The Guardian

Unclear if ‘Freya’ is conducting protest lie-in or just waylaid, though Dutch navy note her choice of ‘Walrus-class submarine’

The disruption from the climate emergency being experienced by marine wildlife reached a new high in the first week of Cop26, when a female walrus was discovered sleeping on a submarine in a naval base in North Holland.

Walruses normally live in the polar regions – several hundred miles north. This particular animal is one of at least two of the species that have been seen far from their Arctic habitat. Another wandering walrus, seen off the Scilly Islands, France, Spain and West Cork, Ireland, has since been sighted back in Icelandic waters.

World Economic Forum says taxing carbon emitters would cost less than economic fallout from climate crisis

Creating an international price for carbon emissions could reduce global greenhouse gases by 12% at a cost of less than 1% of global GDP, according to a new report from the World Economic Forum (WEF) and PwC.

The report found that if global governments agreed together to set a price for pollution to help cut carbon emissions the cost would be less than the economic losses triggered by the fallout of a runaway climate crisis.

Analysis identifies 56 new chemicals in water supplies – including some linked to critical diseases

Water utilities and regulators in the US have identified 56 new contaminants in drinking water over the past two years, a list that includes dangerous substances linked to a range of health problems such as cancer, reproductive disruption, liver disease and much more.

The revelation is part of an analysis of the nation’s water utilities’ contamination records by the Environmental Working Group, a clean water advocate that has now updated its database for the first time since 2019.

The Morrison government’s technology and market-driven response will not drive down emissions in a fast and fair way

• Scott Morrison unveils $500m in international climate finance
• ‘We are digging our own graves’: world leaders’ powerful words
• Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing

For more than 30 years, scientists and communities most at risk of life-threatening global warming have pleaded with political leaders and polluting industries to take concrete action to cut carbon emissions, protect people and forge a sustainable future for the planet.

Instead, for over 30 years, we have had political leaders and industry “debate” whether climate change is real, hold “conversations” about what to do about it, and embark on “journeys”, not concrete plans.

Sign up to receive an email with the top stories from Guardian Australia every morning

Cop26 countries must take action to stop record heat becoming an annual event, say experts

• What is Cop26 and why does it matter? The complete guide

The heatwaves and wildfires that caused devastation in Europe this summer would not have happened without global heating, new analysis shows.

The summer of 2021 was the hottest on record in the continent, with average temperatures about 1C above normal. The elevated heat caused wildfires and premature deaths.

Pledge by over 450 financial institutions in 45 countries billed as one of the successes of Cop26 summit

Hundreds of the world’s biggest banks and pension funds with assets worth $130tn have committed themselves to a key goal in limiting greenhouse gas emissions, the UK government will announce on Wednesday.

The pledge by more than 450 financial institutions in 45 countries is intended to be one of the top achievements by the UK hosts of the Cop26 summit in Glasgow, and comes as some of the other aims of the summit – chiefly, setting the world on a path to limit global heating to 1.5C – are looking hard to reach.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson said he was “cautiously optimistic” about reaching a deal to keep the 1.5C target on track. Returning to a football analogy in which he had said the world was the equivalent of 5-1 down, he declared on Monday evening that the score was now “more like 5-2 or 5-3”.

US president Joe Biden announced a plan by 90 countries to control methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. Under the agreement, which does not include major emitters Russia and China, emissions of methane would fall 30% by the end of the decade.

In another multinational deal, more than 40 countries including the UK, US, EU, India, China and Australia signed up to a plan to coordinate the introduction of clean technologies around the world. By collaborating on things like hydrogen production and electric vehicles, the members of the Breakthrough Alliance hope to bring forward the “tipping point” at which green technology is more affordable than fossil-fuel technology.

The group of countries with the most ambitious climate targets, known as the High Ambition Coalition, were boosted by the announcement that the US would be rejoining their ranks after withdrawing from the Paris agreement entirely under former president Donald Trump. Observers said the move would strengthen efforts to stay on track for the target of 1.5C of heating.

Criticism of Santos pavilion display comes as Coalition confirms it will not join global pledge to cut methane

• When Charles met Scott: prince and the PM come face to face
• Australia considering more than 100 fossil fuel projects that could produce 5% of global industrial emissions
• Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing

The Australian government has been criticised for prominently hosting a fossil fuel company at its pavilion at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow.

The condemnation came as the Morrison government confirmed it would not join about 90 countries in backing the official launch of a global pledge to reduce emissions of methane – a potent greenhouse gas leaked during gas and coal extraction and released by livestock – by 30% by 2030.

Rishi Sunak should temper his hopes of a huge pool of business cash to fund the net zero transition

Add up the assets of 450 of the biggest financial companies spread across 45 countries and what do you get? A very big number for Rishi Sunak to boast about, that’s what. About $130tn (£95tn) to be precise.

The chancellor, who is kicking off tomorrow’s finance day at the Cop26 conference, will say that 40% of the world’s financial assets is now owned by institutions aligned with the Paris 2015 goal of limiting the increase in global temperature to no more than 1.5C of pre-industrial levels.

‘It is a gigantic issue and they just walked away,’ says US president, who also criticises Russia’s failure to attend Cop26

Joe Biden launched a stinging attack on China on Tuesday for the failure of the country’s president, Xi Jinping, to show up to the Cop26 UN climate summit, and failing to show leadership on the climate crisis.

The US president said it was a “big mistake” that his Chinese counterpart had chosen not to attend the summit, where more than 120 world leaders have spent the last two days discussing ways to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C.

UK PM claims there has been a turnaround since G20 summit as he urges China to make improved pledge

Boris Johnson has declared he is “cautiously optimistic” about a deal at Cop26 to keep global temperature rises below 1.5C as he urged China to commit to bringing emissions down by 2025.

The prime minister had previously said if the climate emergency were a football match the world would be 5-1 down but he said on Monday that the score was now more like 5-2 or 5-3.

Despite Xi Jinping’s absence in Glasgow, Beijing is taking the climate crisis seriously. It must still go much further

Among the 120 or so world leaders gathered in Glasgow for the Cop26 climate crisis talks, there has been one very conspicuous absence: Xi Jinping, president of by far the world’s largest greenhouse gas emitter, responsible for more than a quarter of all emissions. Mr Xi’s decision to stay away is unsurprising; previously a frequent traveller, he has not left his country for 21 months, since the pandemic took hold. But the reduction of the Chinese leader’s contribution to a written statement, making no new commitments, has highlighted concern about Beijing’s recent decisions.

The first is its announcement that it will build new coal-fired power plants, a response to extensive power cuts. Though experienced observers hope the medium-term impact will be less serious than it appears, it could imperil China’s pledge to peak carbon emissions in 2030. The second is its national plan on greenhouse gas emissions, revealed last Thursday. While better than the 2015 plan, it offers little progress on its already declared ambitions and falls well short of the action needed to ensure global heating does not exceed 1.5C. And in Glasgow, China has (like India and Russia) declined to sign up to the new 80-country pact to cut methane emissions, although it has joined the agreement to halt deforestation over the next decade.

MPs heard about scale of problem during first reading of plastics (wet wipes) bill

Wet wipes which contain plastic are forming “islands” across the UK after being flushed, with rivers changing shape after the products pile up on their banks, MPs have heard as legislation aiming to ban their sale had its first reading in the House of Commons.

Labour MP Fleur Anderson’s plastics (wet wipes) bill would prohibit the manufacture and sale of wet wipes containing plastic if it was to pass through parliament and receive royal assent.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg had some choice words for the world leaders inside the Cop26 conference in Glasgow. Joined by some of the many activists rallying around the climate change meeting, Thunberg decried inaction from politicians and big business, saying ‘We are not going to let them get away with it any more’

• 2050: what happens if we ignore the climate crisis – video explainer
• Why the world is getting hotter and how you can help – video explainer

‘Mega-MPA’ in Pacific will link waters of Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Costa Rica to protect migratory turtles, whales and sharks from fishing fleets

Four Pacific-facing Latin American nations have committed to joining their marine reserves to form one interconnected area, creating one of the world’s richest pockets of ocean biodiversity.

Panama, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica announced on Tuesday the creation of the Eastern Tropical Pacific Marine Corridor (CMAR) initiative, which would both join and increase the size of their protected territorial waters to create a fishing-free corridor covering more than 500,000 sq km (200,000 sq miles) in one of the world’s most important migratory routes for sea turtles, whales, sharks and rays.

Boris Johnson meets the heads of small island nations on the third day of the UN climate conference in Glasgow

World leaders have agreed a deal that aims to halt and reverse global deforestation over the next decade as part of a multibillion-dollar package to tackle human-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Xi Jinping, Jair Bolsonaro and Joe Biden are among the leaders who will commit to the declaration at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow on Tuesday to protect vast areas, ranging from the eastern Siberian taiga to the Congo basin, home to the world’s second-largest rainforest

• Biden, Bolsonaro and Xi among leaders agreeing to end deforestation
• Cop26 – live updates

UK, US and China among countries representing two-thirds of global economy to agree to push green energy and cars

A plan to coordinate the global introduction of clean technologies in order to rapidly drive down their cost has been agreed at the Cop26 summit by world leaders representing two-thirds of the world’s economy.

A global transition to green energy and vehicles is vital in tackling the climate crisis, and economies of scale mean that costs plummet as production increases – as already seen with solar panels and LED lightbulbs.

The coal and gas works, if approved, would result in a nearly 30% increase in emissions within Australia

• Get our free news app; get our morning email briefing

Australia has more than 100 fossil fuel developments in the pipeline that could result in nearly 1.7bn tonnes of greenhouse gases a year – equivalent to about 5% of global industrial emissions – if all were to go ahead, an analysis says.

The Australian government lists 116 major coal and gas projects under development, each valued at more than A$50m and with the potential to reach a final investment decision in the next five years.

The president of the Pacific island state of Palau has told the Cop26 summit that parallels could be drawn between the climate crisis and the traditional Palau story of a boy who grew into a giant and 'wouldn’t stop growing ... depleting all the natural resources'. Surangel Whipps Jr said the story was 'eerily reminiscent' of today’s climate crisis. Speaking about the environmental impact on island nations, he added: 'There is no dignity to a slow and painful death: you might as well bomb our islands'

• Cop26 – live updates
• See all our Cop26 coverage

The Guardian's Richard Sprenger steps inside a farm, an abattoir and a knackers yard to see how the industry deals with dead and dying animals, and what that says about our own humanity. The welfare of farm animals is well regulated in the UK, but in many cases these animals still suffer traumatic, messy deaths through sickness, injury or the lengthy process that leads to the abattoir. It’s an area of farming that we rarely think about, let alone see – but the safe disposal of carcasses takes many forms

• Episode 1: ‘This is a place of death’: the fight for a meat-free world | Human Animal

WARNING: This video contains footage of dead animals and animals being killed