'Keir Starmer loves to play the climate leader. But only when his political advisers (and the powerful Chancellor Rachel Reeves) tell him he’s allowed.'

Ozymandias vibes... ig.ft.com/saudi-neom...

#COP30 - the definitive piece to read pre Belem

Europe finally has a target to take to #COP30

Can't believe UK PM would fly all way to the #COP30 #climate summit in Amazon to tell Lula he's not backing his flagship forest protection plan. Diplomacy 101... must be something in cooker... (apart from planet)

Yes, budgets are tight but Europe cannot afford to fail on #climate finance at #COP30, writes former German diplomat Norbert Gorissen... backchannel1.substac...

November's #Climate Diplomacy Brief is out - all you need to know ahead of #COP30 - daily from 10 Nov Inc focus on what LDCs, Africa Group + AOSIS want in Belem

No John Swinney. Brutal. Turn off the lights. www.scotsman.com/new...

Top energy deck as ever via @JKempEnergy jkempenergy.wordpres...

Renewables met 51.5 % of India's total electricity demand of 203GW on 29 July 2025... Solar: 44.50 GW Wind: 29.89 GW Hydro: 30.29 GW 'a remarkable sign of change' says govt PR www.pib.gov.in/Press...

Quite the stat: China has accounted for 90% of the growth in the world's CO2 emissions since 2015... www.nature.com/artic....

India not letting the $$$ fight go as #COP30 looms... unclear if Minister Yadav is willing to re-litigate the $300bn / $1.3trn decision agreed in Baku

'A study from World Weather Attribution looking at Hurricane Milton last year found that climate change made the winds 10% stronger and the rainfall around 20-30% more intense.'

'Even if Britain were able to extract much more gas from the North Sea at a globally viable cost – which it cannot because the field is heavily depleted – it would have to pay an arm and a leg to get anybody to build a new fleet of CCGT gas plants.'

Why global fossil fuel supporters are on manoeuvres pre #COP30 and what govts / the #climate community should do in response... backchannel1.substac...

‘Reality generally wins in the end’ - WSJ clear what 'reality' it feels exists. Doesn't involve one where #climate impacts are biting, clean energy investment is fast rising. Time will tell who's right...

Sometimes it's worth reading the comments...

49 countries are still looking for #COP30 accommodation, while 87 have already secured lodging. COP boss Do Lago: "the current effort is focused on ensuring that all developing countries are able to attend."

'In today’s Washington, even implied slights can lead to punishment. Allies trying to second-guess what Trump will do next on Ukraine, for example, have almost nothing to go on.'

Disparity between #climate adaptation + mitigation $$$ pretty clear in this CPI graphic... underlines why $$ for the former is on the priority list for poorer countries www.climatepolicyini...

Slightly odd to see @thetimes coverage of IMO / shipping net zero measure use figures seemingly direct from US govt PR. Shipping experts (afaik) *do not think* the Net-Zero Framework would add 10% to import costs / cruises.

Agree or disagree, Liew always offers a compelling argument...

Couched beneath a gentle headline + opening par, US ambo to UK says oil & gas is the answer. I wonder if - at some point - the US lecturing the UK on its energy choices may - perhaps - backfire. Who knows?

As US quits #climate diplomacy & EU remains in paralysis, 'Brazil, India and China and other emerging economies now have an open space to shape the global climate discourse'

Worth re-reading a speech by Brazil's enviro min given at the #COP30 prep meeting last week. Talks of using Belem to deliver country-led 'roadmaps away from fossil fuels and from deforestation' (sounds a bit like NDCs... but maybe with more detail)

Potentially big --->

'Several delegations from American states have visited Brussels in recent months to discuss initiatives'

Lectures on 'free speech' in Europe, increasing restrictions to a free press at home... what self-respecting news agency would sign up to these rules?

Wow: 'air pollution is stealing India's sunshine'

'US will struggle to generate the energy it needs to power growth in its tech industry without including wind and solar'

'Many of our representatives are facing significant challenges in securing accommodation for COP30' Chief envoy of the 48 'Least Developed Countries' @UNFCCC offers his take on #COP30 goals + preparation... @LDCChairUNFCCC backchannel1.substac...#COP30

India #climate plan. Not much expected, it seems. Still no 2035 target; no new adaptation plan (unless I missed it)? On flip side, it *has* hit 50% of non fossil installed power capacity target... offset by plans for 82GW of new coal by 2032

'I will not sleep in a hotel... I will sleep on a boat - because while the foreigners are sleeping I will be fishing' Brazil Pres Lula on his #COP30 plans. I imagine the 'boat' won't simply be a canoe...

We need to talk about storage - why better comms on batteries might be the key to winning over the public on wind / solar backchannel1.substac...

Renewables have cut fossil-fuel imports for more than 100 countries, saving hundreds of billions of dollars, report @iea.org - including UK, Germany and Chile etc Story by @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social www.carbonbrief.org/iea-renewabl...

10 years of Paris Agreement and - turns out - oil & gas companies ain't changed much...

NEW – IEA: Renewables have cut fossil-fuel imports for more than 100 countries | @joshgabbatiss.bsky.social @iea.org Read here: buff.ly/moV7Tge

Perhaps there's a good reason No.10 blocked the release of a govt report that shows rainforest collapse = higher food $$ in UK... would love to know it...

As EU dithers over its #climate plan + US eats itself, 74 of world's most #climate vulnerable nations say China is the key to 'climate-driven economic growth' & call for 'deeper collaboration'

Helpful re Russia's 2035 #climate target

Neat 2035 #climate target rundown via the great @jschmidtnrdc at @NRDC

Solid from @WilliamJHague in @thetimes today... www.thetimes.com/com...

This column by Stephen Bush in @FT is worth a read... this sentence stood out to me as deeply depressing: 'There is nowhere in the United Kingdom where large gatherings of Jewish people can now take place without some form of security.'

Great news on solar and wind. Hate to be a downer, but the decline in hydro, especially in Europe due to droughts and heat, according to Ember -- is concerning, and a trend that will likely increase in the next few decades.

In the era-defining US fossil fuels v China clean tech export race there's only one winner, reports @Bloomberg www.bloomberg.com/ne...

Sobering www.stockholmresilie...

One to bookmark if France ends up with a National Front PM by the end of 2025... @lemonde_pol analysis of its #climate policies

'By the conclusion of the [UN] Summit, 125 Parties had either submitted or made announcements related to their new NDCs, covering 79% of global greenhouse gas emissions and 67% of the global population.' www.un.org/sites/un2...

Oxfordshire solar farm could deliver '£150m to local community' over lifespan - nailing the benefits aspect of clean energy to locals feels vital to ensure roll-out across the UK