Essay by Eric Worrall
“… Countries prioritising cheaper, dirtier energy production and showing less enthusiasm for the hard, costly work of cutting emissions have led to a global vibe shift …”
This year’s global climate summit is different – but not in a good way
The vibe shift on global climate action has hit the buzz around Brazil’s COP, but the true believers are still there doing work they say is as urgent as ever.
…
But the persistence of the climate policy crowd in trekking to Belém, where temporary rooms on cruise ships moored at the mouth of the Guamá River are reportedly going for more than $4000 a night, does not mean all is well with the global climate action movement. Far from it.
Countries prioritising cheaper, dirtier energy production and showing less enthusiasm for the hard, costly work of cutting emissions have led to a global vibe shift, as illustrated by Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s pre-summit leaders meeting over the weekend.
Heads of state from almost all the world’s biggest emitters, including the United States, China, India and Russia, did not attend. Australia, which says it wants to host the event next year, sent its assistant energy minister, Josh Wilson.
As far as global diplomatic priorities go, it amounted to little more than a collective shrug. And that’s a problem – because this is not any old climate summit.
…
Read more (paywalled): https://www.afr.com/policy/energy-and-climate/this-year-s-global-climate-summit-is-different-but-not-in-a-good-way-20251107-p5n8m4
It is hilarious that the Trump agenda is dominating the COP30 climate conference, even though Trump is a no show.
Australian Financial Review contributors almost always take a pro-renewables position, so it is quite an admission that “dirtier” energy production methods are cheaper.
Renewables being more expensive shouldn’t be a surprise, certainly not to WUWT readers. The intermittency of renewables is a show stopper in terms of cost competitiveness. Obtaining reliable power from a supply system which includes renewables either requires insanely expensive battery backup and massive overcapacity, or an entire duplicate fossil fuel system, which has to be paid for and kept on hot standby for when the renewables let you down.
I wouldn’t read too much into the drop in attendance, though sending junior doesn’t exactly scream “top priority”. The host city Belém is an easy day trip from the equator, and its proximity to water keeps the weather dripping wet and steamy, pretty much all the time. Think Singapore with more biting insects and less chance of a sea breeze. That alone could have deterred senior politicians from temperate nations from visiting – especially if the conference hall aircon is struggling to keep up.
But I think the Brazilian “entertainment” is lovely, or why else not do a Zoom meeting?
Belém…or Bedlam..?
Sounds more like Flém
Or perhaps Felém given the number of rainforest trees felled to put on the shindig in a Climate Hypocritical country.
Well, there’s this famous movie The taking of Belem 123 with Bernard Shaw about a bunch of Fabians who have hijacked science trying to extort tons of money ,
If you like it more politically correct
there is also a color version remake with Denzel Washington.
That’s…funny. I like what you did there.
The original film w Walther Matthau was great.
I thought it fits the COP-narrative as the director was Joseph Sergeant.
(no more cheap puns for today – promise)
not to worry climate alarmists – Newsome to the rescue and he stated that climate change will be the leading item for his presidential run – something like 2% of Americans give a s…t about man made climate change so as usual Newsome and the rest of democrats remain far outside the bounds of what Americans think is important
Just noticed the picture of Belém and the location of the “New Highway”.
Makes me wonder why take out all those trees for the COP when you can get from the Airport to the Venue AND from the Venue to the Accommodation area in the Red Light District as well as the Accommodation Zone to the Airport without driving on the ” New Highway”???
You were not supposed to notice. So hush! 🙂
I think some of them are going to learn the hard way that antibiotics don’t fix everything.
Yep.
They’ll need an injection of something that is –
“safe and effective”
Any suggestions?
Bovid 19 anti serum?
…
Coming home with the nickname “Superstrain”?
How about COPid 25
The fat lady is pulling up her knickers and getting ready to warble.
Hilary is there?
Nah…Oprah had her for breakfast
“… Countries prioritising cheaper, dirtier energy production and showing less enthusiasm for the hard, costly work of cutting emissions have led to a global vibe shift …”
—————–
I trust I am not the only one getting really, really sick and tired of having carbon dioxide (a.k.a. “carbon”) being treated as a vice and some kind of evil pollutant. It is like an old joke that isn’t funny any more because you’ve already heard it so many times. It is encouraging however that the number of countries attending these COP[OUT] conferences is in considerable decline.
It will be interesting to see to what degree the climate scare narrative is still alive and kicking by the end of Trump’s second term. Note that 2028 will be 40 years since the 1988 testimony before Congress by James Hansen that really got the climate scare ball rolling.
If climate science is still be fund by our tax dollars, perhaps Congress or the Trump admin could restrict the funding to researching the natural forcings of climate change if science indeed still has a lot of unanswered questions about them. Natural forcing research has probably been set back a long way by the CO2 scare.
The hardcore alarmists are probably waiting out Trump’s second term before attempting to re-intensify the scare in the hope that they will eventually succeed. If you hate fossil fuels badly enough, you will never give up the fight. The question is whether fossil fuel-friendly Republicans will retain control of the White House and/or Congress in 2028. We can only wait and see.
How do you heat your house in the winter?
I use natural gas. If the eco-nuts succeed in getting rid of it believing that electric heat from wind and solar energy is sufficient (heat pumps?), I can foresee us going back to cutting down trees for heat and cooking. If that happens, our forested land area will likely start going downhill.
If reports are true, it is already happening in places like Germany.
Loss of a tree is loss of a CO2 “sink.”
Kind of self-defeating, if you follow my drift.
Regarding Germany’s forest cover, GROK AI says the following:
“Germany’s total forested land area has remained remarkably stable over the past few decades, covering approximately 32% of the country’s land (around 11.4–11.5 million hectares). According to World Bank data, the forest area percentage was 32.68% in 2023, with no significant change reported from 2022.”
But also the following:
“However, this stability masks significant challenges to forest health and tree cover. Satellite analyses by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) indicate that over 900,000 hectares of tree cover—equivalent to about 8.5% of Germany’s total forest area—have been lost since late 2017. This includes widespread dieback, particularly among spruce trees (which dominate 25–30% of forests), due to drought, heatwaves, storms, and bark beetle infestations exacerbated by climate change”
Forest loss is apparently not from cutting trees for fuel if GROK is correct.
grok is full of sheet. Ask it to clarify “due to climate change” and notice before that it’s citations – all left leaning bias.
Once you limit/expand it’s sources beyond politic and the BBC, it’s actually reasonably good
Ask it to clarify “due to climate change” and notice before that it’s citations – all left leaning bias.
I noticed that when I posted the quotation. I don’t agree with it and should have said so in my comment above. It likely is from a leftist source. It has long been common knowledge around here that the warming since the end of the LIA and the higher CO2 levels are a benefit to the world’s forests.
I was primary interested in the data about Germany’s forest land, and I have will hazard a guess that the sources of that data are trustworthy.
I’m in Wisconsin too and I heat with propane and wood. The propane goes mostly to water heating. Just had a 24+ inch oak and two smaller oaks fall over and block our driveway. Somewhat annoying, but we’ll get about 3 years worth of very cozy warmth for probably 8 to 10 hours of chainsaw and log splitter work. I’m 75, but fortunately I have 3 terrific sons not afraid of a bit of work. The woods around our rural area are full of fallen trees that just lay there and slowly rot away. Billions of BTUs of energy going to feed fungi, bacteria and insects every year – all producing just as much CO2 as does burning in an efficient, clean modern wood stove – such a waste.
My older brother lived on a lake in central Wisconsin and would heat his house strictly with wood in his fireplace during the cold months. Even though he had a NG furnace, he would let the fire go out overnight, and he refused to use his furnace to keep the house warm during the night.
When I would visit him during the holidays, we would wake up to an ice-cold house in the morning until he got the fire going again. Drove me crazy.
He believed the climate alarmist narrative, which is probably why he would refuse to use his furnace. I never discussed climate change with him because I didn’t want to get into an argument.
My house was built with duct work for an electric heater and air conditioner. Now it has a modern heat pump and a modern wood stove with a catalytic burner. I mostly use my own trees for heat. If there are not enough dead trees to harvest, I can cut trees a year or two in advance. Many neighbors use propane (search images: “painted propane tanks”), electric, and wood for emergencies. One family uses wood pellets. Nearest gas line is 6 miles away.
If you look at come of the COP30 videos, Al Gore for one, they are not waiting.
Story tip: One bad edit?
BBC Newsnight also doctored Trump speech President’s legal team accuses corporation of ‘pattern of defamation’ after latest Telegraph revelations
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/11/13/bbc-doctored-trump-speech-second-time-newsnight/
The BBC have a long history of doctoring and cover ups:
1985 – Panorama: Maggie’s Militant Tendency
1995 – Princess Diana Panorama interview
1999–2003 – Iraq dossier row (Gilligan/Kelly affair)
2007 – “Crowngate” Queen trailer
2012 – Jimmy Savile abuse scandal
2012 – Newsnight false abuse claim
2023 – Richard Sharp resignation
2023 – Huw Edwards scandal
2024 – Panorama Trump edit
2025 – Bob Vylan Glastonbury broadcast
And, of course, Trump
One bad edit?
“Accidentally” edited out almost an hour of the speech…
From the article: “This year’s global climate summit is different – but not in a good way”
Well, that depends on the way one looks at things. To a Skeptic of Human-caused Climate Change, this is good news.
It is apparent by now to people with their eyes open, that Net Zero for the world is an impossible dream, and it will not happen. The only alternative left for Climate Alarmists is adaption. They can focus on that even though there is nothing unusual to focus on.
For the rest of us, we can focus on the fact that there is no evidence that CO2 is anything other than a benign gas, essential for life on Earth. It’s that way until proven otherwise, and it has never been proven otherwise. Not for lack of trying, for over 50 years. But Never, to this very day.
I believe the legal precedent applies. Presumed innocent until proven guilty (in a court of law).
COP who?
Keystone
If only it was that funny
“It is hilarious that the Trump agenda is dominating the COP30 climate conference, even though Trump is a no show.”
People can say what they want about Trump, but he certainly knows how to shift a vibe. That speech at the UN is still reverberating rent-free in their heads, no doubt.
You know, the names of everyone involved in this farce need to be published publicly, worldwide, so they can be endlessly ridiculed and shamed for the lies they spew. Every single one of these a$$holes who went to Belem aboard these fuel guzzling airliners need the full weight of public ridicule and derision heaped on them. Give them a good, long hard dose of what they have been doing to everyone else. Cancel the hell out of them all.
Hmmm..”Give them a good, long hard dose of what they have been doing to everyone else” being that close to the “Red Light District” may do just that…..
“…the names … need to be published publicly … Cancel … them all”?
“It is hilarious that the Trump agenda is dominating the COP30 climate conference, even though Trump is a no show.”
It would seem they have nothing to talk about.
Really, repost the Josh comic – Do you have money?
I seriously considered it, but I thought the new rainforest highway connecting the expensive hotels to the red light district was funnier.
I think the new highway, Avenida Liberdade, will be the only lasting benefit of the 30th party of the councilors.
Is this a conference of beatniks?
‘Shifting vibe’
That does tend to occur when predicted disasters did not happen, and promised solutions do not work. Trump just ‘DOGE’d COP30—eliminated waste and abuse by not attending. Of course Newsom did attend, to burnish his credentials as an utterly ineffective governor of screwed up California. Attending a fancy restaurant dinner during a declared COVID lockdown was not a good look. Nor his former chief of staff just indicted for corruption.
Now we just need to see Nigel Farage, Marie Le Pen, AfD and Sussan Ley to DOGE the climate agendas in their countries. Not everyone has a Trump, but there are sane alternative leaders who could save their countries from disaster.
Over at Mark Morano’s Climate Depot, he’s running this headline
CRAP30! Breaking News:
UN demands no toilet paper in toilets!
Urges delegates ‘not to flush toilet paper
…in the toilets at the COP 30 venue …
Please use the bins provided for disposal’
Some perspective: Greece has the same policy.
Probably True for other European other countries.
That “vibe shift” is a clue that their global climate scam days are numbered. That, plus the fat lady in the wings warming up her pipes.
Empirical reality is wrecking climate grifters absurd narrative that trillions spent wrecking economies can have an impact on climate. It is a testament to human stupidity that they have been able to get away with this for so long.
“Only two things are infinite: the universe, and human stupidity, and I am not certain of the former.”
A. Einstein
What a waste of time, money and resources.
Regardless of where these conferences are held, they’ve proved consistently to accomplish next-to-nothing and as a result, they don’t have any credibility. That’s the reason that fewer and fewer world leaders bother attending, and the reason that the general public pays less and less attention to them. It knows there’s no point in backing a horse that is a guaranteed also-ran race after race and that it’s time to withdraw it from competition.
Not true at all!
Every year they decide where to hold the next taxpayer-funded jamboree. That’s the only important outcome for them.
30 COPs later and how much atmospheric CO2 has been reduced?
I mean, that’s the entire reason for COPs to exist anyway.
That “reduction” would be measured in Negative Numbers.
But in 30 years how much CO2 emissions have been Avoided is … Net Zero … also negative numbers.
reason for COPs to exist
In recent years the reason has to do with redistribution of wealth.
Defund the COPs
In Australia, the right-leaning Federal Opposition of Liberal and National parties has finally announced the end of Net Zero Carbon. Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan has just been on radio with the new priority of cheap and reliable electricity with no preference for renewables. He spoke with enthusiasm about nuclear energy.
The ruling federal government, Labor, remains firmly in favour of net zero and closing coal fired power stations. There is an Act from a previous Liberal govt that prohibits nuclear power. With present voting patterns, only Labor can change this if it so wishes. There are several years before the next scheduled election.
What a mess.
Yet, ruling Labor sent a deputy environment minister to COP30.
Can readers see a country in trouble because of politicians?
Before 2000, Australia had the cheapest and most reliable of global energy by burning its 100s of years supply of coal. Major industries flicked here. Then politics interfered.
Geoff S
With the 2 year anniversary of my newer 6.6kW nameplate rooftop solar (junking a 14.5yr old 2.2kW original FIT system when the inverter died) I have the inverter total output for the period. Now bear in mind this is a north facing system in an optimal Mediterranean type climate in Adelaide South Australia.
Total output of 30,810 kWhrs means an average output of 1.76 kW per hour or 26.7% of nameplate hiding a multitude of marginal sins. Trying to overcome those sins means even more losses with storage and retrieval but you can easily see best case scenario with solar means nameplate has to be minimum 4 times what’s really required for supply then it’s all uphill from there depending on your suboptimal location.
It’s all a bit late given the bob each way stance of the Opposition at the last election but finally they get it-
Liberals officially abandon net zero after months of division