With global heating on a dangerous trajectory, it would be unforgivable for the prime minister to miss the summit in Belém
In a month, this year’s UN climate summit, Cop30, begins in Belém, Brazil – preceded by a key leaders’ meeting. It is a crucial moment. The UN’s scientists have yet to publish calculations based on the latest round of nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – as countries’ emissions pledges are known. But Brazil’s president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, has called leaders together because it is already clear that the current emissions pledges are nowhere near enough. The Paris 1.5C threshold was crossed last year. Without stronger action, that temporary breach will become irreversible – with devastating consequences for people and planet.
Lula’s diplomatic outreach to Donald Trump, who calls the climate crisis a “con job”, suggests he is trying to bring key players into the fold ahead of Belém. Having heavyweights in the room can make all the difference. Ten years ago in Paris, world leaders’ presence proved crucial to securing an ambitious deal. That’s why it is important that Sir Keir Starmer attends. He may not be the most powerful world leader, but his presence is a moral and diplomatic imperative. If King Charles is able to, he ought to go too. Soft power can help to rebuild the spirit of cooperation to keep the hopes in the Paris agreement alive.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
10/08/2025 - 12:51
10/08/2025 - 11:00
Armed criminal groups tear down precious rainforest to capitalise on record gold prices, report finds
An illegal gold rush has cleared 140,000 hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon and is accelerating as foreign, armed groups move into the region to profit from record gold prices, according to a report.
About 540 square miles of land have been cleared for mining in the South American country since 1984, and the environmental destruction is spreading rapidly across the country, Monitoring of the Andean Amazon Project (MAAP) and its Peruvian partner organisation, Conservación Amazónica, found.
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10/08/2025 - 10:52
Report by joint intelligence committee delayed, with concerns expressed that it may not be published
The UK’s national security is under severe threat from the climate crisis and the looming collapse of vital natural ecosystems, with food shortages and economic disaster potentially just years away, a powerful report by the UK’s intelligence chiefs is due to warn.
However, the report, which was supposed to launch on Thursday at a landmark event in London, has been delayed, and concerns have been expressed to the Guardian that it may have been blocked by number 10.
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10/08/2025 - 10:00
New research finds 90% of marine fish sold by major US retailers are wild-caught, including threatened or endangered species
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The global trade in marine aquarium fish relies heavily on fish sourced directly from wild populations, with many consumers unaware of the practice due to murky supply chains.
New research has revealed the scale of the issue, finding most marine aquarium fish sold online in the US were wild-caught, mainly from the western Pacific and Indian oceans.
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10/08/2025 - 07:33
Firm will instead invest A$2m a year in ‘climate impact fund’ supporting renewables and switching to EVs
One of the travel industry’s most environmentally focused tour operators, Intrepid, is scrapping carbon offsets and abandoning its emissions targets as unreachable.
The Australian-headquartered global travel company said it would instead invest A$2m (£980,000) a year in an audited “climate impact fund” supporting immediate practical measures such as switching to electric vehicles and investing in renewable energy.
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10/08/2025 - 07:00
Industrially made foods involve several ingredients and processes to put together, making it difficult to examine their true cost
If you look at a package of M&Ms, one of the most popular candies in the US, you’ll see some familiar ingredients: sugar, skimmed milk powder, cocoa butter. But you’ll see many more that aren’t so recognizable: gum arabic, dextrin, carnauba wax, soya lecithin and E100.
There are 34 ingredients in M&Ms, and, according to Mars, the company that produces the candy, at least 30 countries – from Ivory Coast to New Zealand – are involved in supplying them. Each has its own supply chain that transforms the raw materials into ingredients – cocoa into cocoa liquor, cane into sugar, petroleum into blue food dye.
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10/08/2025 - 07:00
Report looks at White House nominees and appointees and agencies dictating energy, environment and climate policy
Donald Trump has placed dozens of people with ties to the fossil fuel sector in his administration, including more than 40 who have directly worked for oil, gas or coal companies, according to a new analysis.
The report from Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy and ethics non-profit that has been critical of the Trump administration, alongside the Revolving Door Project, a corporate watchdog, analyzed the backgrounds of nominees and appointees within the White House and eight agencies dictating energy, environmental and climate policy. That includes the Environmental Protection Agency, the interior and energy departments and others.
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10/08/2025 - 06:52
Customers on Charge Anytime deal who drive fewer than 700 miles a month say they will be left with higher bills
Electric vehicle owners fear they will be left out of pocket after the energy supplier Ovo announced changes to a popular charging deal which could double the cost for some customers.
Drivers who have an energy contract with the company can currently charge their vehicles at any time of day or night for 7p a kilowatt hour (kWh), making its Charge Anytime deal the cheapest on the market.
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10/08/2025 - 06:18
The Amazon has suffered its most destructive fire season in more than two decades, releasing a staggering 791 million tons of carbon dioxide—on par with Germany’s annual emissions. Scientists found that for the first time, fire-driven degradation, not deforestation, was the main source of carbon emissions, signaling a dangerous shift in the rainforest’s decline. Using advanced satellite systems and rigorous simulations, researchers uncovered vast damage across Brazil and Bolivia, exposing the fragility of the Amazon’s ecosystems.
10/08/2025 - 01:00
Campaigners say increase in exports mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia is ‘unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism’
Britain’s exports of plastic waste to developing countries have soared by 84% in the first half of this year compared with last year, according to an analysis of trade data carried out for the Guardian.
Campaigners described the rise in exports, mostly to Malaysia and Indonesia, as “unethical and irresponsible waste imperialism”.
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