Climate change news from the ground, in a warming world Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here [[link removed]] Megan Rowling [[link removed]]

Climate correspondent

The COP26 U.N. climate summit, gathering thousands of government officials, journalists and campaigners over the past two weeks in Glasgow, is a wrap - quite some achievement in the middle of a pandemic. But was it a success? That depends on who you talk to.

The British hosts and other rich nations think the talks landed some big wins, including getting fossil fuel reductions mentioned in an official decision for the first time and firm recognition of the need to tackle the surging "loss and damage" caused by more extreme weather and rising seas.

But small island nations and other vulnerable countries were frustrated that the negotiations did not secure agreement to set up a new funding facility [[link removed]] to help them repair infrastructure wiped out by storms or move communities away from flood-prone coastal areas.

One view, however, does seem to have pretty wide backing: that the 1.5C warming goal is still alive and within reach - but only just.

Keeping open the possibility of limiting planetary heating to that ceiling will require a huge effort over the next year [[link removed]] and beyond to secure faster emissions cuts from recalcitrant governments, and to push business and investment onto a greener trajectory, experts said after the talks.

Tuvalu's Minister for Justice, Communication & Foreign Affairs Simon Kofe gives a COP26 statement while standing in the ocean in Funafuti, Tuvalu November 5, 2021. Credit: Tuvalu's Ministry of Justice, Communication and Foreign Affairs

Looking beyond the somewhat surreal world of climate diplomacy, David King - a former UK chief scientist who recently set up the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University - told our climate editor Laurie Goering that real change is largely now being driven from the outside.

That includes more high-impact lawsuits, big protests, efforts to establish new global institutions to deal with climate threats, key innovations and - nearest to his heart - "willing nations acting to deliver the solutions we need", he said in an interview [[link removed]] at the Glasgow talks.

And there are plenty of things happening at a smaller scale on the ground.

They range from snake-like dams [[link removed]] that can be moved around to where needed to prevent floods, to a U.S. company burying oil made from crop waste [[link removed]] to sequester carbon, and solar-powered cold storage [[link removed]] that lets Kenyan farmers hold onto their crops until prices rise, boosting incomes and cutting food waste.

Dysmus Kisilu and a user of his Solar Freeze technology look at wiring for the cooler in Kenya. Credit: Ashden

New pledges to protect one of the planet's best natural stores of carbon - forests - were also widely welcomed at COP26.

But, at the same time, climate activists are concerned a surge in net-zero commitments, especially in the business world, relies too heavily on companies paying for offsets - such as by planting trees. That suggests their own emissions may not fall far or fast enough.

" Net zero does not mean zero [[link removed]]," warned Teresa Anderson, climate policy coordinator for ActionAid International. "In the majority of cases, these corporations ... are planning to carry on business as usual."

Human rights groups are worried, meanwhile, that rules for global carbon markets - an outstanding part of the Paris Agreement finally settled in Glasgow - lack sufficient safeguards to ensure that indigenous peoples who rely on forests do not lose their land to carbon-offset projects.

By keeping control, " we are not fighting just for indigenous people [[link removed]] but for everyone," said Gloria Ushigua, leader of an association of Sapara indigenous women in Ecuador's Amazon, who refuses to be paid to protect her forest.

One other must-read: our investigation into how wildfire fighters for U.S. federal agencies face a growing risk of work-related injury and illness as blazes worsen - and, in many cases, a devastatingly difficult struggle [[link removed]] to get financial support for their treatment.

See you next week,

Megan

EXPLAINER: What did vulnerable countries fight for at the COP26 climate summit? [[link removed]]

As the U.N. climate talks ran overtime, vulnerable countries pushed for progress on issues from "loss and damage" to phasing out fossil fuels - but didn't get all they wanted

'Architects of desire': Can advertising agencies glamorise climate solutions? [[link removed]]

Too often criticised for promoting excessive consumption and greenwash, ad firms could use a new emissions metric to popularise climate-smart products

Climate change risks 'runaway' humanitarian crisis, aid system collapse, UN warns [[link removed]]

Aid agencies say the needs of those hit by droughts and floods are surging and could spiral out of control, calling for more money to help the vulnerable adapt to a warmer world

Push on climate action in pandemic shows strength of Paris pact: UNDP chief [[link removed]]

Despite the coronavirus crisis and the temporary withdrawal of the U.S. under Trump, the 2015 Paris Agreement is still driving action to limit global warming, says Achim Steiner

After smoke drifts east, U.S. Congress eyes spending billions to curb wildfire threat [[link removed]]

More than half of the $27 billion in forestry funding in the social spending bill, which the House aims to pass this week, would go toward 'hazardous fuels reduction projects'

Turning heat to cooling, Kenyan inventor cuts food waste - and adds jobs and income [[link removed]]

The technology has enabled small businesses in remote areas in Kenya to access affordable power, and has been adopted to solve a new problem: keeping COVID-19 vaccines fresh

Extreme heat linked to rising deaths in tropical forest communities [[link removed]]

Heat-related deaths among rural communities living in tropical countries such as Indonesia are increasing as deforestation and climate change cause temperatures to rise

OPINION: An opportunity for a cleaner, just Gulf is lost as COP26 ends [[link removed]]

There’s an inextricable link between the Gulf’s complicity in the climate crisis and their failure to respect fundamental human rights.

OPINION: Why net zero pledges from the ‘Fossil Fuelled 5’ ring hollow [[link removed]]

Nations that have amassed vast amounts of wealth from fossil fuels over centuries are unwilling to give it up – when the wealth could be used to fund the transition to cleaner energy

OPINION: Why Global South leadership on climate change adaptation matters [[link removed]]

From boat schools in Bangladesh to Kenyan women farmers learning new skills, those on the frontlines of climate change have valuable experience in how to cope

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