The Guardian

Not a day goes by that I don’t stand in awe at under-resourced and vulnerable farmers committed to moving mountains despite the odds against them

For those standing on the precipice of life the impacts of climate change are an ever present reality. The rural poor in Southeast Asia are some of the most vulnerable to climate extremes and seasonal vagaries. For these farmers, many who live at subsistence level and survive on less that $1US a day, life is a high-wire act with no safety net.

One stroke of bad luck – a drought, flood or pest outbreak – and they tumble further into hardship. Yet, here in Cambodia I work at an agricultural research centre with the most humbling and inspiring people. Not a day goes by that I don’t stand in awe at an under-resourced team committed to moving mountains despite the odds lined up against them.

Connor speaks to Guardian environment reporter Michael Slezak about the successes and failures of the climate movement, the future of the Paris agreement during a Trump presidency and how Australia can be pushed to take climate change seriously. Connor cautions the environment movement not to walk away from engaging in domestic politics and says informed, engaged citizens can exert a positive influence on the debate

Dr Anne Hoggett speaks with Guardian Australia environment reporter Michael Slezak about the extensive damage the mass coral bleaching event has wrought on the Great Barrier Reef, as viewed from the Lizard Island Research Station, and says the scale of destruction is by far the ‘worst insult the reef has had’

David Ritter speaks with Guardian environment reporter Michael Slezak about how the Donald Trump presidency election will impact the future of environment and climate change campaigning in Australia and around the region

Publicly funded competition had already cost £100m when it was cancelled by the Treasury amid concerns over cost to consumers

A publicly funded scheme to reduce carbon emissions collapsed, after running up costs of £100m, following a disagreement between government departments, Whitehall’s spending watchdog has concluded.

Ministers launched a competition for developing technology to capture carbon emissions before Treasury officials cancelled the project, a report by the National Audit Office has found.

Each day glaciologist Jason Roberts flies planes over Antarctica to map the terrain under the ice, trying to discover how climate change will affect sea level rise. Roberts, who works for the Australian Antarctic Division, says the point of his work is to look for the ‘canary in the coalmine’, identifying hotspots where warm water is interacting with the east Antarctic ice shelf, making it vulnerable to changing climate conditions that could have drastic implications

I’ve maintained a wall between my job and my emotional response to it, but this month I’ve felt dread rising about looming disaster, and it’s an awakening

Until recently, like a sociopath might have little feelings when witnessing violence, I’ve managed to have relatively mild emotional responses to climate change.

For five years I’ve been covering climate change – the science that underpins it, the things that are driving it, the devastation it is wreaking, and the desperate measures we need to urgently put in place to mitigate it. (Not to mention the reporting I’ve done on the pathetic politics surrounding it.)

Kutubdia, an island of fishing villages and salt farms, has halved in size in 20 years, with family homes destroyed by ever-encroaching tides. In nearby Cox’s Bazar, more frequent storms have had a severe impact on fishermen’s catches

All photographs by Noor Alam/Majority World

Only 17.7% of respondents in polling commissioned by GetUp believe renewable energy is the primary culprit

Australian voters have not been swayed by a campaign attempting to blame rising power prices on renewable energy, according to new polling commissioned by GetUp.

Conservative media, as well as the federal government, have been attacking renewable energy, blaming it for rising power bills as well as blackouts that were caused by extreme weather.

A 47-year-old man was taken after trying to wade across the East Alligator river, Northern Territory police say

A man has been killed by a crocodile at Cahill’s Crossing in Kakadu national park.

Northern Territory police said the 47-year-old man was attempting to wade across the East Alligator river with two women about 4pm on Thursday when he was taken by a 3.5-metre saltwater crocodile. The two women, who made it across the river, did not witness the attack but raised the alarm when they saw he was gone.

You rather spoiled your commendable editorial (19 January) on making America great again by going green, when you dismissed the idea of protectionist carbon tariffs on those US exports made artificially cheap by being produced using subsidised fossil fuels. This could be an important transitional step to shifting a world economy already falling out of love with globalisation towards one shaped by green “progressive protectionism”. At its heart would be an emphasis on protecting and rebuilding sustainable local economies. This would offer a far more secure future for the majority than the socially and environmentally destructive form of global economic warfare inherent in international competitiveness and export-led growth.

Prioritising the domestic would allow massive funding for a long-term, climate-healing “jobs in every community” approach of making all buildings and transport systems energy efficient and powered by decentralised renewables. It would also see off rightwing populists by providing long-term employment for those parts of the “left behind” that can’t be reached by any other form of economic activity. The threat of carbon tariffs on relevant US exports could well be a useful tool towards pushing Trump to shift his promised increase in infrastructure investment into one that would be a nationwide, decentralised job generator that also helped tackle climate change.
Colin Hines
(Author, Progressive Protectionism) London

Holyrood ministers aim higher after hitting target of 42% cut by 2020 six years early, but say Brexit poses challenge

Scotland is seeking to dramatically cut its reliance on fossil fuels for cars, energy and homes after setting a radical target to cut total climate emissions by 66% within 15 years.

In one of the world’s most ambitious climate strategies, ministers in Edinburgh have unveiled far tougher targets to increase the use of ultra-low-carbon cars, green electricity and green home heating by 2032.

Though recreation on federal lands creates $646bn in economic stimulus and 6.1m jobs, Republicans are setting in motion a giveaway of Americans’ birthright

In the midst of highly publicized steps to dismantle insurance coverage for 32 million people and defund women’s healthcare facilities, Republican lawmakers have quietly laid the foundation to give away Americans’ birthright: 640m acres of national land. In a single line of changes to the rules for the House of Representatives, Republicans have overwritten the value of federal lands, easing the path to disposing of federal property even if doing so loses money for the government and provides no demonstrable compensation to American citizens.

At stake are areas managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Forests and Federal Wildlife Refuges, which contribute to an estimated $646bn in economic stimulus from recreation on federal lands and 6.1m jobs. Transferring these lands to the states, critics fear, could decimate those numbers by eliminating mixed-use requirements, limiting public access and turning over large portions for energy or property development.

Hollywood – loyal to its eco-sceptic audiences in middle America – has always been frosty towards environmental movies. Here are the most prescient exceptions to the rule

“We know that it was us that scorched the sky.”

And with that curt footnote, The Matrix sidesteps any further elaboration on the climate conditions that reign in the future outside the virtual world. Which seems to be Hollywood’s approach to climate change all over. It’s great for a bit of post-apocalyptic window-dressing, but any serious consideration of the topic is almost taboo. Perhaps the eco-scepticism of middle America – still Hollywood’s main market – is one reason; the lack of room for real-world settings and concerns amid the superhero-heavy cinematic universes that now dominate the franchise landscape is another. Not everyone has shied away from inconvenient truths, though: here are our top five climate-change feature films.

With climate sceptics moving to the White House, it’s crucial the US right recognises free markets are uncomfortable for incumbents but essential

Conservatives cannot properly be climate deniers. At the heart of their political stance is a desire to hand on something better to the future than they have received from the past. Now that climate science is so clear, a recognition of the duty to act to protect the next generation follows naturally. Of course, Conservatives have been somewhat cautious. Constitutionally, they don’t chase after novelty and it’s in their character to question fashionable theories.

So we shouldn’t be surprised at the genesis of Margaret Thatcher’s commitment to fighting climate change. As a Conservative she wasn’t a pushover, but as a scientist, she rigorously tested the science and was convinced. Once convinced she saw the imperative to act, and that made her the first leader of a major economy to commit to the Rio Earth Summit. In turn, it was her influence that brought George Bush to the table.

Vast plant in Qinghai province is part of China’s determination to transform itself from climate change villain to a green energy colossus

High on the Tibetan plateau, a giant poster of the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, guards the entrance to one of the greatest monuments to Beijing’s quest to become a clean energy colossus.

To Xi’s right, on the road leading to what is reputedly the biggest solar farm on earth, a billboard greets visitors with the slogan: “Promote green development! Develop clean energy!”

EPA staff are ‘nervous’ after the president-elect promised to reduce the environment agency to ‘tidbits’ and named climate skeptic Scott Pruitt to lead it

There is “nervousness” among Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) staff that Donald Trump’s incoming administration will sideline science and reverse action on climate change, according to the agency’s outgoing administrator, Gina McCarthy.

McCarthy told the Guardian that the Trump administration would face resistance from multiple fronts if it ran counter to a widespread shift to renewable energy, as well as scientific opinion, by rejecting climate science and attempting to bolster the fossil fuel industry.

From cutting down on meat, to contacting your local representatives and investing in clean energy, here are 15 ways to help reduce global carbon emissions

1 Air travel is usually the largest component of the carbon footprint of frequent flyers. A single return flight from London to New York – including the complicated effects on the high atmosphere – contributes to almost a quarter of the average person’s annual emissions. The easiest way to make a big difference is to go by train or not take as many flights.

2 The second most important lifestyle change is to eat less meat, with particular emphasis on meals containing beef and lamb. Cow and sheep emit large quantities of methane, a powerful global warming gas. A vegan diet might make as much as a 20% difference to your overall carbon impact but simply cutting out beef will deliver a significant benefit on its own.

The science of climate change is settled. So now the story is all about politics and economics. Here, Guardian journalists and prominent authors, economists and campaigners including Larry Elliott and Naomi Klein explore the finance of keeping fossil fuels in the ground; some options; and a possible solution

• This is a re-edit of a video the Guardian published in 2015
  

With climate sceptics moving into the White House, the Guardian will spend the next 24 hours focusing on climate change happening right now, and what we can all do to help protect the planet

9.18am GMT

Before we move on to Europe and the UK, this is a neat piece of work from my colleague Nick Evershed, the Guardian’s head of data and interactives in Australia. It shows how much carbon we are emitting right now – and how much we have “left to burn” if we want to keep global warming within the 2C band considered crucial by scientists to prevent serious damage to the planet.

Nick’s calculated that in just the 24 hour lifespan of this blog, the world will pump out more than 112m tons. Hard to visualise? Well let’s let the doomsday clock do the work:

9.08am GMT

So in summary, we’ve been focussed on Africa over the past hour: