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A bold genomic process is being harnessed to eliminate decades of interbreeding with domestic moggies

Scientists are preparing plans to restore the fortunes of Scotland’s threatened Highland wildcats – by identifying and removing DNA they have acquired from domestic cats.

Researchers have warned that the Highland tiger, as the wildcat is also known, is critically endangered because it has bred so much with domestic moggies. All animals now bear evidence of interbreeding, and many have little “wild” left in them.

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Scientists marvel at the fossilised head of an underwater 'killing machine' from the Jurassic.

It is Day 11 at COP28 and all eyes are on the next 48 hours of negotiations as a cautious optimism hangs in the air. The COP28 Presidency eyes a majlis - a ministerial gathering - today to find areas of agreement, followed by the first Global Stocktake (GST) text for delivery on Monday, ahead of the summit's formal close on Tuesday. Nonetheless, as the once-70,000-strong population of Expo City has begun to flock back to homelands, Carbon Pulse's team of correspondents continue to chase after news on the ground. In our daily running blog, we will report relevant or useful updates throughout the day. Timestamps are in local time (Gulf Standard Time, GMT+4).

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Overemphasis on innovation and carbon removal risks distracting from main goal of stopping use of fossil fuels, say scientists

Machines to magic carbon out of the air, artificial intelligence, indoor vertical farms to grow food for our escape to Mars, and even solar-powered “responsible” yachts: the Cop28 climate summit in Dubai has been festooned with the promise of technological fixes for worsening global heating and ecological breakdown.

The UN climate talks have drawn a record number of delegates to a sprawling, freshly built metropolis, which has as its centrepiece an enormous dome that emits sounds and lights up in different colours at night. The two-week programme is laden with talks, events and demonstrations of the need for humanity to innovate its way out of the climate crisis.

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Turks and Caicos Islanders are helping protect the reef from the deadliest ever coral sickness.

Will the transition to a new clean energy system happen quickly, or will we fry the planet first?

Here's Carbon Pulse's summary of stories from the last Saturday at COP28 in Dubai. Our tireless team of journalists have now published more than 150 articles from this year's UN climate summit, providing our readers with unrivalled coverage. We reckon few, if any, other media outlets can boast more comprehensive reporting. Subscribe to CP Daily here or email admin@carbon-pulse to inquire about a subscription.

Trees are a public asset. When they are illegally destroyed in pursuit of better views or property prices, the losses are many and profound

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Woodford Bay on Sydney’s lower north shore, its exclusive white mansions and quaint boat sheds nestled into gnarly, urban bush abutting the harbour, has the type of serenity only lots of money can buy in Australia’s most ostentatiously wealthy city. Birdsong – of currawongs, magpies, kookaburras and gulls – is the bay’s bucolic daytime symphony, interrupted occasionally by the jarring cough of an outboard motor or car ignition.

By night you’d hear the metaphoric pin drop. And yet, confoundingly, nobody seems to have heard whoever, under night’s cover, recently illegally cut down almost 300 trees and hundreds of other plants on public bushland. Among the destroyed mature trees are eucalypts (including angophora), banksia and casuarina.

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But country’s climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, would not say whether it would support phase-out wording in climate deal

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China would like to see nations agree to substitute renewable energy for fossil fuels, the country’s chief climate official has said, as nations wrangled over the weekend on the wording of a deal on the climate crisis.

Xie Zhenhua, China’s climate envoy, would not be explicit on whether China supported or opposed a phase-out of fossil fuels, which more than 100 governments are pushing for at crucial climate talks, the Cop28 UN summit.

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With the direction of travel on the first ever stocktake of the Paris Agreement moving towards including "fossil phaseout" language in the text, sources inside negotiation rooms, country delegates, and climate stakeholders, underlined the substantial impact of such an outcome at COP28, though called for crucial clarification on "abatement" language.

The Marshall Islands shares the same concerns over climate change and rising sea levels as its Pacific Island neighbours but also makes significant revenue from its flag registry for ships and yachts, seemingly complicating the country's messaging on emissions at COP28.

Two fossil fuel dependent nations on Saturday backed a climate High Ambition Coalition (HAC) declaration at COP28 in Dubai authored by the Marshall Islands, with both of their respective environment ministers calling for an end to the use of fossil fuels.

Rules governing carbon crediting under the Paris Agreement appear to be heading towards adoption despite some "melodrama" in negotiating rooms, as countries on Saturday  discussed the first draft decision text on Article 6.4 at COP28, with an "ambitious" timeline now set for a final clean text of midday on Sunday.

Sweden and Switzerland have signed a declaration of intent to test the rules for international carbon markets in the field of removal technologies under Article 6, which they hope will pave the way towards establishing a market under the Paris Agreement framework.

Brazil has climbed up 15 spots due to progressive climate policies, while the UK slipped back by nine ranks due to policy rollback, in a report published this week alongside COP28, which found no country was on track to limit global warming in line with the Paris Agreement.

Most of the sectoral pledges announced during COP28 will not lead to a sufficient reduction in emissions to limit global warming by 1.5C, as many are already counted in national plans or lack sufficient ambition, a report published on Saturday found.

Climate activists likely to be concerned by another fossil fuel-reliant country taking over summit presidency

Azerbaijan has been announced as the host of next year’s climate summit after fraught negotiations.

Under UN rules it was eastern Europe’s turn to take over the rotating presidency but the groups need to unanimously decide on the host. Russia had blocked EU countries and Azerbaijan and Armenia were blocking each other’s bids.

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The Australian government should fund demonstration projects that will generate biodiversity certificates in its Nature Repair Market scheme in order to generate interest and understanding among potential participants, experts said on the side lines of the COP28 conference.

Finland plans to achieve negative emissions by around 2040 by “aggressively” pursuing carbon capture, the country’s environment minister told an audience at the United Nations climate conference COP28 on Saturday.