China, COP31 and Chagos: What’s happening behind the headlines?

In the nine hours after the Los Angeles wildfires, before the climate movement could get its shoes on, the narrative was being written. Through social media, podcasts and talking heads on cable news, the truth was buried behind a deliberate strategy of disinformation. In the twenty-one months since China's emissions have flatlined, everyone is asking whether this is a blip or a trend. And across 640,000 square kilometres of protected ocean, nobody is quite certain what happens next.

You have probably seen these stories reported. But what is actually going on out there?

This week, Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac and Paul Dickinson go after the questions underneath the headlines. What is actually changing, who is blocking progress, who is telling the story? And who holds power? 

Can a COP presidency really be split between two governments, one holding the diplomacy and the other the logistics? Christiana, who has run a few COPs, thinks it collapses over furniture. Is the addiction to profit an economic problem or a psychological one? Tom and Paul fight (amicably) about billionaires.

Meanwhile, 1,600 communities across the UK have screened a film briefing the public on a crisis their government will not explain to them. If they can move that fast, what would it take for the rest of us to match them?

LEARN MORE

On China's emissions 

📉 Read Carbon Brief's analysis showing China's CO2 emissions flat or falling for 21 months, the data behind Christiana's answer; and their more recent finding that China's CO2 climbed 2% in early 2026 because of wasted wind and solar, a reminder of how bumpy a plateau can be

On the Chagos Marine Protected Area 

🐠 Explore the Chagos Trust on why the archipelago holds some of the healthiest coral reefs left in the world

🌊 Read the Living Oceans Foundation on plans for a new multi-use marine protected area in the Chagos Archipelago

On local power

🏘️ Browse Carbon Copy, the climate charity co-founded by Ric Casale, mapping place-based action across the UK

💷 Read how Warrington funded local renewables through community municipal bonds, open to residents from £5

On briefing the nation

🎬 Watch The People's Emergency Briefing, the 50-minute film built from the November 2025 Westminster briefing

📍 Find a screening near you on the National Emergency Briefing's interactive map

🎤 Leave us your voice notes and questions for upcoming episodes on SpeakPipe

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Producer: Ben Weaver-Hincks

Edited by: Miles Martignoni

Planning: Caitlin Hanrahan 

Exec Producer: Ellie Clifford

This is a Persephonica production for Global Optimism and is part of the Acast Creator Network.

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