The Guardian

In a crucial year for the climate, award-winning Guardian environment editor Fiona Harvey reflects on 30 years of Cops and meets the politicians, activists and scientists asking who is responsible for saving the planet.  

In November last year, the world’s gaze focused on Glasgow at Cop26 as 'a historic, collective achievement' was forged between 200 countries – the Glasgow climate pact. Since then, unprecedented global events have threatened this commitment to limiting climate destruction, and the hopes of 'keeping 1.5 alive' have been dashed. We follow Fiona as she prepares for Cop27 in Egypt, asking presidents, global leaders, activists and scientists if global diplomacy is enough to save humanity from the brink of annihilation

Oil and gas industries have 636 representatives at Egypt conference – a rise of more than 25% on previous year

• Cop27 live – latest news updates

There are more than 600 fossil fuel lobbyists at the Cop27 climate conference, a rise of more than 25% from last year and outnumbering any one frontline community affected by the climate crisis.

There are 636 lobbyists from the oil and gas industries registered to attend the UN event in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. At Glasgow, the figure was 503, which outnumbered the delegation of any single country. This year the only country with a larger delegation is the United Arab Emirates, hosts of Cop28 next year, which has 1,070 registered delegates, up from 176 last year.

Latest developments from the UN event, where the theme of the day is science and youth

There are a lot of interesting protests happening today, from a woman in an embellished outfit which proclaims ‘the flood is coming’, to the vegans who have been there each day (a lot of the food on offer seems to be beef and chicken based).

Though the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, hotfooted it back to England pretty swiftly after his underwhelming speech to the conference on Monday, there are still a handful of politicians knocking around.

I am delighted to be at Cop27 as part of the UK delegation and to speak about the net zero review and the progress we have made. So far the review has held 38 evidence roundtables and been taking evidence from across the UK – along with receiving over 1,800 written evidence submissions.

I’m keen to maintain the level of collaboration internationally, to demonstrate that the UK remains internationally leading in our climate policies and the review is a fantastic opportunity to establish new policies and frameworks that can ensure we can go further and faster on emissions reductions – and show other nations how they can deliver and implement their own net zero targets.

Experts say world has ‘overreached’ in replacing Russian supply, which could kill 1.5C target

The global dash for gas amid the Ukraine war will accelerate climate breakdown and could send temperatures soaring far beyond the 1.5C limit of safety, analysis has shown.

If all of the new gas projects announced in response to the global gas supply crunch are fulfilled, the resulting greenhouse gas emissions would add up to about 10% of the total amount of carbon dioxide that can safely be emitted by 2050.

Pupils at a school supported by Save the Children on Tonlé Sap, a lake in the west of the country, are learning about pollution and the climate crisis – and how their efforts can make a difference to their community

• Photographs by Linh Pham

Toyota, Volkswagen and Hyundai/Kia on track to make far more petrol and diesel cars than is sustainable

The world’s biggest carmakers plan to build about 400m more diesel and petrol cars than what is sustainable to contain global heating, a study has found.

Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), the University of Applied Sciences of the Industry in Bergisch Gladbach and Greenpeace Germany compared the rate at which the world needed to embrace zero-emissions vehicles with the rate at which major car companies were planning to produce various models.

The pause follows a fire at a Melbourne recycling facility, which is also linked the closure of Coles and Woolworths soft plastics recycling

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More than one million used printer cartridges returned as part of a Planet Ark recycling program are being held in storage until at least the middle of next year.

Planet Ark has told the Guardian the printer cartridges can’t currently be recycled because of a June fire at a recycling facility in Melbourne.

ACCC to oversee reform of water market which emerged after Murray-Darling Basin changes meant water allocations could be traded

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The federal government will crack down on shonky practices in the trading of water which have undermined farmers’ trust in the market by implementing new rules and more oversight.

The water minister, Tanya Plibersek, will announce today that $12m has been provided to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to police and implement the roadmap for water market reform.

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The claim it would take 25% of Australia’s land mass to provide the planet with green hydrogen misses an obvious point

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How much land would be needed for enough solar panels and windfarms to supply the world with green hydrogen?

In a story in The Australian this week, the apparent answer was about 25% of Australia’s entire land mass.

Leaders, activists and other delegates rub shoulders at UN climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt

Negotiations move behind closed doors and China confirms ‘informal’ talks with US

After the leaders’ speeches of the first couple of days, most of the negotiations have now moved behind closed doors. The big discussions today were all around finance, and there does appear to have been some movement on this, as Damian Carrington reported, with positive momentum potentially starting to build on a pivotal issue as the UK said it would allow some debt payment deferrals, while Austria and New Zealand put forward funding for loss and damage.

Other developments included:

The family of the jailed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah demanded proof of life for the third day in a row

A Kulkalgal activist from the Torres Strait Islands said the way the world often treated Indigenous people was an insult and that he was at the conference “fighting for our home”

Bill McKibben, a US environmentalist and founder of 350.org, told an audience: “This year we’ve fully understood the link between fossil fuels and fascism. Putin could not have invaded Ukraine without the profits from oil and gas, or [cowed] the west with threats of turning off the taps.”

The World Bank president, David Malpass, said he was not a “climate denier”. The Donald Trump appointee previously said he did not “even know” if he accepted climate science.

Protesters staged rallies inside the central conference area, ignoring Egypt’s attempts to keep displays of dissent out of sight.

Almost half of young people in Africa say they have reconsidered having children due to the climate crisis, according to a Unicef poll.

China’s envoy said the US had “closed the door” to climate talks and needed to reopen it. Xie Zhenhua said Beijing and Washington were having “informal talks”. Xie also hinted that China may contribute to a “loss and damage” fund.

John Kerry, the US climate envoy, announced a global carbon credit trading initiative that he said would be “critical” in helping developing countries transition to cleaner forms of energy. That has received a mixed reaction from environmental groups.

A Kulkalgal activist from the Torres Strait Islands has said the way the world often treats Indigenous people is an insult and he is attending the Cop27 conference in Egypt 'fighting for our home'.  Yessie Mosby, who in September was part of a group of claimants who made history in a landmark legal case that found the Australian government should compensate Torres Strait Islanders over climate crisis failures, said: 'Whether it's us in the saltwater, people of the Pacific Islands, or the people of the plains and the mountains, the swamps, who are facing climate change, we really want our voices to be heard. And we really need action.'

• Cop27 global climate summit: latest updates

Critics question plan’s value in dealing with climate crisis and its potential to ‘harm communities and undermine human rights’

The US government has unveiled a new voluntary carbon trading market scheme with the aim of boosting private investment in clean energy projects in developing countries.

John Kerry, the US’s climate envoy, said the new initiative, called the energy transition accelerator, will be created in partnership with the Rockefeller Foundation and the Bezos Earth Fund to help deliver the trillions of dollars of investment needed to help poorer countries transition to renewables and stave off disastrous climate impacts.

Climate change committee chair tells chancellor there are many small changes people can make to save energy and money

The UK government must improve its energy-saving advice for households to help cut costs for consumers and the Treasury this winter, its climate advisers have said.

The climate change committee chair, Lord Deben, said Britain was exposed to fluctuations in the price for fossil fuels that had forced the government to commit tens of billions of pounds in support and still left homes and businesses facing an extra £1,300 on average annual bills.

Small but symbolic moves at summit where finance is critical include new loss and damage money and debt relief

• Cop27 live – latest news updates

A series of symbolic moves on climate finance at Cop27 suggests positive momentum could be starting to build on a pivotal issue at the UN summit in Egypt.

The UK said it would allow some debt payment deferrals for countries hit by climate disasters, while Austria and New Zealand put forward funding for loss and damage, which is the cost of rebuilding in poorer nations after unavoidable climate impacts.

Pausing mid-sentence and flipping through his notes, UN secretary general, António Guterres, realised he was reading from the wrong speech. 'I'm going to speak to a group of young people afterwards and there was a small confusion. I apologise,' he told a huge crowd of attendees at Cop27 on Wednesday

• Cop27: World Bank president says he is not a ‘climate denier’; protests in Sharm el-Sheikh– live

The Guardian's biodiversity and environment reporter, Patrick Greenfield, questioned the World Bank president, David Malpass, about his record of climate crisis denial at the end of an event at Cop27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. 

Malpass apologised in late September after saying he 'doesn't know' if he accepted climate science. He did not resign from his position. When asked several times if he was a climate denier, Malpass said: 'You know that I'm not, so don't misreport it.' He refused to answer any other questions

• Cop27: World Bank president says he is not a ‘climate denier’; protests in Sharm el-Sheikh– live
  

‘Journalists shouldn’t get arrested for doing their job,’ says Gillian Keegan after arrest of Charlotte Lynch

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• Cop27 live – latest news updates

Police have been criticised after the arrest of another journalist covering protests by Just Stop Oil.

Charlotte Lynch, a reporter at LBC, was challenged by officers from Hertfordshire constabulary while covering a protest by the climate activist campaign at junction 21 of the M25 on Tuesday morning.

It’s on course to guzzle half the world’s carbon budget, so why are governments so afraid to discuss it?

There are just two actions needed to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown: leave fossil fuels in the ground and stop farming animals. But, thanks to the power of the two industries, both aims are officially unmentionable. Neither of them has featured in any of the declarations from the 26 climate summits concluded so far.

Astonishingly, the sectors themselves are seldom mentioned. I’ve worked through every final agreement produced by the summits since they began. Fossil fuels are named in only six of them. Just one hints at using less overall: the others propose only to improve efficiency (which, as we have known since the 19th century, can often paradoxically increase fossil fuel use), attempt technical fixes or, in the case of last year’s agreement in Glasgow, phase down “unabated” coal burning, while saying nothing about reducing oil or gas. Not one of them suggests extracting less. If fossil fuels are removed from the ground, they will be used, regardless of governments’ vague declarations about consumption.

After two days of speeches from world leaders, Wednesday’s discussions will focus on climate finance

Our environment correspondent, Fiona Harvey, has put a useful list together of how likely progress is at Cop27.

It’s terrible news for those who are still clinging to 1.5C but some surprising achievements could be grasped at the summit.

My country is not responsible for the climate crisis, but we’re suffering the effects. Now, rich countries are out to grab the huge gas reserves, and people are being dispossessed of their land. One million people out of the 23 million population are living in refugee camps because of gas. We say no to more gas finance. We won’t let Africa burn.