Negotiations continue on day eight of the summit, with more ministerial national statements expected
Hello, Ajit Niranjan here from Berlin - I’ll be hosting the liveblog this morning and my colleague Gabrielle Canon will take over this afternoon. We’re looking forward to bringing you the latest from the Cop30 climate summit.
Walking on to Belém’s Parque da Cidade, the site of Cop30, yesterday morning revealed the extent to which the so-called “Indigenous Cop” has become a zone of exclusion for the very Indigenous people it is celebrating.
Continue reading...
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/18/2025 - 07:00
‘Forever chemicals’ sprayed on almonds, grapes, tomatoes and other crops as activists warn of ‘obvious problem’
California farms applied an average of 2.5m lbs of PFAS “forever chemicals” per year on cropland from 2018 to 2023, or a total of about 15m lbs, a new review of state records shows.
The chemicals are added to pesticides that are sprayed on crops such as almonds, pistachios, wine grapes, alfalfa and tomatoes, the review of California Department of Pesticide Regulation data found. The Environmental Working Group nonprofit put together the report.
Continue reading...
11/18/2025 - 06:31
Prime minister says fight over hosting rights jeopardises global unity needed for action to help Pacific islands
Cop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of the climate talks in Brazil
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
Anthony Albanese has said Australia will not stand in the way of Turkey hosting next year’s Cop31 climate summit, insisting the interests of Pacific Island countries should be prioritised amid a deadlock over where the 2026 event should take place.
As this year’s Cop summit enters its final days in Brazil, Albanese said Australia wanted to win the hosting rights, but conceded the risk of the event defaulting to Germany would present a poor outcome for global action on climate change.
Continue reading...
11/18/2025 - 06:10
Exclusive: Experts urge water companies to update plants to avoid another catastrophe, as analysis reveals scale of use
At least 15 sewage plants on England’s south coast use the same contaminated plastic beads that were spilled in an environmental disaster in Camber Sands, Guardian analysis can reveal.
Environmental experts have urged water companies to update these old treatment plants to avoid another catastrophic spill, which can lead to plastic beads being permanently embedded in the environment and killing marine wildlife.
Continue reading...
11/18/2025 - 06:00
It is the second-largest tropical forest on Earth, and one of the most vital carbon sinks, but is losing out when it comes to climate policy and funding
In October 2023, leaders, scientists and policymakers from three of the world’s great rainforest regions – the Amazon, the Congo, and the Borneo-Mekong basins – assembled in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo. They were there to discuss one urgent question: how to save the planet’s last great tropical forests from accelerating destruction.
For those present, the question was existential. But to their dismay, almost no one noticed. “There was very little acknowledgment that this was happening, outside of the Congo basin region,” says Prof Simon Lewis, a lecturer at the University of Leeds and University College London, and co-chair of the Congo Basin Science Initiative (CBSI).
Continue reading...
11/18/2025 - 03:00
Lobbyists representing industry responsible for a quarter to a third of global emissions participated in key talks at the UN climate summit
More than 300 industrial agriculture lobbyists have participated at this year’s UN climate talks taking place in the Brazilian Amazon, where the industry is the leading cause of deforestation, a new investigation has found.
The number of lobbyists representing the interests of industrial cattle farming, commodity grains and pesticides is up 14% on last year’s summit in Baku – and larger than the delegation of the world’s 10th largest economy, Canada, which brought 220 delegates to Cop30 in Belém, according to the joint investigation by DeSmog and the Guardian.
Continue reading...
11/18/2025 - 01:37
The Nationals have a new leader in Gurmesh Singh, and Kellie Sloane could soon replace Liberal leader Mark Speakman. But the Coalition is fractured on net zero
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The NSW Nationals have a new leader, Gurmesh Singh, and the Liberals will almost certainly follow suit by early next week.
It’s desperation politics. Changing leaders will probably do nothing to stop the apparent death spiral the conservative side of politics has inflicted upon itself – in Canberra and now the states.
Continue reading...
11/18/2025 - 00:25
My advice to you if you want to avoid repeating 2025 is to pay far greater attention to the quality of your research sources
Sussan Ley, as your teacher I’m duty bound to give you an honest appraisal of your work.
I’ve just read your team research assignment on Australian energy and climate policy and I’m afraid to say that unless you and your other team members pull up your socks, you will be forced to repeat 2025.
Continue reading...
11/17/2025 - 15:00
Scientists find tiny amounts can be a ‘fatal dose’ for marine life in the most comprehensive study of its kind
Ingesting less than three sugar cubes worth of plastic is enough to kill a puffin, a new study has found.
Scientists measured how much different kinds of plastic seabirds, sea turtles and marine mammals have to ingest to have a 90% risk of it killing them, in the study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Continue reading...
11/17/2025 - 09:00
Decision announced at Cop30 climate conference signposts risks for Australia’s reliance on fossil fuel exports, analysts say
Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates
Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast
The Australian government has been urged to prepare for a shift away from thermal coal exports and accelerate green industries after one of its main international customers signed up to close all coal-fired power plants by 2040.
South Korea, Australia’s third-biggest market for coal burned to generate electricity, announced at the Cop30 climate conference in Brazil that it was joining the “Powering Past Coal Alliance”, a group of about 60 nations and 120 sub-national governments, businesses and organisations committed to phasing out the fossil fuel.
Continue reading...
