Comillas Pontifical University

One day after the deadline, COP30 in Belém (Brazil) has finally reached a minimal agreement. The text does not mention a roadmap for abandoning fossil fuels, as requested by more than 80 states, including the European Union. The agreement states that countries agreed to accelerate climate action and triple funding for developing countries facing extreme weather events.

COP30 will kick off on 10 November in Belém, a Brazilian city and gateway to the Amazon. Expectations are high because it coincides with the tenth anniversary of the Paris Agreement, whose goal of limiting the temperature increase to 1.5 °C was shattered in 2024. In addition, this year countries must present a new version of their measures to combat climate change in a turbulent geopolitical context, marked by the Trump administration's abandonment of the climate agenda.

A team conducted a meta-analysis of 100 studies, including more than 430,000 participants from 42 countries, to understand what factors drive energy-saving habits in homes. Their conclusions are that attitudes and moral sentiments are more influential than socioeconomic factors such as education and income level, which were barely related to energy-saving behaviors. According to the authors, who publish the results in the journal Cell Reports Sustainability, "the research suggests that exploring these deeper psychological factors is a way to get as many people as possible committed to saving energy."

Today at 3:00 PM CEST, the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the principal judicial body of the United Nations, will issue its advisory opinion on the obligations of states in relation to climate change and the legal consequences of those obligations. The case stems from a Pacific youth initiative, taken up by the small island nation of Vanuatu, which led a coalition of 132 countries to request an opinion. It is expected to determine whether large, polluting countries should be held accountable for damages caused to small island nations.

In the early hours of the morning, after more than two weeks of negotiations and on the verge of collapse, participants at COP29 in Baku (Azerbaijan) reached an agreement to set the new climate finance target. In the end, at least 300 billion dollars a year will be contributed by rich countries to the least developed countries until 2035, within a broader global commitment of up to 1.3 trillion dollars directed at these same countries. The renewal of this target was part of the Paris Agreement and will enable governments to support developing countries in their climate action on adaptation, mitigation and damage from the climate crisis. The previous target - set at the Copenhagen Summit in 2009 - was $100 billion per year.

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. 

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.

With just days to go before COP28 kicks off in Dubai -a major city in the oil-rich United Arab Emirates- climate experts are torn between mistrust and hope that world leaders will reach ambitious agreements to combat the climate crisis.

Capping the consumption of European households who consume most energy - those with the highest incomes and education levels - could achieve "considerable emissions reductions", according to a UK research team. This benefit could also be achieved by simultaneously increasing the consumption of the poorest and most vulnerable users. The analysis, published in Nature Energy, estimates that limiting the energy use of the top 20 % of consumers in 27 countries in Europe would reduce emissions from domestic energy consumption by 11.4 %, 16.8 % from transport, and 9.7 % from total energy consumption. The article states that the association between high income and high energy consumption is particularly strong in countries such as Spain, where income inequality is relatively high.

The Participation Council of Doñana has analysed this Monday in an extraordinary meeting the bill presented in the Andalusian Parliament that aims to extend the legal irrigation in the area. The Andalusian Government maintains its support for the new regulation, which will begin its parliamentary debate tomorrow, Wednesday, with the proposal to take the bill into consideration. For his part, the director of the Doñana Biological Station, Eloy Revilla, in his speech to the Council warned of the general deterioration of the lagoon system and pointed out that "the current exploitation of the aquifer is not sustainable". "Spain has been condemned by the European Court of Justice for failing to comply with its obligations under the Water Framework Directive and the Habitat Directive," he said. The Ministry for Ecological Transition has warned that it will take the law to the Constitutional Court.