World misses symbolic February deadline to ratchet up climate action before Cop26
The 2015 Paris Agreement seeks to raise global ambition every five years. But only three nations have issued upgraded climate plans nine months before Cop26 in Glasgow
Offshore wind deployment boom ‘too slow’ to meet EU climate target
Europe needs between 230 and 450 GW of offshore wind by 2050 to decarbonise its energy system, according to the EU Commission
UK’s Boris Johnson urges all countries to set net zero emissions goals in 2020
The UK’s Prime Minister launched Cop26 hours after being accused by sacked talks president Claire O’Neill of ‘not understanding’ the issues at stake
UK government drops Claire O’Neill as president of Cop26 summit
The presidency role will be elevated to a ministerial role as part of a UK cabinet reshuffle
Youth activists urge African governments to do more to curb climate change
Africa emits only 5% of world greenhouse gas emissions yet is most at risk from worsening heatwaves, droughts and floods
UN relocates biodiversity talks to Italy from China after coronavirus emergency
Rome will host next month’s biodiversity meeting, when negotiators are due to review a draft proposal for a global framework to protect the world’s plants and wildlife
Locusts lay eggs as plague worsens in Horn of Africa, UN warns
The FAO has called for ‘urgent efforts’ to prevent the number of locusts from growing over fears of new swarms
UN biodiversity meeting in China under review following coronavirus outbreak
UN agencies and the Chinese government are holding consultations to decide whether next month’s meeting can go ahead as planned
Indigenous lands, protected areas limit Amazon’s carbon emissions
Greater international support for indigenous land rights and livelihoods is a cost-effective way to limit climate change, PNAS study
IMO under pressure to regulate new ship fuels over Arctic warming
New marine fuels introduced at the start of January could lead to an increase of the shipping sector’s climate impacts
Oslo court backs Arctic oil exploration in defeat for environmentalists
Greenpeace says it will appeal to the Supreme Court, arguing oil exploration violates Norway’s constitutional guarantees of a healthy environment
UK must cut land use emissions by two thirds to meet 2050 goal, advisers warn
Committee on Climate Change warns a fifth of all agricultural land needs to be released for climate mitigation to help the UK achieve carbon neutrality
Trump criticises ‘prophets of doom’ in Davos and touts fossil fuels
Trump, Thunberg set out radically different visions for the economy and climate in the 21st century
Thunberg says only ‘eight years left’ to avert 1.5°C warming
Climate change is a top priority at the Davos meeting for policymakers and business leaders though Donald Trump is pulling the United States out of the Paris Agreement
UK to stop funding coal abroad but will help Africa with oil, gas
The UK largely stopped financing new coal mines overseas in the early 2000s but spent billions of public funds supporting oil and gas projects abroad since then
Erosion crisis swallows homes and livelihoods in Nigeria
Climate change is aggravating an erosion crisis in Nigeria that is wrecking buildings, roads and farmland. Damage may cost up to $100 million a year
Germany agrees pay-out to states and companies in coal phase-out deal
The federal government has struck a deal with the country’s coal-producing regions to phase out hard coal by 2035
EU reveals climate fund details as critics worry cash won’t be enough
EU’s climate chief Frans Timmermans acknowledged the €100bn pot to fund the transition away from fossil fuels was ‘just a start’
Cop25 president Carolina Schmidt blames big emitters for low-ambition climate talks
Chile’s environment minister survived calls for her resignation as opposition lawmakers accused her of having personally bungled the negotiations last month
Climate change tops risks for world in 2020 – Davos report
Extreme weather, climate action failure, natural disasters, biodiversity loss and human-made environmental disasters top most likely risks to the global economy