COP31 opens with leaders under pressure to tackle climate crisis

3:41

nature & planetPhys.org

COP31 opens with leaders under pressure to tackle climate crisis

from Phys.org

The COP31 climate talks kicked off Monday with an early fight over money as the U.N.'s chief urged world leaders to "get serious" about tackling the crisis after a year of devastating weather extremes.

explained

The 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference or Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC, more commonly known as COP30, was the 30th session of the United Nations Climate Change Conference. It was held at the Hangar Convention Centre in Belém, Brazil, from 10 to 21 November 2025.

Agreeing on an explicit plan or roadmap for phasing out fossil fuels was the most contentious issue. Oil producing nations blocked any binding language so the COP30 president, André Corrêa do Lago, announced two voluntary roadmaps outside the formal UN process.

The published conference text agreed upon after final negotiations was a compromise. Its main points were:

Tripling climate adaptation finance by 2035 but without clarity on who pays.

A Just Transition Mechanism (JTM) to support fairness in moving to a green economy.

Adoption of 59 global indicators for tracking adaptation progress.

Commentators considered the overall outcome to have been weak.

From Wikipedia: 2025 United Nations Climate Change Conference (CC BY-SA 4.0) ↗

so what

Climate finance decisions made at COP31 will shape how poorer countries cope with worsening extremes.

Hampi was once one of the world's largest cities, until its Vijayanagara capital was destroyed in 1565

the gist

Hampi is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Karnataka, India, with more than 1,600 surviving remains spread over 4,100 hectares. It was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire from 1336 to 1565. Travellers from Persia and Portugal described it as a prosperous, wealthy and grand city with temples, markets and farms along the Tungabhadra River. By 1500 it was estimated to be the world's second-largest city after Beijing, and probably India's richest at the time. In 1565 a coalition of Muslim sultanates defeated the Vijayanagara Empire, its capital was conquered and destroyed, and the city was left in ruins. Hampi remains a religious centre, with the active Virupaksha Temple at its heart.

how it works

The city was built around a fortified core with temples, markets and water structures along the river, supplied by an extensive network of roads and waterworks. When the empire fell, the city was not rebuilt, so its stone monuments were left standing.

so what

Hampi shows how quickly a great city can vanish after a military defeat, and how a ruined capital can remain sacred. Its ruins give historians a view of medieval South Asia that few other sites can match.

fun fact

The name Hampi comes from Pampa, an old name for the Tungabhadra River.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia · text CC BY-SA 4.0

Image: Wikimedia Commons

source: Wikipedia ↗

2 min

politicsshortCNA2:01

False allegations about Singapore’s hand in Indonesia’s markets and a made-up meeting

from CNA

CNA Verify has found close to 400 posts pushing falsehoods tying Singapore to Indonesia’s stock market rout and to a secret meeting that never took place. Together, they drew nearly 12 million views, and some were circulated by accounts that appeared to be working in concert, across multiple social media platforms.

Here’s how the disinformation campaign targeting Singapore was uncovered.

on YouTube: CNA ↗