At the opening of the U.N. climate summit in Belém, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva demanded that governments confront a rising wave of climate denial, warning that disinformation is helping to push the world toward disaster. He branded COP30 the “COP of truth” and urged delegates to defeat those who manipulate algorithms, attack science and block action, even as negotiations nearly stalled over what issues could be discussed. A new U.N. analysis released at the talks shows that updated national climate plans would cut global emissions by only about 12% by 2035 compared with 2019, while scientists say a 60% reduction is needed to keep the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C goal within reach. With the last three years likely to be the hottest ever recorded and the world on course to overshoot 1.5°C within a decade, leaders in Belém face a stark choice: accelerate climate action now or lock in irreversible damage for billions of people.
At the U.N. climate summit in Belém, Brazil, the most striking thing may be the empty chair: for the first time in three decades of climate diplomacy, the United States has not sent any top officials. As President Trump withdraws from the Paris Agreement for a second time and tears up U.S. pledges to cut fossil fuel use, the world is left asking whether the fight to stabilize the climate can succeed without its richest country and largest oil and gas exporter. New U.N. analyses show that even if governments deliver on their current promises, the planet is heading for roughly 2.5 to 2.9 degrees Celsius of warming — far beyond the Paris targets and deep into danger. Yet other powers are already moving: China’s clean-tech boom, record global investment in renewables and rising climate leadership from vulnerable countries are beginning to redraw the map of climate power. The stakes could not be higher, because 2024 was the hottest year ever recorded and the window to avoid irreversible damage is closing fast.
Around 9,000 years ago, a huge section of East Antarctica suddenly destabilised when warm deep ocean water surged under its ice shelves and made them collapse. A new reconstruction based on marine sediments from Lützow-Holm Bay and advanced climate–ocean models shows that meltwater from other Antarctic regions triggered a chain reaction, reshaping ocean currents and funnelling heat toward this supposedly stable sector. Once the floating ice shelves disintegrated, inland ice flowed faster into the sea, driving rapid ice-sheet retreat and sea-level rise. Scientists warn that the same “cascading positive feedback” is now being set up again as warm water gnaws at West Antarctic glaciers like Thwaites and Pine Island. The message from the past is stark: if warming continues, Antarctic ice loss could accelerate far faster than our coastal defences and societies are prepared for.
On a family ranch in south-central Montana, a new climate experiment is unfolding beneath a grassy hillside. After the 2021 PF Fire killed more than 50,000 ponderosa pines, Mast Reforestation worked with landowner Rebecca Gentry to dig a 22-foot pit and bury over 10 million pounds of charred trees, sealing them under soil, gravel and plastic so their carbon cannot easily escape. The company will turn that buried wood into roughly 5,000 tons of carbon removal credits, potentially selling them for around $100–200 per ton, with the revenue funding replanting across the burn scar. Similar “biomass burial” projects from companies like Graphyte and Wood Cache promise durable, relatively low-tech carbon storage. But experts warn that this tool is only truly climate-positive when it uses genuine waste wood, is rigorously monitored for centuries and, crucially, does not distract from the urgent work of phasing out fossil fuels.
As world leaders prepare to meet again at COP30, a new analysis reveals that Britain’s biggest newspapers devoted far more space to adverts for high-carbon lifestyles than to reporting the last UN climate summit. The Promoting Pollution Before Reporting The Climate study shows that on two key days during COP29, high-carbon advertising covered more than three times as many column inches as climate coverage, with travel promotions alone taking up 1,745 inches of newsprint. At the same time, the UK House of Lords has warned that a third of the emission cuts needed by 2035 must come from shifts in how we travel, eat and heat our homes – changes that advertising powerfully shapes. Together, the findings raise an urgent question: whose side are newspapers really on in the climate emergency?
China has filed its first absolute emissions-reduction pledge under the Paris Agreement, promising to cut economy-wide greenhouse gases 7–10% below their peak by 2035 while massively expanding renewables and electric vehicles. Analysts expect Beijing to outperform these modest numbers, as wind and solar roll-outs and electric-car sales shatter previous targets and may push China’s emissions peak earlier than 2030. But climate scientists warn that, in a world racing past 1.5°C of warming, such a slow decline from the largest emitter is nowhere near enough. UN assessments show that global emissions must fall around 55% by 2035 to keep the Paris goals alive, yet current national pledges — including China’s new plan — add up to barely a fraction of that, locking in even more dangerous heatwaves, floods and crop failures.
Over 500 California middle schoolers converged at the Future Green Leaders Summit to tackle the urgent challenges of climate change and envision a sustainable future. The day-long event, held in San Bernardino, aimed to empower students from historically underrepresented communities by exposing them to diverse green career paths. Organizers highlighted a critical disconnect: while these communities are most vulnerable to environmental impacts, they are least represented in green industries, where the U.S. solar workforce remains predominantly white and male. This summit sought to inspire a new generation, providing tools and hope to combat the widespread eco-anxiety impacting young people and kickstart vital change.
Joe Rogan’s hugely popular podcast reaches tens of millions of people, yet his episodes on climate often recycle long-debunked myths and conspiracy narratives. A recent analysis from Yale Climate Connections shows how a marathon conversation with two veteran climate contrarians leaned on a familiar bag of tricks: fake experts, logical fallacies, impossible standards for proof, cherry-picked data, and sweeping conspiracy claims about scientists and clean energy. These tactics matter because one in five U.S. adults, and more than a third of under-30s, say they regularly get news from online influencers, not traditional media. When the world is already reeling from record heatwaves, deadly floods, and escalating wildfires, a show of Rogan’s size turning climate science into a punchline doesn’t just misinform — it helps delay the rapid emissions cuts that are urgently needed this decade.
Nearly 200 governments are converging on Belém, Brazil, for the COP30 UN climate summit – but the world’s second-largest emitter has effectively left its seat empty. President Donald Trump has declined to send any senior U.S. officials, even as scientists warn that the planet is almost certain to overshoot the 1.5°C warming limit within the next decade. Into that vacuum steps California: Governor Gavin Newsom and a high-level state delegation are pitching the Golden State as a stand-in for U.S. climate leadership, highlighting deep cuts in emissions alongside strong economic growth, and a web of international climate partnerships. At the same time, a new UNEP Emissions Gap report shows the world still heading toward a dangerous 2.3–2.8°C of warming this century, with Trump’s decision to quit the Paris agreement adding roughly 0.18°C to those projections. The message from Belém is brutally simple: while Washington walks away, every fraction of a degree now depends on whether others move faster.
In October, more than 100 countries were on the verge of approving the first global fee on greenhouse gases from cargo ships, a move that could have pushed a heavily polluting industry toward cleaner fuels. Instead, U.S. officials under President Donald Trump mounted an unusually aggressive pressure campaign, warning vulnerable nations that supporting the measure could cost them visas, trade access and even the right for their sailors to set foot in American ports, according to diplomats who took part in the talks and later described the tactics as bullying. After weeks of threats, the International Maritime Organization, the U.N. shipping regulator, voted 57–49 to delay the decision for a year, effectively stalling the deal just months after governments had celebrated a fragile compromise on maritime carbon pricing. Shipping already produces roughly 3 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and could account for far more by mid-century if left unchecked, making the collapse of this effort a serious blow to hopes of keeping global warming close to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
As world leaders land in Belém for the COP30 climate summit, the world’s three largest polluters – China, the United States and India – are conspicuously missing from the opening leaders’ segment. Their absence overshadows Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s bold attempt to launch a massive Tropical Forests Forever Fund that would pay countries to keep their rainforests standing, even as Brazil itself still approves new oil exploration near the Amazon. Scientists warn that around 17% of the Amazon has already been destroyed, pushing the “lungs of the planet” dangerously close to an irreversible tipping point. Meanwhile, Indigenous leaders and youth activists are filling the streets and rivers with protests and flotillas, insisting that there is no time left for half-measures or political games. What happens – and what fails to happen – in Belém will echo far beyond the rainforest.
On the edge of the Amazon rainforest, world leaders are opening the COP30 climate summit under mounting pressure from protesters demanding real action instead of more speeches. Inside the heavily guarded venue in Belém, negotiators are debating how to keep global heating as close as possible to 1.5°C, even as UN scientists warn that current policies still point toward far more dangerous levels of warming. Outside, Indigenous leaders, youth movements and climate groups are marching, staging creative actions and delivering a “climate bill” that they say should be paid by fossil fuel companies, not ordinary people. With 2025 set to be among the hottest years ever recorded and the Amazon edging toward an irreversible tipping point, activists argue that what happens in Belém will echo far beyond Brazil’s borders.
