Huge thanks to November's sponsor, Byron Windhorst, who has asked me to post the following:
Many of the climate articles featured here find their way to the Climate Catastrophe Group on Facebook, which covers extreme weather events and related science. We have over 4,000 members but would warmly welcome new ones, who are keen to engage and participate.
"Breaking News! Code: y-axis alert!
"On November 1, 2026, the global sea-surface temperature anomaly exceeded 7 standard deviations above the 1982-2011 baseline for the first time, reaching 7.12 [now 7.22] σ.
"In "normal times" this would be about a 1-in-1,800,000,000,000 event." [Prof Eliot Jacobson]
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/2117640127686258977
"The norm (not that such a thing exists anymore) before the 2023 was that global Sea Surface temperature usually peaked in March. Today it's early Nov and we are seeing temperatures on par with March 2016 [also an El Nino year].
"The ocean is warmer today (in NOV) than the hottest day from a decade ago!" [Prof. Ryan Katz-Rosene]
https://x.com/ryankatzrosene/status/2118049713291419857
"Warming UK seas could 'fundamentally reshape marine ecosystems' - report.
"Warming seas around the UK and the wider north-east Atlantic could destabilise marine food webs, weaken ocean health and jeopardise food security by 2050, according to a four-year study."
"Christmas tree shortage warning as record-breaking summer heat kills thousands of young trees [UK].
"Growers across the country said exceptionally hot and dry conditions during the summer of 2026 had made it difficult for young trees to survive, raising concerns about future supplies of the festive staple."
"Extreme Heat Pushes Pyrenees Glaciers Toward Extinction.
"Glaciers in the Pyrenees recorded their third-largest annual thickness loss in 2025-2026 despite exceptionally heavy spring snowfall. Scientists warn that the remaining active glaciers could disappear within a decade."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/heat-pyrenees-glaciers-toward-extinction/
"Mont Miné Glacier [Switzerland] 2011 | 2026.
"The first time I saw Mont Miné, 15 years ago vs yesterday! In fifteen years' time, there will be nothing left. And human activity is entirely to blame."
[Melaine Le Roy]
https://x.com/subfossilguy/status/2117668323290657269
"This insidious tropical virus has now reached Switzerland as well. For the first time, the chikungunya virus has been transmitted locally in Switzerland.
"The cases were reported in Ticino. The virus is spread by mosquitoes and can cause severe joint pain."
"After the downpour in Hatay [Turkey], the stream overflowed, vehicles were swept away in flood waters.
"With the effect of the torrential rain that was effective in the Dörtyol district of Hatay, Karakese and Özerli Streams overflowed and vehicles were dragged in flood waters. Teams rescued citizens trapped in flooded houses and vehicles."
"EXTRAORDINARY EVENT - thousands of records from Algeria to South Africa:
"42.0 [107.6F] Dori, 40.6 In Guezzam, 42.7 N'Djamena = BURKINA FASO, ALGERIA AND CHAD HOTTEST NOVEMBER DAY EVER… ALSO NOVEMBER NATIONAL RECORDS: IVORY COAST 38.0 Mahandiana, CAMEROON 41.5 Garoua, CHAD 42.4 Mongo, NIGER 43.5 Tillaberi, NIGERIA 41.0 Sokoto." [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2118053718679785561
"A massive hailstorm turns the desert white in the Ha'il region of Saudi Arabia
"The phenomenon is occurring amidst a period of atmospheric instability affecting several regions of the country, bringing severe storms, rain, and hail."
"Record broken and rebroken no-stop every day in MIDDLE EAST:
"Crazy MIN 29.4 [84.9F] Manama Int. Airport is BAHRAIN HOTTEST NOVEMBER NIGHT ON RECORD… 38.2 Abu Samra is QATAR HOTTEST NOVEMBER DAY IN HISTORY… Still Mins >30C in Kuwait and Emirates… OMAN 37.6 Suwaiq, MINIMUMS RECORDS IN IRAN: 28.0 Kish Island, 25.9 Bandarabbas." [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2117691580706668890
"India Coffee Output to Miss Forecast After Below-Normal Rains…
"Production is expected to reach about 380,000 metric tons in the year ending March, more than 5% below the board's previous estimate, M.J. Dinesh, chairman of the state-run agency, said in an interview."
"Cyclone Murasu kills two in India's Andhra Pradesh after second storm in a week…
"The cyclone made landfall on Tuesday, leaving a trail of destruction across the state, according to the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority… several villages remained inundated and roads had been damaged, as authorities continued assessing the extent of the destruction."
https://news.az/news/cyclone-murasu-kills-two-in-india-s-andhra-pradesh-after-second-storm-in-a-week
"Absolute madness in CHINA:
"37C [98.6F] again and 30 more stations breaking November records (18 Tmaxes,12 Tmins). Already 200 records broken and hundreds more coming: the heat will just expand and get worse." [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2117970196514418809
"EXTRAORDINARY- CLIMATIC HISTORY REWRITTEN.
"MIN 29.3 Bangkok Pilot, 28.6 Male, 29.2 Tondi, 27.3 Chittagong = THAILAND, MALDIVES, INDIA, BANGLADESH HOTTEST NOVEMBER NIGHT EVER."
[Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2117597930895151294
"Indonesia's fire-ravaged regions face rising flood threat.
"The National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Tuesday urged residents nationwide to prepare for hydrometeorological disasters, including flash floods and landslides, as parts of the country enter the rainy season."
https://asianews.network/indonesias-fire-ravaged-regions-face-rising-flood-threat/
"Dozens of homes damaged as rare hailstorms hit West Java, Lampung.
"The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) attributed the hailstorms in West Java and Lampung to the development of mature cumulonimbus clouds, powerful storm systems capable of producing intense rainfall, strong winds and hail."
"Severe storms leave trail of destruction across NSW and Queensland.
"Widespread storms lashed millions across the two states through the afternoon, with a band of severe storm cells stretching hundreds of kilometres as they moved from inland towards the coast."
"Australia's Heavy October Rainfall Sparks Grain Quality Concerns…
"The country's 2026/27 wheat crop is being closely watched as Russia's war with Ukraine disrupts grain exports through the Black Sea. With supplies from two of the world's largest producers delayed, buyers from Southeast Asia to the Middle East are looking to alternative providers such as Australia and Argentina."
"Typhoons batter East Asia as El Niño makes Pacific 'burn with fever'.
"Wild weather is a way of life for people living along the coast in the Philippines, Taiwan, China and Japan. But the last few months have been extraordinary. A wave of intense and, at times, unpredictable storms exacerbated by the El Niño weather pattern has killed dozens, shuttered major airports and wiped out crops and infrastructure across a swathe of East Asia."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw33kgj7nkemo
"Super El Niño gathers strength after soaking Korea with unusual fall rains…
"Seoul also set a new record on Oct. 18 after 35.1 millimeters (1.4 inches) of rain fell in one hour. The developing El Niño was a major factor behind the frequent and heavy rainfall, the KMA said."
"As Waters Warm Off Japan, Fish DNA Is Turning Up Farther North Than Expected…
"In all, there was eDNA evidence that 126 species from 92 genera and 53 families were living outside their ranges. They were also outside of historical occurrence records, modelled core habitats and/or expert-delineated extent-of-occurrence."
"What a madness. It really looks like we're going to experience a second peak in this Super El Niño.
"It's something that doesn't usually happen. That instead of one El Niño coming, 'twins' arrive. But we're getting used to living through events that didn't used to happen." [Juan Bordera]
https://x.com/JuanBordera/status/2118031950493675754
"Because of this record El Niño, water temperatures near Peru and the Philippines are nearly the same!
"It's 83°F (28.4°C) near Peru and 84°F (29.0°C) near the Philippines. That's normal for the Philippines. For Peru, it's a remarkable 17.5°F (9.7°C) heat shift." [Ben Noll]
https://x.com/BenNollWeather/status/2117765816754274498
"Peru's minister of trade confirmed Tuesday that mango flowering on the country's northern coast has nearly ceased, putting the 2026-2027 harvest in crisis.
"APEM projects a 39.57% drop in fresh mango exports this season — from 223,686 to just 135,182 tons — while some growers warn the actual decline could reach 60%."
https://www.latintimes.com/peru-mango-harvest-crisis-el-nino-exports-600856
"Across a Fevered Pacific Ocean, Seabirds Are Starving.
"With massive heat waves and an intense El Niño reshaping the marine food web along the Central Coast of California, emaciated common murres are washing ashore in unprecedented numbers."
"Blue Whales Are Ditching the Galápagos, Possibly Because of El Niño…
"This is an odd development, because the areas surveyed (San Cristóbal, Isabela, Fernandina, the Santiago Islands, and the Bolívar Channel) are known for being places where blue whales are plentiful. In the month before the study began, 45 blue whales were seen in August alone."
"Right Whale Die-Off in Argentina Spreads to Adults as Scientists Test Water and Shellfish for Red Tide Toxins…
"Scientists now suspect two separate causes. Calf deaths have been linked to the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae, while a toxic algal bloom known as red tide is suspected in the adult deaths, MercoPress reported. To test the second idea, the monitoring program is adding water and shellfish sampling…"
"EXTRAORDINARY WORLD CLIMATIC HISTORY REWRITTEN:
"46.2 [115.2F] Mariscal Estigarribia is PARAGUAY HOTTEST DAY IN HISTORY."
[Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2118176447122825375
"The shocking videos of the hail that hit Córdoba, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos: a fall of 116 millimeters of rain was recorded [Argentina].
"The storms that advanced over the center and coast of the country during the last hours left hail, intense rains and gusts of wind in towns of Córdoba, Santa Fe and Entre Ríos. The phenomenon …caused complications in urban areas, significant accumulations of water and punctual material damage."
"A tornado destroyed an airport in southern Brazil and forced the cancellation of flights.
"A tornado caused significant damage on Wednesday at the Chapecó airport, in the west of the Brazilian state of Santa Catarina. The force of the wind broke the windows of the terminal building, ripped off metal structures and hit a plane that remained parked on the platform."
"ABSOLUTE INSANITY. Never happened anything like this:
"34.4C Vc Bird, 37.0 [98.6f] Flamingo = ANTIGUA and BONAIRE HOTTEST NOV DAY EVER… 28.0 Georgetown AP is GUYANA HOTTEST NOVEMBER NIGHT EVER; 28.2 ST MARTEN HOTTEST NOV NIGHT EVER; 35.1 Canefield DOMINICA NOV HOTTEST DAY EVER; 21.7 Cerro Sombrero CHILE NOV HOTTEST NIGHT; 28.2 Arriaga - MEXICO NOV HOTTEST NIGHT EVER etc. 100% of records destroyed everywhere." [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2117443904740192727
"Tijuana River Wastewater Chemicals Are Now Detected in San Diego's Air…
"Wastewater chemicals enter the ocean near the river mouth. From there, coastal currents carry them northward and underwater, preserving a detectable fraction of the compounds until they cross the water-air boundary and enter the coastal atmosphere."
https://www.gadgetreview.com/tijuana-river-wastewater-chemicals-are-now-detected-in-san-diegos-air
"'Heavy loss': Torrential rain in Southwest takes out beloved rock formations.
"On Oct. 30, the owner of a tour guide company leading a group out to the Alien Throne — an otherworldly rock spire known as a hoodoo that's located on Navajo Nation land in northwestern New Mexico — reported that the structure had toppled. The following day, on Oct. 31, reports showed that several dozen miles to the east, the King of Wings structure had similarly fallen…"
https://www.sfgate.com/national-parks/article/southwest-hoodoos-collapse-flooding-22506850.php
"Catastrophic Flash Flood Warning in North Georgia.
"Emergency crews conducted water rescues and responded to mudslides Wednesday night as a catastrophic flash flood emergency gripped mountainous communities across north Georgia."
"FLORIDA'S EXTRAORDINARY DELUGE:
"Wait for it… An estimated 1.88 TRILLION gallons of rain in 57 hours across the area shown—enough to cover 145,000 football fields, including end zones, 30 feet deep! Radar estimates 30 inches near Palm Bay, with multiple torrential rainfall peaks stretching down Florida's east coast." [Jeff Berardelli]
https://x.com/WeatherProf/status/2117590204697506216
"HISTORIC SUMMER NIGHTS IN NOVEMBER. November records of HIGH MINIMUMS broken by up to 5F in Wisconsin:
"62F [17C] La Crosse, 62F Madison, 61F EU Claire, 56F Rhinelander, 58F Wausau and up to 10F in CANADA with MIN up to 63F and there will be 4/5 in a row like this." [Extreme Temps]
https://x.com/extremetemps/status/2118002477002023260
"Record-breaking warmth sweeps over New England for early November…
"Boston typically only sees one day in November hit 70, and the record for the most consecutive 70-degree days or warmer in November is four, reached in 2020 and 2022. Thursday will likely tie that mark, and Friday holds an outside chance of reaching 70 in Boston, which would mean a new record entirely."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/11/04/metro/new-england-warm-weather-records-forecast/
"Tropical fish in Massachusetts waters? Warming ocean temperatures are changing the catch.
"The Gulf of Maine is one of the fastest warming ocean regions on Earth. Since 1982, its surface temperature has increased by approximately 0.84 degrees Fahrenheit per decade, nearly three times the global ocean average."
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news/tropical-fish-massachusetts-waters-ocean-temperatures/
"Northern permafrost greening masks declining plant resilience, study finds.
"An international study jointly led by researchers from the Department of Geography and the Institute for Climate and Carbon Neutrality at the Faculty of Social Sciences, The University of Hong Kong (HKU), has revealed that vegetation resilience across Northern Hemisphere permafrost regions underwent a widespread reversal around 2008…"
https://phys.org/news/2026-11-northern-permafrost-greening-masks-declining.html
"Last month was the 2nd lowest Antarctic sea ice extent on record for the month of October.
"This was 1,760,000 km² below the 1981-2010 October average. Data from the NSIDC. "
[Zack Labe]
https://bsky.app/profile/zacklabe.com/post/3mzjq5cjlv22h
"Antarctica's permafrost is emitting worrying amounts of CO2…
"In 2020, the measurements showed an average of roughly 1.7 grams of CO2 creeping through 1 square metre of soil every day. "We were really surprised," says Ruggiero. By 2025, that rate had grown five-and-a-half fold to 9.5 grams per day. "The increase was amazing," he says, and entirely unexpected."
"World's wettest rainstorms are getting wetter, affecting flood and drought risk.
"The world's wettest rainstorms produce about half of the global annual rainfall. Now a study shows that these intense downpours have become shorter in duration and fewer in number, compressing the same amount of rain into quicker and more extreme events, with implications for flood and drought risk."
"Funding to help poorer countries cope with climate crisis has stalled, says UN…
"A new UN report has revealed that financial support for adaptation - which includes measures such as stronger infrastructure, early warning systems, flood protection and drought-resilient irrigation - is woefully short of what is needed and far behind even the inadequate promises that rich countries signed up to in 2021…"
"The great disaster divide: How the super-rich are profiting from global climate suffering…
"Billionaires are buying islands and building fortified compounds and underground bunkers — tech billionaires are increasingly at the forefront of this trend. This is a form of climate apartheid: the super-rich use their wealth and power to escape the consequences of the crises they largely helped create."
"November 2 was 1.98°C above the 1850-1900 pre-industrial baseline.
"One more day?" [Prof Eliot Jacobson]
https://x.com/EliotJacobson/status/2117963453038211356
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You can read the previous "Climate" thead here. I'll be back tomorrow with an "Economic" thread.
The post 5th November 2026 Today's Round-Up of Climate News appeared first on Climate and Economy.
NStafeeva/ShutterstockA Dutch family doctor called Tibor Poelmann posted a petition on an online forum for GPs in 2021. He wanted their pension fund to stop investing in oil and gas. It quickly gathered 1,200 signatures.
Three years later the fund, which looks after €10 billion (£8.4 billion) for 25,000 doctors, decided to sell all its fossil fuel investments. The push came from the doctors themselves, through a council of GPs elected by the fund's members.
Our new paper in the journal Frontiers in Education was inspired by cases like this. Research on who can act on climate change tends to sort the world into governments, markets and campaigners. Professionals fall between those groups. We treat them as a class of climate changemaker with their own means of influence.
Nearly everyone agrees something has to be done, yet on current policies the world is still heading for nearly 3°C of warming. Responsibility is scattered across governments, businesses and individuals, each able to point to someone else who should act first. Psychologists call this diffusion of responsibility. In everyday life, that sounds like "that's not my job".
A doctor's focus is health, a lawyer's is the rule of law, an engineer's is structures that stand up and a teacher's is the children in front of them. Climate change now threatens each of those. Doctors owe duties to patients, and lawyers to clients. Climate change has begun to harm those people, so acting on climate change as part of doing the job well.
Professionals also influence the institutions and decisions that shape how society responds. Doctors decide what gets prescribed and sit on the bodies that write clinical guidance. Lawyers advise the companies whose projects need permission. Engineers build to standards their own institution sets.
Each works inside an institution that needs to change and belongs to a profession that can rewrite its own rules. Health professionals also rank among the most trusted messengers on climate, whatever the listener's politics. Governments still have to act, and professions are among the things that drive political change. It was doctors who turned smoking from a habit into a health problem, then the laws followed.
Teacher training, if it covers climate at all, teaches the science of a warming planet and says little about its social and economic causes.
Frame Stock Footage/Shutterstock
Yet professional authority can stall action too. Training instils standards and ethics, so that a patient or client can rely on the result, but those same standards and routines can make established ways of working difficult to challenge.
Without a push, professionals keep running the systems that cause the harm, competently and by the book. Healthcare has increased its greenhouse gas emissions by a quarter since 2016. Top American law schools send graduates into the oil and gas industry at well above the national rate. One student campaign calls this the fossil fuel lawyer pipeline. Teacher training, if it covers climate at all, teaches the science of a warming planet and says little about its social and economic causes.
Three stagesHow can a profession begin to change? Our paper identifies three stages at which climate responsibility can become part of professional practice.
First, the profession needs to recognise climate change in its own terms. In medicine that has happened, with more than 200 medical journals jointly calling climate change the greatest threat to global public health. In law it is happening through pledges like Lawyers Are Responsible, whose signatories refuse work that undermines the 1.5°C warming limit agreed by the UN. Teachers can see how climate change undermines children's learning, as hot classrooms sap concentration plus storms and wildfires close schools.
Second, recognition turns into duty, because it won't automatically trigger action. The clearest case so far is in law. The Law Society, which represents solicitors in England and Wales, now tells them they have a duty to warn clients about climate risk, and advice that ignores climate looks less and less like competent advice.
Third, the duty is written into the rules and institutions a profession controls, from its codes of conduct and accreditation standards to its pension fund. This is where individual concern can become collective professional practice. That is what the Dutch GPs' elected council did when it made divestment the fund's policy. In Canada, the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons is writing planetary health, the idea that human health depends on the planet's health, into the framework that defines a competent Canadian doctor.
Where professions get stuckMost professions have stalled before the third stage. Medicine has called climate change its greatest threat for years. Yet a student-run audit of 188 health schools in 21 countries, the Planetary Health Report Card, still finds many teaching little about it. Most bar associations have yet to say whether helping to expand fossil fuel production raises any ethical question.
The same questions extend beyond medicine, law and education. Engineers, accountants, planners, social workers and police officers all work under their own codes, regulators and training requirements. Climate change threatens what each profession is there to protect. A few have started to write it into their rules.
Canada's government has set a target that by 2027, 70% of its engineers, planners, accountants and landscape architects should be able to help clients adapt to climate change. Adapting means preparing for the heat, floods and wildfires that are already here, whatever happens to emissions. Professions Advancing Adaptation Competencies is writing those skills into each profession's standards.
If you belong to a professional body, ask it three questions. Does its code of conduct mention climate change? Does the training you need to stay qualified cover it? Where is your pension invested? If the answers are no, no and don't know, our paper sets out how your profession could change them.
Aaron Thierry received studentship funding from ESRC.
Mario Veen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Four-year study warns destabilised marine food webs could jeopardise food security by 2050
Warming seas around the UK and the wider north-east Atlantic could destabilise marine food webs, weaken ocean health and jeopardise food security by 2050, according to a four-year study.
Scientists who projected the impact of climate breakdown on four key groups of marine life crucial to maintaining ocean ecosystems in the region said their results challenged assumptions that in middle latitudes, such as the UK, marine biodiversity was likely to increase across the board.
Continue reading...Liverpool: Their summer flowers provide the name and the fame, but this species is arguably at its best now
Beech mast crunches underfoot, and the occasional conker catches the sunlight, tiny beacons leading me to Camp Hill, south Liverpool, with its distant views over the Mersey estuary. Goldfinches erupt from desiccated knapweed, and a flock of pink-footed geese fly overhead. For once, the birds are not my goal, but a tree: the tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera).
Every autumn, the Camp Hill tulip tree flaunts its flamboyant presence: the Lady Gaga of the parkland. Named because its flowers resemble a tulip flower, and its leaves a tulip silhouette, few can resist its tulle lace canopy of butter-gold leaves. The luminescence is enhanced by the sheen of its leaf cuticles, and the fissured trunk adds yet more sensory impact. Yet this year there is a strangeness: instead of the golden monotone you would expect of this moment, there is a messy mix of different shades. Might the summer drought have disrupted the pigment battle between anthocyanins and carotenoids?
Continue reading...
The Club of Rome has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI) to drive knowledge and action on regeneration in Latin America.
Mariano Jabonero, Secretary-General of the Organization of Ibero-American States for Education, Science and Culture (OEI), and Silvia Zimmermann, Co-President of the Club of Rome, led the signing of this regional strategic alliance in Buenos Aires, consolidating the first initiative of the Club of Rome Latin American Network.
This agreement aims at driving a transformative socio-ecological agenda in Latin America and the Caribbean, framed within the process of strengthening and expanding the Club of Rome Latin American Network. The initiative builds upon the cooperation protocol signed during the International Conference "Thought and Action: The Path to Regeneration," held in April 2026 in Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires, October 15th, 2026 — In an institutional milestone for the region, the Secretary-General of the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), Mr. Mariano Jabonero, and the Co-President of the Club of Rome International, Silvia Zimmermann, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and a Specific Work Agreement.
Beyond Latin America, the partnership reflects the Club of Rome's wider strategy to strengthen its presence and impact across continents. The aim is to move beyond a global-first approach and build up at every scale: local, national and continental. The Club of Rome Latin American Network is the first of these continental initiatives. Led by Co-President Silvia Zimmermann, it gives members and partners a space to shape the organisation's global agenda from a Latin American perspective. Similar possibilities are now being explored in Africa. Strategic partnerships rooted in each region, such as this one with the Organization of Ibero-American States, are central to this approach.
The signing was also attended by Luis María Scasso, Director and Permanent Representative of the OEI in Argentina; Gonzalo del Castillo, Executive Director of the Argentine Chapter of the Club of Rome; Belén Bertero, Applied Research Coordinator at the Argentine Chapter of the Club of Rome; and Diego Badaloni Giner, Member of the Board of Directors of the Argentine Chapter of the Club of Rome, who accompanied the authorities during the meeting.
A cutting-edge regional project
The signing of the agreement lays the groundwork for implementing the regional project "Science, Artificial Intelligence, and Regeneration: Building a Knowledge Infrastructure for Regeneration in Latin America (2026-2028)".
The central objective of the project is to advance the development of a regional knowledge infrastructure for the socio-environmental regenerative transition in Latin America and the Caribbean by diagnosing capabilities, mobilising a multi-stakeholder network, and designing evidence-based decision-support tools.
The project will operate under the direction of the Ibero-American Observatory of Science, Technology and Society (OCTS) of the OEI and the Secretariat of The Club of Rome Latin American Network, both based in Argentina.
The joint signing between the OEI and The Club of Rome represents a fundamental step toward strengthening Latin America's own sovereign scientific-technological capabilities, seeking to reinforce the region's role as a leading engine for systems thinking and regenerative action.
The post New alliance for a regenerative Latin America appeared first on Club of Rome.
Through 2026, EVs have gained significant momentum all over the world (safe for the US), and Latin America has been no exception. Sales grew by almost 140% in the third quarter, and clock in at a very healthy 120% growth through 2026, bringing the yearly total to more than half ... [continued]
The post Latin America EV Sales Report: With Over 200,000 Units Sold in Q3, EVs Now Stand at 12% Market Share! appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Some people think Elon Musk has lost his mind. Others think he's always been a charlatan and has just had an insane amount of luck. Some people think he's a genius and that everything he touches will turn to gold. And then there's also a decent portion of folks who ... [continued]
The post Elon Musk Threw Away $474 Million (Or More) … But May Benefit From Failing appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Events that deliver about half of global rainfall are getting shorter but more intense, with wide-ranging implications
The world's wettest rainstorms produce about half of the global annual rainfall. Now a study shows that these intense downpours have become shorter in duration and fewer in number, compressing the same amount of rain into quicker and more extreme events, with implications for flood and drought risk.
Chiyuan Miao and colleagues from Beijing Normal University in China analysed daily measurements between 1980 and 2022 from more than 19,000 rain gauges around the world. They found that an average of about half of the world's rainfall fell during about nine multi-day storms, delivered over a cumulative time of about 28 days.
Continue reading...
Tesla brought home power backup to America. In Australia, an update is switching it off. North American owners just got Powershare with Powerwall. Australian owners of existing Teslas got a software update that appears to block the third-party gear they use to power their homes. It is a test case ... [continued]
The post Who Controls the Battery in Your Driveway? appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Health advocates, environmental groups, heat pump installers, local electeds celebrate decision as. SAN FRANCISCO — The Bay Area Air District voted today to move forward with the strongest clean appliance standards in the nation, putting millions of Bay Area homes on a path to switch from gas water heaters to zero-emission alternatives. ... [continued]
The post Bay Area Air District Moves Forward with Nation's Strongest Water Heater Standards appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Washington, DC — As Democrats regain control of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate, the Sierra Club today released a new legislative policy blueprint for the incoming Congress that will deliver for the American people by addressing the affordability crisis, holding polluters accountable, preserving our public lands, and ... [continued]
The post Sierra Club Releases Post-Election Congressional Policy Blueprint to Reduce Costs, Preserve Public Lands, and Make Polluters Pay appeared first on CleanTechnica.
We were promised a panacea for the climate crisis and a way to save our food system. So why is nobody firing up the chicken vats? I went to find out
On 5 August 2013, a man and a woman ate a burger. Not just any burger: a world-historic burger, made from cattle cells grown in a laboratory by Mark Post, a professor of vascular physiology at Maastricht University in the Netherlands. The burger had taken two years to produce and cost €250,000 (about £210,000 at the time), money furnished by the Google co-founder Sergey Brin. Now it was being tasted in public for the first time at Riverside Studios in London, at an event attended by 200 members of the press and livestreamed to thousands.
To make this particular burger, Post had extracted stem cells from the shoulder muscle of a living cow, then cultivated them in plastic containers filled with a nutrient-rich supplement called foetal bovine serum, which is derived from cow foetuses. The cells eventually became 20,000 strands of tissue, which in turn became a single 140g patty. Post believed that beef produced this way had the potential to dramatically reduce greenhouse-gas emissions and slow the climate crisis. Raising cattle for consumption requires massive amounts of land and water - and massive amounts of feed grown at a high environmental cost. He projected that global demand for meat would soon outstrip our ability to produce it the old-fashioned way, at which point our food systems would become unsustainable. But that didn't have to mean a mass recalibration of our consumption habits or a global shift away from red meat. Post and his team had found another way.
Continue reading...
Spain's Nabrawind has developed a way to install exceptionally tall wind turbine towers without bringing an enormous crawler crane to the site. Its Nabralift system uses a tubular upper tower supported by a three-legged steel structure. Hydraulic equipment raises the assembled turbine while modular sections are inserted below it near ... [continued]
The post Nabrawind's Crane-Free Wind Towers Face a Supplier Test appeared first on CleanTechnica.
- Why has Brazil produced a fossil-fuel 'roadmap'?
- What does the fossil-fuel roadmap say?
- How will the fossil-fuel roadmap be discussed at COP31?
Transitioning away from fossil fuels is "urgent, inevitable and, yet, possible", according to a first-of-its-kind global "roadmap" produced by Brazil.
The host of last year's climate summit, COP30, has set out a voluntary plan for how countries can move away from coal, oil and gas.
The roadmap says there is no "one-size-fits-all" approach to transitioning away from fossil fuels and asks countries to "diagnose" their own "readiness" to start the process.
After mapping out their specific circumstances, countries should then pursue "tailored levers" to take action, according to the roadmap.
These efforts should culminate by 2033, it says - 10 years on from when the COP28 climate summit in Dubai called on all countries to contribute to a global transition away from fossil fuels.
Below, Carbon Brief examines what the roadmap says and how it could influence debates about fossil fuels at the upcoming COP31 climate summit, which begins next week in Turkey.
- Why has Brazil produced a fossil-fuel 'roadmap'?
- What does the fossil-fuel roadmap say?
- How will the fossil-fuel roadmap be discussed at COP31?
Calls for a global "roadmap" away from fossil fuels dominated debates at COP30, which was held in the Amazonian city of Belém.
A group of 85 countries called for a reference to a new roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels to be part of COP30's formal negotiated outcome.
This call came the first "global stocktake" of action towards the world's climate goals at COP28 in 2023 called on all countries to contribute to transitioning away from fossil fuels.
However, another group of countries opposed such an inclusion.
It was claimed that this group included 84 countries. However, Carbon Brief's analysis of the "informal list" revealed inconsistencies and errors, meaning the total number of countries opposing the roadmap was likely smaller.
After two weeks of fierce debate, Brazil announced that the fossil-fuel roadmap would not be part of COP30's negotiated outcome - but that the presidency would work to create a roadmap outside of the UN climate process.
This roadmap is voluntary and countries are not obligated to respond to its findings.
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Support award-winning climate journalism Join CB+At COP30, the presidency also announced that the roadmap would be informed by a first-of-its-kind conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels taking place in Santa Marta, Colombia.
These talks, co-hosted by Colombia and the Netherlands in April, saw ministers and climate envoys take part in informal discussions about the barriers they face in transitioning away from fossil fuels. (See Carbon Brief's full coverage of the talks.)
As well as the fossil-fuel roadmap, Brazil has also produced a new roadmap for ending deforestation. (See Carbon Brief's in-depth breakdown of the deforestation roadmap).
What does the fossil-fuel roadmap say?The roadmap acknowledges that, after decades of delayed action on fossil fuels, the world is no longer able to meet its ambition to limit global warming to 1.5C without first "overshooting" the target.
It also notes that the global transition to clean energy is already underway - and that the policies needed for transitioning away from fossil fuels already exist and are readily deployable.
It continues, however, by saying that transitioning away from fossil fuels is "as much a development question as a climate one, especially for emerging markets and developing economies".
In this context, it sets out plans for what it calls a "Belém readiness index". This is a "voluntary self-assessment tool" that countries can use to calculate their dependency on fossil fuels and their capacity for transitioning away.
At a press briefing announcing the roadmaps, COP30 CEO Ana Toni described this as the "diagnosis" stage of the roadmap, "instead of imagining there is a one-size-fits-all answer".
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After identifying their "readiness" for transition, countries will be sorted into four "archetypes", says the roadmap, leading to the identification of specific policy "levers" for taking action.
The roadmap calls for action in three distinct "phases".
The first phase should be from now until 2028, when the second global stocktake of progress towards the Paris Agreement is due to conclude at COP33.
In this phase, "efforts focus on institutions and long-term signals", says the roadmap.
The second phase is from 2028-2030, when the next round of UN climate pledges, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs), are due.
This phase should focus on the "physical transformation of energy systems", says the roadmap.
The final phase is 2031-2033 - 10 years after the call for all countries to help with "transitioning away from fossil fuels" in "this critical decade" at COP28.
This phase should focus on the scaling up of the transition, according to the roadmap.
All of these elements are summarised in the graphic below, which was presented to journalists and civil society during a press briefing.
Credit: COP30 presidencyAt the press briefing, Toni added that each stage of the roadmap was designed to be "extremely pragmatic and easy for countries to take a look at it".
The approach has broadly been welcomed by civil society and experts.
Dr Natalie Jones, a senior policy adviser at the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), tells Carbon Brief that the roadmap sends an "important political signal that the transition away from fossil fuels remains firmly on the international agenda". She adds:
"It also gives governments practical guidance to plan that transition in ways that reflect their national circumstances, strengthen energy security and protect livelihoods."
Avantika Goswami, a climate policy expert at the Centre for Science and Environment in New Delhi, India, tells Carbon Brief that the roadmap is a "unique and consultative method of multilateralism". She says:
"[The roadmap] is one that is put forth by a developing country, via a consultative process that invited submissions from all parties and civil society.
"The analytical framework proposed captures the complexity of the fossil-fuel transition. Countries must now use it to chart out pathways in line with their historical responsibility and current capacity."
Ploy Achakulwisut, a former UN adviser on fossil fuels, wrote on LinkedIn that she was "deeply impressed" with Brazil's approach, including its use of a "readiness index". She added:
"[The index] provides a method for identifying countries that face similar transition conditions and for understanding how different exposure-capacity 'archetypes' can generate distinct implementation needs and opportunities.
"The latter can 'support more targeted international cooperation', helping the international community to align finance, technology, capacity-building, and technical assistance with country-specific needs and existing capabilities."
How will the fossil-fuel roadmap be discussed at COP31?Brazil's fossil-fuel roadmap comes just a week before the next round of UN climate talks, COP31, kicks off in Antalya, Turkey.
COP31 co-presidents Turkey and Australia have set out a wide range of priorities for the summit, including a target to increase the share of global final energy consumption met by electricity from almost 24% in 2023 to 35% by 2035.
Speaking at the press briefing, COP30 president André Aranha Corrêa do Lago said that this electrification goal was "complementary" to the aims of the fossil-fuel roadmap.
Carbon Brief understands that some parties feel that Turkey and Australia's focus on electrification over fossil fuels is an attempt to avoid a re-hashing of the lengthy debates at COP30.
Both Corrêa do Lago and Toni were reluctant to speculate on how the fossil-fuel roadmap might be taken up and discussed during COP31, with Toni telling journalists that they were "hoping for the best".
When asked about how Brazil hoped the roadmap would be received by those that specifically opposed its inclusion at COP30, Corrêa do Lago declined to address other countries directly, but said:
"Let's remind ourselves we already have a consensus [on transitioning away from fossil fuels, agreed at COP28] and we already have the instruments."
Jones tells Carbon Brief that, following on from the roadmap, the "task now is to build on that signal with action", adding:
"At COP31, more governments should announce national fossil-fuel transition roadmaps and explain how these will inform their national climate plans. The conference should also [formally] recognise the global roadmap and establish a route for its findings to inform the second global stocktake.
"For vulnerable countries dependent on fossil-fuel revenues, credible plans must be matched by international finance and support to diversify their economies and sustain public services. This roadmap can help turn a shared commitment into practical progress."
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The post Q&A: What is in the global 'roadmap' for transitioning away from fossil fuels? appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Rawpixel.com/ShutterstockEvery Bonfire Night, people pay for a box of fireworks so their friends and family can enjoy the colourful display. Within a few minutes, it's all over. But the price on the box doesn't reflect the hidden costs. The smoke inhaled by neighbours, the animals disturbed or the public services called out when things go wrong.
It's not a question about whether fireworks celebrations are enjoyable, but whether the people enjoying them are aware of - or actually paying for - their full cost. Economists call this a "negative externality". A purchase benefits the buyer and seller, but some of its costs fall on people outside that transaction. Fireworks offer a particularly visible example because the enjoyment is concentrated in time while the consequences are spread among households, public services and wildlife. As a finance researcher, I think this concept is overlooked in the fireworks debate.
Consider injuries. Figures show that 123 hospital admissions in England attributed to fireworks in 2024-25. That is not a count of everyone injured: cases treated without hospital admission are excluded. Preventing such injuries may not cut the NHS budget, but it can free clinical time for other patients. In an overstretched health service, that is an economic benefit even if it never appears as a saving in the Treasury's accounts.
Pollution creates another unpriced cost. The UK's official air-quality monitoring has recorded short-lived spikes in fine particles around Bonfire Night, although bonfires also contribute and weather affects how quickly smoke disperses. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs assigns a central estimated damage cost of £114,411 per tonne of fine particulate emissions (known as PM2.5), expressed in 2025 prices to account for inflation. This is not a figure for fireworks: calculating that would require information about their emissions and who is exposed. It does show why a product can have an environmental cost that never appears on its receipt.
Read more: Is it possible to have an eco-friendly firework display?
Nature belongs on the balance sheet
The damage is not limited to human health. In a peer-reviewed Dutch study, researchers found that approximately 1,000 times as many birds were flying during New Year's Eve fireworks as on ordinary nights. The disruption extended several miles from the displays. The exact scale cannot be transferred to British Bonfire Nights, but the finding challenges the idea that fireworks affect only those who choose to watch.
Birds forced into sudden flight expend energy and lose opportunities to rest. Pets and livestock may also be distressed. Alongside noise and smoke, spent casings and other waste leave a physical footprint. Sustainability means considering these effects, not simply asking how much carbon a celebration emits.
Yet putting nature on an economic balance sheet requires care. The value of healthy ecosystems is real, but we should not invent a monetary figure for fireworks-related wildlife damage when credible national estimates are lacking. Some effects can be quantified; others must still inform decisions even without an exact price.
The key is to ask which forms of celebration produce the most enjoyment with the least harm.
Cavan-Images/Shutterstock
The price of fireworks
Fireworks also create value. They support retailers, display organisers and cultural celebrations, including Bonfire Night, Diwali and New Year. The UK government's 2026 consultation reports that fireworks imports averaged £27 million a year from 2021 to 2024. That is the value of imports, not total industry sales and certainly not what Britain would save by banning them.
If households bought fewer fireworks, they might spend on a local community event, food or another kind of entertainment instead. They might equally save the money. There is no basis for promising that fewer fireworks would automatically increase jobs, GDP or tax receipts.
But GDP and wellbeing are not the same thing. Treating avoidable injuries and clearing pollution may involve paid work without making society better off. The relevant comparison is between the enjoyment fireworks provide and the harm, resources and opportunities their use consumes.
The practical question is not simply whether to completely ban fireworks and take the joy out of Bonfire Night. It makes more sense to ask which forms of celebration produce the most enjoyment with the least harm. Organised displays, fewer private launches, predictable timings and wildlife-sensitive locations could change that balance. Drone and laser shows might offer alternatives, but they also require electricity and equipment; their sustainability should be assessed, not assumed.
This is especially timely. The government's fireworks consultation closed in October 2026 after receiving more than 140,000 responses from members of the public, businesses, charities and other stakeholders.
Policymakers now have an opportunity to assess the social costs alongside safety, business impacts and cultural value. A credible assessment would be honest about what the evidence shows, and about the nationwide economic savings that cannot yet be calculated. Because when a fireworks celebration leaves a bill for people who never attended, its market price only tells part of the story.
Narmin Nahidi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Democrats must seize on this opportunity to take ambitious action for the climate and our democracy. Washington, DC — While votes are still being counted, election officials have called enough races that it's clear that Democrats have retaken the US House of Representatives and are expected to retake the Senate. ... [continued]
The post Sierra Club Response to Midterm Election Results appeared first on CleanTechnica.
SINGAPORE — Singapore has launched a sweeping five-year energy infrastructure plan designed to meet surging power needs driven by data centers, semiconductor fabrication and the electrification of transit. The initiative, announced by the Energy Market Authority, sets out a multi-pronged overhaul across generation, transmission, storage and regional interconnection as the ... [continued]
The post Singapore Reveals Five-Year Energy Plan to Feed Data Center, Semicon Progress appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Ministers urged to go further than proposed cut to 110 decibels to ease acute stress on birds and others animals
Campaigners are calling on the government to protect the welfare of wild animals by cutting the maximum noise level of fireworks sold to the public from 120 to 90 decibels.
The Center for Wild Animal Welfare (CWAW) has said lowering the limit to 90 decibels - which is about one-eighth of the loudness of 120 decibels - would help to protect millions of wild animals from acute stress by reducing the area over which a firework disturbs surrounding wildlife.
Continue reading...
Following this year's UN COP17 biodiversity conference, Carbon Brief's journalists hosted a livestream to explain what happened at the summit.
Carbon Brief's Orla Dwyer and Aruna Chandrasekhar have been on the ground in Yerevan, Armenia, over the past two weeks, covering the negotiations.
They were joined on the livestream by associate editors Dr Giuliana Viglione and Daisy Dunne, who were following the talks from Washington DC and London, respectively.
Carbon Brief has also published its 10,000-word explainer of COP17, which lays out the key outcomes in detail.
Membership
Support award-winning climate journalism Join CB+Orla and Aruna kicked off the livestream by explaining the biggest issues at the event, including biodiversity finance and the first "global review" of progress towards reversing nature loss.
The four journalists then took live questions from the audience in an "ask me anything" format, covering issues such as "nature-harming subsidies", marine biodiversity and the status of the Cali fund, which is meant to raise private-sector finance.
A recording of the webinar (below) is now available to watch on YouTube.
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The post CB Live: Carbon Brief's team at COP17 on the nature talks' key outcomes appeared first on Carbon Brief.
When the water in Flint, Michigan, became contaminated with dangerous levels of lead, Dr Siddhartha Roy, then a third year PhD student, was part of the team of scientists who publicly contradicted state and federal claims that it was safe. He became a local hero until a new piece of research challenged the idea that children in Flint had been left permanently brain damaged by the crisis. His adherence to the evidence, no matter who it offended, has earned him the 2026 Maddox prize, which recognises individuals who stand up for science and evidence, despite challenges or hostility. He tells Ian Sample how he reflects on his experience in Flint, and why he lost friends as a result of his work there
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Huge thanks to November's sponsor, Byron Windhorst, who has asked me to post the following:
Many of the climate articles featured here find their way to the Climate Catastrophe Group on Facebook, which covers extreme weather events and related science. We have over 4,000 members but would warmly welcome new ones, who are keen to engage and participate.
"'Not enough energy' for the world due to geopolitical tensions, says Ducab chief…
""Given the geopolitical situation and crisis worldwide, there is not enough energy for the eight billion people in the world," Mr Mellagui said. "That's why we see the crisis going through the roof.""
"US strikes Iran's Qeshm Island on eve of election.
"The US has struck Iran on the eve of crucial midterm elections, as President Donald Trump and the Republicans have struggled to defend the unpopular war against the Islamic republic on the campaign trail."
https://www.ft.com/content/ebeaca62-8958-459a-be9d-d3d39e441a53
"Iran's IRGC says four tankers ablaze after hitting mines in Hormuz Strait.
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"Hormuz Oil Flows Unlikely to Return to Pre-War Levels, Rystad Says…
""Achieving a comprehensive settlement would require addressing issues related to Iran's nuclear program, sanctions, Tehran-backed armed groups in the region, and the security of maritime shipping, while also taking into account Israel's security interests," Rystad Energy said in a report cited by Azeri news agency Trend."
"Global Diesel Crunch Set to Last Well Into 2027.
"Asia's oil import story these days is a reflection of the global oil markets—crude oil availability has significantly increased since the early summer lows and flows out of the Middle East have largely recovered, but supply of gasoline, and especially diesel, has sharply dropped since the Iran war began at the end of February."
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Crude-Oil/Global-Diesel-Crunch-Set-to-Last-Well-Into-2027.html
"Democrats have seized the House of Representatives and the Senate in a devastating double blow to President Trump that could mark the beginning of the end for the MAGA era.
"In what amounted to a political earthquake, the midterm elections saw a series of deep-red states turn blue… Voters appeared to have passed a damning judgment on Trump's inability to bring down the cost of living for ordinary Americans…"
"Global stocks slide as Democratic wins stoke fears for AI boom.
"Global stock markets tumbled as the Democratic Party swept control of both chambers of the U.S. Congress and key state governorships in the midterm elections, sparking fears that the new political landscape could lead to stricter regulations and potential moratoriums on massive artificial intelligence data center rollouts."
https://www.ft.com/content/a0b18705-3bd8-4886-992c-b6062fdec6ea
"Global financial markets were already fragile. Big AI bets could break them.
"Financial markets are struggling under the weight of wars, soaring sovereign debt and trade tensions, with signs of trouble showing across the world — from the selloff in Japanese and French bonds to plunging emerging-market currencies. Now, the one trade that helped investors remain optimistic is starting to show cracks as well."
"The Intel stock collapse is getting worse — and the $3.7 trillion chip rout is spreading…
"Zoom out and the mess gets bigger. Chip and memory stocks have lost about $3.7 trillion in market value since Oct. 6, by Yahoo Finance calculations. Nvidia lost the most in dollars, but Intel's drop of nearly half is the steepest among the giants."
"Britain faces 'substantial' threat of recession if AI boom falters.
"The UK economy faces a substantial risk of recession if the current artificial intelligence boom underperforms or experiences a sharp correction. Because a significant portion of recent global productivity projections and market valuations are tied to aggressive AI adoption, a slowdown in this sector directly threatens British growth forecasts."
"Unite to escalate strikes at Apache North Sea platforms tied to Forties Pipeline System.
"The union said a previous stoppage in late October brought all seven offshore assets involved in the dispute to a standstill. Unite warned in October that disruption at the Charlie platform could affect the Forties Pipeline System (FPS), which transports crude from more than 80 North Sea oil and gas fields and handles about 29% of Britain's oil and 30% of its gas supplies."
"Students in Denmark to protest against financial aid cuts.
"Under the banner "Enough is Enough", 11 high school and university student associations plan to gather at Copenhagen's City Hall Square from 12:30 pm (1130 GMT), before marching to parliament over the proposed cuts to free up funds for defence spending."
"French pupils resume school blockades as country braces for more protests…
"From early morning in Paris and its suburbs, as well as in cities including Lille, Toulouse and Marseille, schoolchildren demanding more replacement teachers and repairs to buildings barricaded school entrances with wheelie bins. Police officers outside some schools attempted to drag the bins away and made arrests."
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2026/nov/02/franch-students-school-blockades-protests
"France's Crisis: No Central Bank to Print Currency…
""….despite the U.S. having a worse fiscal and debt situation than France, no one expects a U.S. default. The stark contrast between the U.S., a sovereign state, and France, which is not fully independent as it is subject to ECB decisions, creates this vulnerability. The liquidity crisis stemming from this could escalate into a solvency crisis.""
https://www.chosun.com/english/market-money-en/2026/11/03/DHE5AJTHNZEHXM5RI64E3EWV7Y/
"Poland's Constitutional Crisis Has Central Bank Chief on Ropes.
"The intensifying standoff between Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government and National Bank of Poland (NBP) Governor Adam Glapiński has brought the country's broader constitutional crisis directly into its financial sphere."
"Flights Across Europe Could See Cost Soar Next Year as Airlines Face Fuel Crisis, Ryanair CEO Warns…
"Michael O'Leary said Monday that ticket prices across Europe could rise between 10% and 20% next year as carriers struggle to absorb higher fuel expenses. The warning came as the Irish budget airline reported a 15% decline in first-half profit despite carrying more passengers."
https://sg.finance.yahoo.com/news/flights-across-europe-could-cost-192617125.html
"Europe on alert after supermarket freezers hit by cyber-attacks in 10 countries.
"A spate of cyber-attacks that hit supermarket chains across at least 10 European countries on Monday has prompted European Union officials to warn of a deliberate attempt to disrupt the food supply chain… No-one has yet admitted carrying out the cyber-attacks."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwy8lm1m59mvo
"UK and European peacekeepers in Ukraine would be allowed to fire back at Russians…
"Details emerged as the UK and France set out Exercise Koalicja, which will take place later this month in Poland. It is an 11-country rehearsal of how European militaries could deploy rapidly to Ukraine if the war comes to an end."
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/nov/03/uk-european-peacekeepers-ukraine-fire-back-russians
"NATO's New Defense Plan Would Mean Strikes Deep Inside Russia…
"Top officers and officials from across the North Atlantic Treaty Organization gathered in June for the alliance's first-ever Deep Strike Symposium. Hosted by U.S. Air Force Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, NATO's top military commander, the discussions and wargame tackled a topic few attendees would have openly addressed until recently."
"Black Sea escalation is redrawing shipping's risk map.
"The Black Sea shipping war has crossed an important threshold. The question is no longer simply whether owners are prepared to send ships to Ukraine or Russia. Increasingly, it is whether they are prepared to enter substantial parts of the Black Sea at all."
"Russian strikes halt Kyiv trams as Ukraine warns of nuclear risk to Europe…
"Shmyhal said Russia had launched a massive attack overnight from Monday into Tuesday, deploying 289 drones, 17 ballistic missiles and 59 cruise missiles, with energy infrastructure once again the main target."
https://tvpworld.com/96287479/russian-strikes-halt-kyiv-trams-target-nuclear-plant-substation
"Ukraine resumes attacks on Russian oil refineries, threatening a fragile recovery in fuel supplies after months of strikes helped trigger the country's worst gasoline shortages in decades.
"Kyiv's forces struck Ufa over the weekend, home to three Rosneft PJSC refineries with combined processing capacity of about 470,000 barrels a day, as well as an industrial site in the Volga region where Lukoil PJSC's Norsi refinery is located."
"North Korea fires off 'several' missiles in latest weapons test…
"Pyongyang has ramped up weapons tests in recent months, including one of a "dispersal warhead of a strategic cruise missile" that it announced Tuesday. That announcement came just days after it said it had fired off cluster-bomb warheads for its tactical ballistic missiles."
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2026/11/04/asia-pacific/north-korea-missile-test-november-4/
"Debt fears swirling around state giant shine a light on China's post-property reality.
"As concerns over the financial health of a state-owned conglomerate rattled China's bond market over the past week, analysts said its challenges reflected the lasting toll of the country's prolonged property crisis, with local governments struggling to find sustainable alternatives beyond real estate to support their economies."
"Hong Kong Deal Boom Slows With Most IPOs Abandoned Since 2008…
"A wave of fundraising by mostly Chinese companies along the artificial intelligence supply chain has pushed Hong Kong listings proceeds above $50 billion in 2026 for just the third time in history. But dealmaking has slowed in the past three months as investors turned more cautious toward AI bets…"
"China's new nightmare: a Japanese containment arc in the Indo-Pacific…
"Japan mobilised its new Type 25 missile, with a reported 1,000km range, from Kumamoto for the system's first large-scale drill. The containment arc is no longer a concept; it has been exercised, coordinated and institutionalised under Tokyo's new Joint Operations Command."
"Fuel shortages in several regions are a stark warning that Indonesia is heading toward an energy crisis.
"After Bali and parts of Sulawesi, Kalimantan, and Sumatra, people in East Java are now struggling to obtain diesel and Pertalite gasoline. Supply shortages could spread to other regions, as quotas for these subsidized fuels are expected to run out before the end of the year."
https://en.tempo.co/read/2122885/fuel-crisis-looms
"Stranded cruise ship finally leaves Cambodia after forcing hundreds of passengers off…
"Passengers spent Tuesday unloading the last of their belongings from the vessel, and many said they did not expect to come back to the ship. "There are still many things on the ship that I wish I could take with me," said Shirine Thomas, of Wilmington, North Carolina, shortly after collecting some final items."
"Cambodia makes 'waiting villages' permanent amid border stalemate.
"Cambodia has decided to turn its six remaining waiting villages, housing about 21,000 people displaced more than a year ago by the border conflict with Thailand, into permanent settlements. About 10,000 of those still living in the camps are women, and 6,000 are children."
https://www.ucanews.com/amp/cambodia-makes-waiting-villages-permanent-amid-border-stalemate/115992
"China and India achieved diplomatic thaw. Now the Arunachal border is flaring up again…
"The disputed China-India border runs through a remote mountainous region. Throughout the decades, clashes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border, have repeatedly triggered security crises between the world's two most populous nations."
"Afghan-Pakistan conflict hindering Central-South Asian trade.
"Central Asian trade with Pakistan is struggling to gain traction, underscored by Kazakhstan's downward revision of its annual bilateral trade turnover target with Islamabad. The ongoing conflict between Afghanistan and Pakistan is the main factor hindering inter-regional commerce between Central and South Asia."
https://eurasianet.org/afghan-pakistan-conflict-hindering-central-south-asian-trade
"Israeli claims of Iran chemical weapons threat divide US officials…
"sraeli intelligence allegations that Iran may be preparing to use chemical weapons against its adversaries have sparked debate within the U.S. administration, with officials questioning both the reliability of the claims and Israel's intentions in raising the alarm, The New York Times reported Tuesday."
"Iranian television broadcasts urgent instructions to citizens on how to protect themselves against a potential nuclear strike…
"The guidance urged the implementation of urgent preventive measures to mitigate the impact of blast waves and reduce the risks of radioactive contamination. It also emphasized the necessity of being fully prepared to remain inside shelters or other safe locations for at least 24 consecutive hours."
"Airstrikes reveal fragile Jordan-Syria security partnership.
"Jordanian airstrikes that killed 10 people in southern Syria on 26 October have brought relations between Damascus and Amman to their most critical point since Assad's fall."
"Lebanon cuts power to public bodies as electricity crisis deepens.
"Lebanon's Ministry of Energy and Water has begun shutting down the supply of electricity to approximately 100 public institutions that have outstanding bill payments, according to local media. The decision, which began to take effect on Monday, marks a further escalation in Energy Minister Joe Saddi's dispute with the government."
"UN warns Gaza waste collection crippled by Israeli restrictions…
"Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told a news conference that "partners supporting the collection of solid waste warn that only half of their vehicle fleet is operational… "That's because of persistent Israeli restrictions on the entry of enough engine oil and spare parts required to keep the vehicles running.""
"Aden Faces Severe Crisis as Gas Shortages Paralyze Transport and Daily Life [Yemen].
"The suspension of gas supply trucks and the closure of refueling stations have crippled public transportation, leaving commuters, students, and employees stranded at transit hubs. Local sources report that the scarcity of gas has forced many public transport operators off the roads."
https://www.khabaragency.net/news255265.html
"Houthis claim Saudi airport, airbase attacks, '3 drones intercepted'.
"The Saudi-led coalition said on Tuesday it had intercepted three drones targeting Saudi territory, one of them over the western Mecca region, while Yemen's Houthi group said it had launched drone and ballistic missile attacks on an airport and an airbase in southwestern Saudi Arabia."
https://www.chinadailyasia.com/hk/article/642226
"Israel deepens Somaliland ties with first ambassador, testing Horn of Africa balance…
"Diplomat Michael Lotem presented his credentials in Hargeisa, while officials laid the cornerstone for an Israeli embassy. The ceremony, announced by Israel's foreign ministry on Sunday, formalised a relationship that began with mutual recognition in December."
"Violence in northern Ethiopia pushing health system towards collapse…
"Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus reported in a statement released on Monday that the conflict between rebels from the northern Tigray region and the government in Addis Ababa had killed several civilians in recent days and strained medical facilities."
"Deadly RSF drone attacks reveal deep divisions between Sudan and Ethiopia.
"The Sudanese government's allegations that Ethiopia is behind a deadly wave of unmanned aerial assaults belie a deep and longstanding rift between the two countries, which threatens to intensify internal conflicts in both."
"'This petrol station is my home now': Malawi's fuel crisis forces desperate drivers to queue for days…
"Sombeja chews on a cold piece of fried mandazi - a doughy snack that has been the only food available. The Meru petrol station is no longer just a place of transit; it has transformed into a makeshift village of drivers in parked vehicles. In these queues, strangers form uneasy alliances."
https://www.aol.co.uk/articles/petrol-station-home-now-malawi-050002000.html
"Niger Imports Algerian Fuel by Tanker Truck to Ease Gasoline Shortage.
"Niger received a convoy of tanker trucks from Algeria in Agadez on Sunday, November 1, 2026. The country is seeking to contain a gasoline shortage after banning exports of super gasoline and diesel… According to Sonatrach, the fuel comes from the Adrar refinery, located in Sbaa, in Adrar wilaya."
https://energynews.pro/en/niger-imports-algerian-fuel-by-tanker-truck-to-ease-gasoline-shortage
"Western Sahara conflict risks 'escalation' as UN mission ends…
"UN peacekeepers are wrapping up a 35-year mission in the disputed territory of Western Sahara after the Security Council failed to renew their mandate, in a development that analysts warned could lead to open conflict between Morocco and Algeria."
https://www.ft.com/content/c2b2a523-da80-496e-9d5f-c17802ee2eb3
"El Salvador's President Takes a High-Stakes Gamble Confronting Haitian Gangs…
"What began as a targeted effort by President Nayib Bukele to locate four missing Salvadoran military-aviation technicians has rapidly expanded into a high-stakes, full-scale military campaign aimed at confronting the heavily armed gangs that dominate the Caribbean nation."
"Colombia bombing leaves four dead, including a baby…
"The bomb attack Sunday night in the western town of Planadas in Tolima department came as new right-wing President Abelardo de la Espriella steps up military operations against the country's drug-trafficking leftist insurgents. The rebels have in turn kept up attacks of their own…"
https://www.surinametimes.com/artikel/colombia-bombing-leaves-four-dead-including-a-baby
"Brazil's Farm Debt Crisis Puts Global Suppliers and China Trade Under Pressure.
"The reelection of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva on October 25, 2026, has intensified uncertainty across Brazil's agricultural sector as record loan delinquencies and expensive credit threaten investment and international supply chains."
https://www.agrolatam.com/usa/news/brazil-farm-debt-crisis-global-suppliers-china-trade/
"Paraguay Central Bank Chief Resigns After Ueno Bank Collapse.
"Paraguay's central bank chief Carlos Carvallo has resigned following the collapse and permanent closure of Ueno bank, a crisis that has prompted the arrest of eight senior executives, exposed major public pension investments and disrupted electronic payments across the country."
https://www.telesurenglish.net/paraguay-central-bank-chief-resigns/
"Hedge funds warn of growing private credit risks as rates stay high…
"…some of the world's biggest hedge funds warn that risks are increasing in private credit as rising interest rates reshape conditions across the asset class. Tony Yoseloff, chief investment officer of Davidson Kempner Capital Management… points to higher interest rates, slowing business growth and a wall of debt coming due in 2027 and 2028."
"Insurers Didn't Learn From the Financial Crisis… In the past few weeks, a chorus of industry insiders has gathered to warn that insurers can be just as myopic about the long-term consequences of global heating as the most oblivious denier.
"For short-term profits, insurance companies are sacrificing the future well-being of their customers, the planet and ultimately themselves, these whistleblowers warn, with behavior echoing that of mortgage lenders before the 2008 financial crisis."
As a reader-funded publication, your one time and regular donations help keep this site going. If you value this work, please share it far and wide and consider a Patreon subscription or a one time Paypal donation. You can also support this work by buying a virtual coffee. Thank you!
You can read the previous "Economic" thead here. I'll be back tomorrow with a "Climate" thread.
The post 4th November 2026 Today's Round-Up of Economic News appeared first on Climate and Economy.
Researchers find the birds' guano feeds algal blooms that absorb significantly more solar energy
Penguin poo is making the Antarctic snow melt faster, a study shows. As temperatures rise, penguins are waddling closer to the south pole, with potential for this previously unrecognised phenomenon to affect a wider area.
Snow algae are tiny single-celled plants that make a home in some of the coldest places on Earth. When nutrients are scarce, the algae produces red pigments to protect itself from the sun and slow growth.
Continue reading...Frome, Somerset: Dippers and fritillaries and pink campion … there is a deep satisfaction in accumulating associations with a regular haunt
Enchantment surely fills the eyes of first-time visitors who come upon this little stone bridge over the stream. Do they marvel at the judgment of hands in building, wedding rock with rock, face against face? Do they arrive on a brighter morning than this, one on which sunbeams chase each other under the arch and cast sparkling reflections of water on the underside? Does their pulse quicken watching the brook breaking out of its tunnel and skittering over the pebbled bed, hastening through even in times of sluggish drought?
Me? I see a bird that isn't there.
Continue reading...
Nearly 50 years after the Club of Rome warned of a "human gap" between humanity's power to transform reality and its capacity to understand the consequences, Constellations of Hope explores how education can help close that gap.
90 authors from 25 countries across 5 continents document evidence of transformation already underway. They work in Himalayan farming communities, Indigenous-led networks in the Amazon, Scottish Highland communities and engineering classrooms in South Africa. Their work shows learning that is changing how people act.
"For decades, environmental educators fought for opening another way of learning, ploughing the waves of complexity. Constellations of Hope says: your commitment has been fruitful, you are not alone. We want to prove that transformation is not a future aspiration; it is current practice." - Mario Salomone, Secretary-General of World Environmental Education Congress Network (WEEC) and one of the editors of the book.
Published today, Constellations of Hope, a report to the Club of Rome, is the first publication from No Limits to Hope, an initiative by The Fifth Element and WEEC. The book showcases transformative learning practices that challenge conventional education and point towards regenerative futures.
Learning already underwayIn many places, this way of learning is part of daily life. In South Africa, Mphatheleni Makaulule, custodian of Dzomo la Mupo, describes what it looks like on the ground: "Our work balances indigenous knowledge with Western scientific approaches, promoting a green circular economy that weaves together many ways of knowing. We teach and learn through doing, in nature's classroom."
Ana Rosa de Lima, Founder and Director of the Meli Bees Network in the Amazon, articulates the deeper shift this represents: "Education for this new era must reintroduce humans into nature as participants: curious, creative and in reciprocity with life. This is not about returning to an idealised past, but about remembering a truth modernity has tried to forget: that learning is a relational, embodied, restorative force."
This is the essence of what contributors to Constellations of Hope document throughout the collection. Knowledge that is born from communities working directly with the land and with each other. Educators and learners are already showing what becomes possible when pedagogy shifts from extraction to reciprocity.
A conversation, not a conclusionConstellations of Hope is not a manual or a claim that systemic transformation has already been achieved. Rather, it gathers signs that transformation is being attempted, in many ways, in many places and by many people, often quietly and against significant odds.
"Our greatest challenge is not the crises themselves, but the widespread illusion of our own insignificance. What this book proves is that hope is not a passive feeling; it is an active tool for those who refuse that illusion and insist that education systems can become adaptive, life-generating forces. That refusal is where change begins." - Carlos Álvarez Pereira, Secretary General of the Club of Rome and co-editor of Constellations of Hope.
The book invites educators, learners, practitioners, policymakers and community organisers into an ongoing conversation about what learning needs to become if it is to meet the scale of the crises facing humanity.
Read Constellations of Hope free online or order a hard copyIn English:
Read onlineBUY A HARD COPY
Also available in Romanian:
READ ONLINE
The post Constellations of Hope: New book shares evidence of learning transformation appeared first on Club of Rome.
Mink farms are the perfect petri dishes for deadly flu strains to emerge. Yet officials appear to be protecting business interests over human lives
Could this be ground zero? Could it be the spot where the next pandemic begins? It's certainly a candidate, not least because the chain of events that could trigger a plague far worse than Covid-19 looks like the opening sequence of a disaster movie. A really bad disaster movie, in which the levels of carelessness and turpitude defy belief.
A report by the investigative news service ProPublica reveals that bird flu has been raging in a mink farm in Utah since August, and it appears next to nothing has been done by public officials. In 2023, I warned in the Guardian that mink farms could scarcely be better designed to generate lethal plagues. This is for three reasons: mink are fed on the offcuts of chickens, cows and other farm animals, in which new viral variants often develop; mink readily host both avian and human flu viruses, which can then exchange genetic material, turning a bird disease into a human one; and mink possess extremely high "zoonotic potential" - the ability to infect animals of other species, including human beings.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...
Mink farms are the perfect petri dishes for deadly flu strains to emerge. Yet officials appear to be protecting business interests over human lives
Could this be ground zero? Could it be the spot where the next pandemic begins? It's certainly a candidate, not least because the chain of events that could trigger a plague far worse than Covid-19 looks like the opening sequence of a disaster movie. A really bad disaster movie, in which the levels of carelessness and turpitude defy belief.
A report by the investigative news service ProPublica reveals that bird flu has been raging in a mink farm in Utah since August, and it appears next to nothing has been done by public officials. In 2023, I warned in the Guardian that mink farms could scarcely be better designed to generate lethal plagues. This is for three reasons: mink are fed on the offcuts of chickens, cows and other farm animals, in which new viral variants often develop; mink readily host both avian and human flu viruses, which can then exchange genetic material, turning a bird disease into a human one; and mink possess extremely high "zoonotic potential" - the ability to infect animals of other species, including human beings.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
Continue reading...
Farmers in Gurez store their harvests underground to last the Himalayan winter. As the practice fades, local varieties and handed-down skills are disappearing too
Hajra Begum rolls a potato in her hands, checking its skin for cuts, soft spots and signs of rot. After a day harvesting in her family's field in Chorwan, a remote mountain village in Gurez, Indian-administered Kashmir, she is sorting the crop for winter storage. Some of the potatoes will feed her family through the cold months; others will be saved for planting in spring.
"It should be perfect for planting," she says. "If you keep a bad potato, you will waste the whole next year."
Continue reading...We are raiding the Guardian long read archives to bring you some classic pieces from years past, with new introductions from the authors
This week, from 2023: A year ago, Germany's vice-chancellor was one of the country's best-liked public figures. Then came the tabloid-driven backlash. Now he has to win the argument all over again
By Philip Oltermann. Read by Sam Peter Jackson
Support the Guardian today: theguardian.com/longreadpod
Continue reading...
NIO's October sales were nothing like XPENG's. Rather than soaring to record heights, they drooped. Rather than surpassing 50,000 sales (something NIO is yet to do and XPENG has done only this once), NIO scored 34,246 vehicle deliveries, the company's lowest delivery total since April. Nonetheless, that brought the company's ... [continued]
The post NIO's October Sales Meh, But 2026 Sales Up 38.5% appeared first on CleanTechnica.
XPENG had a fantabulous sales month in October. We can give you the numbers, but as you can see well enough in the chart above and below, the company's sales soared to a whole new level last month. Reaching 50,237 vehicle deliveries, that meant 22% sales growth month over month ... [continued]
The post XPENG Sales Soar! appeared first on CleanTechnica.
Oahu is a unique place. It's the home of one of the largest clean tech incubators in the world, Elemental Impact, for a reason. Exorbitantly high electricity rates combined with ample natural resources make it an incredible laboratory to bring clean tech solutions to market. Rapid investment for WWII created ... [continued]
The post How does Oahu get to an economically resilient, 100% clean energy future? appeared first on CleanTechnica.
EV heavy trucks hit 50.3% market share in China for September, with sales up 34% from a year ago. Long-haul big rig market share hit 64.5%. China is on track to have over 40% EV market share for the entire year, reaching their 2030 goal in a matter of months. ... [continued]
The post China Truck Sales Now Majority Electric. What's Next? appeared first on CleanTechnica.
A new report models emissions from different on-site methane generation power scenarios to show potential impacts on the people of Utah and residents of multiple downwind states. Canadian businessman and television personality "Mr. Wonderful" (aka Kevin O'Leary) and his businesses have proposed the Stratos data center in Box Elder County, ... [continued]
The post Stratos Data Center Will Emit Air Pollution That's Linked to Premature Deaths and Health Economic Damages for Utah & States Downwind appeared first on CleanTechnica.
As the world is on track to exceed 1.5 degrees Celsius of global warming, climate action must double down but also go beyond emissions cuts to prioritize adaptation, respond to loss and damage, and confront growing inequality. For decades, climate policy has been dominated by a central question: How do ... [continued]
The post Overshoot Demands a New Era of Adaptation, Loss & Damage, and Climate Justice appeared first on CleanTechnica.
White Sands Missile Range celebrated the launch of an on-site, solar-enabled microgrid last year, and the facility has already begun planning for another microgrid with solar power.
The post If The US Department Of Defense Gets Solar Power, Why Can't We? appeared first on CleanTechnica.
MPs and leading UK think tanks have received major sums from U.S. benefactors - often with ties to U.S. President Donald Trump - since the 2024 general election, DeSmog can reveal.
Six MPs, including Reform UK leader Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, have collectively accepted £335,000 for attending official Trump events and donor meetings, or gatherings held by right-wing U.S. groups.
Meanwhile, seven conservative policy groups in the UK have received at least $3.1 million (£2.3 million) from U.S. sources since 2024, and $20.4 million (£15.2 million) since 2016, the year of Trump's first presidential election.
These revelations come as Trump's Republican Party faces an uphill battle in today's Midterm elections, with the Democrats vying to win control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Trump's poll numbers have hit new lows with more than two-thirds of U.S. voters disapproving of the president's handling of the cost of living amid a surge in gas prices due to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran.
Trump is also unpopular in the UK and across Europe, with 85 percent of Brits saying they have an unfavourable view of the U.S. president.
Yet his administration has been openly attempting to fund its allies in Europe. According to The Guardian, the State Department has allocated $15 million (£11.2 million) to three conservative groups in the UK. These grants form part of a "slush fund" to boost likeminded organisations across Europe, with up to $3 million (£2.2 million) reportedly available to those focused on "developing civilizational bonds" and "defending rule of law".
DeSmog's analysis has found that, in addition to these planned donations by the Trump administration, millions have been poured into UK democracy by U.S. donors in recent years.
Right-wing think tanks to have received funding from U.S. donors since 2024 have included Policy Exchange ($1.1 million), the Henry Jackson Society ($955,000), the Institute of Economic Affairs ($609,000), the Global Warming Policy Foundation ($222,000), Prosperity Institute ($137,000), the Adam Smith Institute ($51,000), and the Academy of Ideas ($5,000).
In 2024, the Adam Smith Institute and Academy of Ideas received £50,000 and £4,965 respectively from the Prometheus Institute - a philanthropic foundation founded by Carl Barney, who donated over $1.6 million to Republican and pro-Trump campaigns during the 2024 election, including more than $900,000 to the Trump 47 Committee - making him one of California's top pro-Trump donors during the race.
Six MPs have also received substantial payments from prominent U.S. conservative groups.
Farage has received £69,126 in income and £153,101 in expenses for attending 10 events - including over £32,000 to campaign for Trump during the 2024 presidential election campaign, and £27,000 to attend events during Trump's inauguration in January 2025. Both trips were funded by crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne, who has financial ties to the White House.
Reform MP Suella Braverman, who defected to the party in January, has received £23,664 in expenses for attending four U.S. events, including delivering a speech in January 2025 at the Heritage Foundation - the group behind Project 2025, the radical right-wing blueprint for Trump's second term. Braverman attended these events while she was a Conservative MP.
Farage, who is the only MP to have accepted speaking fees for some of the U.S. events, has come under intense pressure for his relationship with Trump. The Reform leader has labelled the president the "single most resilient and bravest person I've ever met in my life", and has frequently called for Trump's policies to be replicated in the UK - including the mass expansion of domestic fossil fuel production, the creation of a new immigration deportation agency, and unleashing the crypto industry.
"The continuing influx of overseas funding for UK think tanks, especially through opaque transatlantic networks, poses urgent questions for the government over how to safeguard our democracy against the risks of foreign interference," said Tim Picton, senior advocacy advisor at Spotlight on Corruption,
"This funding can have a significant influence on our political discourse, but largely falls outside of the regulated sphere we currently have in place."
All the MPs and think tanks named in this article were approached for comment.
The MPsA number of Conservative MPs have also been paid to attend right-wing U.S. events in recent years.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Tom Tugendhat, who was appointed to the role in August, has received £49,000 in flights and accommodation since April 2025 to attend several meetings organised by the Hudson Institute, a conservative group based in Washington DC, at which he is a 'distinguished fellow'.
Badenoch also received over £23,000 in expenses to speak at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University in October 2025. The Tory leader has regularly praised Trump - claiming in February 2025 that he was "fixing" America's problems. Like Reform, the Conservatives have proposed introducing an immigration 'Removals Force' modelled on the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, while Badenoch supported Trump's bombing campaign in Iran.
The three groups already allocated money through the Trump administration's European slush fund are also run by high-profile Conservatives.
The Guardian reported in July that $7 million (£5.2 million) had been allocated to 878, which describes itself as a new "leading British and American think tank" devoted to "the rediscovery of our ancient culture" and "ending mass immigration". The group lists its founding directors as Jacob Rees-Mogg, the former Conservative MP and Cabinet minister, and his former adviser Radomir Tylecote.
Former Conservative MP and Cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg. Credit:
Simon Dawson / No 10 Downing Street (CC BY-2.0)
A reported $5 million has also been set aside for Free Speech Union International - the global offshoot of the Free Speech Union (FSU), a legal advocacy group run by Conservative peer Toby Young, who told The Guardian that its international branch had "expressed interest in applying for grant funding from the U.S. State Department" but that it had not yet been awarded the money.
Young reiterated this claim when approached by DeSmog.
The FSU is also already known to have received funding from U.S. sources. As first reported by Democracy for Sale, its now-defunct U.S. arm received money from a charity linked to a prominent anti-abortion lawyer.
An additional $3 million allocation from the State Department slush fund has reportedly been made to the Jobs Foundation for a programme called 'Countering Overregulation to Advance American Investment'. Conservative peer Matthew Elliott, who led the official Vote Leave Brexit campaign, is the president of the Jobs Foundation, which is a pro-business advocacy group.
"If this money is being used to fulfill a specific direction from the U.S. State Department, there is a legal obligation for these organisations to declare this to the Home Office's Foreign Influence Registration Scheme under national security laws," Picton said.
The Think TanksSignificant payments have also been made from U.S. donors to UK think tanks in recent years.
DeSmog's analysis has found that right-wing think tanks have accepted over $20.4 million from U.S. benefactors since 2016, often via their American fundraising wings, and $3 million since 2024.
Much of this money flows from U.S.-based donor advised funds (DAFs) - entities that keep the original source of funding hidden from public view. DAFs such as the Vanguard Charitable Endowment Programme, the National Philanthropic Trust, and Donor Advised Charitable Giving have been used to give money to right-wing UK think tanks in recent years - which has obscured the identities of some donors.
However, some are publicly disclosed. For example, the New York-based Achelis and Bodman Foundation gave $75,000 (£56,000) to the American Friends of the GWPF in 2024 - the entity that accepts donations from U.S. sources on behalf of the Global Warming Policy Foundation, one of the UK's principal climate science denial groups. The Achelis and Bodman Foundation also donates to the likes of the Heritage Foundation and the Hudson Institute.
Several UK conservative think tanks use 'friends of' groups to channel donations across the Atlantic. Last year, American Friends of Policy Exchange, belonging to the influential Westminster think tank, accepted $50,000 (£37,000) from the Florida-based Swordspoint Foundation, which is run by Trump donor Robert Bishop.
55 Tufton Street. Credit: R4vi, CC-BY-SA-2.0
In 2024, the IEA accepted up to $189,000 (£141,000) for research and study programmes from the Cherish Freedom Foundation - a group historically funded by Robert Mercer, a major donor to right-wing groups and campaigns whose family gave $25.5 million to Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The Institute of Economic Affairs has previously received money from fossil fuel majors including BP, ExxonMobil, and Shell, as well as from the U.S.-Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
The IEA told DeSmog that it does not accept money from government sources and that it does not take donations "in exchange for research".
These groups have also frequently echoed Trump's narratives. The campaign director of Net Zero Watch, the lobbying arm of the GWPF, appeared on Murdoch-owned TalkTV in March and declared that "Trump is absolutely right to say that windmills [sic], and our mad policies on North Sea oil and gas, are making our energy more expensive."
Meanwhile, in February 2024, Policy Exchange senior fellow Edward Stringer wrote an opinion piece for The Telegraph entitled: "Trump is right. Defenceless Europe can no longer freeload off America".
Almost all of these UK groups belong to the Tufton Street network, a right-wing alliance based in Westminster that lobbies to dismantle state services and privatise public bodies. Its members share an opposition to climate action, and they have spent decades attempting to undermine policies designed to reduce emissions. As revealed by Democracy for Sale, the U.S. funding to some of these groups has increased by 29 percent from 2024 to 2025.
Tufton Street donors also closely overlap with the Conservative Party. As reported by DeSmog and Democracy for Sale in June 2024, Tory benefactors had gifted over £6.8 million to Tufton Street think tanks since 2019.
The Atlantic BridgeThere has also been a concerted attempt in recent years to build transatlantic right-wing networks to share policies, campaign strategies, and narratives.
One of the most prominent has been the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship (ARC), which holds an annual conference in London featuring thousands of attendees.
ARC is fronted by conservative commentator Jordan Peterson and run by Baroness Philippa Stroud, a Conservative member of the House of Lords. It's the brainchild of the Legatum Group, a Dubai-based investment firm, and the hedge fund manager Paul Marshall - the co-owners of the radical right-wing broadcaster GB News, which employs Farage as a presenter.
Marshall is also a key funder of ARC, having given £3 million to the group since its creation in 2023. As revealed by DeSmog and Unearthed, this year's conference was sponsored by Reform mega-donor and crypto billionaire Ben Delo, Tory and Reform donor Anthony Bamford, and a number of U.S. funders - including fossil fuel companies and executives - that have donated to Trump and the Republican Party.
Speakers at the conference included senior U.S. politicians - notably Trump's energy secretary Chris Wright, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Sarah Rogers, who is overseeing the State Department's European slush fund. They spoke alongside UK figures who have been forging close ties, both financial and political, to Trump's America - including Farage, Badenoch, Elliott, and Young.
President Donald Trump and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage at CPAC in 2018. Credit:
Shealah Craighead / White House (Public domain)
Among the attendees were dozens of parliamentarians, corporate executives, and right-wing think tanks including the Heritage Foundation, Adam Smith Institute, TaxPayers' Alliance, and Prosperity Institute.
A key theme of the conference is criticism of global climate policies, with Marshall claiming in his 2025 ARC speech that the world has been infected by a "climate derangement syndrome". He claimed that "our economic prosperity and our people's livelihoods" are being sacrificed "all for the sake of making some fractional changes to the level of CO2 in the atmosphere".
Also in attendance at this year's ARC event was Samuel Samson of the State Department, who has reportedly been "at the forefront" of the Trump administration's "effort to reshape America's relationship with Europe".
MPs have registered complimentary tickets to ARC worth at least £6,900 since 2024. The FSU has also reportedly received funding from ARC and Reform donor Delo, who owns a venue in Westminster that serves as a hub for various right-wing groups and content creators.
Another influential pro-Trump network has also been imported into the UK in recent months: the Conservative Political Action Committee (CPAC), which hosted its inaugural London event in July.
CPAC GB is chaired by former Conservative prime minister Liz Truss, while the event was headlined by Farage - despite the Reform leader suggesting beforehand that he would be "steering well clear" of the summit.
CPAC GB promised to bring together "global heavyweights" of the international right, and featured Young, Rees-Mogg, Tylecote, The Telegraph's Allison Pearson, Reform's Matthew Goodwin, broadcaster Mike Graham, and U.S. activist Jack Posobiec.
Farage has also helped to import an influential U.S. climate science denial group, the Heartland Institute, to the UK. The Reform leader was the keynote speaker at the launch of the Heartland Institute's UK-EU branch in December 2024, months after advising the group to set up a satellite in Europe.
Heartland Institute UK-EU director Lois Perry claims to be advising the party on its climate agenda and is the strategy director of Reform Friends of Israel - a lobbying group within the party.
Farage has also been forging ties with Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) - a powerful legal advocacy group that led the campaign to overturn Roe v Wade, the landmark ruling that protected the constitutional right to abortion in the United States.
ADF's UK branch spent over £1.4 million on its activities in 2025, more than three times higher than in 2020. Farage has not only appeared on promotional materials put out by the ADF, but according to the New York Times the group orchestrated a visit by Reform's leader to Washington DC in September 2025, during which he testified to Congress.
ADF has also reportedly arranged backroom meetings between Farage and State Department officials on their visits to London, and as recently reported by the iPaper, the Reform leader has accepted more than £83,000 in earnings, accommodation, and flights from groups that support the anti-abortion movement, many of which are featured above.
The post Millions of Dollars Pouring into UK Democracy from Trump's America appeared first on DeSmog.
A pro-AI data center group purchased at least $2.54 million worth of television ads that ran recently in Ohio, a new DeSmog analysis reveals. The group, Build American AI, is linked to Leading the Future, a major AI industry super PAC backed by Silicon Valley billionaires.
The ads extolled the economic benefits of Ohio's data center boom, one of the hottest issues in the state's Senate election, but did not endorse either candidate in the race: Trump-aligned Republican incumbent Jon Husted, who was appointed by Governor Mike DeWine to serve out Vice President J.D. Vance's term, and former three-term Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown.
"When some people hear data centers they picture computers and servers," says one Build American AI ad. "But we see something different: electricians, engineers, manufacturers." The ad states that data centers have brought more than $40 billion in investments and created over 95,000 jobs in Ohio.
"The future won't be built by politicians or special interests," states the ad, "It'll be built by American workers right here in Ohio."
The ads appeared on at least 16 Ohio television stations between September 7 and October 21, according to Build American AI's filings with the Federal Communications Commission, which described them as "non-candidate issue ads."
A still from one of Building American AI's pro-data-center ad campaign in Ohio during the race for Senate between Republican Jon Husted and Democrat Sherrod Brown. Credit: Via Google Ads Transparency Center.
Build American AI ordered at least $2.5 million in ads in Ohio, $1.5 million in ads in Wisconsin and $1.1 million in Kansas between September 7 and October 24, according to DeSmog's analysis. Jesse Hunt, the group's head of communications, confirmed that the group is spending over $5 million in the three states, but did not comment on the exact amounts.
Build American AI has been described by Politico as a "subsidiary" of Leading the Future, a super PAC which was formed last year to promote AI industry interests. Leading the Future has emerged as a major player in 2026 election cycle — backing both Democratic and Republican candidates in primary races earlier this year.
The super PAC has received about $125.79 million in contributions during the 2026 midterm election cycle as of October 29, according to Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings. Most of that came from a handful of donors: $25 million each in individual contributions from tech venture capitalists Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, $50 million from their venture fund Andreessen Horowitz, also called a16z, and $12.5 million each from OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman and his wife Anna Brockman.
OpenAI is part of a joint venture with SoftBank, Nvidia, the U.S. Department of Energy, and other partners to build a mammoth data center complex on federal land in Pike County, Ohio. The project would include an on-site gas-fired power plant designed to produce 9.1 gigawatts of power — larger than any gas-fired power plant currently operating worldwide, and enough to power about 7 million homes.
OpenAI's investors include the Andreessen Horowitz venture capital fund. OpenAI's energy chief is John McCarrick, who as an energy official in Trump's first administration promoted exports of U.S. liquefied natural gas to Europe following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and advocated for Asian countries to invest in natural gas.
Andreessen Horowitz did not respond to a request for comment.
OpenAI did not respond to DeSmog's request for comment on the Brockmans' personal donations to Leading the Future, or its stance on using gas-fired power for its data centers.
In August 2025, OpenAI co-founder and president Greg Brockman posted on X that he and his wife, Anna Brockman, were "supporting" the Leading the Future superPac to advocate for "a balanced view" of AI policy, "which we think of as optimistic realism, towards achieving AI's benefits." Credit: @gdb account on X
Marc Andreessen is also a board member of tech giant Meta, which is building "Prometheus," a massive data center in New Albany, Ohio, about 15 miles northeast of state capital Columbus. The partially-built computing complex runs on natural-gas turbines — and is designed to scale to one gigawatt, enough to power about 800,000 homes.
These projects are among dozens of proposed data center projects in Ohio, which is strategically positioned atop part of the Marcellus Shale, the biggest gas field in the U.S.
The AI boom is on track to worsen the climate crisis, which is on the verge of passing the key 1.5 degree Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) limit on global heating that nations set in the 2015 Paris Agreement.
Based on current trends, the energy demand of new U.S. data centers could increase the nation's carbon emissions by 24 to 44 million metric tons a year between 2024 and 2030, according to a recent study published in the journal Nature Sustainability — equivalent to the tailpipe emissions from an additional 5 to 10 million additional gasoline-burning cars.
Marc Andreessen recently called the climate crisis "over" in a post on X, and has praised fracking as an "incredibly positive outcome" of energy industry research and development.
"Energy should be in an upward spiral," wrote Andreessen in his "Techno-Optimist Manifesto" in 2023. "The more energy we have, the more people we can have, and the better everyone's lives can be."
Both he and Horowitz have each contributed at least $3,500 to Husted's re-election campaign since late 2025, according to FEC filings.
Mark Andreessen responded sarcastically in June to an X post by French economist Thomas Piketty about unequal wealth and the climate crisis: "SMH the climate crisis is over, Greta has pivoted to Palestine, and the rest of us are panicking over data centers. Do keep up." Credit: @pmarca account on X.
Build American AI's ads appeared after Sherrod Brown's campaign ran a series of ads branding Husted "the face of data centers in Ohio" and lambasted him for supporting multi-billion-dollar, greenhouse-gas spewing data center developments as well as for handing out tax breaks for data center developers.
Brown's campaign spent $2.4 million on ads criticizing Husted's support for data centers as of late August, according to political ad spending tracker AdImpact.
The ads caught the attention of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which sent out a memo in mid-August to "interested parties" about "Ohio's data center risk," as first reported by Axios. The memo warned that Brown's opposition to data centers had turned the issue into "the anchor hanging around Husted's neck" that could get him voted out of office. "The companies that need these projects built have to fix how Ohioans see them: who benefits, who pays, and why a community should want one," the memo stated — the themes of Build American AI's TV ad campaign.
Sixty-three percent of Ohioans oppose AI data centers, according to a recent poll by The New York Times. As of September, the state has over 125 local data center moratoriums in place, as well as 21 ballot measures across 16 counties targeting data center construction, the most of any state. "People who would wave at their neighbors that they've seen for 10 years but never have spent the time on their porches" are "looking past partisan differences to fight for their communities," Nick Owens, an attorney in rural Ohio, told DeSmog. Owens, who said he is a Republican, volunteers with the campaign Conserve Ohio, which is seeking to ban large-scale data centers in the state.
Looking ahead, local community groups in Ohio are attempting to gather 413,000 signatures needed to put a statewide data center moratorium on the ballot in 2027.
"Grassroots people who frankly have one hundredth the level of funds [of tech leaders] are battling these fights," said Owens. "It's really David versus Goliath, but the righteous people in this case, I believe, will prevail: the people who live in their communities."
The post Revealed: Pro-AI Data Center Group Spending At Least $2.54M on TV Ads to Influence Ohio Election appeared first on DeSmog.
California startup Voya Energy announced a $35 million financing round in August 2026 for generators that use prepared scrap aluminum, air and water to produce electricity without combustion. Its immediate opportunity includes replacing diesel backup equipment at data centres, where exhaust, noise and permitting can be genuine obstacles. The company ... [continued]
The post Aluminum-Air Generators for Data Centres Face a Metal Logistics Test appeared first on CleanTechnica.
A lizard soaks up the sun in Armenia's Zangezur Mountains. bieszczady_wildlife / shutterstockThe UN's main biodiversity summit, held every two years, wrapped up in Yerevan, Armenia, on October 31.
Biodiversity summits don't attract the same fanfare as their climate change equivalents, yet loss of nature threatens food systems, water security, health, livelihoods and cultural traditions. Forests, soils, wetlands and oceans absorb around half the carbon dioxide humans emit, while climate change is itself one of the main drivers of biodiversity loss.
This summit, technically the 17th Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) conference, or Cop17, was meant to take stock of progress and accelerate action on protecting biodiversity. Back in 2022, the same conference launched an ambitious framework to reverse biodiversity loss by 2030, a goal that will require closing an US$700 billion (£520 billion) per year finance gap.
Targets include protecting 30% of land and sea, restoring degraded ecosystems, and halting the extinction of threatened species. Yerevan was the halfway point, and the first time countries formally reviewed how they were doing.
So, how did they do?
The first global review of the framework, State of Biodiversity Action, showed how little progress has been made. Almost 90% of countries have set national targets, but fewer than half are on track. The targets lagging furthest behind - covering business impacts, unsustainable consumption, harmful subsidies and finance - are the ones that need action beyond environment ministries and conservation programmes.
Who pays?It comes down to money: who should pay for biodiversity protection? The framework calls for US$200 billion a year from all sources by 2030, including US$30 billion per year through international finance.
The latest UN biodiversity summit was held in Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Gabriella Santini
Two debates stood out. The first concerned who should manage the funds. Lower-income countries have argued for a new funding mechanism under the CBD's control. Many high-income countries prefer the current Global Environment Facility, which critics say is bureaucratic and hard for local communities to access. Decisions on a new financial mechanism have been pushed to the next summit, Cop18, in Ecuador in 2028.
The second debate was about extending the list of countries expected to provide finance to developing countries. Emerging economies such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar resisted, as it would shift their contributions from voluntary to obligatory. In the end, it was agreed that countries that now want to contribute as donors can "signal interest" before Cop18.
The summit presidency announced that more than US$1.8 billion had been pledged from governments, philanthropic organisations and investors. That is welcome, but negligible compared with what is needed. Recent cuts to development aid have made the shortfall even harder to address.
The negotiations looked at alternative ways of valuing nature, such as natural capital accounting or treating nature as infrastructure. "Biodiversity is not just for tree-huggers," said the CBD's executive secretary Astrid Schomaker at a workshop in Yerevan, suggesting it should matter to business.
Cutting or redirecting US$500 billion a year in harmful subsidies would help fund all this. But though this is the framework's target 18, little progress has been made.
Who benefits from genetic data?So-called digital sequence information, or DSI, was another subject of contention. This is genetic data gathered from plants, animals and microbes, stored in online databases and used by companies to develop medicines, crops and cosmetics. However, the countries and communities where these organisms come from have rarely been paid for their use.
The 2024 biodiversity summit in Colombia created the Cali Fund to change this. Large companies using DSI are expected to pay 1% of their profits or 0.1% of their revenue to this fund. At least half of the money is meant to go to Indigenous peoples and local communities.
The fund was expected to raise at least US$1 billion a year. By the end of this year's summit, just five companies had committed a total of just US$10,565.
Part of the problem is that contributions are voluntary. Negotiators debated who counts as a user of DSI, whether only large companies should pay, and how to avoid companies being charged twice under national and international schemes. After fraught discussions and delays, many of the key decisions were postponed to the next summit in 2028.
The role of Indigenous peopleIndigenous peoples and local communities manage or hold rights over a large share of the world's remaining biodiverse land. In 2024, parties created a permanent body to strengthen their role.
Indigenous campaigners at the summit in Yerevan.
Gabriella Santini
In Yerevan, discussions focused on how it should work: who leads it, and who chooses the representatives. Campaigners warned that governments were deciding how Indigenous peoples should be represented instead of letting them decide for themselves. In the 12-hour-long final plenary, the body's rules of operation were agreed, but as an advisory body, its influence will depend on whether governments listen.
Women's rights were another focus. The global progress review found that only about a quarter of countries' national targets address women's land rights or access, leaving women with little power in conservation decisions. The Yerevan summit encouraged governments to embed gender equity into national biodiversity strategies and data collection.
Halfway and behindFinance, DSI and Indigenous rights may have been separate items on the agenda, but they raise the same questions: who pays to protect nature, who gets to decide, and who benefits?
The agreed Yerevan Pathway urges countries to take faster action on priorities including cutting subsidies that harm nature, providing financial and technical support to developing countries, and aligning national budgets with biodiversity goals. But it leans heavily on commitments already made.
Outside the main negotiations in Yerevan, Indigenous groups, campaigners and non-governmental organisations showcased their work protecting and restoring nature in spite of limited funding. The tension between biodiversity targets and the extractive industries was also visible in protests against a controversial gold mine, which recently began production in south-eastern Armenia.
Governments now need to back their commitments with money that reaches the people doing the work, an end to economic incentives that drive nature loss, and a meaningful say for Indigenous people and local communities.
Gabriella Santini previously received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), the Royal Anthropological Institute (RAI), and the Parkes Foundation.
Emily Woodhouse and Simon Chin-Yee do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
The upcoming COP31 climate talks in Antalya, Turkey need to respond to the latest science on global warming, which is "really scary", says UK climate minister Katie White.
In an interview with Carbon Brief setting out the UK's priorities for the summit, White also responds to suggestions that the government is walking back its climate policies.
White says the "shocking" impact of extreme heat and wildfires this summer makes it clear that climate change "isn't something far off; it's something we're living through".
She adds that the UK will be working to "hold up the science", including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) reports that should be the "basis of discussions".
The COP31 presidency push on electrification is "going to be key", says White, who points to other priorities for the UK that include tackling methane emissions and reducing deforestation.
White says the recent approval of the Jackdaw gas field in the North Sea is "fully in line" with carbon budgets and that the UK continues to support the "transition away from fossil fuels".
She adds that the Hormuz crisis has helped drive the "biggest uptake…we've ever seen" in the UK for solar, electric vehicles and heat pumps.
Finally, White defends the new approach set out in the budget by chancellor John Healey, including a greater focus on affordability, as a "natural evolution" of UK government policy.
Carbon Brief: Katie White, thank you very much for joining Carbon Brief today. Next week we're going to be heading to COP31 climate talks in Antalya in Turkey.
We've seen this year the UN warning that a temporary overshoot of 1.5C degrees is now inevitable. We've had 50,000 excess heat deaths across Europe this summer. We've had extreme weather events hitting Nepal, deadly floods there. Heading into the talks, what would you say the UK's priorities are?
Katie White: Thanks, Simon. Look, just to say, it's great to be here. I'm a big fan of Carbon Brief and the work you've been doing. I think it's incredibly important that there are people who are focused on the facts and have really excellent commentary. So just to say thank you, and it's good to be here to discuss with you.
Look, this year has been a very significant year in terms of climate, particularly sat here in the UK. I think we have really felt the impacts of climate change for the first time. For you and me, who've been working on this for a long time [and] we talk about it. But even so - I don't know how you felt - but I was even shocked by the implications of what that was for everyday life, for people actually sleeping at night. You know, in terms of parliament, I had colleagues who had to go pick up their children because their schools weren't available, and you know, tragedies in terms of older people struggling in the heat.
Not to mention the wildfires that we had across the country. I went to visit one in Romford and I think just standing - literally in the ashes - and seeing people's homes really close by. My colleague in Stourbridge, obviously, they had burnt-out houses - you know, devastating. And you think about it - and I talked with her about - the actual real-life implications of that.
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Support award-winning climate journalism Join CB+Obviously, people think about it, but then the after-effects, and you know the challenges with insurance and the challenge with all these sky boxes, and all of the things that come - those smaller things, as well as the tragedies around your photos, and all of that being lost.
So I think it's really opened, sadly, another door for us in terms of the climate-change journey. This isn't something far off; it's something we're living through. I know that's been the case for many countries for a long time, but it really felt like a shift here in the UK.
You're right, the science, once again, is really scary. The overshoot report is incredibly concerning. Scientifically, obviously, they look for a longer period. But I think the main message - for me as a politician - is this is really worrying. And every year we have another call to action. How do we translate that call into actual delivery? And that's the bit we need to make sure of, because you know, I think we have to be listening to the science, and the science is fundamental and key. And we might talk about the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] and all the elements of that. But also, for me, how do we translate that?
It's not, as you all know, it's not the big global stocktake COP [this year in Antalya]. So it's not going to be that big event, where we have it every five years. But we still need to be making significant progress. So we really focus a lot on the science, on the "action agenda" and on those political decisions - that "cover decision" that the Australian presidency [of negotiations] has said that they're going to pursue.
So in terms of the action agenda, which obviously the Turkish [presidency] has led on and [has] been really forthright about leading on this, I think electrification is going to be key. It's something that shot up the agenda.
I think most of your audience will know what electrification is, but for anyone outside of the climate bubble [it is] around electrifying our homes, electrifying our transportation. And in the UK, we've done a good job of decarbonising our electricity system, but we need to be pulling down on that and increasing demand to make sure that we take full advantage of the clean electricity that we have, which would be good for bills, but also around reducing our emissions as well. So something around electrification, we're expecting a lot of talk of that. [It is] something the Turks have been talking about a lot.
Methane is another area which we've been working on, but I expect there will be some progress in terms of methane. Forests, you'll know that we've pledged an investment to the [Tropical Forest Forever] TFFF, so we will be hoping for some momentum around that forests agenda.
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So, I think, those are some of the really practical areas of action, as well as making sure we're moving forward, holding up the UNFCCC [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change], holding up the science, so we can keep moving forward and making progress on any of those areas within the cover decision that the Australians will obviously steer us through.
CB: Great, thank you. You mentioned electrification. Obviously, that's a target announced by the Turkish presidency earlier this year. They said they want to see the adoption of a global target for 35% of final energy to come from electricity by 2035.
At the moment, it's a voluntary sign-on pledge, but presumably that's something that could enter into the cover decision, as you mentioned. I guess I'm wondering: is the UK going to sign up to that, if it remains as a voluntary pledge? And would the UK like to see that in the cover decision, brought formally into the [COP31] outcome?
KW: Good questions. Look, so we'll wait and see how we manage the next couple of weeks in terms of [that]. I think we have definitely, domestically, been looking at electrification and how we take advantage of the clean electricity that we have more effectively. Because of the Middle East crisis, broadly, we've seen interest in EVs, in solar panels and heat pumps, just shoot up this year, as people have got increasingly concerned about energy prices. And for those who are in a position, you know, a lot of them have taken advantage.
So we are seeing shifts in the market, and we're looking at what role we can play to encourage and accelerate that. Whether it's supporting the rollout of charging points for electric vehicles. You'll probably know this, Simon, but there are more public charging points in the UK now than petrol pumps, which I think is an incredible fact - and most people don't know. That's not including those within driveways, of which nearly 70% of the UK has access to a driveway, so all of those people who might have their own home charging, there is more public.
We are making this infrastructure more easy, more accessible, so that people can make that shift. But we are [already] seeing the shift, you know, we've got two million EVs on the road. Super excitingly for the motor geeks, the second-hand [EV] car market is really starting to - excuse the pun - "motor". Actually, that does mean a big shift in terms of accessibility.
So we're seeing this happen within the UK. We'll look at whether that's a helpful target for us, but in terms of the focus, the ambition on electrification in the UK will remain. And I'm really pleased to see it as part of the negotiations this year or the action agenda.
It was interesting to see the Europeans do their own electrification - I don't know whether they called it a plan or a roadmap, everybody gets caught up on these words - but they also brought forward [an "action plan"]. So obviously, we're looking at where we can, you know, be a little bit more aligned with them.
CB: You mentioned roadmaps. Now, obviously, last year at the COP, the big debate, slightly outside of the formal negotiations, was around the idea of a roadmap away from fossil fuels and the UK was one of more than 100 countries that were really pushing for that to again be brought into the formal outcome of the summit in Brazil. Is that something that the UK is going to be pushing again this year?
KW: For sure. So look, we very much support the agenda around the transition away from fossil fuels. You know, in terms of, how do we support countries, how do we work together in terms of moving away from that? You'll know that Rachel Kyte, our special representative, was in Santa Marta in April of this year to talk through [this topic] and we hosted a follow-up event at Wilton Park around the London Climate Action Week. So you know, very keen to support and work that through.
It's obviously a hard agenda, but it's something that I think we should have been discussing for a while in terms of the COP processes. So it was great that we managed to do that. I think it was as a result of lots of different people talking about it, different campaigns, different, you know, how do we work together around this, in terms of managing the resources we have most effectively, and transitioning away. [That's] for climate reasons, for health reasons and, in large part, economic reasons as well.
CB: Great. You mentioned the IPCC timeline. This is obviously something that's been rolling on for quite a while. There's been a group of countries making a concerted effort to delay the publication of the next IPCC assessment report, so that it won't align with the next global stocktake under the Paris Agreement.
The UK, as far as I understand, is pushing for that timeline to be accelerated, or to at least align with the stocktake. I just want to confirm that that's the UK's position and then ask, what is your understanding of the arguments being made for not doing that, for not aligning those timelines?
KW: So look, we obviously would like to have as much of the science ready for the global stocktake. That would be the ideal outcome in terms of what we are looking for, and we have said that we will continue to say that we would also like an outcome.
So, in a sense, we would like to make sure that we have a decision and we are moving this forward, and we don't get caught up in having longer negotiations, which stall us making any progress at all.
I wasn't at the [IPCC] meeting this autumn, but in terms of [what] I understand, [IPCC chair Prof] Jim Skea did a good job of trying to navigate that and making sure that this is inclusive. We want to listen to concerns around inclusivity, but we also want to make progress, because of the reasons that we talked about right up front: there is some really scary science going forward. The IPCC is peer-reviewed, it's the best in the world, and we want to make sure that that is the basis of discussions.
So the more we can align that together, the better. But we're also practical. We want to work with everybody. We want to listen to everybody. But we are keen to move that forward and hold up the IPCC in the way it has been. It's become the most respected, established platform for all that the negotiations are based on.
CB: Great, thank you. I want to turn to the UK now, if I can. So, under the Paris Agreement, the UK has pledged to cut its greenhouse gas emissions to 68% below 1990 levels by 2030. In June, the Climate Change Committee, in its assessment, said something like 17% of the cuts required to meet that target just didn't have plans in place.
The government's own carbon budget delivery plan said that current policies were falling short of what would be needed. And then, obviously, since then we've had a number of cuts. We've had cuts to heat pump subsidies, cuts to hydrogen and carbon-capture and storage. We're expecting to see further watering down of the zero-emission vehicles mandate for electric vehicles. We just had approval of new drilling at Jackdaw. We may also see Rosebank being approved.
When you're at the COP in Antalya, how will you be reassuring UK partners that the UK remains committed to its climate pledge?
KW: So look, it's absolutely right that you pick out any of the challenges - and say where the challenges are to our evidence. That's really helpful, as part of our process of doing that. I would also then say, there are a whole bunch of other things - on the side of positives - that are moving forward, some of which we have touched on.
We put forward a carbon budget growth and delivery plan last year that we had to redo, because obviously there had been a legal challenge. We did that. It was a very comprehensive process. You know, a huge amount of work to make sure that we were on track to deliver that. So that is the case. The Climate Change Committee was obviously coming back on what was happening now, and we will report to parliament [in response to the committee] in the normal way. I will leave that report to talk for itself when it comes out to parliament.
We also - the great thing about the Climate Change Act and the carbon budgets is that it does allow flexibility over time. You have that trajectory, you have the volume of emissions over time, but it does allow you to adjust and course correct. There are things, in terms of challenges, that come forward.
So let's take the Middle East crisis. Obviously, that's been a big disruption to our energy and climate system. Arguably, one of the biggest disruptions we've ever had. Now, that has led to a few things happening.
One is to say that electrification - you know, people are moving towards the biggest uptake in solar, heat pumps and EVs that we've ever seen. So we're seeing that trajectory go up. That's great, and that is on the positive side. At the same time, it has meant geopolitically, people are looking at their energy security and where you do have access to fossil fuels, people are considering those options.
We made the Jackdaw decision fully in line [with our carbon budgets]. We looked at the emissions - and emissions would actually be a tiny bit lower because of transportation from Norway. So it is absolutely within those boundaries.
But of course, I'm constantly keeping an eye on how that budget is moving. In the same way that over the road [in Whitehall] at HMT [the Treasury], they're keeping an eye on their financial budget, as they should do, I will keep an eye on the carbon budget, as will the secretary of state [Miatta Fahnbulleh]. So we will be keeping a look.
But I think let's also be clear that the UK has got a good story to tell. I of course want it to be better, and that's part of my job, to make sure that we have the next chapter evolving and we can keep telling our story.
But right now, we have a pretty good story to tell. You know, we've got over [a] 50% reduction in emissions, whilst having 80% [economic] growth since 1990. So we have got a good story to tell. We are making those transitions and we will continue to say that. But also, we'll continue to listen and learn because nobody has got the perfect plan for this. No one country has got all the answers or the solutions.
So I think, being clear where we've had success, being honest where it's not worked, and having a bit of humility to learn from others along the way, is how we're going to approach the COP.
CB: Great, thank you. I want to ask about climate finance. The UK is one of the only major donors to have made a new climate-finance pledge, offering £6bn, I believe, over three years. However, that is, relative to the last financial year, roughly halving; it was about £4bn in 2025-26 and it's [now] £6bn over three years, so roughly £2bn a year.
Again, I'm just curious how you're going to be talking about that with the UK's international partners, the developing countries that will be looking to the UK for that kind of support.
KW: In terms of the £6bn, so look, let's also be clear. So you're absolutely right that we - the [previously pledged] £11.6bn was over a five-year period. The £6bn is over a three-year period, and we're also talking about an additional £6bn in terms of other sources that we're looking at. So it is still a sizeable amount of money and investment.
Of course, it's not enough in terms of what the need is, and as the need increases over time, we need to be exploring other options, which is why I'm very excited about the TFFF, because it starts a new way of mobilising finance, which might unlock a whole other range of capital, which is urgently needed.
So, look, we have the £11.6bn [and] we delivered absolutely every bit of it. So I think we're seen as someone who is a credible donor, who delivers what they say we're going to do. We've also laid out a plan. We've been working across government with my colleagues at the Foreign Office and with Defra [Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs] in terms of how we're going to do that. Which, again, was something that developing countries were really keen [on], that we laid out that plan beforehand, so that there is some element of expectation, and it's not, you know, done at the last minute, and they can plan ahead at the same time.
We are, you know, the biggest donors of the Green Climate Fund as well, and we've looked at how we protect the climate element of our resources within the ODA [overseas development aid] cuts, which have been a cut to our international development aid, I can't say anything different to that. So we have looked at how we protect [climate] within it.
So, look, of course, I will be talking about what we have done and what we continue to do, and how we've listened to countries and laid that [plan] out, so there is some element that they can help plan ahead. But also, looking at what those alternative sources, for instance, around the structuring of the TFFF, to make sure we're looking at other options, because we do need to meet the need. The need is growing, and the finance pot needs to do the same.
CB: Thank you. One final question, if I may. Last week we obviously had the first budget from the new chancellor, John Healey. There's been a lot of conversation and media coverage since that budget about what he described as a new path for energy policy in the UK. There's been quite a lot of media coverage - and perhaps briefing from government insiders and so on - suggesting that this is a real shift in the government's approach. Effectively, giving up on - or putting slightly to the side - the clean power 2030 target.
Again, you're going to be going into the COP next week. People, I'm sure, will have been reading the papers. I wonder how you will explain to them what's going on?
KW: So, look, the first thing I'd say is it was great to hear the chancellor say on the floor of the house [of parliament] about net-zero, his commitment to net-zero by 2050 and our steadfast approach to delivering that. I think it's really helpful. You know, the chancellor's voice counts for a lot. We've heard the prime minister say it twice. He's written articles on it as well, so it's great to see that commitment from the top. There has been a lot of politicisation around net-zero, so I think the direction of travel is absolutely clear.
[The] secretary of state has said that her number one aim is around affordability. We know that we are in a cost of living crisis. At the same time, the Climate Change Committee has said the best thing we could do [to lower emissions] is bring down electricity prices, and so I think there is a really great alignment between those three things [cost, climate and security].
The clean-power mission has been incredibly effective in terms of getting a lot of clean power built. We now need to make sure we're utilising that clean power across the board, and we need to, and we want to do it in the most cost-effective way possible.
As you can probably hear from my accent, I'm from Yorkshire. We're a little bit tight [careful with money] and I want to make sure that we are using that energy most effectively. And the system at the moment is not set up to do that. There are some pretty ineffective elements of it, that we want to make sure that we're using far more effectively.
So I think that is the shift we're looking at. We're now in the next chapter of, how do we make sure that energy - and specifically electricity - is as affordable as possible for consumers, for our constituents up and down the country, but also for small businesses. And how do we make sure that demand, that use of the grid, is [met by] connecting some of these great [clean-energy projects].
You know, the last government did build some of these offshore wind turbines. They just didn't connect them all, so we need to make sure that we've got all of these things connected, and then we're utilising it really effectively, and we're supporting consumers and businesses to draw down on that.
So I think it's a really exciting opportunity for us. But I think it's just a natural evolution of the next step, to make sure that the UK citizens are getting the best value from the infrastructure that we already have.
CB: Brilliant, very, very quickly, before you have to go, the UK is going to be leading the umbrella group of countries at the COP. So coming back to the COP, I'm just curious how the UK is going to deal with being in that spotlight [and] make use of that position?
KW: Look, we are sending a great team of ministers to the COP. Obviously, the secretary of state, it's going to be her first time leading the delegation, but our ex-secretary of state [Ed Miliband] is there in his new role. He's going as the foreign secretary and the prime minister [Andy Burnham] is going, and I will also be there as well. So I think we are turning up, making sure that Britain is fully part of the conversation.
We do that in lots of different ways, whether it's part of the umbrella group or whether it's on our own or whether it's part of - I co-chair the Forest and Climate Leaders Partnership. We're always looking at ways where the UK can show up and try to make a positive difference.
So again, I think we'll be doing that, but working closely with our umbrella colleagues. We've been in the group, so it's a natural step for us to step up and do that. But I think operating in different areas of the ecosystem helps us to make sure we can bring forward a really comprehensive, thoughtful approach to the negotiations.
CB: Brilliant! Thanks very much, Katie, and great to have you.
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The post UK climate minister Katie White: COP31 must respond to 'really scary' science appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Climate campaigners highlight the threat climate change poses to human health. New research reveals its growing toll on lives worldwide. Joe Kuis/ShutterstockThe evidence that climate change threatens human health has never been stronger. Yet a new report suggests that world leaders are giving less attention to its health consequences in international political debate.
The 2026 Lancet Countdown report estimates that heat was associated with 710,000 deaths worldwide in 2023, with around 71% attributable to human-caused climate change. Researchers calculated this by comparing estimated heat-related deaths at the temperatures actually experienced with those expected in a world without human-caused warming. The difference represents the additional deaths associated with climate change.
Heat can cause fatal heatstroke and worsen existing conditions, including heart and kidney disease. The figure is a statistical estimate of the additional deaths caused by warming, rather than a count of individual deaths directly identified as resulting from climate change.
Meanwhile, the proportion of countries whose leaders discussed the relationship between climate change and health during the United Nations General Debate fell from 66% in 2021 to 26% in 2025. The General Debate is the annual gathering at which world leaders address a broad range of international issues.
Europe's record-breaking heatwaves during the summer of 2026 brought the consequences of rising temperatures into sharp focus. Research examining 854 European cities estimated more than 50,000 heat-related deaths that summer, with around two-thirds attributable to human-caused warming. Using a similar approach, researchers compared the estimated death toll under actual temperatures with the number expected without the additional warming caused by human activity.
Climate change competes with more immediate political concerns, including energy prices, economic pressures and international conflicts. The health benefits of cutting emissions may take time to become visible, while governments face pressure to respond to events unfolding today.
But fewer mentions in UN speeches do not necessarily mean that governments are doing less. The same Lancet Countdown analysis found that 93% of national climate commitments submitted in 2025 mentioned health. Governments may also act through heat-warning systems, cleaner transport or building regulations without repeatedly invoking climate change in international speeches.
The more important question is whether policies deliver measurable protection. Announcing a plan provides little reassurance if vulnerable people remain exposed to dangerous heat or health services lack the resources to respond.
The kidneys reveal a growing health threatAs a kidney physician, I see particular reasons for concern. Chronic kidney disease affects hundreds of millions of people worldwide. The kidneys help filter waste from blood and maintain the body's balance of water and salts, making them vulnerable when extreme heat disrupts that balance.
Recent research links hot temperatures with increased kidney-related illness. Heat stress and dehydration can contribute to acute kidney injury, particularly among people working in hot conditions and those with existing health problems. Whether repeated heat exposure accelerates chronic kidney disease across the wider population is less certain and remains an important research question.
Air pollution may also affect kidney health. A systematic review found associations between exposure to several common air pollutants and poorer measures of kidney function.
Health benefits that can be felt nowSome climate measures can improve health well before the full benefits of reduced global warming become apparent.
Cleaner energy can reduce harmful air pollution. The Lancet Countdown estimates that declining fossil fuel-related air pollution has helped prevent around 323,000 premature deaths annually across at least 77 countries.
Burning fossil fuels contributes to climate change and air pollution, both of which pose serious risks to human health.
Dennis MacDonald/Shutterstock
Trees provide shade and cooling in cities, while restored wetlands can help manage flooding and support biodiversity. A review of research on urban trees found consistent cooling benefits, although their effectiveness depends on local climate and how cities are designed.
The healthcare system also has responsibilities. The sector accounts for around 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Reducing waste and unnecessary resource use can contribute to a more sustainable service, provided patient care is protected.
Biodiversity and the library of lifeHuman health also depends on functioning ecosystems. The international biodiversity science body IPBES has documented how biodiversity loss is connected with threats to water, food and health. Healthy ecosystems are valuable in themselves, and Indigenous peoples and local communities have long contributed knowledge and stewardship essential to their protection.
Nature is also an extraordinary library of biological solutions developed through evolution. Many medicines have come from natural products or compounds inspired by them. Scientists are now exploring how artificial intelligence can help identify promising compounds from biological data, potentially speeding up early stages of drug discovery. These possibilities are exciting, but translating a promising compound into a safe and effective treatment requires extensive research.
Protecting biodiversity is therefore relevant to both present health and future scientific discoveries. AI may help researchers understand some of nature's complexity, but it cannot restore an extinct species or replace the ecological knowledge held by communities.
The political challenge is to connect the evidence of harm from climate change with practical decisions that protect people. Climate change is already affecting health, and the benefits to human health of protecting the environment are not confined to some distant future.
Destroying the natural systems that sustain health while scientists are still learning how they work would be a costly mistake.
Peter Stenvinkel receives funding from CIMED, Heart and Lung-Foundation, ALF and Westman Foundation.
