More lobbyists for the controversial technology were present this year, despite debate about its viability
At least 480 lobbyists working on carbon capture and storage (CCS) have been granted access to the UN climate summit, known as Cop29, the Guardian can reveal.
That is five more CCS lobbyists than were present at last year’s climate talks, despite the overall number of participants shrinking significantly from about 85,000 to about 70,000.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
11/16/2024 - 02:14
11/15/2024 - 14:56
Roughly 10ft-long specimen discovered on Encinitas beach shortly after August spotting of the ‘doomsday fish’
For the second time this year an oarfish, a rarely seen deep sea fish that has historically been considered a harbinger of doom, washed up on the California coastline.
The Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, reported that last week that one of its PhD students came across a specimen roughly nine to 10ft long on a beach in Encinitas in southern California.
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11/15/2024 - 13:48
Revealed: more than 100 executives given special guest badges as activists challenge role of oil and gas firms at talks
The host country of this year’s UN climate summit, Azerbaijan, has rolled out “red carpet” treatment to fossil fuel bosses and lobbyists, the Guardian can reveal.
At least 132 oil and gas company senior executives and staff were invited to the Cop29 summit, and had special badges denoting they were guests of the presidency.
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11/15/2024 - 13:03
The president of the Spanish province of Valencia, Carlos Mazón, rejected calls for his resignation amid growing public anger over his management of the recent devastating floods that killed more than 210 people in the area. He conceded mistakes were made but claimed the unprecedented and 'apocalyptic' scale of the disaster overwhelmed the system
Valencia’s president admits mistakes in flood response but will not resign
Almost half of Valencia’s flood victims were aged over 70, figures show
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11/15/2024 - 12:48
Animals and plants also live and thrive on public squares. This creates opportunities for greater biodiversity and well-being for the human population. Researchers have studied at 103 locations in Munich how various factors affect flora and fauna. They advocate a close examination of local conditions and a more nature-focused approach to the design of public spaces.
11/15/2024 - 12:47
Rainforest protection is not only good for biodiversity and the climate -- it also noticeably improves the health of humans who live in the corresponding regions. Researchers show that measures to combat slash-and-burn techniques significantly reduce the concentration of particulate matter in the air. The number of hospital stays and deaths due to respiratory diseases thus also decreases.
11/15/2024 - 12:47
Hunted nearly to extinction during 20th century whaling, the Antarctic blue whale, the world's largest animal, went from a population size of roughly 200,000 to little more than 300. The most recent estimate in 2004 put Antarctic blue whales at less than 1% of their pre-whaling levels. A new study shows that, though these whales feed in different ocean basins, they appear to be a single population, information that will help conservation efforts moving forward.
11/15/2024 - 12:45
Researchers are calling for a 'resilience index' to be used as an indicator of policy success instead of the current focus on GDP. They say that GDP ignores the wider implications of development and provides no information on our ability to live within our planet's 'safe operating space'.
11/15/2024 - 12:33
Several groups say North Dakota governor will sacrifice public lands on the ‘altar of the fossil fuel industry’s profits’
Donald Trump’s nomination of North Dakota’s Republican governor, Doug Burgum, as the interior secretary has prompted swift backlash from environmental advocacy groups alarmed at the incoming administration’s plans to use federal lands for oil and gas drilling.
Trump also announced in a statement on Friday his intention to make Burgum chair of a National Energy Council he intends to form to “oversee the path to U.S. ENERGY DOMINANCE” and to focus on “the battle for AI superiority”.
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11/15/2024 - 12:32
At Cop29 the global south needs to unite for sustainable growth, leveraging resources and negotiating transformative climate finance pacts
More than a century of burning coal, oil and gas has fuelled intense heatwaves, prolonged droughts, heavier rains and devastating floods. To prevent even more severe impacts, the UN global climate summit, Cop29, must deliver tangible results to keep global temperature rises below 2C – the limit defined in the 2015 Paris agreement. Achieving this goal means human societies can only emit a finite amount of additional carbon dioxide, known as the world’s “carbon budget”.
Developed nations have exceeded their carbon budgets, while developing countries remain within theirs. Carbon dioxide lingers in the atmosphere for centuries, turning past unchecked fossil fuel use into a costly planetary bill. Between 1870 and 2019, the US, EU, Russia, UK, Japan, Canada and Australia – home to just 15% of the global population – accounted for over 60% of atmospheric carbon dioxide, according to the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment.
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