“Suffering increases with each tenth of a degree of warming.” So says renowned climate scientist Katharine Hayhoe, speaking yesterday in an expert panel that CCNow and Sammy Roth of the new newsletter Climate-Colored Goggles convened in response to a widely circulated and much-discussed memo by Bill Gates, in which the Microsoft founder seemed to downplay the severity and urgency of the climate crisis.
In his memo, Gates posited that climate change “will not lead to humanity’s demise.” That’s true, Hayhoe says, but it’s also an unhelpful “straw man” argument, because scientists sounding the alarm on climate change have never argued it will lead to humanity’s extinction. Humanity’s fate amid the climate crisis is not a binary, she explains, but a question of scale: How much will humanity suffer due to climate change? And how much suffering can we prevent?
These are the questions that will fundamentally underlie proceedings at COP30, the UN climate summit that kicks off this coming Monday in Belém, Brazil. Just last week, UN Secretary-General António Guterres told The Guardian and the Amazon-based outlet Sumaúma that humanity has failed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the goal that world leaders agreed upon in the 2015 Paris Agreement. Global average temperatures haven’t risen that far yet — today, we’re at about 1.3 degrees C of warming — but Guterres said an overshoot of the 1.5-degree-C threshold has become virtually inevitable, due to countries’ routinely insufficient efforts to reduce carbon emissions. The consequences, he added, will be “devastating,” especially for the world’s most vulnerable communities.
Yet Gates, in his memo, argued that scientists’ and advocates’ focus on climate change is overstated, saying poverty and disease pose far greater threats to humanity’s quality of life. Here, Hayhoe and other panelists last night had another bone to pick with Gates. Separating these problems from climate change creates a false dichotomy, they said. In fact, climate change exacerbates challenges like poverty and hunger, and increasingly the world won’t be able to solve poverty and hunger without addressing climate change. As global heating continues unabated, “We’re talking about massive suffering,” Hayhoe says, “including loss of life, as well as livelihoods, homes, and more. And that suffering increases degree by degree.”
So, what will leaders do in Belém to arrest temperature rise and, in turn, mitigate humanity’s suffering? Guterres has vowed to protect nature — relevant especially given that the Amazon will serve as the backdrop for this year’s COP — and push back against profit-driven fossil fuel companies. Journalists in Belém and around the world will be watching to see whether countries will follow his lead.
From Us
COP30 press briefing with Christiana Figueres. CCNow’s Mark Hertsgaard will host a press briefing with Christiana Figueres, the Costa Rican diplomat who was the architect of 2015’s Paris Agreement, on Tuesday, November 11, at 10am in Belém (8am US Eastern Time & 12pm UTC). Figueres, who today is a founding partner of the NGO Global Optimism, will take questions from reporters, both in person in Belém and online, about how and why the climate fight can still be won. Register to attend via Zoom.
Prep Your COP30 Coverage. Over the past week, CCNow has hosted three webinars for journalists covering COP30 — on the history of the COP process, the key issues at stake in Belém, and practical tips on identifying stories, sources, and more. All three webinars are available to watch in this YouTube playlist.
Free COP30 newsfeed. More than 15 Brazilian newsrooms, including some based in the Amazon, will be covering COP30 in real time and making their stories available to newsrooms everywhere. CCNow recently hosted a webinar detailing the opportunity. Stories will be available in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. Learn more and register.
A record-breaking hurricane season. Join CCNow and Climate Central on Wednesday, November 12, at 12pm US Eastern Time (5pm UTC), for a one-hour recap of this year’s historic hurricane season. Learn more and register.
The 89 Percent Project
Critically, as leaders prepare to gather in Belém, the people they represent overwhelmingly favor climate action. Adding to the studies behind CCNow’s 89 Percent Project, which have found that between 80 and 89% of the global public want governments to do more to fight climate change, new work by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication finds that large majorities also favor participation in the Paris Agreement. In the US, 79% of all registered voters want the country to participate, despite the fact that the Trump administration withdrew from the agreement for a second time earlier this year. Support is similarly high elsewhere, with 73% of Indians, 85% of Indonesians, and a whopping 96% of Costa Ricans all in favor of the Paris Agreement.
Here’s some of the latest news coverage in support of The 89 Percent Project:
- “Turning Point: How Climate Change Transformed the Lives of Three Latin Americans,” by María Mónica Monsalve S., Mariana Otero, and Ricardo Hernández for El País…
- “Where the Fossil Fuel Industry Tries to Teach Kids Climate,” by Tamsin Walker for Deutsche Welle…
- “Wisconsin Farmers Are Adapting to Climate Change Impacts on Their Farms,” by Teran Powell for WUWM in Milwaukee…
- “Opinion: What’s 3.5% of 89%?” by Brian PJ Cronin for The Highlands Current in New York state…
Noteworthy Stories
Emerging leaders. With the Trump administration announcing it will not send any high-level representatives to COP30, former UNFCCC executive secretary and architect of the Paris Agreement Christiana Figueres writes that “the climate action that matters is in the Global South.” Read more in The Economist…
Widespread public support. Polling in Brazil shows that “from right to left, most of the population supports the demarcation of indigenous lands and acknowledges that human activity is responsible for climate change.” By Duda Sousa for Brazil’s Agência Pública…
Indigenous reporters in Belém. “A new generation of journalists emerges from the rainforest, just in time for COP30,” Brazilian journalist Adriana Carranca writes in this profile of the Amazon-based Sumaúma. For Columbia Journalism Review…
Journalism is a climate solution. As the world’s climate and environmental crises worsen, targeted investment in emerging journalists is a critical solution, argues Mongabay’s founder and CEO Rhett Ayers Butler. Such investments “[build] both professional capacity and public accountability,” Butler writes, and “empowering local reporters shifts the narrative from victimhood to agency and from crisis to possibility.” For Mongabay…
Deepening inequality. A new report from the climate and development non-profit ActionAid finds that only 3% of international aid is going to support communities and workers transitioning into a green economy. The lack of funding “risks deepening inequality rather than addressing it,” warn the report authors. By Dharna Noor for The Guardian…
Staying put. In May, a melting glacier in the Swiss Alps collapsed on the village of Blatten, home to 300 villagers, many of whose families had lived there for centuries. As villagers, government officials, and others debate where to rebuild Blatten, one thing they all agree on is that they won’t leave the mountains. By Jim Tankersley for The New York Times…
Quote of the Week
“Bill Gates hasn’t made sense on Climate since he teamed up with Bjorn Lomborg in 2009.”
— Jigar Shah, former director of the Loan Programs Office in the US Department of Energy, during Joe Biden’s presidency
Resources & Events
WWA report on Hurricane Melissa. Climate change “increased wind speeds and rainfall from Hurricane Melissa” in the Caribbean, per new analysis from World Weather Attribution. Further, the report states, “the atmospheric and ocean conditions leading to such powerful storms are about six times more likely due to climate change.”
COP30 Position Tracker. Carbon Brief has launched a new tracker, “Who Wants What at the COP30 Climate Change Summit,” showing party positions on key issues, such as adaptation, the so-called “Baku to Belém Roadmap,” the just transition, the loss and damage fund, and more — all of which will be under negotiation in Brazil.
COP30 Insider Pass. Carbon Brief is offering a “two-week, all-access package designed for those who need much more than headlines.” For USD $7, subscribers can access an invite-only WhatsApp group, receive a dedicated daily newsletter, and attend members-only webinars. Learn more.
Jobs, Etc.
Knowable Magazine is seeking a digital marketing specialist (remote). Mongabay is hiring for several positions, including contributing editor of their ocean desk, engagement editor, Asia wire reporter (remote in Asia), and investigations editor. Bloomberg News is hiring a climate reporter (New Delhi).
GIJN Conference. Only a few days remain to sign up for the 14th Global Investigative Journalism Conference, which will be held Nov 20–24, 2025 in Kuala Lumpur. Join 1,500+ journalists from 100+ countries for panels, workshops, and networking sessions. Registration closes November 10, at 12am US Eastern Time.
The Solutions Journalism Africa Summit 2025, with the theme “Reframing Africa’s Narratives Through Solutions-Focused Storytelling,“ will be held in Abuja November 14 and 15, 2025. Apply here.
