World on the brink of ‘catastrophe’ as extreme weather events pile up, UK’s climate chief warns
Urgent action is needed to address climate change or the world will soon face “catastrophe”, the UK’s COP26 chief has warned.
With just 85 days until the climate conference in Glasgow, minister Alok Sharma told the Observer that failing to act would have “catastrophic” consequences.
“I don’t think there’s any other word for it,” said Mr Sharma, who is president of November’s talks.
“You’re seeing on a daily basis what is happening across the world. Last year was the hottest on record, the last decade the hottest decade on record.”
Mr Sharma’s comments come just days before the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the world’s leading authority on climate science, publishes a report showing how close humanity is to the brink of a potentially irreversible disaster.
“This is going to be the starkest warning yet that human behaviour is alarmingly accelerating global warming and this is why COP26 has to be the moment we get this right,” he said.
“We can’t afford to wait two years, five years, 10 years – this is the moment.
“I don’t think we’re out of time but I think we’re getting dangerously close to when we might be out of time.
“We will see [from the IPCC] a very, very clear warning that unless we act now, we will, unfortunately, be out of time.”
The UK’s climate minister Alok Sharma says global leaders must get it right at COP26 in November
The consequences of climate change have been evident in recent months, with extreme weather affecting several countries around the world.
In the last month, wildfires have ravaged through southern Europe – forcing thousands from their homes across Greece, Turkey and Italy – and other countries on the continent, notably Germany and Belgium, have experienced devastating flooding.
Elsewhere, Greenville, a Gold Rush town in California, was flattened by fires – and 25 people died after unprecedented rainfall caused severe flooding in China.
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Residents flee Greek island engulfed in flames
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House swept along river in Germany floods
Mr Sharma said that climate change is about people’s lives and “comes down to the very real human impact this is having across the world”.
“I’ve visited communities that as a result of climate change have literally had to flee their homes and move because of a combination of drought and flooding,” he said.
Mr Sharma is tasked with persuading countries including China, India, Russia, Australia and Brazil to make concrete commitments and policies to cut emissions, while trying to persuade the UK, European Union and other wealthy nations to meet a pledge of £100bn a year in climate finance for the developing world.
He has been travelling to several countries to hold talks with key stakeholders ahead of COP26 in November.
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Floodwater surges through Chinese subway
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Wildfire leaves US town burned to ashes
But earlier this week he was criticised by green campaigners and the Labour Party, after it emerged that he had travelled to 30 countries this year – including seven on the red list – and did not self-isolate upon his return home because of a ministerial exemption.
Labour MP David Lammy said the reports of Mr Sharma flying tens of thousands of miles during a pandemic are “worrying” and demonstrate that “it is one rule for them, another for us”.
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Labour on Sharma travel: ‘One rule for them’
But Mr Sharma has defended his trips, saying that he was “throwing the kitchen sink” at efforts to reach a deal.
“I have every week a large number of virtual meetings, but I can tell you that having in-person meetings with individual ministers is incredibly vital and actually impactful,” he said.
“It makes a vital difference, to build those personal relationships which are going to be incredibly important as we look to build consensus.”
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Mr Sharma also told the newspaper that the UK could carry on fossil fuel projects, after criticism over plans to license new oil and gas fields.
Green campaigners have warned that the UK is losing credibility on a world stage after ministers supported the new Cambo oilfield and other North Sea exploration licences were opened earlier this year.
The decisions were made despite warnings from the International Energy Agency, a global energy watchdog, in May that new fossil fuel exploration must cease this year.
But Mr Sharma said new fossil fuel licenses will have climate checks.
He said: “Future [fossil fuel] licences are going to have to adhere to the fact we have committed to go to net-zero by 2050 in legislation. There will be a climate check on any licences.”
Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, marks their 50th birthday amid a year of rising institutional and geopolitical adoption of the world’s first cryptocurrency.
The identity of Nakamoto remains one of the biggest mysteries in crypto, with speculation ranging from cryptographers like Adam Back and Nick Szabo to broader theories involving government intelligence agencies.
While Nakamoto’s identity remains anonymous, the Bitcoin (BTC) creator is believed to have turned 50 on April 5 based on details shared in the past.
According to archived data from his P2P Foundation profile, Nakamoto once claimed to be a 37-year-old man living in Japan and listed his birthdate as April 5, 1975.
Source: Web.archive.org
Nakamoto’s anonymity has played a vital role in maintaining the decentralized nature of the Bitcoin network, which has no central authority or leadership.
The Bitcoin wallet associated with Nakamoto, which holds over 1 million BTC, has laid dormant for more than 16 years despite BTC rising from $0 to an all-time high above $109,000 in January.
Satoshi Nakamoto statue in Lugano, Switzerland. Source: Cointelegraph
Nakamoto’s 50th birthday comes nearly a month after US President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve and a Digital Asset Stockpile, marking the first major step toward integrating Bitcoin into the US financial system.
Related: Bitcoin at 16: From experiment to trillion-dollar asset
Nakamoto’s legacy: a “cornerstone of economic sovereignty”
“At 50, Nakamoto’s legacy is no longer just code; it’s a cornerstone of economic sovereignty,” according to Anndy Lian, author and intergovernmental blockchain expert.
“Bitcoin’s reserve status signals trust in its scarcity and resilience,” Lian told Cointelegraph, adding:
“What’s fascinating is the timing. Fifty feels symbolic — half a century of life, mirrored by Bitcoin’s journey from a white paper to a trillion-dollar asset. Nakamoto’s vision of trustless, peer-to-peer money has outgrown its cypherpunk roots, entering the halls of power.”
However, lingering questions about Nakamoto remain unanswered, including whether they still hold the keys to their wallet, which is “a fortune now tied to US policy,” Lian said.
Related: Bitcoin’s next catalyst: End of $36T US debt ceiling suspension
Is Satoshi Nakamoto wealthier than Bill Gates?
In February, Arkham Intelligence published findings that attribute 1.096 million BTC — then valued at more than $108 billion — to Nakamoto. That would place him above Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates on the global wealth rankings, according to data shared by Coinbase director Conor Grogan.
Satoshi’s new addresses. Source: Conor Grogan
If accurate, this would make Nakamoto the world’s 16th richest person.
Despite the growing interest in Nakamoto’s identity and holdings, his early decision to remain anonymous and inactive has helped preserve Bitcoin’s decentralized ethos — a principle that continues to define the cryptocurrency to this day.
Magazine: 10 crypto theories that missed as badly as ‘Peter Todd is Satoshi’
The United States stock market lost more in value over the April 4 trading day than the entire cryptocurrency market is worth, as fears over US President Donald Trump’s tariffs continue to ramp up.
On April 4, the US stock market lost $3.25 trillion — around $570 billion more than the entire crypto market’s $2.68 trillion valuation at the time of publication.
Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market”
Among the Magnificent-7 stocks, Tesla (TSLA) led the losses on the day with a 10.42% drop, followed by Nvidia (NVDA) down 7.36% and Apple (AAPL) falling 7.29%, according to TradingView data.
The significant decline across the board signals that the Nasdaq 100 is now “in a bear market” after falling 6% across the trading day, trading resource account The Kobeissi Letter said in an April 4 X post. This is the largest daily decline since March 16, 2020.
“US stocks have now erased a massive -$11 TRILLION since February 19 with recession odds ABOVE 60%,” it added. The Kobessi Letter said Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement was “historic” and if the tariffs continue, a recession will be “impossible to avoid.”
Source: Anthony Scaramucci
On April 2, Trump signed an executive order establishing reciprocal tariffs on trading partners and a 10% baseline tariff on all imports from all countries.
Trump said the reciprocal tariffs will be roughly half the rate US trading partners impose on American goods.
Related: Bitcoin bulls defend $80K support as ‘World War 3 of trade wars’ crushes US stocks
Meanwhile, the crypto industry has pointed out that while the stock market continues to decline, Bitcoin (BTC) remains stronger than most expected.
Crypto trader Plan Markus pointed out in an April 4 X post that while the entire stock market “is tanking,” Bitcoin is holding.
Source: Jeff Dorman
Even some crypto skeptics have pointed out the contrast between Bitcoin’s performance and the US stock market during the recent period of macro uncertainty.
Stock market commentator Dividend Hero told his 203,200 X followers that he has “hated on Bitcoin in the past, but seeing it not tank while the stock market does is very interesting to me.”
Meanwhile, technical trader Urkel said Bitcoin “doesn’t appear to care one bit about tariff wars and markets tanking.” Bitcoin is trading at $83,749 at the time of publication, down 0.16% over the past seven days, according to CoinMarketCap data.
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