Fernando Valladares

Fernando Valladares

Fernando Valladares
Cargo

PhD in Biology, CSIC researcher and associate professor at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid

What to expect from the Baku Climate Summit

Next Monday sees the start of COP29 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, a summit marked by Donald Trump's victory as president of the United States on Tuesday. His denial of climate change and his commitment to fossil fuels during his previous term in office will weigh down a meeting from which no major agreements are expected and from which experts are calling for greater ambition. 

Reactions: COP28 approves "transition away from fossil fuels" in Global Stocktake

After an intense night of negotiations in Dubai (United Arab Emirates), the countries participating in COP28 reached a historic agreement by mentioning for the first time "moving away from fossil fuels" in the Global Stocktake document - the assessment of progress made towards achieving the climate goals set out in the Paris Agreement. The agreement comes after the first draft presented by the presidency did not make this mention - it referred only to "reducing consumption and production" of these fuels - which was described as "unacceptable" by countries such as Spain.

Reaction: carbon sequestration is at risk of destabilisation in large regions of the planet

A study published in Nature suggests that carbon sequestration is at risk of destabilising in large regions of the planet. In some areas, this sequestration - the difference between the CO2 captured and released by ecosystems into the atmosphere - has varied greatly in recent years. The research is led by CREAF and the University of Antwerp (Belgium).

Reactions to the loss and damage fund and other agreements reached at COP27

After two long weeks of negotiations and outside the official deadline, COP27 has reached an agreement to create a loss and damage fund to help the most vulnerable countries face the impacts of the climate crisis. However, other issues such as greater ambition in mitigation strategies to avoid exceeding 1.5ºC of warming and less dependence on fossil fuels have not achieved the commitment of all parties. 

Reaction to Mbappé and Galtier's (PSG) press conference and their response to the question about air travel and climate change

At Paris Saint-Germain's (PSG) press conference ahead of their Champions League opener, Kylian Mbappé and Christophe Galtier (PSG player and coach) were asked about the team's recent trip by plane to Nantes and why they didn't travel by train, when the distance is 341 kilometres and the train takes less than two hours. Both laughed at the question and Galtier replied, ironically, that next time they were considering doing it in a "sailing carriage".