those of the Russian and Chinese oligarchs than is sometimes claimed. However, it is at this price that western countries will succeed in winning the political and moral battle against the autocracies and in demonstrating to the world that the resounding speeches on democracy and justice are not simply empty words.
Minister warns an immediate stop to supplies could hurt Germany’s population more than Putin
A Russian former foreign minister has joined a call for all sides in the Ukrainian war to return to diplomacy and so reduce “the dramatically elevated risk” of a nuclear conflict. The appeal co-authored by Prof Igor Ivanov, now the president of the Russian International Affairs Council, may be a sign that some in the Russian foreign policy establishment believe that pursuing a purely military solution in Ukraine is a strategic mistake.
The west’s earlier inaction has exacted a heavy price and now attempts to overcompensate are dangerous
There are two likely paths: continued escalation, potentially across the nuclear threshold, or a bitter peace imposed on a defeated Ukraine
If the Russians are ever to withdraw, then a diplomatic agreement on the terms of withdrawal will be necessary. So what should the demands be?
Russia’s growing isolation has strengthened the ‘siloviki’ who surround the president
As head of state-owned oil firm Rosneft, oligarch commands central place in the economy
Russia’s military offensive against Ukraine is an act of aggression that will make already worrisome tensions between Nato and Moscow even more dangerous. The west’s new cold war with Russia has turned hot. Vladimir Putin bears primary responsibility for this latest development, but Nato’s arrogant, tone‐deaf policy toward Russia over the past quarter‐century deserves a large share as well. Analysts committed to a US foreign policy of realism and restraint have warned for more than a quarter‐century that continuing to expand the most powerful military alliance in history toward another major power would not end well. The war in Ukraine provides definitive confirmation that it did not.
On Sunday, Vladimir Putin ordered his nuclear deterrent forces to be placed on a “special regime of combat duty”. The Russian defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, has now clarified what this meant: the increased manpower devoted to Russia’s strategic nuclear triad: land-based strategic nuclear rocket forces, sea-based nuclear deterrents in the northern and Pacific fleets and its fleet of long-range strategic bomber aircraft that can carry nuclear weapons.
The German chancellor, Olaf Scholz, ambushed his own party and coalition partners when he announced a historic 180-degree policy turn on defence spending and exporting lethal weapons, but for now he seems to be riding a wave of broad public support.
The inventor of the Brics acronym says sanctions against Russia have exposed nations’ dependence on the western economic system
Less than a week into the war, it seems increasingly likely that Vladimir Putin is heading towards a historic defeat. He may win all the battles but still lose the war. Putin’s dream of rebuilding the Russian empire has always rested on the lie that Ukraine isn’t a real nation, that Ukrainians aren’t a real people, and that the inhabitants of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Lviv yearn for Moscow’s rule. That’s a complete lie – Ukraine is a nation with more than a thousand years of history, and Kyiv was already a major metropolis when Moscow was not even a village. But the Russian despot has told his lie so many times that he apparently believes it himself.