Jonathan Watts

China’s Yangtze River shows signs of remarkable recovery after fishing ban Doubling of fish biomass and rebounding of endangered species shows government measures starting to work, biologists say

China’s Yangtze River shows signs of remarkable recovery after fishing ban

- the most positive freshwater conservation story in the world in 20 years, says one veteran biologist

Story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘We’ve lost everything’: anger and despair in Sicilian town collapsing after landslide People in Niscemi struggle to comprehend loss of homes and businesses and feel disaster could have been avoided

Mountain slope instability is sometimes overlooked as an acute climate risk.

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/f...

Panda and hotpot N° 0029 05.02.2026 Climate Change talk with Adriana and Jonathan - Radio ARA This episode of Panda and Hotpot takes listeners on a comprehensive journey through the critical issues of climate change, featuring insights from Adriana Gonzalez of EcoCitizen Luxembourg and Jonatha...

Why Europe is pivoting from the US to China

Victoria Wei interviews me about renewable energy, critical minerals, a historical turning point, the Sulker-in-Chief in the White House and reasons to be cautious about Beijing’s intentions.

www.radioara.org/episodes/pan...

Spain to ban social media access for children under 16 Spain will ban access to social media for minors under 16 and platforms will be required to implement age verification systems, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Tuesday at the World Government Summit in Dubai.

Spain to ban social media access for children under 16 reut.rs/4rNX6in

Number of people living in extreme heat to double by 2050 if 2C rise occurs, study finds Scientists expect 41% of the projected global population to face the extremes, with ‘no part of the world’ immune

🔥3.8 billion people will be exposed to extreme heat by 2050. Great to see my @smithschool.ox.ac.uk colleague and teacher Radhika Khosla interviewed by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social for the Guardian.

US attack on Venezuela will decide direction of South America’s vast mineral wealth Outcome of aggression will determine whether rare earths and other resources drive energy transition – or strengthen US military power and oil interests

US attack on Venezuela aims to shift direction of South America’s mineral wealth

Rare earths and other resources could drive China-led energy transition or strengthen US military power and oil interests

Analysis by me of latest US security strategy document.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Venezuela protests are sign that US wants our oil, says Nicolás Maduro Venezuela's president claims the Obama administration is fomenting unrest with the aim of provoking a Ukraine-style 'slow-motion' coup

Trump attack on Venezuela has nothing to do with drugs and everything to do with resources. Maduro warned the US would do anything to “gets their hands on Venezuelan oil” in an interview with Seamus Milne and me in 2014.

www.theguardian.com/world/2014/a...

Economic growth no longer linked to carbon emissions in most of the world, study finds Analysis marking 10 years since Paris climate agreement underscores effectiveness of strong government policies

Economic growth no longer linked to carbon emissions in most of the world - study

- Analysis @eciu.net marking 10 years since Paris climate agreement underscores effectiveness of strong government policies

#climatecrisis
Story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Today, President Lula issued a directive for the government to develop, within 60 days, a proposal outlining guidelines for a national roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just and… |... Today, President Lula issued a directive for the government to develop, within 60 days, a proposal outlining guidelines for a national roadmap for transitioning away from fossil fuels in a just and or...

Hugely encouraging news from Brazil today. President Lula has instructed four ministries to draw up a roadmap for a just transition away from fossil fuels, and asked his government to formulate an energy transition fund using income from petroleum revenues.

www.linkedin.com/posts/ana-to...

‘The dinosaurs didn’t know what was coming, but we do’: Marina Silva on what needs to follow Cop30 Exclusive: Brazil’s environment minister talks about climate inaction and the course we have to plot to save ourselves and the planet

‘The dinosaurs didn’t know what was coming, but we do’: Marina Silva on what needs to follow #COP30

- Brazil’s environment minister on climate inaction and the course we have to plot to save ourselves

#climatecrisis
Story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Warning! This colorful chart is censored by IPCC - mailchi.mp/caa/warning-...
Also available on Substack: jimehansen.substack.com/p/warning-th...

Thank you Genevieve!

Trump, war, absent media: five threats to climate progress that dogged Cop30 Did the talks succeed or fail? The verdict must take account of the geopolitical minefield they took place in

Trump, war, attention deficit: five threats to climate progress that dogged Cop30

Did the talks succeed or fail? The verdict must take account of the geopolitical minefield in which they took place

Jonathan Watts in Belém

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

As I write my last column, the facts on climate crisis speak for themselves Since 1995, when the first Cop was held, carbon levels have increased from 360.67 parts per million to 426.68 parts now

‘News editors told me not to be too downbeat, but the facts speak for themselves’

Last post by the inestimable, much admired and even more loved Paul Brown

The climate, he observes sadly, has changed much more than politics since the first UN COP in 1995.

www.theguardian.com/news/2025/no...

Amid all the doom and gloom over negotiations at Cop30, one man was doing his damndest to dance away the blues. Rex Manjuria from Nigeria said his goal was to shift climate awareness through music and drama. “We need to use art to drive action,” he said.

Amazing work by Eli Block and the Today in Focus podcast team at The Guardian.

Cop ahoy! Sailing up the Amazon to the climate summit – podcast Jonathan Watts sets off on a three-day boat trip down the Amazon – with indigenous leaders, scientists, artists and more – to report on Cop30, the climate summit taking place this year in Brazil

Cop ahoy! Sailing up the Amazon to the climate summit – podcast

Asking my Indigenous and scientist shipmates what they expect from the first climate conference in the South American rainforest.

#Sumauma
#SaudeeAlegria

www.theguardian.com/news/audio/2...

Missing 1.5C climate target is a moral failure, UN chief tells Cop30 summit UN secretary general António Guterres urges opening session in Brazil to bring about a ‘fundamental paradigm shift’

Missing 1.5C climate target is a moral failure, UN chief tells #COP30 summit

- António Guterres urges opening session in Brazil to bring about a ‘fundamental paradigm shift’

#climatecrisis
Story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social and @fionaharvey.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

How could Tropical Forest Forever fund proposed at Cop30 tackle climate change? Scheme aims to disrupt deforestation by raising $125bn, investing it in bonds, with returns used to reward tropical forest nations for good behaviour

How could the Tropical Forest Forever Fund proposed at #COP30 tackle climate change?

- Scheme aims to raise $125bn, invest it in bonds, then use the returns to reward tropical forest nations that keep forests standing

Story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘This was a slaughter, not an operation’: the favela reeling from Rio’s deadliest police raid Residents of Vila Cruzeiro gather bodies after more than 130 were killed in pre-dawn assault

‘This was a slaughter, not an operation’: the favela reeling from Rio’s deadliest police raid
Residents of Vila Cruzeiro gather bodies after more than 130 were killed in pre-dawn assault

Monstrous slaughter. Local politicians must have approved this.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

America’s super-rich are running down the planet’s safe climate spaces, says Oxfam Data shows wealthiest 0.1% of the US burn carbon at 4,000 times the rate of the world’s poorest 10%

America's super-rich are running down the planet's safe climate spaces, says Oxfam - @jonathan-watts.bsky.social @theguardian.com

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Rising heat kills one person a minute worldwide, major report reveals Biggest analysis of its kind finds millions are dying each year because of failure to tackle climate crisis

Rising heat kills one person a minute worldwide, major report reveals

Biggest analysis of its kind finds millions are dying each year because of failure to tackle climate crisis

Story by @dpcarrington.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Thank you Chris. Encouragement much appreciated.

I am the first Indigenous journalist to exclusively interview António Guterres. How many others will listen? A young journalist reflects on the UN leader’s responses, and hopes his messages – about human violence and an increasingly hostile planet – resonated before Cop30

"As an Indigenous man, I know very well the pain of the forest, because its body is an extension of ours." Why don't we all listen to those like Wajã Xipai who are still connected with this incredibly unique #Earth? Thank you @jonathan-watts.bsky.social #COP30
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres in sole interview before Cop30

‘Change course now’: humanity has missed 1.5C climate target, says UN head
Exclusive: ‘Devastating consequences’ now inevitable but emissions cuts still vital, says António Guterres before Cop30

Story by me and Wajã Xipai.

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Indigenous voices ‘indispensable” to avoid climate catastrophe, UN secretary-general tells Sumaúma in world exclusive.

António Guterres says humanity must change course because 1.5C overshoot is now “inevitable”. And with that comes “devastating consequences.”

sumauma.com/en/secretari...

Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall Beijing has realised that reckless America First policies are alienating old and new friends alike, creating a vacuum it can fill, says Guardian foreign affairs commentator Simon Tisdall

Xi Jinping is preparing to go toe to toe with Donald Trump – and there will only be one winner | Simon Tisdall

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

World’s oceans losing their greenness through global heating, study finds Researchers say decline in phytoplankton suggests weakened planetary capacity to absorb carbon dioxide

“Yet another threat to humanity”

World’s oceans losing their greenness, study finds. Researchers say decline in phytoplankton suggests weakened planetary capacity to absorb CO2.

Dire implications for climate, food chain & oxygen levels.

Story by me

www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Indigenous and environmental leaders in Ecuador say they are facing state intimidation Critics say referendum on rewriting country’s eco-friendly constitution is president’s latest pro-extractivist move

Indigenous and environmental leaders in Ecuador are facing state intimidation

Next month’s referendum on rewriting country’s eco-friendly constitution seen as president Daniel Noboa’s latest pro-extractivist move

Story by me.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

‘Dismal’ health of world’s forests is threat to humanity, report warns Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus

‘Dismal’ health of world’s forests is threat to humanity, report warns

- Financial institutions pouring money into land clearance and undermining efforts to stop destruction, says Climate Focus

Story by @jonathan-watts.bsky.social
www.theguardian.com/environment/...