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Received today — 13 December 2025

‘A shift no country can ignore’: where global emissions stand, 10 years after the Paris climate agreement

✇The Guardian
By:Fiona Harvey Environment editor
13 December 2025 at 01:00

The watershed summit in 2015 was far from perfect, but its impact so far has been significant and measurable

Ten years on from the historic Paris climate summit, which ended with the world’s first and only global agreement to curb greenhouse gas emissions, it is easy to dwell on its failures. But the successes go less remarked.

Renewable energy smashed records last year, growing by 15% and accounting for more than 90% of all new power generation capacity. Investment in clean energy topped $2tn, outstripping that into fossil fuels by two to one.

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© Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters

© Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters

© Photograph: Carlos Barría/Reuters

Received yesterday — 12 December 2025

Lawsuit Seeks to Stop Oil Exploration in Remote Areas of the Arctic

✇NYT: Science
By:Karen Zraick
11 December 2025 at 19:29
A federal lawsuit argues that proposed work by ConocoPhillips could threaten delicate ecosystems in the largest tract of public land in the U.S.

© Erin Schaff/The New York Times

A ConocoPhillips oil drilling site on the North Slope of Alaska near the Willow site, another ConocoPhillips oil exploration project.
Received before yesterday

U.S. Helped to Weaken Report at U.N. Environment Talks, Participants Say

✇NYT: Science
By:Eric Niiler
11 December 2025 at 13:54
American officials joined Russia, Saudi Arabia and Iran in objecting to language on fossils fuels, biodiversity and plastics in a report that was three years in the making.

© Monicah Mwangi/Reuters

The opening session of the 7th United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, on Monday.

Our Children’s Trust Suit Asks Montana Court to Block Some New Laws

✇NYT: Science
By:Karen Zraick
10 December 2025 at 18:45
The young plaintiffs, who won a major case over climate change policy in 2023, argue that legislators are illegally ignoring the effects of fossil fuels.

© Janie Osborne for The New York Times

Rikki Held, the named plaintiff in Held v. Montana, in June 2023. The same plaintiffs are asking the state’s top court to prevent legislators from undermining their victory.

This Arkansas City Shows How to Slash Emissions and Save Money, Too

✇NYT: Science
By:Cara Buckley and Melyssa St. Michael
9 December 2025 at 21:35
In the Ozarks, the growing college town of Fayetteville, Ark., is using clean energy to power city facilities and embracing nature-based solutions to climate threats.

© Melyssa St. Michael for The New York Times

Some Mentions of Human Causes of Climate Change Removed From E.P.A. Site

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman
9 December 2025 at 15:50
An E.P.A. site listing the causes of climate change no longer includes the main one: human activity.

© Ting Shen/Reuters

President Trump, who calls climate change a “hoax” is eliminating restrictions on coal, oil and gas while imposing new ones on renewable energy like wind and solar.

Trump Expected to Significantly Weaken Fuel Economy Rules

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow
2 December 2025 at 18:58
Executives from top automakers were invited to attend the announcement at the White House on Wednesday.

© Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

The Biden-era auto emissions rules have significantly reduced the planet-warming greenhouse gases from transportation, which is the single largest source of carbon pollution in the United States.

E.P.A. Delays Requirements to Cut Methane, a Potent Greenhouse Gas

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman and Maxine Joselow
26 November 2025 at 17:52
Oil and gas firms were supposed to start reducing methane, a powerful driver of climate change. The agency is giving them more time and may cancel the requirement.

© Desiree Rios for The New York Times

A gas flare at an oil facility in Midland, Texas.

Trump Vowed Fewer Regulations and Lots More Oil. He’s Delivered on One.

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman
26 November 2025 at 05:00
The president’s energy strategy is projected to generate more pollution, but so far production has not risen significantly and price drops have been modest, analysts say.

© Eli Hartman/Reuters

Since President Trump took office, oil production is up, but largely because of improved efficiency, and it has not translated into more jobs for either the industry or the overall economy.

COP30 Climate Summit Ends With Dire Warnings and Scant Plans for Action

✇NYT: Science
By:Max Bearak and Lisa Friedman
23 November 2025 at 13:13
The final agreement, with no direct mention of the fossil fuels dangerously heating Earth, was a victory for countries like Saudi Arabia and Russia, diplomats said.

© Pablo Porciuncula/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The closing session of the COP30 climate negotiations in Belém, Brazil, on Saturday.

China Offers Panda Totes, but No New Commitments, at Climate Talks

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman and Somini Sengupta
21 November 2025 at 11:25
The United States has retreated on climate. China, the only superpower at COP30 and the world leader in clean energy, is not filling the void.

© Adriano Machado/Reuters

The China pavilion of the COP30 conference in Belém, Brazil, last week.

Fine Chocolate in Brazil, Home of the Cacao Bean

✇NYT: Science
By:Somini Sengupta and Alessandro Falco
22 November 2025 at 09:37
A new generation of craft chocolate makers in Brazil is creating bars with “identity.” And they’re helping to sustain the forest, too.

Energy Department Reorganization Reflects Shift Away From Renewable Energy

✇NYT: Science
By:Brad Plumer
20 November 2025 at 17:38
The reorganization reflects the ongoing shift in the federal government’s energy priorities: less renewable energy, more fossil fuels.

© Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy and the Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations no longer appear in an organizational chart posted by the Energy Department on Tuesday.

As the World Pursues Clean Power, Millions Still Have No Power at All

✇NYT: Science
By:Max Bearak and Alessandro Falco
20 November 2025 at 05:02
Just outside Belém, the Amazonian city where the world is meeting to discuss climate change, electricity is a very recent arrival.

© Alessandro Falco for The New York Times

Driving an E.V. Across North Dakota? Thank the Standing Rock Tribe.

✇NYT: Technology
By:Sachi Kitajima Mulkey and Jaida Grey Eagle
18 November 2025 at 21:20
A tribally owned network of chargers will soon be complete, connecting reservations and bridging a gap in the Midwest.

© Jaida Grey Eagle for The New York Times

Driving an E.V. Across North Dakota? Thank the Standing Rock Tribe.

✇NYT: Science
By:Sachi Kitajima Mulkey and Jaida Grey Eagle
18 November 2025 at 21:20
A tribally owned network of chargers will soon be complete, connecting reservations and bridging a gap in the Midwest.

© Jaida Grey Eagle for The New York Times

A Plan for Private Jet Taxes Would Fund Climate Measures

✇NYT: Science
By:Somini Sengupta
17 November 2025 at 12:24
A small group of countries is aiming to impose a fee on private jets and premium commercial fares. The revenue would help nations adapt to warming.

© Neil Hall/EPA, via Shutterstock

A private jet at the Farnborough International Airshow last year. Aviation accounts for roughly 4 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.

Thousands March for Climate Action as COP30 Talks Enter Second Week

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman · Brad Plumer and Max Bearak
17 November 2025 at 05:02
As the talks continue, some countries are pushing for a detailed “road map” for a global transition away from oil, gas and coal.

© Andre Penner/Associated Press

A demonstration near the U.N. climate summit in Belém, Brazil, on Saturday. The atmosphere has been a marked contrast to the past three summits that were held in countries where governments restricted public protests.

Indigenous People Take the Stage at COP30 Climate Talks in Belém, Brazil

✇NYT: Science
By:Somini Sengupta · Brad Plumer and David Gelles
14 November 2025 at 09:53
This summit is unlike any of its predecessors in at least one significant way: The Indigenous presence is palpable and strong.

© Mauro Pimentel/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

An Indigenous rights demonstration on Thursday in Belém, Brazil. The snake in the background was a prop with a meaning.

The Global Climate Leadership Vacuum

✇NYT: Science
By:Claire Brown
19 November 2025 at 14:15
The United States is largely absent from the United Nations climate negotiations in Brazil. So who is stepping up?

© Fernando Llano/Associated Press

A lobby of the COP30 United Nations climate summit in Belém, Brazil.

There’s a New Forecast for Peak Oil Demand. It’s Increasingly Cloudy.

✇NYT: Science
By:Brad Plumer
12 November 2025 at 09:10
The International Energy Agency once projected that oil and gas demand could level off by 2030. Now it’s backing off, sort of.

© Alexander Manzyuk/Reuters

Pump jacks in Russia in 2023. The energy agency’s reports are influential and often cited by energy companies and investors as a basis for long-term planning.

Newsom in the Spotlight at the Climate Conference That Trump Decided to Skip

✇NYT: Science
By:Somini Sengupta
12 November 2025 at 00:06
The California governor painted the president as a threat to American competitiveness by letting China dominate the renewable energy industry.

© Fernando Llano/Associated Press

Gov. Gavin Newsom of California at the COP30 climate summit in Belém, Brazil, on Tuesday.

At COP30 in Belém, Brazil, Chinese Technology Is Shifting Climate Politics

✇NYT: Science
By:Somini Sengupta and Brad Plumer
10 November 2025 at 11:15
At this year’s climate summit, the United States is out and Europe is struggling. But emerging countries are embracing renewable energy thanks to a glut of cheap equipment.

© Saumya Khandelwal for The New York Times

A solar farm near Kayathar in southern India. The country can now meet half of its electricity demand with wind, solar, and hydropower.

Leaders at COP30 Climate Summit in Belém Focus on the Rising Toll of Warming

✇NYT: Science
By:David Gelles and Brad Plumer
7 November 2025 at 16:56
“All we have to do is look outside,” one delegate said. “The sea rises, the coral dies.”

© Wagner Meier/Getty Images

World leaders posed for a photo on Friday at COP30, the United Nations climate conference in Belém, Brazil.

COP30 Begins With U.S. Allies and Rivals Alike Calling for Action

✇NYT: Science
By:Somini Sengupta · Brad Plumer and David Gelles
7 November 2025 at 11:35
The calls for action on opening day stood in sharp contrast to the position of the President Trump, who has called global warming a “con job.”

© Pablo Porciuncula/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Leaders meeting on Thursday in Belém, Brazil. The conference is scheduled to run through Nov. 21.

Climate Diplomacy and Hardball Tactics

✇NYT: Science
By:Claire Brown
6 November 2025 at 15:18
With this year’s global climate summit opening in Brazil, we offer a glimpse of how the Trump administration sometimes operates behind closed doors.

© Fernando Llano/Associated Press

The United Nations secretary general, António Guterres, at the climate summit in Belém, Brazil, on Thursday.

Lula Hitches a Ride to the COP30 Climate Talks in an E.V.

✇NYT: Science
By:Ana Ionova
7 November 2025 at 15:13
The climate-friendly fleet assembled to shuttle delegations to the gathering in Brazil sent a clear signal: China is making inroads in Latin America.

© Joa Souza/Reuters

A factory in Camaçari, Brazil, assembling electric vehicles for BYD, a Chinese manufacturer.

The U.S. Is Skipping This Year’s Climate Summit. For Many, That’s OK.

✇NYT: Science
By:Lisa Friedman
6 November 2025 at 07:58
World leaders, gathering in Brazil, will try to agree on new, more ambitious plans to cut greenhouse gases.

© Pablo Porciuncula/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

The conference venue in Belém, Brazil, this week. The talks, known as COP30, are scheduled to run through Nov. 21.

COP30 U.N. Climate Talks Are Starting in Brazil. Here’s What to Know.

✇NYT: Science
By:David Gelles
6 November 2025 at 05:01
Diplomats and leaders from around the world are gathering on the edge of the Amazon rainforest for annual talks on how to limit global warming.

© Wagner Meier/Getty Images

The COP30 venue in Belém, Brazil, this week. World leaders will address the meeting starting on Thursday.

Brazil Proposes a New Type of Fund to Protect Tropical Forests

✇NYT: Science
By:Somini Sengupta and Claire Brown
5 November 2025 at 05:02
The multibillion-dollar fund would essentially pay countries to keep forests standing, hoping for success where earlier forest-protection ideas have struggled.

© Jorge Silva/Reuters

Morning mist in Carajás National Forest, Brazil. The proposal comes as global climate talks start this week in Brazil.

U.N. Report on Greenhouse Gas Emissions Finds Slight Progress

✇NYT: Science
By:Brad Plumer
4 November 2025 at 09:00
The annual U.N. report card finds that, overall, countries are still far off-track from their stated goals to limit global warming.

© Pedro Pardo/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Solar panels in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region. Rapid growth of clean energy technologies like solar panels and electric vehicles have slightly reduced forecasts of future emissions in places like China and Europe.
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