Wealthy nations agree to take the lead in helping developing countries shift to a low-carbon economy Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast The Australian government has been urged to “step up” and do more to address the climate crisis after a major UN summit ended with a global finance agreement that developing countries criticised for not going far enough. The Cop29 talks in the Azerbaijan capital of Baku ended at 4am on Sunday with a consensus agreement that developing countries would be paid at least US$300bn (A$460bn) a year in global climate finance by 2035 to help them shift to a low-carbon economy and adapt to the impacts of extreme weather. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email Continue reading...

Nearly all observers believe Chris Bowen is strongly committed to action. Most agree that can’t be said for his party Cop29 in Baku has concluded but its outcome is disappointing – in many dimensions. Its decisions on finance – agreeing that the developed world would provide US$300bn a year by 2035 – come nowhere close to what’s needed. Ultimately, it may even be poisonous because of its lack of ambition and muddled scope – it does not even cover loss and damage. Baku saw little sense of urgency or increased climate action, despite the universal message from scientific studies, including the Climate Action Tracker. Our global update this year found that in the last three years there’s been virtually no improvement in either action on the ground, nor ambition to take action in the future. And this is despite a series of seemingly never-ending, global warming-linked deadly catastrophes unfolding around the world. Continue reading...

Australia joins UN coalition that rules out new coal power and promises to encourage others to do the same. Meanwhile, we’re profiting off thermal coal sales around the world, without a clear…