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KAUST researchers have won the 2024 Gordon Bell Prize for Climate Modelling for developing an exascale climate emulator with enhanced resolution using the Frontier supercomputer. The team, which includes researchers from multiple institutions including NCAR, University of Notre Dame, NVIDIA, Saint Louis University and LUMS, has created a solution that reduces computational expense and data storage requirements compared to state-of-the-art climate models.

The UK Government has released £26.5 million from the £80 million Tata Steel Port Talbot Transition Board to support businesses and workers affected by the transition to greener steelmaking. The government has committed up to £2.5 billion for steel through the National Wealth Fund, including £500 million for Tata at Port Talbot steelworks, to ensure a sustainable future for UK steelmaking.

The UK has announced new climate targets at COP including an 81% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035 compared to 1990 levels. The government has also launched GB Energy, announced a £1 billion wind turbine investment in Hull, invested in carbon capture projects in Teesside and Merseyside, and initiated 11 new green hydrogen projects across Britain.

The UK government has announced £239 million in funding at COP29 to tackle deforestation in tropical forest countries, including Colombia and Indonesia, as part of its broader climate finance commitment. The funding includes £188.2m for the SCALE program, support for the Mobilising Forest Finance program, and contributions to the UNFCCC AFOLU Unit, alongside the launch of 20 new OCEAN Grants Programme projects.

At COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, a new draft finance deal has proposed that wealthy nations commit $250 billion annually to help vulnerable nations address climate change and transition to renewable energy. The draft outcome text calls for overall climate financing to reach at least $1.3 trillion by 2035, while multilateral development banks have announced they will provide $120 billion annually by 2030 with an additional $65 billion from the private sector.

The Asian Development Bank has launched the Glaciers to Farms program to promote sustainable water use and food security in Central Asia, South Caucasus, and Pakistan amid accelerating glacial melt impacts. The program aims to mobilize USD 3.5 billion and has received support from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan, with risk assessments to be conducted in these countries.