AFP reports that a “crucial meeting on climate ‘loss and damages’ ahead of COP28 ended in failure on Saturday, with countries from the global north and south unable to reach an agreement, according to sources involved in the talks”. The newswire continues: “The agreement to set up a dedicated fund to help vulnerable countries cope with climate ‘loss and damage’ was a flagship achievement of last year’sCOP27talks in Egypt. But countries left the details to be worked out later. A series of talks held this year have tried to tease out consensus on fundamentals like the structure, beneficiaries and contributors – a key issue for richer nations who want China to pay into the fund. A transition committee on the establishment of the fund met late on Friday and into Saturday in Aswan, in southern Egypt.

But the delegates were unable to reach an agreement and deferred the decision to another meeting due 3-5 November in the United Arab Emirates…Ahead of the breakdown, the discussion hit a hurdle over where the funds should be held. There was a divide over it being managed by the World Bank, accused of being in the hands of the West, or in a new independent structure, called for by many developing nations, but would be time consuming and complex to replenish with new funds.”

TheFinancial Timessays: “The failure to reach an agreement adds pressure to next month’s COP28 summit, which already has a packed agenda. This includes a ‘stocktake’ of how countries are responding to climate change as well as setting a goal to help governments adapt to dealing with global warming. ‘Whether or not the loss and damage fund becomes fully operational is a key measure of success for the COP28 summit,’ said Preety Bhandari, senior adviser in the global climate programme and the finance centre at the World Resources Institute…If the members of the 24-person transition committee negotiating the global loss and damage fund ‘cannot reach common ground at the final gathering in Abu Dhabi next month, we are destined for very rocky negotiations in Dubai’, said Bhandari. ‘The entire COP28 negotiations could get derailed if developing countries’ priorities on funding for loss and damage are not adequately addressed.’”Climate Home Newsexplains that “developing nations have argued that the World bank is too slow, inefficient, unaccountable and lacks the organisational culture to tackle climate change”. It adds: “The second main division is over which countries are prioritised for funding. Developed countries want the funds to be allocated ‘based on vulnerability’. There is no clear definition of vulnerability.”Politicoheadlines its coverage: “US, EU blamed as climate fund talks break down over World Bank push.”

“Ikea, Volvo Cars, eBay, Heineken, Godrej Industries and more than 130 other businesses have urged world leaders to agree a timeline to ditch fossil fuels when countries meet for the UN climate summit in Dubai next month,” reports the Financial Times. It adds that the companies – which collectively represent nearly $1tn in global annual revenues – have written an open letter marking the “first time such a large group of companies have collectively urged governments to move away from fossil fuels”. The signatories, who also include AstraZeneca, BT Group, Nestlé, Unilever, Bayer, Ørsted, Iberdrola and Vodafone, warn their businesses are “feeling the effects and cost of increasing extreme weather events resulting from climate change”. The letter, which was co-ordinated by the We Mean Business Coalition, a non-profit pushing for greater climate action globally, says: “We call on all parties attending COP28 to seek outcomes that will lay the groundwork to transform the global energy system towards a full phaseout of unabated fossil fuels and halve emissions this decade.”BusinessGreennotes that the letter also says: “This can be enabled by agreeing to a global target of tripling renewable electricity capacity to at least 11,000GW [gigawatts] and doubling the rate of deployment of energy efficiency by 2030.”

In other COP28 news, theEvening Standardreports that King Charles is “planning to head to the Middle East to make a major speech on the climate crisis – a year after he was blocked by No 10 from attending the COP27 summit in Egypt”. The newspaper adds: “Close sources say Rishi Sunak has provisionally sanctioned the monarch’s trip to address other world leaders on the climate emergency at COP28 in Dubai at the end of next month. It comes after then prime minister Liz Truss effectively told the King to abandon his plans to attend COP27, just after his accession. Following Truss’s resignation after just 49 days, her replacement attended the summit in Egypt in November after initially deciding to stay at home. A senior source told the Standard: ‘It is the King’s intention to attend and speak at COP28. Obviously, the wider region is deteriorating dangerously and is extremely volatile, so plans can change.’”

Separately, an “analysis” in theGuardianby Fiona Harvey says that the “impact of farming on climate crisis will be a key COP topic – finally”. She continues: “For the first time there will be a dedicated food day, and food, agriculture and water will be the focus of at least 22 major events during the fortnight of COP28 talks in Dubai, from 30 November to 13 December, presided over by the United Arab Emirates. There will also be a dedicated Food4Climate pavilion in ExpoCity, where the talks will be held. For the first time, too, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization will outline how food systems must change for the world to stay within…1.5C…beyond which the impacts of the climate crisis on food systems will rapidly become catastrophic, and in some cases potentially irreversible.”

Meanwhile,Politicohas the details about an “exclusive dinner” at Cafe Milano in Washington DC hosted by US climate envoy John Kerry last March where he “convened VIPs and lawmakers to ease the climate talks” by meeting with COP28 president Sultan Al Jaber. TheGuardianreports that “migrant workers in Dubai have been working in dangerously hot temperatures to get conference facilities ready for world leaders attending this year’s COP28 climate talks, according to a new investigation by FairSquare, a human rights research and advocacy group”. And, finally, India’sDown to Earth携带一块注释的RR Rashmi, distinguished fellow at the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in New Delhi and a former Indian climate change negotiator, which is headlined: “Heat on UAE to give COP28 ambitious edge we need. To meet climate goals, countries will have to get far more ambitious and quickly. Here’s what to look for at COP28.”

There is widespread coverage across the UK media of the fallout from the government’s twin heavy defeats in by-elections held last Thursday. Politics.co.uk reports that the

results in Tamworth and Mid Bedfordshire have been viewed by some senior Conservatives as a sign that UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s recentrollbacks后的零目标中的早些时候-election “was a serious mistake”. The outlet adds: “Gavin Barwell, who served as Theresa May’s chief of staff, wrote on X, formerly Twitter: ‘These by-election results are as bad as Selby and Somerton back in July (Tamworth is the second highest swing Labour have ever achieved to gain a seat from the Conservatives). They show Sunak’s net-zero pivot and conference speech have had no impact on his party’s prospects.’

He added: ‘Back in July, everyone focused on Uxbridge. Conclusions were drawn even though it was clear at the time it was down to a *local* issue and Selby and Somerton were more likely to represent the national mood. Tamworth and Mid Beds confirm that was a serious mistake.’” In contrast, theObserverhas a feature examining the chances of the Conservatives “lurching to the right”.

In other UK news, theDaily Telegraphreports on its frontpage that Labour leader “Sir Keir Starmer will draft laws for key policies in the coming months so that Labour can ‘hit the ground running’ on its first day in government…Labour will begin drafting its own legislation in priority areas such as energy and planning while still in opposition, senior party sources have said”. A separateDaily Telegraphstory says “Labour will hand drivers cash to buy electric vehicles under plans being considered to help the party stick to a 2030 ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars”. It continues: “Officials are examining ways to tie subsidies and interest-free loans to British jobs and manufacturing amid fears that cheap Chinese models will start flooding the market in order to help Britain meet its net-zero target. It is understood that Labour prepared a package of financial incentives designed to help motorists switch to electric vehicles to be unveiled at its party conference in Liverpool which took place earlier this month. One proposal at an advanced stage included a universal cash subsidy worth around £1,500 to help people who want to buy an electric car to fund a deposit. Three-year interest-free loans were also proposed for those taking out personal contract purchase agreements, which allows people to rent cars over a multi-year period, with the option of buying it at the end…However, a split within the party over both the costs and approach of the scheme is understood to have delayed an official announcement.” In other Labour news,Politico说“工党政府将vulnerabl少e’ to local protests against new green energy infrastructure like pylons and substations because most of it will need to be built in Conservative areas, opposition leader Keir Starmer has been told”.

Meanwhile, theGuardianreports that the government is increasing its heat-pump grants for homeowners in England and Wales by 50% to £7,500 from today “amid criticism about slow adoption of the low-carbon technology”. TheIndependent指出,几天之后,全国下文tructure Commission has said the current rate of heat-pump installation is “not cutting the mustard”. TheDaily Telegraphreports that “households could face extra taxes if they refuse to remove their gas boilers, a senior energy boss has suggested”. It adds: “Emma Fletcher, who leads a project at Octopus Energy to encourage households to make their homes net-zero, said that there needed to be a ‘carrot and stick’ approach for people to switch to heat pumps.”

Separately, theSunday Times报告说,“英国钢铁正准备切to 2,000 jobs as its Chinese owners press ahead with plans to radically overhaul its operations and slash pollution at its sites”. It continues: “The cost reductions are understood to be a core plank of converting blast furnaces to electric arc furnace technology – a move that could unlock more than £1bn of new funding by Jingye.”Sky Newshas a feature on how a “proposed North Yorkshire fracking site [has] become a source of clean, geothermal energy…An underground well in the North Yorkshire village of Kirby Misperton was drilled, but never fracked after a fightback by protesters. It has now taken on a ‘second life’ as a source of clean, green, geothermal energy.” TheFinancial Timessays that “three big UK manufacturers won millions of pounds’ worth of free carbon emission allowances for factories that were mothballed or slashing production, highlighting loopholes in the British net-zero regime”. A separateFTarticle focuses on how a “lack of port infrastructure threatens Scotland’s offshore wind boom”, adding: “The UK’s net-zero ambitions rest on huge growth in wind power, but industry figures warn investment is being hit by policy uncertainty.”Reutersreports that, according to banking industry body UK Finance, “Britain needs to better track funds going into green investments to assess how much is needed from the private sector and should consider targeted tax changes to encourage sustainable projects”. Finally, theGuardiansays that the UK’s most senior paediatrician Dr Camilla Kingdon has said in a “major intervention” that climate change poses an “existential risk” to the health and wellbeing of all children and action to tackle it is needed immediately.

The Chinese ministry of commerce and general administration of customs jointly issued an announcement to “optimise and temporarily restrict” graphite exports, introducing special export permits for various types of the material, China Energy News reports. TheFinancial Timessays that the move is in response to US restrictions on technology sales to Chinese firms. It adds that China “dominates” the global supply chain for graphite, a mineral used inelectric vehicle (EV) batteries.Reutersreports: “China is the world’s top graphite producer and exporter. It also refines more than 90% of the world’s graphite into the material that is used in virtually all EV battery anodes, which is the negatively charged portion of a battery.”The newswire says the new controls cover two types of graphite and add to existing restrictions on three further forms of the material. It adds: “Analysts said it was not clear how much impact the new measures on graphite will have in the short term.”Meanwhile, the Hong Kong-basedSouth China Morning Postwrites that China’s “largest” “traditional” car manufacturers are lagging behind their international counterparts in “supply chain decarbonisation” and “material use efficiency”, according to a report by environmental NGO Greenpeace East Asia.

Separately, there is continuing coverage of the third belt and road initiative (BRI) forum held last week. The state-run industry newspaperChina Electric Power Newsreports that China has entered into an “international economic and trade cooperation framework for digital and green sectors” with 35 countries. Elsewhere, theSouth China Morning Post说,中国和俄罗斯是“掺ancing” their collaboration in “food and security”, a move prompted by the challenges they are facing amid tensions with the west. The two countries signed a “nearly 2.5tn-rouble ($25.8bn) grain-supply contract”, the “biggest in their food-trade history”, at the BRI forum in Beijing, the paper says. China’s president Xi Jinping “wants to see ‘substantial progress’ on a natural gas pipeline between both countries and Mongolia as soon as possible”, according to earlier reporting fromBloomberg. TheFinancial Timeshas a “big read” headlined: “Ten years of China’s Belt and Road: what has $1tn achieved?”

In other news, China’s top economic planner the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) held discussions with local officials concerning “delayed progress” in reducing energy intensity – the amount used per unit of GDP – during the 14th five-year plan period (from 2021 to 2025), reports theChina Electric Power News.Bloombergreports that the Chinese ministry of ecology and environment (MEE) may issue new “China certified emissions reduction” credits (CCER) later this year, under “stricter standards”. Finally, state news agencyXinhuareports that Chinese fir, a “widely used species” in afforestation efforts in the southern part of the country, absorbs carbon most quickly in the middle of its lifespan, according to a new study.

The Guardian carries an “exclusive” revealing that “former officials in the UN’s farming wing have said they were censored, sabotaged, undermined and victimised for more than a decade after they wrote about the hugely damaging contribution of methane emissions from livestock to global heating”. The newspaper adds: “Team members at the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) tasked with estimating cattle’s contribution to soaring temperatures said that pressure from farm-friendly funding states was felt throughout the FAO’s Rome headquarters and coincided with attempts by FAO leadership to muzzle their work. The allegations date back to the years after 2006, when some of the officials who spoke exclusively to the Guardian on condition of anonymity wrote Livestock’s Long Shadow (LLS), a landmark report that pushed farm emissions on to the climate agenda for the first time. LLS included the first tally of the meat and dairy sector’s ecological cost, attributing 18% of global greenhouse gas emissions to livestock, mostly cattle. It shocked an industry that had long seen the FAO as a reliable ally – and spurred an internal clampdown by FAO hierarchy, according to the officials…The FAO and several meat and dairy industry lobbyists declined to comment for this story.” TheGuardianalso has a separate feature about the revelation headlined: “‘The anti-livestock people are a pest’: how UN food body played down role of farming in climate change.”

The German Weather Service issued a red “severe weather warning” on Friday due to storms and flooding along parts of the Baltic Sea coast, reports the Local. The outlet notes forecasters expected “hurricane-like gusts with speeds of around 110km per hour”.Norddeutscher Rundfunk(NDR) reports that “after the record flood, the immense extent of the damage in Schleswig-Holstein and Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania is slowly becoming clear”. The outlet explains that in Schleswig-Holstein alone, initial estimates indicate that the floods caused “hundreds of millions of euros worth of damage”. NDR also notes that Schleswig-Holstein’s economics minister, Claus Ruhe Madsen, inspected the damage on Sunday, stressing that “coastal protection should be the top priority”.Tagesschaualso covers the story, adding that the city of Flensburg was particularly “hard-hit” by the storm surge, with the water level rising to 2.27m above normal, “the highest level in over 100 years”.

Meanwhile,Table.Mediareports that the German Free Democrats (FDP) parliamentary group opposes the position of EU member states on the European electricity market reform, rejecting bilateral “contracts for differences” (CfDs). FDP parliamentary group deputy leader Lukas Köhler is quoted saying: “If renewables can only be promoted through bilateral CfDs, we Liberals see no opportunity for further renewable energy support in Germany.” Elsewhere,Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitungreports on the debates around reduced electricity prices for industry in Germany, noting that the FDP is “staunchly against” a reduced electricity price, primarily due to concerns about the “unequal treatment” of medium-sized businesses and industries, as well as the expected costs, estimated at up to €30bn by 2030.

Finally,Die Weltreports that German vice-chancellor Robert Habeck has stated that Germany’s import of fossil fuels from Arab states “has not significantly threatened Israel”. He said that “gas deliveries from Qatar, a country that financially supports the Palestinians, have been minimal in the past and are not substantial now”, notes the newspaper.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, assistant editor Jeremy Warner says that “last week’s two devastating by-election defeats suggest strongly that push-back against climate change orthodoxy is falling flat among voters. Unless directly affected, people are simply not interested. Other cost of living issues, together with the post-pandemic breakdown in public services, are deemed far more important.” Warner continues: “the sort of measured net-zero scepticism that the government now promotes is plainly not shifting the dial in terms of votes. As the by-election results showed, the costs of climate change mitigation are not a frontline political issue. The government’s messaging has taken net-zero scepticism mainstream, yet the reality of what it has done so far makes little difference one way or the other; it merely tinkers at the edges of the climate change commitment. All the same, we now have a clear dividing line between the two main parties on saving the planet. Gone is the notion, championed by Boris Johnson as prime minister, that the energy transition is a massive, cost-free economic opportunity in which Britain can lead the world. Instead, we have the current compromised approach, which sees energy security as best served by having more oil and gas. Labour, by contrast, believes that only by going hell for leather on renewables can we have both energy security and net-zero.”

Writing in theGuardian, economics correspondent Richard Partington argues that “as a global energy crisis returns, the UK push for a green economy makes even more sense”, while “Rishi Sunak’s decision to dilute net-zero policies has become even more shortsighted”. In contrast, some right-leaning newspaper have published editorials arguing that the by-election results mean the Conservatives should double-down on their policies. An editorial in theDaily Mailsays: “Sunak must put more clear blue water between himself and Sir Keir on key issues. Pushing back net-zero bans on gas boilers and petrol cars, and a promise to end the war on motorists, were hugely popular.” [This is false: there is no polling evidence to show that these measures were “hugely popular”.] Camilla Tominey writing in theDaily Telegraphalso claims – incorrectly – that “the public reacted well to the climate climbdown because they could see it saved them from difficult decisions on cars and boilers in the future”. An editorial in theDaily Telegraphargues that “what should worry the government is that so many Conservative voters are deciding to stay at home”. It adds that Sunak’s “moves to moderate the UK’s net-zero plans are likely to deliver significant benefits to consumers worried about the consequences of extreme environmentalism. There is an argument for him to go much further, particularly in terms of bringing down energy bills.” [The government’s advisory Climate Change Committeesaid earlier this monththat Sunak’s moves were “likely to increase both energy bills and motoring costs for households”.]

最后,在一篇社论Daily Mirrorsays: “The loss of at least nine lives in Storm Babet [which caused extensive flooding across large parts of northern England and eastern Scotland over the weekend] and the devastation in so many areas of the country shows the cruel side of nature. But how we deal with weather extremes fuelled by global pollution and halt the world-wide climate emergency is an issue that must not be dodged. Sticking our heads in the sand or pretending absolutely nothing can be done would both be historic, lethal mistakes.”

New research quantifies the decline in groundwater recharge in Iran, which is primarily driven by “unsustainable water and environmental resources management” and is “exacerbated by decadal changes in climatic conditions”. Using a database of water abstractions from more than one million groundwater wells, springs and underground aqueducts over 2002-17, the researchers show a significant decline of around -3.8 mm per year in the nationwide groundwater recharge. As groundwater recharge “feeds aquifers supplying fresh-water to a population over 80 million in Iran”, such a decline “could further exacerbate the already dire aquifer depletion situation in Iran, with devastating consequences for the country’s natural environment and socio-economic development”, the authors warn.