Breaking Waves: Ocean News

António Guterres says succesful outcome at Cop29 is still ‘within reach’ but only with ‘leadership’ from world’s most powerful countries Climate crisis to blame for dozens of ‘impossible’ heatwaves, studies reveal How usual is it to have G20 happening at the same time as Cop? According to Jen Iris Allan, a senior lecturer at Cardiff University who also writes the Regular Earth Negotiations Bulletin, commenting on Bluesky, it’s not normal at all. Cop29 happening at the same time as the G20 is a rare opportunity. It gets the leaders of the big economies together in a small setting. They could strike a side deal that would really help here. The new climate finance target is the big issue that will define COP29. Government ministers are arriving to thrash out everything from the amount of money raised to who contributes towards it. We’ve seen a few versions of the text as parties make sure their views are represented while trying to produce something their governments can work with. The number of “options” is lower than it was on Wednesday. But the number of brackets - meaning undecided bits - is higher. It’s still long: 25 pages. Negotiators started with a 9-page text, which they rejected as “unbalanced” - then lots of stuff got added back in. It will need to be shorter. The EU chief negotiator told journalists last week that a 2-page text could capture “everything we need”. Continue reading...

This blog is now closed Alan Jones charged with 24 indecent assault and sexual touching offences against eight victims Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast Three million Australians are at risk of homelessness, a 63% increase since 2016, a new report from Homelessness NSW and Impact Economics has revealed. By looking at household data including income, support and rental stress, the report found in 2022 there were 3.04m Australians now at risk of homelessness, an increase on the 1.87m reported in 2016. 1 in every five days the frontline services could not assist a family with children because they were so stretched. Individuals without children were turned away 1 in every 2 days. Unaccompanied young people and children without accommodation were turned away on 1 in 9 days. I think more broadly, the government under Anthony Albanese has got an excellent record of managing relationships around the world, making genuine progress, whether it’s with China, whether it’s with American friends or others. I think when it comes to Peter Dutton, I think he has a kind of a reckless arrogance which doesn’t lend itself to foreign policy and maintaining and managing some of these complex relationships. I think he would be a risk to our economy, and that’s because that reckless arrogance, which has been a defining feature of his time as a politician over a long period of time now … [it] doesn’t lend itself to managing these relationships, which are so important to us. Continue reading...

Extremists including Tommy Robinson associates latch on to event but organisers say they want it to be nonpolitical Far-right groups are seeking to hijack a farmers’ protest in London against tax changes introduced by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves. Extremists, including close associates of Tommy Robinson, have been using social media to urge supporters to turn up at the protest on Tuesday, as farming leaders sought to remind those attending of their responsibilities. Continue reading...

Exclusive: Company has failed to tackle serious safety concerns or upgrade vital IT systems, Guardian investigation reveals Floods, explosions, asbestos: Thames faces problems on all fronts Thames Water has £23bn of assets that are in urgent need of repair and the supply of water to its 16 million customers is “on a knife-edge”, a Guardian investigation can reveal. Britain’s biggest water company has failed to tackle adequately serious safety concerns, has not upgraded essential IT systems and has tolerated a culture of intimidation among staff, according to insiders and an analysis of documents. Continue reading...