UN climate talks
China has long been captivated by the promise of coal
For centuries, notions of abundant coal have fed China’s sense of its place among the great nations of the world. Now it is being asked to give it up
Unwritten Paris rules dominate as tense year of climate diplomacy begins in Japan
Diplomats meeting in Japan focused heavily on the contentious rules for the Paris deal, which are due to be set by the end of this year
EU, US business lobbies seek closer access to UN climate talks
Business Europe and the US Council for International Business are calling for a direct channel to influence the review process for national climate targets
A gold mine swallowed their village. This Amazon tribe is here to take it back
At the head of a poisoned river, the Munduruku find a devastated land where their village once stood. Can they stop the illegal mining that stole their homes?
Europe’s biggest fossil fuel project gets €1.5bn public loan
The European Investment Bank has approved a loan to the Southern Gas Corridor, in a move environmentalists described as a “historic mistake”
Poland to put ‘common sense’ over climate ambition as host of critical UN talks
In exclusive interviews, Poland’s climate chief said “calls for ambition bring nothing” while the environment ministry refused to back science on cause of climate change
China to monitor human health impacts of pollution for first time
Environment ministry paper sets out system for evaluating and responding to national health crisis, a move once seen as inconsistent with growth
UN makes open call for ideas on fighting climate change
A new portal poses three pressing climate questions, with governments to take part in open talks with those who present answers in May
France, Germany, US among 166 countries late on UN climate dues
Four out of five countries missed the agreed date for contributions to UN Climate Change, including some who claim to be leaders on climate change
Polish police set to restrict protest and gather personal data at UN climate talks
Draft law worries civil society groups, who say they are already being excluded from the international climate process
International dismay at Germany’s 2020 climate target lapse
Reports Berlin will abandon its ambitious carbon-cutting goal with two years to go are “disheartening” and “problematic”, say observers
Civil society summit calls for international action on climate migration
Campaign groups meeting in Suva, Fiji, urged recognition of climate change in the global compact for migration due to be negotiated in 2018
In Poland’s coal heartland, miners defend their jobs but imagine a greener future
While the government champions coal, the area around Katowice, host of next year’s UN climate summit, is starting to diversify its economy
What would Hannah Arendt have seen on a beach covered in plastic bottles?
Only banal good can defeat banal evil. Kerrie Foxwell-Norton writes from the rubbish-strewn beaches of the southern Maldives
Sexual harassment at UN talks weakens the fight against climate change
‘Zero tolerance’ only works when victims feel comfortable coming forward. Meanwhile smart, passionate women are driven away from the UN process
Rich countries ‘trying to turn climate funds into World Bank’
The rich are ‘renegotiating’ the Paris climate deal by trying to limit access for middle income countries to climate finance, it has been claimed
China flexes its muscle as climate talks end with slow progress
At the first climate talks of the Trump era, a coalition of developing countries, with China at its centre, won small but significant victories
Fight over finance threatens end of climate talks
As climate talks head into their final hours, a disagreement over how rich countries will report their plans to finance climate action could boil over
Four overlooked issues at the Bonn climate talks
Oceans, adaptation and loss and damage among issues countries say have drifted into obscurity at UN talks
Call for polluters to pay ‘climate damages tax’
Disappointed by slow progress at UN talks in Bonn, 50 organisations and individuals demand a fossil fuel levy to compensate victims of climate change impacts