Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
COP crunch
FINAL CALL: COP29 has entered its final scheduled day in Baku. Yesterday’s six-hour “Qurultay” meeting witnessed “unanimous” disappointment over the state of draft texts, with developing countries unhappy about the lack of numbers on climate finance and almost all calling for clearer language on climate action. (Carbon Brief’s Simon Evans live-posted highlights from the event.) Around 3pm local time today, the COP29 presidency released a package of new texts, just hours before talks were due to close. At least one further iteration is expected.
FINANCE FIGHT: The new proposal for a global climate finance goal would involve developed countries “taking the lead” in channelling $250bn a year by 2035 to “help poorer nations” deal with climate change, Reuters reported. It added that the proposal has drawn criticism “from all sides”. Politico noted that it “falls far short of the trillion-plus figure that the poorer countries had sought”. For more on the draft finance deal, see Spotlight below.
STOCKTAKE STUTTERS: Last year’s “global stocktake” at COP28 included the landmark deal to “transition away from fossil fuels”. But the latest draft on the “mitigation work programme” excised all links back to this. Carrying things forward has been left to the “UAE dialogue”, which, in its latest draft, “reaffirms” last year’s language on fossil fuels, renewables and energy efficiency. It also has optional text adding further goals on energy storage and grids, as well as requesting an annual progress report for debate at subsequent COPs.
WILL IT END?: Seasoned COP watchers will know that the talks almost always run past their scheduled finish time. Carbon Brief’s analysis of previous finish times suggests that, if COP29 follows the upward trend, it will end at 3.25am on Sunday morning. Carbon Brief also polled a group of more than 200 delegates to ask when they think COP29 will end, with the mean time selected being 1:34am on Sunday. After talks finally draw to a close, Carbon Brief journalists will hold a free webinar to discuss the key outcomes. Sign up.
Around the COP
- ARGENTINA STAYS: Argentina confirmed it will not leave the Paris Agreement, squashing rumours ignited after right-wing populist leader Javier Milei decided to withdraw his country’s delegation from the talks last week, El Observador reported.
- INDONESIAN TRANSITION: Indonesia’s president Prabowo Subianto announced plans to retire all coal and other fossil-fuel power stations within 15 years, while also aiming to bring the nation’s net-zero target forward by a decade, said the Associated Press. It said experts “welcomed” the ambition, but are “sceptical” of its delivery.
- POWER PLAY: The UK launched a “global clean power alliance” at the G20, with Brazil, Australia, Canada and France among members, according to the Press Association. The leaders of the UK and Brazil wrote joint op-eds touting the pact in the Times and Folha de São Paulo.
- COP ‘STAND-OFF’: Australia and Turkey are currently in a “stand-off” over who will host COP31 in 2026, with neither party willing to give up their bid, Reuters said.
- ‘BIZARRE’ RESTRICTIONS: COP29 host Azerbaijan went to “bizarre” lengths to prepare Baku for the summit, Bloomberg reported. This included clearing public areas and roads by moving parliamentary elections, shutting schools and universities and ordering two-thirds of the city to work from home.
- LOBBYISTS: A Global Witness investigation found that at least 1,700 fossil-fuel executives registered to attend COP29, lower than the record in Dubai, but still larger than most party delegations. The Guardian reported that “hundreds” of industrial farming lobbyists have also been in attendance.
Zero
The number of new countries at COP29 joining a small alliance of nations that have pledged to phase out oil and gas.
Latest climate research
- Climate lawsuits and negative court decisions can reduce the value of publicly listed companies, a Nature Sustainability study suggested.
- Early 20th century global ocean surface temperatures were warmer than previously thought, a study in Nature has found, meaning the pace of heating from 1900 to the 1950s was slightly slower than assumed.
- A Nature Geoscience study found that the weakening of the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC) – a major system of ocean currents responsible for transporting heat around the world – could be linked to influxes of freshwater into the subarctic Atlantic.
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
China’s historical emissions within its borders have now caused more global warming than the 27 member states of the EU combined, according to new Carbon Brief analysis. However, China is still far behind the world’s largest historical emitter, the US, the analysis showed. It added that China is unlikely to ever overtake the US, based on current policies, committed plans and technology trends in both countries. Carbon Brief’s analysis is featured in a data-driven article in the New York Times.
Spotlight
Decoding the COP29 finance proposal
Carbon Brief unravels the latest hotly contested climate-finance text from COP29 and explains the main sticking points.
Nations have a deadline at COP29 to agree on a new goal for channelling money into cutting emissions and protecting people from climate change.
This target will replace an existing obligation for “developed” countries – including EU states, the US and Japan – to provide $100bn of climate finance a year to “developing” countries.
Money has always been one of the most controversial aspects of UN climate talks and COP29 has exposed deep rifts.
A draft text outlining the new goal published earlier today shows that, on the day the talks are meant to finish, these tensions are far from being resolved. Developing countries and climate NGOs described the proposal as “totally unacceptable” and a “joke”.
Parties will now digest this text and at least one new version will be produced by the Azerbaijani presidency as the talks drag into overtime.
Billions
The proposed goal has two parts. At its core is $250bn delivered each year to developing countries by 2035.
This is framed as the continuation of the $100bn annual goal, which is provided entirely by developed countries. Yet, in this text, developed countries only “take the lead”, leaving the goal open for others to contribute.
As with the $100bn, this goal would include public money, such as development aid, as well as private finance that is “mobilised” by public spending.
The target matches one floated to Politico by EU sources earlier in the week, which was greeted with derision by global-south leaders. Developing countries had demanded a similar core goal of $440-900bn, but made up entirely of public money and largely as grants.
Crucially, analysts have found that comparable amounts of climate finance could be provided in this timeframe, even if developed countries make no extra effort to contribute more in the coming years, beyond existing commitments.
Trillions
From the start of COP29, all developing countries have been united behind a call for $1.3tn in climate finance a year, provided by developed countries.
There is broad agreement among experts that developing countries need to invest trillions of dollars each year to fulfil their climate goals, with large chunks coming from developed countries.
The new text includes a “call” to raise $1.3tn in climate finance by 2035.
However, it does not line up with developing countries’ proposals and, instead, reflects developed countries’ long-standing vision of a broader goal based on global “investment”. It refers to the $1.3tn coming from “all public and private sources”.
On the other hand, some of the more contentious ideas put forward by developed countries, such as the US, are no longer in the text. For example, it does not reference “domestic spending” in counting towards the goal.
Contributors
One of the most disputed topics in climate-finance talks has been expanding the list of contributors beyond developed countries.
Many nations classed as “developing” in the UN climate system, such as China and Saudi Arabia, are relatively wealthy and major contributors to climate change. This, some argue, means they should be obliged to provide finance.
There is no longer a formal recognition of this in the new text. An attempt by some developed countries to add criteria for new contributors was deleted the previous day.
COP29 has seen some wrangling around this issue. Observers welcomed China referencing the billions of dollars in climate funds it already provides to the global south and the EU expressed its openness to recognising “voluntary” contributions from developing countries.
In the end, the draft text “invites” developing countries to contribute. It also references “voluntary” counting of contributions from multilateral development banks, to which emerging economies provide large sums of money.
The climate-finance text contains many more notable compromises, which are summarised in this thread. All eyes are now on what the final text, agreed by all parties at COP29, will say.
Watch, read, listen
‘TRUMP ATE MY HOMEWORK’: A comment piece by Avantika Goswami in Down to Earth picked apart the “narrative of a prejudged failed COP” in a crucial year for climate finance.
‘GRANTS, NOT LOANS’: The Green Pulse podcast by Singapore’s Straits Times explained what the COP29 finance goal means and why more “loans can’t help” vulnerable communities in developing countries.
ASIAN AGE: Historian and author Adam Tooze discussed climate, trade wars, geopolitics and the “polycrisis” in Asia in his State of Asia 2024 address.
Coming up
- 25-27 November: UN Forum on Business and Human Rights, Geneva, Switzerland
- 25 November-1 December: Fifth session of negotiations for an international plastics treaty (INC 5), Busan, South Korea
- 2-13 December: International Court of Justice hearings on the obligations of states in respect of climate change, The Hague, Netherlands
- 2-13 December: UN Desertification Conference COP16, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Pick of the jobs
- Small World, senior sustainability consultant | Salary: £49,811-£67,000. Location: Lancaster (hybrid)
- The Ocean Census, head of science | Salary: £78,000. Location: Oxford, UK
- M+ Museum, head of conservation and research | Salary: Unknown. Location: Hong Kong
- Associated Press, oceans and climate reporter | Salary: Unknown. Location: Los Angeles, US
- The Environmental Reporting Collective, managing editor | Salary: Unknown. Location: Southeast Asia
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post COP29 DeBriefed 22 November 2024: Countries split on climate finance; Fossil-fuel transition ‘reaffirmed’; Latest texts analysed appeared first on Carbon Brief.
Climate Change
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed.
An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change.
This week
Blazing heat hits Europe
FANNING THE FLAMES: Wildfires “fanned by a heatwave and strong winds” caused havoc across southern Europe, Reuters reported. It added: “Fire has affected nearly 440,000 hectares (1,700 square miles) in the eurozone so far in 2025, double the average for the same period of the year since 2006.” Extreme heat is “breaking temperature records across Europe”, the Guardian said, with several countries reporting readings of around 40C.
HUMAN TOLL: At least three people have died in the wildfires erupting across Spain, Turkey and Albania, France24 said, adding that the fires have “displaced thousands in Greece and Albania”. Le Monde reported that a child in Italy “died of heatstroke”, while thousands were evacuated from Spain and firefighters “battled three large wildfires” in Portugal.
UK WILDFIRE RISK: The UK saw temperatures as high as 33.4C this week as England “entered its fourth heatwave”, BBC News said. The high heat is causing “nationally significant” water shortfalls, it added, “hitting farms, damaging wildlife and increasing wildfires”. The Daily Mirror noted that these conditions “could last until mid-autumn”. Scientists warn the UK faces possible “firewaves” due to climate change, BBC News also reported.
Around the world
- GRID PRESSURES: Iraq suffered a “near nationwide blackout” as elevated power demand – due to extreme temperatures of around 50C – triggered a transmission line failure, Bloomberg reported.
- ‘DIRE’ DOWN UNDER: The Australian government is keeping a climate risk assessment that contains “dire” implications for the continent “under wraps”, the Australian Financial Review said.
- EXTREME RAINFALL: Mexico City is “seeing one of its heaviest rainy seasons in years”, the Washington Post said. Downpours in the Japanese island of Kyushu “caused flooding and mudslides”, according to Politico. In Kashmir, flash floods killed 56 and left “scores missing”, the Associated Press said.
- SOUTH-SOUTH COOPERATION: China and Brazil agreed to “ensure the success” of COP30 in a recent phone call, Chinese state news agency Xinhua reported.
- PLASTIC ‘DEADLOCK’: Talks on a plastic pollution treaty have failed again at a summit in Geneva, according to the Guardian, with countries “deadlocked” on whether it should include “curbs on production and toxic chemicals”.
15
The number of times by which the most ethnically-diverse areas in England are more likely to experience extreme heat than its “least diverse” areas, according to new analysis by Carbon Brief.
Latest climate research
- As many as 13 minerals critical for low-carbon energy may face shortages under 2C pathways | Nature Climate Change
- A “scoping review” examined the impact of climate change on poor sexual and reproductive health and rights in sub-Saharan Africa | PLOS One
- A UK university cut the carbon footprint of its weekly canteen menu by 31% “without students noticing” | Nature Food
(For more, see Carbon Brief’s in-depth daily summaries of the top climate news stories on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.)
Captured
Factchecking Trump’s climate report
A report commissioned by the US government to justify rolling back climate regulations contains “at least 100 false or misleading statements”, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists. The report, compiled in two months by five hand-picked researchers, inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed” and misleadingly states that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”80
Spotlight
Does Xi Jinping care about climate change?
This week, Carbon Brief unpacks new research on Chinese president Xi Jinping’s policy priorities.
On this day in 2005, Xi Jinping, a local official in eastern China, made an unplanned speech when touring a small village – a rare occurrence in China’s highly-choreographed political culture.
In it, he observed that “lucid waters and lush mountains are mountains of silver and gold” – that is, the environment cannot be sacrificed for the sake of growth.
(The full text of the speech is not available, although Xi discussed the concept in a brief newspaper column – see below – a few days later.)
In a time where most government officials were laser-focused on delivering economic growth, this message was highly unusual.
Forward-thinking on environment
As a local official in the early 2000s, Xi endorsed the concept of “green GDP”, which integrates the value of natural resources and the environment into GDP calculations.
He also penned a regular newspaper column, 22 of which discussed environmental protection – although “climate change” was never mentioned.
This focus carried over to China’s national agenda when Xi became president.
New research from the Asia Society Policy Institute tracked policies in which Xi is reported by state media to have “personally” taken action.
It found that environmental protection is one of six topics in which he is often said to have directly steered policymaking.
Such policies include guidelines to build a “Beautiful China”, the creation of an environmental protection inspection team and the “three-north shelterbelt” afforestation programme.
“It’s important to know what Xi’s priorities are because the top leader wields outsized influence in the Chinese political system,” Neil Thomas, Asia Society Policy Institute fellow and report co-author, told Carbon Brief.
Local policymakers are “more likely” to invest resources in addressing policies they know have Xi’s attention, to increase their chances for promotion, he added.
What about climate and energy?
However, the research noted, climate and energy policies have not been publicised as bearing Xi’s personal touch.
“I think Xi prioritises environmental protection more than climate change because reducing pollution is an issue of social stability,” Thomas said, noting that “smoggy skies and polluted rivers” were more visible and more likely to trigger civil society pushback than gradual temperature increases.
The paper also said topics might not be linked to Xi personally when they are “too technical” or “politically sensitive”.
For example, Xi’s landmark decision for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 is widely reported as having only been made after climate modelling – facilitated by former climate envoy Xie Zhenhua – showed that this goal was achievable.
Prior to this, Xi had never spoken publicly about carbon neutrality.
Prof Alex Wang, a University of California, Los Angeles professor of law not involved in the research, noted that emphasising Xi’s personal attention may signal “top” political priorities, but not necessarily Xi’s “personal interests”.
By not emphasising climate, he said, Xi may be trying to avoid “pushing the system to overprioritise climate to the exclusion of the other priorities”.
There are other ways to know where climate ranks on the policy agenda, Thomas noted:
“Climate watchers should look at what Xi says, what Xi does and what policies Xi authorises in the name of the ‘central committee’. Is Xi talking more about climate? Is Xi establishing institutions and convening meetings that focus on climate? Is climate becoming a more prominent theme in top-level documents?”
Watch, read, listen
TRUMP EFFECT: The Columbia Energy Exchange podcast examined how pressure from US tariffs could affect India’s clean energy transition.
NAMIBIAN ‘DESTRUCTION’: The National Observer investigated the failure to address “human rights abuses and environmental destruction” claims against a Canadian oil company in Namibia.
‘RED AI’: The Network for the Digital Economy and the Environment studied the state of current research on “Red AI”, or the “negative environmental implications of AI”.
Coming up
- 17 August: Bolivian general elections
- 18-29 August: Preparatory talks on the entry into force of the “High Seas Treaty”, New York
- 18-22 August: Y20 Summit, Johannesburg
- 21 August: Advancing the “Africa clean air programme” through Africa-Asia collaboration, Yokohama
Pick of the jobs
- Lancaster Environment Centre, senior research associate: JUST Centre | Salary: £39,355-£45,413. Location: Lancaster, UK
- Environmental Justice Foundation, communications and media officer, Francophone Africa | Salary: XOF600,000-XOF800,000. Location: Dakar, Senegal
- Politico, energy & climate editor | Salary: Unknown. Location: Brussels, Belgium
- EnviroCatalysts, meteorologist | Salary: Unknown. Location: New Delhi, India
DeBriefed is edited by Daisy Dunne. Please send any tips or feedback to debriefed@carbonbrief.org.
This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s weekly DeBriefed email newsletter. Subscribe for free here.
The post DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report appeared first on Carbon Brief.
DeBriefed 15 August 2025: Raging wildfires; Xi’s priorities; Factchecking the Trump climate report
Climate Change
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
The specter of a “gas-for-wind” compromise between the governor and the White House is drawing the ire of residents as a deadline looms.
Hundreds of New Yorkers rallied against new natural gas pipelines in their state as a deadline loomed for the public to comment on a revived proposal to expand the gas pipeline that supplies downstate New York.
New York Already Denied Permits to These Gas Pipelines. Under Trump, They Could Get Greenlit
A “critical assessment” report commissioned by the Trump administration to justify a rollback of US climate regulations contains at least 100 false or misleading statements, according to a Carbon Brief factcheck involving dozens of leading climate scientists.
The report – “A critical review of impacts of greenhouse gas emissions on the US climate” – was published by the US Department of Energy (DoE) on 23 July, just days before the government laid out plans to revoke a scientific finding used as the legal basis for emissions regulation.
The executive summary of the controversial report inaccurately claims that “CO2-induced warming might be less damaging economically than commonly believed”.
It also states misleadingly that “excessively aggressive [emissions] mitigation policies could prove more detrimental than beneficial”.
Compiled in just two months by five “independent” researchers hand-selected by the climate-sceptic US secretary of energy Chris Wright, the document has sparked fierce criticism from climate scientists, who have pointed to factual errors, misrepresentation of research, messy citations and the cherry-picking of data.
Experts have also noted the authors’ track record of promoting views at odds with the mainstream understanding of climate science.
Wright’s department claims the report – which is currently open to public comment as part of a 30-day review – underwent an “internal peer-review period amongst [the] DoE’s scientific research community”.
The report is designed to provide a scientific underpinning to one flank of the Trump administration’s plans to rescind a finding that serves as the legal prerequisite for federal emissions regulation. (The second flank is about legal authority to regulate emissions.)
The “endangerment finding” – enacted by the Obama administration in 2009 – states that six greenhouse gases are contributing to the net-negative impacts of climate change and, thus, put the public in danger.
In a press release on 29 July, the US Environmental Protection Agency said “updated studies and information” set out in the new report would “challenge the assumptions” of the 2009 finding.
Carbon Brief asked a wide range of climate scientists, including those cited in the “critical review” itself, to factcheck the report’s various claims and statements.
The post Factcheck: Trump’s climate report includes more than 100 false or misleading claims appeared first on Carbon Brief.
https://www.carbonbrief.org/factcheck-trumps-climate-report-includes-more-than-100-false-or-misleading-claims/
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