COP 30 emissions data highlights AD’s crucial role in climate policy
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This article contains sponsored content. By Matt Hale, Global Key Account Director, HRS Heat Exchangers Global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) from burning fossil fuels have risen again,1 according to data released during the COP 30 UN climate conference in Brazil. This underscores the ongoing challenges that the world faces in meeting previously agreed reductions […]
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COP30: Key outcomes agreed at the UN climate talks in Belém
A voluntary plan to curb fossil fuels, a goal to triple adaptation finance and new efforts to “strengthen” climate targets have been launched at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil. After all-night negotiations in the Amazonian city of Belém, the Brazilian presidency released a final package termed the “global mutirão” – a name meaning “collective […]
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Your Summary of Negotiations: Nov. 22
There’s been a lot of chatter about Roadmaps in Belem. The WWF and Greenpeace have led a call for a roadmap to end deforestation. Currently, 45 countries have indicated support. More than 80 countries have called for a roadmap to phase out fossil fuels. Additionally, there are four other roadmaps on finance from developed to […]
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Week Two at COP30: What Happens When the World Can’t Agree
I’m writing this from Boston, not Belém. I left COP30 a day before it ended—exhausted, frustrated, and strangely hopeful all at once. Brazil’s presidency pushed hard to close the deal, with President Lula returning to witness what they hoped would be a historic finish. Draft texts circulated rapidly. But negotiators were still debating language that […]
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DeBriefed 21 November 2025: [COP30 DeBriefed] ‘Mutirão’ text latest; ‘Roadmaps’ explained; COP finish times plotted
![DeBriefed 21 November 2025: [COP30 DeBriefed] ‘Mutirão’ text latest; ‘Roadmaps’ explained; COP finish times plotted](https://renewableai.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/11/cop30-overrun5-scaled-XDI5kG.png)
Welcome to Carbon Brief’s DeBriefed. An essential guide to the week’s key developments relating to climate change. This week Key ‘mutirão’ text emerges ‘MUTIRÃO’ 2.0: After many late nights, but little progress – and a dramatic fire at the COP30 venue – the much-awaited second draft of the summit’s key agreement, called the “mutirão” text, finally […]
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To Implement or Not to Implement: New York State’s Climate Law in 2025
It is a basic principle of administrative law that, even after a jurisdiction enacts legislation, full implementation of the law typically depends on regulatory and other actions by executive branch agencies. This is particularly true in the context of environmental and climate change legislation, which are often especially complex and generally demand considerable administrative and […]
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Are biodegradable plastics the answer to microplastics?
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In many cases, industrial composting has been required to break down biopolymers. Biodegradable plastics are emerging as an alternative to conventional plastics to address microplastic pollution. Unlike conventional plastics, biodegradable plastics are designed to break down over a faster timescale under specific conditions, potentially reducing long-term persistence in the environment. Although regulations are driving the […]
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New portable DNA toolkit targets global illegal wildlife trade
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The VeRIF-ID toolkit A new portable, rapid DNA test can be used to identify illegal wildlife products on the spot. Its developers say the groundbreaking new tool promises to revolutionise the fight against the illegal wildlife trade (IWT)—a global black market worth up to $23 billion a year. The portable DNA testing system can identify […]
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Study finds higher levels of antimicrobial resistance in surface water during winter
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The study monitored two livestock-dominated water catchments in southwest Scotland A new study from The James Hutton Institute,* appears to have found that the levels of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) present in surface water increase during winter. AMR occurs when microorganisms such as bacteria acquire new genes to help defend against medications designed to kill or […]
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Wet wipe island waste autopsy reveals extent of the sewer blockage challenge
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Excavation of ‘wet wipe island’, which has formed along a 250-metre stretch of the river near Hammersmith Bridge (image credit: Thames Water). A waste autopsy has examined 30 kg of the 114 tonnes of rubbish excavated from the banks of the River Thames, an area that had become known as ‘wet wipe island’, finding that […]
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Why Decision Trees Fail (and How to Fix Them)
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Decision tree-based models for predictive machine learning tasks like classification and regression are undoubtedly rich in advantages — such as their ability to capture nonlinear relationships among features and their intuitive interpretability that makes it easy to trace decisions.
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The cost of thinking
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Large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT can write an essay or plan a menu almost instantly. But until recently, it was also easy to stump them. The models, which rely on language patterns to respond to users’ queries, often failed at math problems and were not good at complex reasoning. Suddenly, however, they’ve gotten a […]
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Cropped 19 November 2025: COP30 edition
We handpick and explain the most important stories at the intersection of climate, land, food and nature over the past fortnight. This is an online version of Carbon Brief’s fortnightly Cropped email newsletter. Subscribe for free here. Key developments COP30 nears its end COP TALK: The COP30 climate summit is entering its final days in Belém […]
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New AI agent learns to use CAD to create 3D objects from sketches
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Computer-Aided Design (CAD) is the go-to method for designing most of today’s physical products. Engineers use CAD to turn 2D sketches into 3D models that they can then test and refine before sending a final version to a production line. But the software is notoriously complicated to learn, with thousands of commands to choose from. […]
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MIT Energy Initiative conference spotlights research priorities amidst a changing energy landscape
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“We’re here to talk about really substantive changes, and we want you to be a participant in that,” said Desirée Plata, the School of Engineering Distinguished Professor of Climate and Energy in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at Energizing@MIT: the MIT Energy Initiative’s (MITEI) Annual Research Conference that was held on Sept. 9-10. […]
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MIT Energy Initiative conference spotlights research priorities amidst a changing energy landscape
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“We’re here to talk about really substantive changes, and we want you to be a participant in that,” said Desirée Plata, the School of Engineering Distinguished Professor of Climate and Energy in MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at Energizing@MIT: the MIT Energy Initiative’s (MITEI) Annual Research Conference that was held on Sept. 9-10. […]
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New report finds return of wildcats to South West England is feasible
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Image credit: Tom Mason. A new report published on 18 November reveals that the South West of England could support a reintroduction of European wildcats after more than a 100-year absence from the area, marking a vital next step in helping to secure the future of the UK’s most critically endangered mammal. The study finds […]
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Europe must embrace long duration energy storage to manage costs and meet climate goals: new report
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Artist’s rendering of Willow Rock project in California (image credit: Hydrostor). Policies to incentivize investment in longer duration energy storage can mitigate billions in grid costs, while helping the continent hit its 2050 climate goals and achieve energy independence, according to a new whitepaper from Hydrostor, a developer and operator working in the LDES field. […]