Climate and environment updates: UN plastic treaty talks fail to reach an agreement

(NEW YORK) — The climate crisis is not a distant threat; it’s happening right now and affecting what matters most to us. Hurricanes intensified by a warming planet and drought-fueled wildfires are destroying our communities. Rising seas and flooding are swallowing our homes. And record-breaking heat waves are reshaping our way of life.

The good news is we know how to turn the tide and avoid the worst possible outcomes. However, understanding what needs to be done can be confusing due to a constant stream of climate updates, scientific findings, and critical decisions that are shaping our future.

That’s why the ABC News Climate and Weather Unit is cutting through the noise by curating what you need to know to keep the people and places you care about safe. We are dedicated to providing clarity amid the chaos, giving you the facts and insights necessary to navigate the climate realities of today — and tomorrow.

UN plastic treaty talks fail to reach an agreement

The world uses a lot of plastic — 460 million metric tons of it are produced each year, according to the United Nations. And the International Union for Conservation of Nature says an estimated 20 million metric tons of plastic end up as trash in our environment.

So when more than 3,300 delegates from 170 countries and 440 organizations met in South Korea at the end of November to hash out an agreement to reduce the production of plastics, environmentalists hoped that something might finally get done to address the problem. It didn’t.

The fifth U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee failed to reach a binding agreement on plastic production and waste for the fifth time since the group began meeting in November 2022.

Nearly 100 countries came to an agreement that would limit plastic production and establish an accountability method ensuring all parties would meet reduction goalposts. Some oil-rich nations pushed back, however, wanting to focus on plastic pollution instead. U.N. rules require a consensus among all delegates for any plan to be binding. That didn’t happen.

“It is clear there is persisting divergence in critical areas and more time is needed for these areas to be addressed,” said Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Program.

Most plastic is not recycled. Instead, it ends up in landfills and pollutes marine bodies like oceans and rivers worldwide. According to an OECD report from 2022, only 9% of plastics worldwide get recycled, and since 1970, 139 metric tons have ended up in our oceans, rivers and lakes. A 2021 study revealed that the plastics industry’s contribution to climate change will exceed coal’s by 2030.

While countries failed to reach an agreement on capping the production of plastic, they did agree to continue talks in 2025.

“As we look ahead to 2025, and navigate what an INC 5.2 could look like, countries must come to the table ready to fight for our future,” said Erin Simon, vice president and head of plastic waste and business at World Wildlife Fund. “The current draft has some of the ingredients for success, but we can’t back down on delivering a legally binding text that finally puts us on a course to eliminate plastic pollution.”

According to the Center of International Environmental Law, fossil fuel and chemical industry lobbyists made up the largest delegation of all groups at the talks.

“Let us always remember that our purpose is noble and urgent: to reverse and remedy the severe effects of plastic pollution on ecosystems and human health,” said Luis Vayas Valdivieso, chair of the U.N.’s international plastics negotiating committee.

-ABC News’ Charlotte Slovin

Study identifies heat wave hot spots across the globe

It’s all but certain that 2024 will be Earth’s warmest year on record, surpassing 2023 as the previous record holder. While this troubling milestone measures global average temperatures, a new study from the Columbia Climate School found that unexplained extreme heat wave hot spots are popping up in specific areas worldwide.

Calling it “a striking new phenomenon,” the study’s authors write, “Distinct regions are seeing repeated heat waves that are so extreme, they fall far beyond what any model of global warming can predict or explain.”

According to the study, “The large and unexpected margins by which recent regional-scale extremes have broken earlier records have raised questions about the degree to which climate models can provide adequate estimates of relations between global mean temperature changes and regional climate risks.”

The study identified these hot spots on every continent except Antarctica. Researchers say the heat waves have mostly been a recent phenomenon, occurring primarily over the last five years, although some date back to the early 2000s and before.

Central China, Japan, Korea, the Arabian peninsula, eastern Australia and certain parts of Africa were the hardest-hit areas. The study, however, found that parts of Texas and New Mexico were also impacted, just not as much as the other regions.

“This is about extreme trends that are the outcome of physical interactions we might not completely understand,” said lead author Kai Kornhuber, an adjunct scientist at the Columbia Climate School’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory, in a statement. “These regions become temporary hothouses.”

The researchers say it’s unclear what is causing these hot spots. While one study has pointed to wobbles in the jet stream as a possible culprit, the authors say that the hypothesis doesn’t explain all the extremes.

Regardless of the cause, heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States. The Journal of the American Medical Association found that heat deaths in the U.S. have nearly doubled since 1999 and account for a 63% increase in health-related death rates between 1999-2023.

“Due to their unprecedented nature, these heat waves are usually linked to very severe health impacts, and can be disastrous for agriculture, vegetation and infrastructure,” said Kornhuber. “We’re not built for them, and we might not be able to adapt fast enough.”

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Matthew Glasser

How to have a more sustainable Thanksgiving

The amount of food consumed every year at Thanksgiving is actually associated with a large carbon footprint, according to experts.

Although Thanksgiving may be the holiday best known for indulging, there are ways to enjoy your favorite meal of the year while keeping the environment in mind.

“The Thanksgiving meal is more than just the food,” Lauri Wright, director of nutrition programs at the University of South Florida’s College of Public Health, told ABC News. “There’s so much meaning [and] emotions associated with it.”

The average Thanksgiving dinner has a carbon footprint of about 103 pounds of carbon dioxide, according to the Climate Trade, an environmental solutions platform.

Here are some tips to have a more sustainable Thanksgiving.

Maine joins list of states suing fossil fuel companies over climate change

Maine has become the latest in a growing number of states to sue the fossil fuel industry over the impacts of global warming.

Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey accused major fossil fuel companies of deceiving Mainers for decades about the impact their product has on human-amplified climate change.

“For over half a century, these companies chose to fuel profits instead of following their science to prevent what are now likely irreversible, catastrophic climate effects,” Frey said in a statement.

The lawsuit, filed in state court on Tuesday, alleges the defendants knew as early as the 1960s that an increasing use of fossil fuels could potentially bring devastating consequences to Maine. The state argues the companies not only failed to warn residents about the consequences, but knowingly concealed their knowledge about the long-term negative impacts that Maine’s people, environment and economy could face.

The filing states the companies focused on creating public doubt by launching public relations campaigns targeting the science of climate change and the impacts of burning fossil fuels. It is seeking financial compensation for both past and future climate-related damages and for the companies to cease their ongoing deception in Maine.

“They burdened the state and our citizens with the consequences of their greed and deception,” Frey said.

Maine Gov. Janet Mills applauded the attorney general’s actions, saying in a statement that “for decades, big oil companies have made record profits, taking billions out of the pockets of Maine people while deliberately deceiving them about the harmful impacts of fossil fuels — impacts that Maine people see and feel every day.”

Maine joins a growing list of more than 20 states — including California, Minnesota, Massachusetts and Vermont — that have brought similar types of lawsuits to date. Earlier this year, Vermont’s Climate Superfund Act became law, seeking financial accountability for climate change-related damages brought by fossil fuel companies. However, due to stipulations in the law and likely lawsuits, it’s expected to be several years before any potential first charge to fossil fuel companies would be attempted.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Soaking rain eases drought in parts of U.S. but dryness still a problem for much of the country

Widespread drought conditions are still a significant concern across the country, with parts of the Northeast, northern Plains and Southwest currently experiencing some of the worst impacts, according to a U.S. Drought Monitor update released Wednesday.

Overall, more than 40% of the contiguous United States remains in a drought. This is an improvement, however, from the beginning of the month when more than half of the lower 48 faced drought conditions. Recent heavy rain along the West Coast and parts of the Midwest brought significant drought relief to portions of Washington, Oregon, Wisconsin and Illinois.

As a result, drought coverage decreased from 45.48% to 41.45% versus last week. While some regions experienced a notable improvement, the recent soaking in the Northeast was only enough to pause the fire danger and trend of intensifying drought conditions — for now.

The current drought situation in the Northeast took months to evolve, and it will take several more rounds of significant rainfall over the span of weeks or even months to completely eliminate the widespread drought in the region.

After a few rounds of beneficial rain, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Prediction Center says a large part of the country will likely experience below-average precipitation in early December, particularly in the West, Plains and East Coast.

Much of the western Gulf Coast and northern Plains could see above-average rainfall during this period. Drought relief across the country will, at the very least, take a pause through the beginning of next month.

-ABC News meteorologist Dan Peck

Colorado River at a tipping point over drought threat, new study finds

A major water supplier in the West is once again in the spotlight for its unpredictable future.

The Colorado River, the water source for 40 million people across the west, is in a worse state than previously believed, according to a recent study published in Earth’s Future.

Drought and dry conditions, compounded by climate change, put the Colorado River in greater jeopardy, the study’s authors said.

“It doesn’t take a lot of climate change to put the system into a very vulnerable future,” said Dr. Patrick Reed, a civil and environmental engineer at Cornell University and co-author of the study.

Colorado’s West Slope River Basins “are essential water sources for the Colorado River and play a vital role in supporting the state of Colorado’s local economy and natural environment,” according to the study. The West Slope River Basins contribute nearly 70% of the streamflow deliveries to Lake Powell, the nation’s second-largest reservoir.

But drought has significantly depleted Lake Powell’s water supply, leading to the first-ever water shortage in the Upper Colorado River Basin in 2021 and more dependence on the West Slope Basin supply.

“The Colorado River is extremely stressed and overallocated,” Reed said.

The Colorado River supplies water to seven states and Northern Mexico. Agreements about how the water is divided are up for renegotiation in 2026.

-ABC News’ Charlotte Slovin

US fuel economy hits record high as CO2 emissions hit record low, EPA says

U.S. fuel economy reached a record high in 2023 at the same time that greenhouse emissions reached a record low, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s annual Automotive Trends Report released Monday.

The report also states that model year 2023 electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles have reduced carbon dioxide emissions by 11%.

“This report provides a critical data-driven affirmation that strong, technology-neutral standards can underpin environmental progress while saving drivers money at the pump,” EPA Administrator Michael Regan said in a statement.

New vehicle CO2 emissions are now at a record low of 319 grams per mile, which reduces the impact on climate change. Battery and plug-in hybrid vehicles, combined with fuel cell vehicles, are expected to reach 14.8% of overall vehicle production in 2024, a trend that is expected to grow across the industry, according to the report.

Passenger cars and light trucks accounted for 17% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, underscoring the need for further reductions across the industry, experts said.

— ABC News Climate Unit’s Dan Manzo

In surprise turn, world leaders reach $300B climate cash deal at COP29

In a surprising turn of events, world leaders at the United Nations climate conference in Azerbaijan announced they have reached agreement on a new deal that calls for wealthy countries to contribute $300 billion annually to help developing nations deal with the effects of climate change.

After fears no deal would be reached as talks broke down, the announcement came around 3 a.m. local time and was met with a standing ovation and a wave of relief.

The deal in question was the “climate cash” agreement, under which developed nations will contribute an annual target of $300 billion to help climate-vulnerable, developing countries deal with the consequences of climate change.

President Joe Biden on Saturday praised the agreement, while touting his administration’s work on climate change, saying “nobody” can undo America’s “clean energy revolution,” in an apparent swipe at President-elect Donald Trump.

“Today at COP29, thanks in part to the tireless efforts of a robust US delegation, the world reached agreement on another historic outcome,” Biden said in a statement, going on to say the “ambitious” deal “will help mobilize the level of finance – from all sources – that developing countries need to accelerate the transition to clean, sustainable economies, while opening up new markets for American-made electric vehicles, batteries, and other products.”

Biden, who is leaving office in less than two months, said states and cities will continue to tackle climate change — notably not mentioning the federal government, while adding that no one can overturn progress on the issue, repeating something he said last week while visiting the Amazon.

In a statement, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he had “hoped for a more ambitious outcome” on both financing and climate change mitigation efforts from the conference.

“But this agreement provides a base on which to build,” he said in the statement. “It must be honoured in full and on time. Commitments must quickly become cash. All countries must come together to ensure the top-end of this new goal is met.”

Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan’s minister of ecology and natural resources who served as the COP29 president, said in a statement the $300 billion goal “represents the best possible deal we could reach.”

The U.N. climate conference, known as COP29, was anticipated to be the “finance COP” — the site of negotiations to determine how much fighting the climate crisis would cost and who would pay for it.

In 2015, under the Paris Agreement, participating countries agreed to set climate financing goals in 2024 that would account for the needs of developing countries.

-ABC News’ Victoria Beaule, Fritz Farrow and Jack Moore

UN climate conference delegates struggle to reach agreement on financing the climate fight

The U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan was supposed to be the “finance COP.” World leaders would determine how much fighting the climate crisis would cost and who would pay for it.

However, as COP29 winds down, many developing countries and nongovernmental organizations are dissatisfied with the current language in the proposed climate finance agreement.

In 2015, under the Paris Agreement, participating countries agreed to set a New Collective Quantified Goal, or NCQG, on climate finance in 2024 that would account for the needs of developing countries. Basically, how much money would each nation spend to support developing countries that are being disproportionately impacted by climate?

While several versions of the new NCQG have been proposed, a final agreement is still out of reach. The latest text calls for a $1.3 trillion climate finance investment annually until 2035 but only requires a $250 billion investment from developed countries.

“With a paltry climate finance offer of $250 billion annually, and a deadline to deliver as late as 2035, richer nations, including EU countries, and the United States are dangerously close to betraying the Paris Agreement,” Dr. Rachel Cleetus, policy director for the Climate and Energy Program, Union of Concerned Scientists, said. “This is nowhere near the robust and desperately needed funding lower income nations deserve to combat climate change.”

The latest NCQG language lays out a variety of funding sources that can play a part in reaching global climate finance goals, including multilateral development banks, or MDBs, that can distribute funds through grants and concessional loans for developing countries and adaptation projects.

However, the text does not make clear whether funds from MDBs are part of reaching the $250 billion goal or supplement that goal. It also includes provisions allowing for voluntary contributions from developing countries.

“The central demand coming into COP29 was for a strong, science-aligned climate finance commitment, which this appalling text utterly fails to provide,” Cleetus said. “Wealthier nations seem content to shamefully renege on their responsibility and cave in to fossil fuel interests while unjustly foisting the costs of deadly climate extremes on countries that have contributed the least to the climate crisis.”

World Resources Institute Global Climate, Economics and Finance Program Director Melanie Robinson agrees, releasing a statement Friday saying, “Developed countries should aim higher than the $250 billion they’ve put on the table.”

“We should leave Baku with a goal that at least gets to $300 billion a year by 2035,” Robinson said.

Tasneem Essop, executive director of Climate Action Network International, called the latest draft text “an insult to the people in the Global south.”

“This latest draft text on the New Collective Quantified Goal is not just a joke — it’s an insult to the people in the Global South living on the front line of the climate crisis,” Essop said. “In the meantime, millions of people’s lives are at risk. We are angry, but we will keep fighting until the end.”

-ABC News Climate Unit’s Kelly Livingston and ABC News’ Charlotte Slovin

October was 2nd warmest month on record, NOAA announces

If you thought October was unusually warm, it isn’t your imagination. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reports that last month was the second warmest October since the U.S. began keeping records in 1895. It was also the second driest, with less than an inch of rainfall. It should be more than double that.

October was also the second warmest on record globally when looking at land and ocean temperatures. And it was the warmest ever for land temperature alone.

According to the NOAA, there is now a 99% chance that 2024 will be the warmest year on record globally.

This new data continues 2024’s streak of having some of the driest and warmest months on record for states across the U.S.

The heat and high levels of dryness across the country have left 87% of the United States in dry or drought conditions. Widespread drought increases the risk of wildfires, as soil with no moisture burns more easily.

Mark Svoboda, director of the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, calls the combination of heat and dryness a “double whammy.”

New Jersey and Delaware had their driest Octobers on record, and much of the Atlantic Seaboard experienced Octobers with precipitation levels much below average. The region has seen hundreds of wildfires due to these conditions, with New Jersey experiencing a 1,300% increase in fire calls.

In October, much of the United States experienced drought, with dryness expanding and increasing in the Northeast, Great Lakes, Northern Rockies and Plains, Southeast, Deep South, Southwest and the Hawaiian islands.

NOAA says that by February 2025, drought conditions should improve in the Pacific Northwest, Ohio Valley and Western Great Lakes, but are likely to expand and intensify in the Southwest and Atlantic Seaboard.

Despite the destruction they cause, tropical storms can “make or break” drought for the winter, said Svoboda. Without intense rains earlier in the year, there is little or no moisture in the ground come winter.

The dryness impacts wheat crops and livestock forage, potentially increasing food prices. Dryer soil makes wheat crops more vulnerable in colder temperatures because that soil can freeze and kill the plant, decreasing the harvest for the following year.

NOAA also reported that in 2024, 24 different billion-dollar weather and climate disasters impacted the United States through the end of October. This number is only second to last year, with a record 27 individual billion-dollar weather and climate disasters by October.

-ABC News’ Charlotte Slovin

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