Today's summary
Day five (and with it the first week at Cop26) is winding down in Scotland. Still, events are only just getting started. Tomorrow the main protest will take place, and negotiations will continue through the weekend.
Several thousand young people marched into central Glasgow. Children were on the streets with their parents, classmates and teachers. They demanded world leaders do more to stop polluters and save the planet from catastrophic rising temperatures.
The climate activist Greta Thunberg slammed Cop26 as a “failure” and a “PR event”. “The leaders are not doing nothing, they are actively creating loopholes and shaping frameworks to benefit themselves and to continue profiting from this destructive system,” she said.
Scientists revealed that the carbon dioxide emissions of the richest 1% of humanity are on track to be 30 times greater than what is compatible with keeping global heating below 1.5C.
An updated UN analysis found that global carbon emissions are on track to rise by 13.7% by 2030. That is in stark contrast to the 50% cut that is needed by then to retain the possibility of keeping global temperature rise to 1.5C and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
However, initial analysis by the Energy Transition Commission showed that commitments and initiatives seen in the first week of Cop26 – if fully delivered by nations – would amount to 40% of the emissions cuts needed by 2030 to keep the world on track to a maximum of 1.5C of global heating.
The US climate envoy John Kerry said the $100bn promised by rich nations to poor nations can now be delivered in 2022, a year earlier than previously thought. It would still be two years later than its initial target.
And finally ... International delegates and Cop26 attendees expressed mixed views on Irn-Bru. Some conference visitors are now hooked on Scotland’s famous fizzy drink, while others can’t wait to leave it behind.
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Patrick Greenfield has been speaking toIndigenous young people from the Amazon, who were among the thousands of protesters in Glasgow today.
Samela Sataremawe said that in Brazil, people were “suffering every day from climate change. We are every day defending our territories with our lives. Indigenous people are dying, our brothers and sisters are dying. Yanomami children are dying in rivers contaminated by mining industries.”
Helena Gualinga, from the Kichwa People of Sarayaku in the Ecuadorian Amazon, said: “Behind every killing of a land defender, there is a company behind it, there is a government behind it, there is a name behind it. US and European banks are everyday financing and investing in Amazon destruction.”
She added: “As frontline communities we were in the front of the march, because we are putting our bodies on the line to protect the Amazon rainforest against extractive industries that are responsible for climate change today.”
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If the deluge of headlines and updates is getting on top of you, here is a really good explainer on the Guardian’s Today in Focus podcast.
Global environment editor, Jonathan Watts, sums up what has been happening at Cop26 all week and Scotland correspondent, Libby Brooks, explains what has been happening on the streets of Glasgow.
Cop26 is a failure and a 'PR event', says Greta Thunberg
Thunberg has now left the stage after a short but burning critique of Cop26.
“The leaders are not doing nothing, they are actively creating loopholes and shaping frameworks to benefit themselves and to continue profiting from this destructive system,” she said.
“The Cop has turned into a PR event,” she added.
“[Leaders] have had decades of ‘blah blah blah’ and where has that left us?” says Thunberg.
And now some tough words for us, the press.
The media is reporting on what leaders say they are going to do, and not whether they keep their promises, she says.
“Time and time again, the media fails to hold people in power responsible.”
Colonialism is the root cause of the climate crisis, Thunberg says. But that is “too uncomfortable” a topic for people inside the conference to discuss.
Greta Thunberg has taken the stage. And more tough words for the leaders in the conference halls.
“We know our emperors are naked,” she says.
Updated
First week of Cop26 could close emissions gap for 1.5C by 40% – if acted on
The avalanche of commitments and initiatives seen in the first week of Cop26 – if fully delivered by nations – would amount to 40% of the emissions cuts needed by 2030 to keep the world on track to a maximum of 1.5C of global heating. That is the conclusion of an initial analysis by the Energy Transition Commission.
To keep the goal of 1.5C alive, the ETC said, annual global CO2 emissions must halve by 2030, a cut of about 22bn tonnes. It calculates that new national commitments to reducing emissions, not including India’s, could cut 3bn tonnes from that, and that the agreement by many countries to stop deforestation by 2030 cuts another 3.5bn tonnes.
A further 2.5bn tonnes is cut by a swathe of initiatives from countries and companies to move away from coal power and invest more in renewable energy and electric vehicles. The ETC said more announcements were expected in the second week of Cop26.
There has also been a big pledge on methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The ETC estimates that the commitment by 90 countries to reduce methane emissions by 30% by 2030 would deliver about 40% of the total methane emissions needed.
Lord Adair Turner, the chair of the ETC, said “good progress” had been seen in the first week of Cop26: “But of course it is still not enough and even with further progress next week – on steel, aviation, shipping – we are not going to achieve the full 22bn tonnes we need; we’re not going to be able to go home from Glasgow saying job done.
“But we have new commitments which will make a difference and which must be delivered, and we have a springboard for further progress which we must achieve over the next few years,” he said. “We can achieve that and we must achieve that.”
Chris Stark, the head of the UK’s Climate Change Committee, said: “The ETC take on week one of Cop26 is probably going to be as close to the authoritative view on the emissions situation as we’ll get this week. So far, this is positive stuff on the new ambitions.”
Updated
Boris Johnson has been awarded zero out of five stars for his
standup performance
speech at Monday’s opening ceremony.
Updated
Some strong words from a Filipino youth activist currently on the mic (introduced simply as “John”):
Cop, he said, has “devolved into a celebration of pointless promises by world leaders, patting themselves on the back, all the while sacrificing millions in the Global South on the altar of capitalism and imperialism.”
Everyone is cheering in the Glasgow crowd.
Ouch.
Musicians and orchestras around the globe have been playing one of the most recognisable compositions, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, this week.
But there’s a catch. The music has been altered by a team of scientists and composers to include the devastating impact of the climate crisis.
The adaptation, titled, The [uncertain] Four Seasons, re-writes the score to account for the intense storms, degraded lands, bare forests and rising seas that will occur by 2050 without action being taken by world leaders.
“In 1725, Vivaldi created a masterpiece, but since then, the world he depicted has drastically changed,” said Tim Devine, Executive Innovation Director, AKQA.
“Vivaldi’s work has been rescored for every city in the world. Every variation is different. Each one jarringly altered from the harmony of Vivaldi’s original.”
It’s chilling to listen to. Here is one version, by the Slovenian National Youth Orchestra.
Youth climate activists are currently speaking in central Glasgow. Several of them will be talking at a special Guardian event later this month.
Details are here:
Cop26: young activists talk to Franny Armstrong
Join Franny Armstrong in a special livestreamed event with young activists fighting the climate emergency around the world.
On Wednesday 10 November 2021, 8pm GMT| 9pm CET | 12pm PST | 3pm EST
Book tickets here
Back at the “Fridays For Futures” youth protest, someone has made a good point about how loving Irn-Bru is all well and good until we can’t make it anymore because we destroyed the planet.
BREAKING: The world loves Irn-Bru.
Well, that’s admittedly not completely accurate. In fact, German delegate Michael Buechl said the “first sip was rather shocking” and he won’t drink it outside Scotland.
But the rust-coloured drink – which combos 32 flavours – has proved exceedingly popular among delegates to Cop26, according to my colleagues Patrick Greenfield and Libby Brooks.
Dreli Solomon, a negotiator from Vanuatu, said he is hooked. And the Zimbabwean presidential spokesperson was reported to have emerged from a Glasgow Costco with trolleys full of cans on Monday.
(Disclaimer: no Pepsi or Coke is available in the conference centre due to a sponsorship deal)
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Extinction Rebellion has just messaged us to say they put up a banner in the London borough of Wandsworth this morning in response to an opinion piece published yesterday on climate depression.
Peter Kalmus, a climate scientist, wrote in the Guardian to warn of “a growing epidemic of serious climate depression among young people”.
The piece cited a survey that found 77% of people aged 16-25 feel “the future is frightening”, 68% feel sad, and 63% feel anxious. 39% feel “hesitant to have children”.
See the banner below:
The “standing in water” photo op seems to be a thing.
We are dying and sinking. But Global leader is sleeping and making nonsense pledge. Event their are not honoring their own pledges.
— Fridays For Future Bangladesh (@FFFinBD) November 5, 2021
No more blah, blah, Blah COP. Act Now or Never! #ClimateStrike Satkhira#COP26 #nomoreemptypromises @GretaThunberg pic.twitter.com/LquERWuEHr
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Meanwhile, in the Pacific:
A Minister in Tuvalu, Simon Kofe today recorded a video statement for #COP26 pic.twitter.com/mLLrd6JIFc
— Anish Chand (@achandftv) November 5, 2021
Simon Kofe, the foreign minister of Tuvalu, is certainly getting the point across.
His country, midway between Hawaii and Australia, is the fourth-smallest nation in the world and home to just 11,000 people.
But it is shrinking. Already, two of Tuvalu’s nine islands are on the verge of going under, the government says, swallowed by sea-rise and coastal erosion.
Read more about it here:
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More photos of the banners at the youth protest from my colleague, Nina Lakhani.
Youth Protest #COP26 pic.twitter.com/eEpTFbspS6
— Nina Lakhani (@ninalakhani) November 5, 2021
Thousands begin Youth March through Glasgow
Several thousand protesters are marching through Glasgow to coincide with Youth and Public Empowerment Day at Cop26. Kids are on the streets with their parents, classmates and teachers demanding world leaders do more to stop polluters and save the planet from catastrophic rising temperatures.
Unfortunately, those inside the Cop making decisions about their future won’t have heard a single slogan as they could not get close to the conference halls.
We’re expecting a much much bigger crowd tomorrow for the global day of action for climate justice, with protests expected in 200 or so cities around the world.
Greta Thunberg is going to be joining thousands at today’s Youth March that will head into central Glasgow shortly.
Expect some drama. So far this week, the 18-year-old climate activist has already sung that world leaders and big business should shove their “climate crisis up your arse” and accused attendees of “greenwashing”.
#COP26 Youth Day updates
— UN News (@UN_News_Centre) November 5, 2021
(Very) young protesters rally at George Square in Glasgow in anticipation of the big youth March that will be arriving soon at the city centre. pic.twitter.com/lGCLu7wQoL
Oliver Holmes here, taking over the liveblog from Chris Michael.
If you are at Cop26, or watching from afar, you can contact me with information or suggestions at oliver.holmes@theguardian.com, or @olireports.
My most urgent question for the hivemind of liveblog readers is how on earth did activists lug a FOUR-TONNE block of glacier ice from Greenland to Cop26?
‘Job not done’, John Kerry says of Cop26
The US climate envoy John Kerry has just held a press conference to update reporters on progress so far at Cop26. I asked him whether he thought modelling that indicated the world is on a trajectory to limit global temperature rises to below 2C for the first time meant it was “job done” on the climate. The answer was an emphatic no.
“Let me emphasise as strongly as I can: job not done. The first part of the job of codifying the urgency will hopefully be done. But that’s just the beginning. This is a decade-long race,” he said. “We do know that we could have a critical mass of countries moving in a way that keeps [1.5 degrees] alive. This was never going to be done in one week.”
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That’s it from me today – a quiet morning, but good to put some focus on the ocean. And it gave us the chance to catch up with the iceberg haulers, tree-people and climate rappers (?) who are in their own way every bit as important to the burgeoning climate movement as the suits on the stages.
I’ll hand over to my colleague Oliver Holmes now and, in what seems to be the spirit of the day so far, leave you with a final song:
We've heard enough "parole, parole, parole" now it is time for action. This is the message we brought right to #COP26 this morning.
— Avaaz (@Avaaz) November 5, 2021
Show us the climate money. Deliver the $100 Billion! pic.twitter.com/dmOcD4eeY0
Thousands of activists have gathered in Glasgow, including a few not dressed as trees. We asked them why they’ve come – and here are their remarkable replies.
Last night, I interviewed the president of Costa Rica after his keynote speech at the Ashden Awards at Cop26 in Glasgow. Although the Central American country is small, it is a superpower on the environment. Costa Rica is the only country to have halted and reversed tropical deforestation, it has a target to become a zero-carbon country by 2050, and “Ticos” such as Christiana Figueres and Carlos Manuel Rodriguez play a key role at the UN.
Earlier this week, the president, Carlos Alvarado Quesada, also signed up to the creation of a new “mega-MPA” – a marine protected area including the waters of Panama, Colombia and Ecuador.
“Ninety-two percent of our territory is ocean,” he said. “The new MPA is going to serve many purposes: protect biodiversity – not just any biodiversity. We’re talking about the Cocos Islands, one of the richest ecosystems in the world. This area is important for the reproduction of many species like tuna fish. This will guarantee the provision of tuna fish for many generations.”
On Costa Rica’s zero-carbon pledge, he said: “We are standing on decisions made in the past that allow us to go there. It’s our responsibility. We received an impressive legacy. It will be terrible not to take it to the next level.”
He also spoke of a certain previous US president’s efforts to derail the climate effort:
A while ago, I remember when Christiana Figueres and myself were discussing the situation before the Biden administration. We concluded that if we are on a highway of electric vehicles and everybody needs to reach a goal together, and if a big truck stops and turns on the parking lights and it’s not moving forward, what is it that you’re going to do?
If everybody, just like in a car crash, stops and stares, you’re going to slow down. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter if you are larger or smaller: as you go further, you reach the goals you demonstrate that are possible together.”
Updated
Reality check: Emissions set to rise 13.7% by 2030, says UN
Global carbon emissions are on track to rise by 13.7% by 2030, according to an updated UN analysis. That is a stark contrast to the 50% cut that is needed by then to retain the possibility of keeping global temperature rise to 1.5C and avoid the worst impacts of the climate crisis.
The glimmer of good news is that the projected rise in 2030 emissions is down from 16% two weeks ago, after 14 new national pledges were included.
The assessment is a reality check after upbeat assessments of new commitments from countries to get to net zero emissions in the coming decades, particularly India’s. Analysis of these by several groups including the International Energy Agency indicate that global temperature rise would be limited to 1.8C or 1.9C over the course of the century.
That, of course, depends on the net zero commitments being fully funded and implemented, with action starting now. The gloomy UN assessment of the 2030 situation shows how far there is to go to bridge the gap between today’s policies and action and the long-term ambitions.
Another reality check came yesterday, when scientists warned that in 2021 global carbon emissions are shooting back to the record level seen before the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated
Greenland’s tourism agency has hailed the country’s decision to sign the Paris agreement as being of “immense” symbolic and practical significance, since the island “literally sits on the frozen crux of the great climate change issue.”
The island’s autonomous government, Naalakkersuisut, has already decided to ban oil and gas exploration in its waters – the first Arctic nation to do so, Visit Greenland said. Other Arctic nations, including Norway and Russia, and oil companies, are pursuing untapped oil reserves in the region – policies that critics say significantly increase environmental threats and political tensions.
The impacts of climate heating on sea ice patterns has already influenced traditional hunting around Greenland, a self-governing territory of Denmark, increasing the value of tourism to its economy and the need for a green transition, it said.
“As Greenland is at the forefront of climate change, with a three-fold temperature rise compared to the global average, the impacts this has cannot be overlooked. Sustainability is not another buzzword in Greenland and climate change is not something that will be gone overnight. On the contrary, the cost is too high if Greenland does not actively take decisions on this matter.”
Nicola Sturgeon, who (somewhat remarkably) does not have an official seat at the huge climate conference being thrown in her backyard, has chosen Ocean Day to wade into the climate waters.
“It is important that we give the ocean particular prominence during this climate change summit,” Scotland’s first minister said in a video address. “The climate and biodiversity crises that the world faces are, of course, intertwined. That is especially true for our ocean. Blue carbon – the carbon stored in ocean habitats – will become an increasingly important part of everyone’s work to address this crisis.”
On #COP26 Ocean Day FM @nicolasturgeon sets out the importance of protecting our seas and oceans in responding to the climate crisis. Scotland’s leading research into how the ocean stores carbon will feature at the international Blue Carbon Conference ➡️ https://t.co/3m1yQsjYcD pic.twitter.com/rqz0E52Ieh
— Marine Scotland (@marinescotland) November 5, 2021
Sturgeon noted that 37% of Scotland’s seas are designated as marine protected areas (MPAs) – though, as Guardian Seascape has found, bottom trawling still happens in 97% of all MPAs across the UK. Sturgeon did at least nod to that, by noting that by 2026 10% will be highly protected areas, where no trawling is allowed.
As for blue carbon, read our (I think fascinating) expose here:
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A delegation of mothers representing almost 500 parent groups from 44 countries have delivered a letter to Cop26 President Alok Sharma today, calling for the end of new fossil fuel financing for the sake of their children’s health and their futures.
The delegation was led by the UK’s Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, who lost her nine-year-old daughter Ella to severe asthma linked to air pollution. She was joined by mothers from India, Brazil, South Africa, Poland and Nigeria.
“Lots of words and no action – and toxic pollution on our streets – is fuelling a public health crisis that is making our kids sick and threatening their futures,” said Kissi-Debrah. “We need urgent action now.”
A full report by my colleague Patrick Greenfield is on its way.
Updated
WWF just got in touch, to say my earlier post about climate songs didn’t mention theirs.
Let nobody say I’m not a completist.
(Don’t be put off by the dull intro ... it’s a setup.)
Updated
Promised $100bn will arrive next year: John Kerry
The US climate envoy John Kerry has said the $100bn promised by rich nations to poor nations can now be delivered in 2022, a year earlier than previously thought. That is still two years late, though.
The delivery of the money to fund emission cuts in developing countries is a critical test of Cop26. Rich and poor nations must work together to tackle the climate emergency, but trust between them will not exist without the $100bn.
Kerry told a CBI dinner yesterday evening that Japan’s promise to pay $2bn a year would unlock another $8bn a year of private sector money. An OECD report on 25 October said developing countries would have access to $97bn in public and private funds in 2022 and $106bn in 2023.
“That means for 2022 we now have the full $100bn we wanted to have, and $100bn going forward, so we take that issue off the table and that changes the dynamics,” he said.
Doctors staged another “die-in” outside JP Morgan’s offices on Waterloo Street in Glasgow this morning.
The protesters, part of Doctors for Extinction Rebellion, demanded the company end new fossil fuel investment. Forty doctors, nurses, midwives and allied health professionals waved banners decrying what they called “the world’s biggest fossil fuel financier for driving the public health crisis arising from climate and ecological breakdown”.
Health professionals campaign against JPMorgan #COP26 : photos pic.twitter.com/7x2QJbRLFD
— Doctors for XR (@DoctorsXr) November 5, 2021
They read out a letter to the chief executive, Jamie Dimon, calling for JP Morgan Chase to refuse financing to companies who continue to plan new fossil fuel projects and to align with the net zero by 2050 plan by the IEA.
Updated
The iceberg cometh.
A not-so-subtle visual metaphor for what’s happening to the planet (not to mention its literal icebergs) has arrived at Cop26 in the form of a four-ton block of ice, originally part of a larger glacier from Greenland.
The Greenland ice sheet holds the equivalent of 7.4 metres of potential sea level rise. “This means its stability – or lack of it – has critical consequences for global sea levels and the nearly 600 million people living in coastal zones worldwide,” said Gail Whiteman of Arctic Basecamp, which staged the stunt.
Alongside the iceberg were bottles of glacial meltwater from Greenland, dubbed the “unofficial melted iceberg water of the Glasgow Cop26 conference”.
Sascha Blidorf, a 20-year-old Greenlandic climate activist who ran for Danish parliament, said:
I’m sending a message in a bottle to world leaders because my home country is melting ...
It’s really clear to see the effects from climate change up here in the Arctic. My message to the world is that we need to act now and make a difference now because we can’t just sit there and wait for others to do something.”
Updated
Greta Thunberg isn’t the only one singing at Cop26.
Song of the Year: A History of Cool, by the Canadian musician Parvati, aims to be “a refreshing ray of hope in an overheated world”. The song’s release is designed to drum up petition signatures for MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary, ending all exploitation in ocean waters north of the Arctic Circle.
A Canadian singing about the ocean? Sign me up. (I’m Canadian and the oceans editor.)
Also, scientists have created an “algorithmic re-composition” of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, written using climate predictions for 2050. Musicians and Orchestras around the world played the re-written version – called The [uncertain] Four Season at COP26 yesterday, with the music supposedly “painting a harrowing future for the world”.
The algorithm alters the musical score to account for the intense storms, degraded lands, bare forests and rising seas that will occur by 2050 without action being taken by world leaders, creating a daunting outlook for the future of the Earth’s Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.”
Last but not least, my colleague Oliver Milman says:
“If anyone has been thinking, ‘If only someone could rap to me about climate change’, then I have some good news for you.”
Yes, Canadian rapper Baba Brinkman is going to be performing his off-broadway production Rap Guide to Climate Chaos at Cop26 on 9 November. “Brinkman blends climate activism with the art of rap for an inspiring and informative performance.” More Canadians!
On my way to Glasgow #COP26 in a few days to kick some climate change raps for the delegates, and hopefully move the needle a bit towards solid commitments!
— Baba Brinkman (@BabaBrinkman) November 3, 2021
If you're there and need a break from the blah blah blah, come and enjoy some brrrrrap!https://t.co/wthrPNuDAI
Consider yourself alerted.
Summary
Can Brazil be trusted?
Earliest this week, activists cautioned not to believe any promises that Brazil might make at Cop26, given the current administration of Jair Bolsonaro’s awful track record and concerns that any “greenwashing” announcements could be designed simply to gain access to conservation funds.
This morning, at a press conference of the Amazon Environmental Research Institute (IPAM) about research from a group of scientists showing how Amazon wildfires are boosting Brazil’s CO2 emissions, the panel was asked the same question: can Brazil be trusted?
Ane Alencar, science director of IPAM, said:
We need the political will ... I want to believe that Brazil will start to go with the flow, but we want to see more concrete steps, a plan – that we used to have – about how to tackle deforestation. If more than half of deforestation is happening on public lands ... [then] we need a very strong hand to fight illegal activities in the Amazon.
So I like to believe we can, but we need political will, and to recover the trust that Brazil once had.”
Updated
Ongoing difficulties in finding affordable or indeed any accommodation around the city has seen activists camping a squatting overnight. Extinction Rebellion’s campsite in Pollock Park is hosting 32 tents, and expecting more over the weekend. The disused homeless shelter that was “re-opened” by a group of Glasgow activists on Wednesday evening is still welcoming visitors, and receiving local donations of food, blankets and other necessities.
The Scottish weather has challenged some visitors. One delegate from the Philippines said she had started taking vitamin D supplements because she misses the sun so much.
One of the chronic liabilities of going on a protest is managing to feed yourself. The Welsh Kitchen is a canteen on wheels that has come to the rescue of Extinction Rebellion activists over the past week, dishing out stew, rice and dahl from huge insulated pots.
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Saturday night in Glasgow won’t be a time for Alok Sharma, the president of Cop26, to let down his hair (assuming it was long enough to let down, which it is not).
Instead, he will gather all the envoys to discuss a plan for Week 2 with an eye to landing a deal on time, wrapping up the conference on Friday ... and THEN letting down his hair. (Yes, Cop continues all next week, too.)
No party time for #COP26 envoys... they'll be spending their Saturday evening working out how to land a deal next week. Note from Alok Sharma says he's aiming to wrap up on time next Friday. https://t.co/OsCvRAMrPS pic.twitter.com/KFoCT62ZPo
— Ed King (@edking_I) November 4, 2021
My favourite thing from Glasgow so far:
My partner spotted this in the walk to nursery #glasgow #cop26 pic.twitter.com/9G7MT7wFzS
— Libby Brooks (@libby_brooks) November 5, 2021
The climate pledges agreed so far at Cop26 could keep global temperatures to within 1.8C of pre-industrialised levels, according to the International Energy Agency – but only if the commitments are implemented in full.
Fatih Birol, the executive director of the highly influential energy watchdog, told the conference that despite the pessimism ahead of the Cop26 talks, a “big step forward” was possible if all the pledges set out to date were “fully achieved”.
However, the promise of climate progress at the Cop26 talks risks being dashed amid rising criticism over a set of key of climate pledges, spearheaded by the UK government, to reduce global emissions by phasing out coal power generation.
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The trouble with blue carbon
It is, among other things, oceans day here in Glasgow.
As the “blue finance” roundtable kicks off this morning, looking at how to invest in ocean resilience to tackle climate risk, the Guardian’s Seascape project – for which I am the editor, hello! – has published Part 2 of a deep dive (sorry) into so-called “blue carbon”.
Blue carbon is the hidden CO2 sink that 10 years ago we barely knew about, but experts now say could help provide up to 15% of the emissions cuts we need. However, these incredible marine ecosystems (mangroves, seagrass and salt marshes) are vanishing – and replacing them isn’t as easy as it sounds. Think tree-planting underwater.
Read our fascinating piece by Karen McVeigh:
Updated
Good morning! Thanks for following our coverage so far.
I’ll be your liveblogger for what is (drum roll) youth and public empowerment day at Cop26 in Glasgow, as well as the first of two days dedicated to nature and land use – including my beat, the oceans.
First, however, a report from my colleague Phoebe Weston about how the carbon dioxide emissions of the richest 1% of humanity are on track to be 30 times greater than what is compatible with keeping global heating below 1.5C.
Scientists are urging governments to “constrain luxury carbon consumption” of private jets, megayachts and space travel.
The Paris climate goals need every person on Earth to reduce their CO2 emissions to an average of 2.3 tonnes by 2030, about half the average of today, but the richest 1% – which is a population smaller than Germany – are on track to be releasing 70 tonnes of CO2 per person a year if current consumption continues.
“A tiny elite appear to have a free pass to pollute,” said Nafkote Dabi, climate policy lead at Oxfam.
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