Climate politics

Paraguay’s carbon deal with Singapore beset by lobbying, lax rules

UN rules governing bilateral carbon offsetting between governments have yet to be agreed but deals are being done, raising concerns about integrity

Is water provision in drought-hit Zambia climate ‘loss and damage’ or adaptation?

Farmers need crop irrigation to help beat drought – but it’s unclear if that would qualify for new loss and damage funding

Aid watchdog questions UK’s climate finance accounting

Britain has changed how it calculates its international climate aid, boosting its progress towards a 2026 goal without giving vulnerable countries more money

Nations fail to agree ban or research on solar geoengineering

At talks in Nairobi, governments could not find consensus on new global governance for SRM, including proposals for “non-use” and a UN expert panel

Clean, cheap or fair – which countries should pump the last oil and gas?

The world will need oil and gas for a few decades more – and the debate is heating up over who should get to produce and sell it

Countries draw battle lines for talks on new climate finance goal

Developed and developing countries are gearing up for heated discussions over the size of the goal and who should provide money for it

Switzerland proposes first UN expert group on solar geoengineering

A draft resolution aimed at creating a space for discussion on sun dimming technologies will be debated at the summit of the UN’s environment body this month

Azerbaijan orders Baku hotels to freeze Cop29 room booking

The move has sparked fears of price hikes, which would exclude poorer activists and government delegates

Rich nations miss loss and damage fund deadline

Their failure to agree risks delaying help for victims of climate disasters in developing countries

John Podesta replaces Kerry as top US climate diplomat

Podesta will lead US international climate diplomacy alongside his current job overseeing the rollout of domestic clean energy subsidies

Latest climate politics

Brexit

UK government appoints Alok Sharma as Cop26 president

Prime Minister Boris Johnson appointed the former secretary of state for international development to lead the critical UN climate talks in November

Don’t shop till you drop: advice to UK citizens on net zero climate goals

UK holds ‘citizens’ assembly’ to seek ideas for cutting emissions to net-0 by 2050. But some participants doubt the government will listen

‘Miles off track’ – Climate Weekly

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UK walks diplomatic tightrope for 2020 climate summit after shaky start

Boris Johnson officially launched Cop26 on Tuesday but gave little indication as to how the government is going to leverage the world into taking bolder climate action

UK leaders debate climate, with Boris Johnson replaced by ice sculpture

Leaders of most major parties presented their ideas for meeting tough climate goals, but the Conservative prime minister declined

Brexit must not distract from UK’s biggest job in 2020: the Glasgow climate summit

Next year’s climate talks are absolutely vital and as hosts the UK could determine whether the talks fail or succeed. The government must start preparing now

London bids to host 2020 UN climate talks to show UK remains ‘open’

Mayor Sadiq Khan writes to UK prime minster urging every effort to win the presidency of Cop26 in the face of a competing bid from Italy

UK and Italy bid for 2020 climate talks, amid political uncertainty for both

Both countries face potential general elections and economic problems before the crucial Cop26 meeting and the UK may still be in a Brexit imbroglio

Brexit

UN Climate Talks

Saudi Arabia cancels plan to raise oil pumping cap

Analysts said Saudi Arabia’s government may be losing faith that the world wants to keep buying more of its oil

For Cop29 to succeed, rich nations must get their parliaments to agree more finance now

Rich nations always say they need their parliaments approval for climate finance at Cops – now is the time to start

Governments fail to agree timeline for climate science reports in fraught IPCC talks

Saudi, India and China led opposition against a proposal to link the IPCC’s assessment cycle with the global stocktake, sources told Climate Home.

The all-male Cop29 committee is a big step backwards for climate

Azerbaijan appointed 28 men and zero women to a key group tasked with organising the upcoming climate summit in the country

How fossil fuels went from sidelines to headlines in climate talks

For a quarter-century, fossil fuels were absent from Cop climate agreements – so how had they become so ubiquitous at Cop28?

Azerbaijan appoints fossil fuel execs and scandal-hit officials to all-male Cop29 committee

The all-male group in charge of the climate summit organisation includes oil and gas executives and controversial government officials

Veteran US and Chinese climate envoys step down

Xie Zhenhua has stepped down and John Kerry has announced he will do the same in a few months time

High stakes for climate finance in 2024

Setting finance goals without the revenues and systems to deliver on them is a recipe for disappointment – this year it must be different.

UN climate talks

Paris Agreement

Cop28 boss’ appeal to raise climate targets met with total indifference

Sultan Al Jaber urged governments to update their national climate targets by September. Not one heeded the call

Public banks agree to check investments against countries’ climate plans

Ten multilateral development banks have agreed on how to make sure their investments meet climate goals. But experts told Climate Home the rules do not go far enough.

Paris agreement’s police force begins with rebuke to Vatican

The Pope’s home state has not yet issued a climate plan, which is against the rules of the Paris Agreement it ratified last year

What is the global stocktake of climate action and why does it matter?

The first Global Stocktake will tell us collective efforts need to be stepped up to reach the Paris Agreement goals. The question is how countries will respond to it.

AIIB finds gas plant in Bangladesh compatible with Paris goals

AIIB’s fast-tracking of a 600MW LNG plant could set a precedent for more development finance to fossil gas projects, campaigners warn

Brazil accused of backsliding in updated climate pledge to UN

While the Bolsonaro administration has nominally increased its 2030 target, a baseline shift allows Brazil to emit more than under its first Paris pledge

To close 1.5C gap, countries face call for another round of climate pledges by 2023

The Cop26 presidency is considering a proposal to strengthen ambition beyond the Glasgow summit, but it faces resistance from emerging economies

Turkey ratifies the Paris Agreement after approving a 2053 net zero goal

Documents agreed by parliament included a declaration that Turkey would implement the climate treaty as a developing country, despite its developed nation status

Paris Agreement