The Guardian

The London mayor and chair of a global alliance of cities announces $1bn for electric buses

• Cop26 summit – day 11 live
• Cop26 – the complete guide
  
  

Global cities are acting now to fight the climate crisis, while many governments are delaying, the London mayor, Sadiq Khan, has told the Cop26 summit.

Cities are growing fast and cause an estimated 75% of carbon emissions, making urban action critical to halting global heating. Khan is chair of the C40 group of 97 major cities, representing more than 700 million people and a quarter of the global economy.

More than 100 nations including Australia this month signed up to stop or reverse deforestation by 2030. The pact, hailed as one of the main achievements of the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow, put the spotlight on an issue that combines carbon emissions and threatened species. These images reveal some of the shocking impacts of deforestation

World leaders, big business and international delegations have converged on the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow promising to tackle global heating.

But outside the closed negotiation doors, activists from around the globe have been a strong voice in attempting to hold those in power to account on their environmental pledges. The Guardian followed Fatima Ibrahim, activist and co-director of Green New Deal Rising, as she navigated a day at the climate conference 

Scottish ministers fear raft of measures could be undermined by delay to parallel action in England

The sale of plastic straws, cutlery and polystyrene cups and food boxes is to be banned in Scotland next year as part of measures to reduce waste and pollution.

The Scottish government said the ban would cover all single-use polystyrene food containers and their lids, as well as plastic stirrers, balloon sticks, plates and coffee stirrers, and would come into force on 1 June.

Climate experts say their message is getting through but more urgent work is needed

• Cop26 – latest updates

Scientists attending Cop26 have sent a clear warning to policymakers: get a move on, because every moment of delay, every extra fraction of a degree of global heating will have dire consequences.

That message has been reinforced at Glasgow with reports, forums and discussions, but those involved in channelling the science to the world’s leaders are frustrated that words are still not being matched by actions.

Recipients felt ‘threatened’ by letter from Mears, which is contracted to house asylum seekers in Glasgow

• Cop26 – latest updates

Concerns have been raised about a letter sent to thousands of asylum seekers in Glasgow advising them not to take part in policed protests during the Cop26 summit.

The letter was sent by the private housing provider Mears, which has the Home Office contract to house asylum seekers in the city, the UK’s largest dispersal area.

The Earth Project, in collaboration with Nature Picture Library photography competition, aims to raise awareness of the huge challenges faced by nature, as well as the impacts of climate change on global ecosystems. Some of the world’s leading photographers came together to illustrate nature under threat, linking to one of the main goals of Cop26: to help protect and restore ecosystems in countries adversely affected by the climate crisis

• The overall winning images, by Rivoni Mkansi of a rhino being dehorned to deter poaching; by Doug Gimesy of little blue penguins silhouetted against Melbourne city, and by Jo-Anne McArthur of pigs in an industrial farm, were selected by an online vote for three galleries

Climate Action Tracker data shows world still heading for catastrophe – but outlook could improve

New Cop26 pledges announced on methane, coal, transport and deforestation could nudge the world 9% closer to a pathway that keeps heating to 1.5C, according to a study by the world’s most respected climate analysis coalition.

Climate Action Tracker says the sectoral commitments announced in Glasgow represent potential cuts of 2.2 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide, which is equivalent to the emissions of Germany, Japan and the UK combined, or 20,000 fully loaded aircraft carriers. This is in addition to measures previously outlined in national climate plans.

Diverse participation leads to more robust solutions, but Cop26 shows we are still failing to include marginalised voices

In a stirring speech at the opening of the Cop26 world leaders summit, Mia Mottley, prime minister of Barbados, asked: “When will leaders lead?” The problem she identified is that “both ambition and needed faces are not present in Glasgow”. The over-representation of white men in climate change decision-making processes is stifling for both the imagination and the implementation of transformative solutions. Globally, only 26 women serve as heads of government and state. At the last Cop summit, held in 2019, approximately 80% or 155 of the 196 heads of delegation were men. Progress has been made to increase women’s participation in Cop events, but gender parity in climate leadership is estimated to be achieved only in 2068.

The global climate change agenda has met with not only political inaction, but resistance in the form of populist denialism that threatens to derail or undo existing efforts. For example, studies on “conservative white males” in the US and Norway have highlighted the connections between climate change denialism, patriarchal beliefs and rightwing nationalism.

Dr Maria Tanyag is a research fellow and lecturer in international relations at the Australian National University

British chemical giant to exit sector saying it is lagging too far behind rivals already making batteries at scale

Britain’s hopes to grab a slice of the fast-growing market for electric vehicle batteries have been dealt a blow after one of the UK’s biggest chemicals companies said it would give up on developing the technology.

Johnson Matthey, a member of the FTSE 100, announced plans on Thursday to exit the battery materials business because it is too far behind rivals who are already making batteries at gigantic scale.

Organisers of Glasgow march claim police risked ‘chaos’ by failing to adhere to agreed arrangements

• Cop26 – latest updates

Accumulated incidents of police intimidation, harassment and aggression towards activists at Cop26 are creating “an atmosphere of fear and repression” on the streets of Glasgow and have had a chilling effect on protest, campaigners and monitoring groups have said.

Organisers of Saturday’s Climate Justice march through Glasgow have also claimed that police risked “chaos” by failing to adhere to agreed arrangements, while Scottish immigrant groups and indigenous visitors have described their feelings of discomfort and threat prompted by “saturation policing” throughout the city.

Being threatened with arrest for unfurling a banner at a train station.

One activist operating in a police liaison capacity was given an identifying blue bib to wear by organisers, but later had it confiscated by a police officer and was threatened with arrest for impersonating a police officer.

The organiser at an activists’ campsite was threatened with arrest for “child neglect” after an officer witnessed families asking whether they could stay there.

Police vans driving past the site in the early hours blasting an air horn and shining a spotlight with the apparent intention of disturbing sleep.

One activist was reduced to tears after being followed into a men’s toilets by three officers.

Plan to transform 130 hectares of Allestree Park could see reintroduction of species such as red kite and harvest mouse

“I’m excited about the potential for large wildflower-rich grassland areas mixed with naturally regenerating scrub,” said Prof Alastair Driver, director at Rewilding Britain. “It won’t be long before these areas are ringing with warbler song and sizzling with grasshoppers and crickets.”

The source of Driver’s excitement is Allestree Park, the largest open space in Derby, to which Derby city council has given the green light this week to become what Rewilding Britain believes to be the UK’s largest urban rewilding project.

All the latest news from the UN climate change conference in Glasgow

• Cop26 draft text annotated: what it says and what it means
• US-China deal on emissions welcomed by climate experts

The UN’s António Guterres is underwhelmed by the pledges so far.

Bit of a theme here in the final push of the summit to make Cop26 a world-saver, rather than a historical disappointment. Lots of voices calling for more “ambition”.

Without fungi we don’t have bread, chocolate, cheese, soy sauce, beer or wine. They are also crucial to protecting our climate

Let’s picture a dinner with family or friends that began by enjoying beer, wine, fruit juice or maybe a fizzy kombucha beverage. You’re contemplating a glorious basket of bread, wrapped in awe of its perfect crumb and fantasizing about the moment you slather it in butter or olive oil. Then come the fresh vegetables sauteed with soy sauce, maybe tofu or free-range beef with potatoes or rice, followed by cheese, or a chocolate dessert – and to top it off, a lovely cup of coffee or tea with some chocolates or maybe some sake? We need to stop for a moment and thank fungi for all of this. Honestly, none of it would be possible without them, and your dinner would certainly not be so tasty!

Fungi are responsible for almost all our food production, and most of our processed materials. They are also to be thanked for many of the important medical breakthroughs in human history that treat both physical and mental ailments, for naturally sequestering and slowly releasing carbon, for optimizing industrial processes, and so much more.

Countries do not have to include armed forces’ emissions in their targets despite estimates sector creates 6% of greenhouse gases

• Cop26 latest – live

Armed forces are among the biggest polluters on the planet but are avoiding scrutiny because countries do not have to include their emissions in their targets, scientists say.

The world’s militaries combined, and the industries that provide their equipment, are estimated to create 6% of all global emissions, according to Scientists for Global Responsibility (SGR).

A doctor in the south of the country says people are eating cactus leaves and ashes as the rains become more erratic

There’s nothing to harvest any more, nothing that can be taken from the land, that’s why people are starving in Madagascar.

The rainy season was always special, an important time when everyone planted food – key crops such as cassava. But for the past three years we’ve had very little rain. The climate has changed in Madagascar, maybe because of the global climate crisis. We used to have distinct seasons but no more, it has been a bit troubled. The landscape looks really dry, the trees have no more leaves. It is hard to find green areas, most have turned arid and grey.

The climate crisis could cause mass displacement as land is left uninhabitable – nations have to work together to plan for this

As scientists wrestle to predict the true impact and legacy of Cop26, one speech, given at a rally organised by Global Justice Now, insisted upon a perspective not data-driven but moral. Lumumba Di-Aping, a South Sudanese diplomat and former chief negotiator for the G77, said: “The first resolution that should be agreed in Glasgow is for annex I polluters to grant the citizens of small island developing states the right to immigration.”

It was a tactful way of putting it: annex I nations are those with special financial responsibilities in tackling the climate crisis. They have these special responsibilities because their early industrialisation created so much of the carbon burden. A more pugilistic diplomat might have said “the people who created this disaster have to offer sanctuary to those displaced by it”, but then, he wouldn’t be a diplomat.

Zoe Williams is a Guardian columnist

UN and EU say the agreement could help pave the way to wider breakthrough, though concerns remain over ‘patchy details’

An unexpected agreement between the US and China to work together on cutting emissions has been broadly welcomed by leaders and climate experts.

The world’s two biggest emitters appeared to put aside their differences at the Cop26 climate summit and on Wednesday unveiled a joint declaration that would see close cooperation on emissions cuts that scientists say are needed in the next 10 years to stay within 1.5C.

One policy unites the left, from Joe Biden to John McDonnell. Trouble is, it’s foggy, technocratic and top-down

Q: What binds together such disparate souls as Noam Chomsky and Keir Starmer, Yanis Varoufakis and Joe Biden, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Caroline Lucas?

A: They all want a green new deal.

Aditya Chakrabortty is a Guardian columnist

The prime minister with the shortest planning horizon in living memory is a laggard, not a leader

Scott Morrison thrives in the empty space between three-year terms and 30-year plans. Whether it is climate change, nuclear submarines or budget repair – it is no accident the prime minister with the shortest planning horizon in living memory is our greatest announcer of long-run plans.

While the vacuousness of Morrison’s net-zero “plan” and his refusal to release the underpinning modelling has been widely condemned, the reality is: no matter how detailed a plan to transition the Australian economy over the next 30 years is, it will always be a work of fiction.

Today I announce the largest and most far-reaching package of measures to address climate change ever undertaken by any government in Australia … It provides a durable framework to promote Australia’s national interest towards the year 2010 and beyond. In a comprehensive manner, it replaces and far exceeds the random, disjointed projects of the previous government.

Without further action, Australia’s emissions are expected to grow by around 28 per cent from 1990 to 2010. This is based on a comprehensive approach excluding land use change. Emissions from the energy sector alone are expected to grow by around 40 per cent. The package I announce today will achieve a dramatic reduction of a third in our expected net emissions growth from 1990 to 2010. These measures will reduce our net emissions growth from 28 to 18 per cent in that period, or some 39 million tonnes of emissions … This is a realistic, even conservative, calculation of the emission benefits.