The Guardian

Urine found to contain ‘significantly’ increased concentrations of glyphosate, which is associated with fetal problems

Pregnant women living near farm fields show “significantly” increased concentrations of glyphosate weedkiller in their urine during periods when farmers are spraying their fields with the herbicide, according to a new scientific paper published on Wednesday.

The research team said the findings were concerning, given recent studies that have found gestational exposure to glyphosate is associated with reduced fetal growth and other fetal problems. Glyphosate separately has been linked to cancer and other health problems.

Humanity faces ‘devastating domino effects’ including mass displacement and financial ruin as planet warms

Many of the gravest threats to humanity are drawing closer, as carbon pollution heats the planet to ever more dangerous levels, scientists have warned.

Five important natural thresholds already risk being crossed, according to the Global Tipping Points report, and three more may be reached in the 2030s if the world heats 1.5C (2.7F) above pre-industrial temperatures.

Albanese government announces at Cop28 it will phase out offshore support for coal, oil and gas within a year

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The Australian government has been praised for joining a global partnership committed to stopping billions of dollars in foreign aid and loans being spent on fossil fuel expansion, but the decision has also prompted renewed calls for it to reconsider polluting subsidies at home.

The Albanese government announced at the Cop28 climate summit that it had joined 40 other countries in signing up to the clean energy transition partnership, an agreement first reached in Glasgow two years ago.

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Woman was reported to have just gotten married and the man paddleboarding with her as her groom

A shark attacked and killed a Boston newlywed off the coast of the Bahamas on Monday, according to authorities and reports.

Local police said the woman, 44, was bit by a shark at about 11.15am in New Providence. The woman was paddleboarding with a man at the time of the attack, presumed to be her husband.

Exclusive: Under current policies, Britain could fall short of internationally agreed goal of 68% cut in emissions by 2030

• What is Cop28 and why does it matter?

The UK government is likely to miss its targets under the Paris climate agreement by a wide margin, analysis shows, dealing a devastating blow to Britain’s standing on the international stage.

Under current policies, the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are likely to be 59% lower in 2030 than they were in 1990 – but the country’s internationally agreed target is for a 68% reduction by the end of this decade. The gap is likely to leave Britain in breach of these commitments.

Many in the global movement are divided on whether or how to take a stand on the conflict

• Israel-Hamas war – live updates

When Greta Thunberg posted a photo of herself holding a “stand with Gaza” sign on Instagram in October, the backlash in Israel and Germany came hard and fast.

An Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson initially told Politico that “whoever identifies with Greta in any way in the future, in my view, is a terror supporter,” although later retracted his comments. The official X account of Israel said “Hamas doesn’t use sustainable materials for their rockets” and told Thunberg to speak up for its victims. The Israeli education ministry said it would strike any reference to the Swedish climate activist from its curriculum.

As the days shorten and cool, the sea offers up its secrets. Those who stick around to enjoy it are truly blessed

Once my work is done, and as long as the winds aren’t whipping up the valley, I head into Aberystwyth to dip into the sea. Some days I try to swim far; others I lie on my back and watch the clouds. Then I wander up to the Prom Diner and, depending on the time, order a cortado, an ice-cream or, if the day lends itself to it, a beer. I find a seat facing the sea and bask in all of it. This is a very good life.

But I cannot stay smug, because the sea has other ideas. Aberystwyth’s beaches, like those of Borth and Aberdyfi to the north, are storm beaches, which move with the sea’s weather and moods. At this time of year, they shift daily – sometimes even more often. The largely slate shingle beach that holiday folk know from summer is gone and replaced with sand.

The act is believed to have saved 99% of listed species from extinction, but rightwing lawmakers are chipping away at it

Imagine a cosmic rock billions of years old yet vibrant with water, light and life. Not too close to the sun and not too far away. Tilted on its axis and turning daily to render seasons, sunrises and sunsets. A place so bountiful and varied that it has nourished and inspired humanity through our entire history. This is Earth, our only home. And that stunning array of life – countless species evolved over millennia and evolving still – is what scientists today call biodiversity.

That biodiversity is in trouble.

Former president of Republic of Ireland makes first comments since Sultan Al Jaber told her a fossil fuel phase out could mean ‘going back into caves’

• Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels to hit record high

Alok Sharma, an MP for the Conservative party in Britain and president of Cop26 that was held in Glasgow two years ago, has made some comments about Al Jaber’s presidency: “everyone should be questioned,” he says.

Environment ministers from Germany and Colombia have led an open letter calling for the inclusion of nature in the global stocktake outcome, which countries are negotiating at Cop28.

“The GST provides a critical moment to recognize the importance of just and inclusive means of implementation, and address the significant finance gap for nature-based solutions,” said Muhamad. “In particular, the involvement and respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities is critical, in addition to the urgent need to align financial flows to enable the transformations required to deliver the Paris Agreement goals.”

Legislation being debated in the Senate will create a market to encourage private spending on projects that protect and restore biodiversity

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The Albanese government and Greens have struck a deal to establish a nature repair market in exchange for fast-tracking an expansion of the water trigger to all unconventional gas projects.

The deal would also prevent trades in a new nature market from being used as offsets for other destruction of habitat.

Industry experts say electric cars sales figures could be higher if the government stops delaying fuel efficiency standards

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Sales of electric vehicles in Australia have more than doubled this year compared to 2022 but industry experts say the figure could be even higher had the government introduced long-promised fuel efficiency standards.

The year-to-date sales of battery electric vehicles (EVs) have hit 80,446 compared to 28,326 for the same period last year, an increase of 185%, according to figures from the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries. EVs made up 7.2% of all motor vehicle sales so far this year.

Projected rate of warming has not improved in past two years, analysis shows

• Cop28 president forced into defence of fossil fuel phase-out claims
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Global carbon emissions from fossil fuels reached record levels again in 2023, as experts warned that the projected rate of warming had not improved over the past two years.

The world is on track to have burned more coal, oil and gas in 2023 than it did in 2022, according to a report by the Global Carbon Project, pumping 1.1% more planet-heating carbon dioxide into the atmosphere at a time when emissions must plummet to stop extreme weather from growing more violent.

UAE-hosted summit admitted at least 2,456 people affiliated with oil and gas industries, analysis finds

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At least 2,456 fossil fuel lobbyists have been granted access to the Cop28 climate negotiations, according to an analysis.

The figure calculated by the Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO) coalition is a record number that raises further questions about the fossil fuel industry’s influence over this year’s UN summit, which is being run by the president of the United Arab Emirates’ national oil company.

Fossil fuel lobbyists received more passes than the combined total of delegates (1,609) from the 10 most climate vulnerable countries combined, including Somalia, Chad, Tonga, Solomon Islands and Sudan.

Many fossil fuel lobbyists were granted access as part of a trade association, of which nine of the 10 largest came from the global north. This included the Geneva-based International Emissions Trading Association, which brought 116 people including representatives from Shell, TotalEnergies and Norway’s Equinor.

Ed Miliband asks for urgent assurances about government and regulators’ actions after vulnerabilities at nuclear site are revealed

Ministers are under pressure to explain the actions of the government and regulators over cyber security at Europe’s most hazardous nuclear site after a Guardian investigation revealed disturbing vulnerabilities in its networks.

The shadow energy secretary, Ed Miliband, called on the government to urgently “provide assurances” about Sellafield, after the Guardian revealed it had been hacked by groups linked to Russia and China.

Motion will force Tory MPs to say whether bonuses can still be paid despite poor state of English and Welsh waterways

Labour aims to embarrass the government by forcing Conservative MPs to vote on whether Ofwat should have the power to ban water bosses’ bonuses until they clean up waterways in England and Wales.

Water suppliers have been repeatedly criticised for paying out large sums to bosses who have presided over leaky infrastructure and sewage dumping. Senior executives from five of the 11 water companies that deal with sewage took bonuses this year, while the rest declined after public outrage.

The Cop28 president, Sultan Al Jaber, held a surprise press conference at which he said comments he made about the phasing out of fossil fuels were 'misrepresented'. The Guardian reported how Jaber had remarked that there was 'no scientific evidence' indicating a phase-out of fossil fuels was needed to restrict global heating to 1.5C. Jaber, who is CEO of the UAE's state oil company Adnoc, defended the comments he made during a virtual meeting on 21 November with the former Irish president and UN climate convoy Mary Robinson. Jaber said: 'Let’s just clarify where I stand on the science … I honestly think there is some confusion out there and misrepresentation.'

• Cop28 live – latest updates

• Cop28 president forced into defence of fossil fuel phaseout claims

Co-leader of EU delegation at Cop28 says climate should be at centre of all financial and economic decisions

• Cop28 live – latest updates

If fossil fuel companies are serious about tackling the climate crisis, they could contribute to funds for poor and vulnerable countries stricken by its effects, Spain’s environment minister has said.

Teresa Ribera, a co-leader of the EU delegation at the Cop28 UN climate summit in Dubai, said: “Private corporates should be stepping into a different development model in vulnerable countries. We went through some language on that that was broadly supported by all [EU] member states, which is: why not just start by an invitation to the oil and gas companies to dedicate part of the profits to invest in sustainable development of the most vulnerable countries. And that’s on a voluntary basis [at first], because why not?”

‘We need you,’ says Scientist Rebellion, which includes authors of IPCC reports on climate breakdown, as diplomats meet for Cop28

• Cop28 live – latest updates

Wolfgang Cramer’s first involvement with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change was in the 90s. He worked on the second assessment report, delivered in 1995, which affirmed the science of anthropogenic climate breakdown. At that point, no one could say they did not know what was happening.

Almost three decades on, Cramer was part of the international scientific team that prepared the sixth IPCC report. Its conclusion, delivered in March, issued human civilisation a bleak “final warning” – the biosphere stands on the brink of irrevocable damage.

Sultan Al Jaber, who is state oil CEO, had said phase-out of fossil fuels would take world ‘back into caves’

• Cop28 live – latest updates

The president of Cop28 has been forced into a fierce defence of his views on climate science, after the Guardian revealed his comment that there was “no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C”.

Sultan Al Jaber, who is also the chief executive of the United Arab Emirates’ state oil company, Adnoc, said at a hastily arranged press conference at the summit in Dubai: “I respect the science in everything I do. I have repeatedly said that it is the science that has guided the principles or strategy as Cop28 president. We have always built everything, every step of the way, on the science, on the facts.”