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Displaced Palestinians living in makeshift tents are trying to carry on their daily lives under harsh conditions in Deir al Balah, Gaza on December 29, 2025. [Mohammed Nassar – Anadolu Agency]
Eight European nations, Japan, and Canada on Tuesday expressed “serious concerns” about the renewed deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, Anadolu reports.
In a joint statement, foreign ministers of Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Japan, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the UK recalled the “catastrophic” humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave.
The statement mentioned the appalling conditions that are exacerbated by winter, noting that 1.3 million Gazans still require urgent shelter assistance.
The foreign ministers cited the latest Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report, which was published earlier in December, as evidence that the situation remains desperate.
The statement expressed their appreciation for the ceasefire in Gaza but stated that they will not lose sight of the plight of Gaza’s civilian population.
It called on Israel to ensure that the UN, its partners, and NGOs can continue their vital work and lift unreasonable restrictions on imports considered to have a dual use.
Saying that many established international NGO partners are at risk of being deregistered because of Israel’s restrictive new requirements, it warned that deregistration could result in the forced closure of humanitarian operations within 60 days in Gaza and the West Bank.
“This would have a severe impact on access to essential services including healthcare,” said the statement.
Ensuring UN, its partners can continue their vital work is ‘essential’
It also underlined that ensuring the UN and its partners can continue their vital work is “essential” to the impartial, neutral, and independent delivery of aid throughout Gaza.
“This includes UNRWA, which provides essential services, such as healthcare and education, to millions of Palestinian refugees,” said the foreign ministers.
The statement also called on Tel Aviv to open crossings and increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
“The target of 4,200 trucks per week, including an allocation of 250 UN trucks per day, should be a floor not a ceiling,” it said, adding that these targets should be lifted so they can be sure the vital supplies are getting in at the vast scale needed.
The nations also underlined that ongoing restrictions limit the capacity for aid to be delivered at the scale needed, in accordance with international humanitarian law, or for repairs to be made to support recovery and reconstruction efforts.
“We now urge the Government of Israel to remove these humanitarian access constraints, and to deliver and honour the Comprehensive Plan to End the Gaza Conflict,” it added.
Despite the ceasefire, Israel continues to keep Gaza’s crossings largely closed, preventing the entry of mobile homes and reconstruction materials and worsening the humanitarian crisis affecting over 2 million people.
Palestinian officials say that at least 414 people in Gaza have been killed since the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas took place on Oct. 10.
Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed over 71,000 Palestinians in the enclave, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Orcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.Vote Labour for Genocide.
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UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese speaks during a press conference at the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium on November 19, 2025. [Dursun Aydemir – Anadolu Agency]
A member of the European Parliament (MEP), Matjaz Nemec, publicly presented on Tuesday the nomination of UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, and Gaza-based doctors for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize, following its official submission to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, Anadolu reports.
The nomination was signed by nearly 300 eligible proposers from 33 countries, including Brazil, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom, according to a statement shared by Nemec on US social media company X.
Nemec said the nomination “is an expression of respect for the courage, efforts, and perseverance of individuals who defend fundamental human values in the most difficult circumstances” and “represents a contribution to peace that transcends political divisions.”
He highlighted Albanese’s work in upholding international law and human rights, noting that she continues her mission despite facing “strong political pressure” and sanctions from Israel and the United States.
“Francesca Albanese holds up a mirror to us all and is firmly committed to international law and the foundations we built in response to the greatest massacre in human history – World War II,” he said.
The nomination also includes Gaza-based doctors, such as Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya and Dr. Sara Al-Saqqa, who risk their lives amid armed conflict to carry out medical duties.
Nemec said: “With the health infrastructure completely destroyed and the acute shortage of basic necessities, they realize the values of humanity, solidarity and peace every day by saving lives and adhering to medical ethics, and they more than deserve this kind of award.”
The lawmaker emphasized that the global campaign for the nomination calls on the international community and political leaders worldwide to respect international law, human rights, and human dignity under all circumstances.
Since Oct. 10, the Israeli army has committed hundreds of ceasefire violations, killing at least 391 Palestinians and injuring 1,063 others, according to the latest figures by the Gaza Health Ministry.
Israel has killed more than 70,600 people, mostly women and children, and injured over 171,100 others in attacks in Gaza since October 2023.
Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.
Fossil fuel lobbyists in the Canadian delegation include representatives of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), a lobby group that represents Canada’s oil and natural gas producers. Credit: C2C Journal
Delegation’s composition consistent with new KBPO report revealing this year’s U.N. climate talks have the largest number of fossil fuel lobbyists to date.
Lobbyists and representatives of Canada’s oil and gas industry are part of Canada’s official delegation to this year’s U.N. climate talks in Brazil, in keeping with the high number of fossil fuel representatives in attendance at the summit.
About a dozen individuals representing fossil fuel interests were part of the 240-person Canadian delegation, according to documents reviewed by DeSmog as well as a Nov. 12 Canadian Press article.
“Fossil fuel lobbyists have no place at the U.N. climate negotiations,” Emilia Belliveau, program manager of energy transition with Environmental Defence, said in a statement to DeSmog.
“Their presence here with official badges from Canada undermines the work of Canadians attending COP30 who are genuinely working to advance climate action,” she said.
This year’s U.N. climate talks have the single largest share of fossil fuel lobbyists in attendance to date. Some 1,600 people — or one out of every 25 attendees — are fossil industry or related lobbyists, according to an analysis by Kick Big Polluters Out (KBPO), an alliance of climate and justice organizations that push to remove fossil fuel companies and their lobbyists from influencing climate negotiations and policymaking.
The presence of so many Canadian fossil fuel sector representatives exemplifies the report’s findings.
“It demonstrates the extent by which the current government is aligned with oil industry interests,” Patrick Bonin, the Bloc Québécois’ environment and climate change critic, said in a statement to DeSmog.
“The oil and gas industry is the biggest lobby in Canada,” Bonin continued, “so it’s like inviting the fox into the henhouse … Giving them access to the delegation gives them far greater influence than regular participants.”
Fossil fuel lobbyists in the Canadian delegation include representatives of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), a lobby group that represents Canada’s oil and natural gas producers; Tourmaline Oil, Canada’s largest natural gas producer; CarbonAi; the International Emissions Trading Association (IETA), the Global CCS Institute; and the gas industry advocacy group Energy for a Secure Future.
Huge Industry Presence
KBPO’s analysis reveals that fossil fuel lobbyists at COP30 outnumber every national delegation except for Brazil, the host country. The number of lobbyists also represents a 12 percent increase over last year’s COP conference held in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Fossil fuel lobbyists received two-thirds more passes to COP30 than the total number of delegates from the 10 most climate-affected nations on Earth, the KBPO report said. This highlights “how industry presence continues to dwarf that of those on the frontlines of the climate crisis,” KBPO said in a statement that accompanied the report’s release.
The influence of major trade associations at COP30 is palpable, with the IETA bringing 60 representatives, including delegates from oil and gas giants ExxonMobil, BP, and TotalEnergies. These associations are “a primary vehicle for fossil fuel influence, according to a KBPO statement.
Kathleen Sullivan, global managing director with IETA, is in the COP30 Canadian delegation. It also includes Jay Averill, assistant vice president of communications with CAPP; Scott Volk and Tim Shaw of Tourmaline Oil; and Todd Smith, Ontario’s former energy minister who advocated for an expansion of nuclear power. Smith left office in August 2024 to become vice president of marketing and business development with CANDU Energy Inc., a manufacturer of nuclear reactors.
The Canadian delegation also includes several representatives from Energy for a Secure Future, a lobby group that advocates for continued fossil fuel use to ensure “energy affordability.” The group states on their website that “our gas energy can respond to the needs of our friends around the world who are facing punishing energy costs and are left with options that drive up global emissions.”
Canadian “Carbon Bombs”
However, Canada’s natural gas industry is a major contributor of rising global emissions. The nation’s natural gas resources have been described as “carbon bombs” for their potential to release billions of tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere, according to a 2024 DeSmog article.
“The spectacle of Canada’s COP delegation [serving as] a Trojan horse for fossil fuel interests like Tourmaline and the CAPP is shocking,” said James Browning, executive director of F Minus, a climate accountability group. F Minus recently issued a report detailing numerous conflicts of interest that have resulted from Canadian environmental organization sharing lobbyists who also serve major polluters.
“Lobbying decisionmakers in secret is really just another day at the office for these climate denialists, given the failure of Canada’s lobbyist disclosure system to fully capture the extent of their dealings with Canadian officials,” Browning said in a statement to DeSmog.
“COP may be 5,000 kilometres away, but the deeper scandal here is that Tourmaline’s and CAPP’s lobbyists enjoy a similar, extraordinary level of secrecy in their meetings with government officials every day in Ottawa,” he said.
CAPP has misled the public about emissions from Canada’s oil and gas sector, and has campaigned against anti-greenwashing laws. Heather Feldbusch, one of Pierre Poilievre’s campaign’s inner circle, was formerly a lobbyist with Alberta Counsel Inc., which represents Tourmaline.
“At the COP negotiations two years ago, governments took a historic step by committing to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems in a just, orderly, and equitable manner,” Keith Stewart, senior energy strategist with Greenpeace Canada, said in a statement to DeSmog. “By including fossil fuel lobbyists in our official delegation, Canada is undermining that global effort and risks being seen as negotiating in bad faith.”
“CAPP has been fighting against effective climate action for decades and should be shown the door, not the red carpet,” he added.
Another organization with a stake in fossil fuels included in the Canadian delegation is the Global CCS Institute, a carbon capture advocacy group based in Australia. Critics have long argued that carbon capture is an expensive false solution designed to give fossil fuel production an air of social acceptability. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has used the term “low carbon oil” in reference to carbon capture, despite experts arguing that the term is nonsense.
“Inviting fossil fuel lobbyists into global climate negotiations is as misguided as letting the tobacco industry write health policy, and Canada is compounding the problem by weakening its own greenwashing rules” Sabaa Khan, director general, Quebec and Atlantic Canada, with the David Suzuki Foundation, said in a statement to DeSmog.
DeSmog reached out to Keean Nembhard, press secretary for Canadian environment minister Julie Dabrusin, but did not receive a statement by press time.
An activist from the environmental movement Extinction Rebellion holds up a sign reading “Oil Kills” as police officers remove him from the premises of DNB Bank during a protest in Oslo, Norway on August 21, 2025. (Photo by Javad Parsa/NTB/AFP via Getty Images)
“Requiring governments to assess the global climate consequences of oil and gas combustion before approving new fossil projects is common sense, and long overdue,” said one campaigner.
Although the European Court of Human Rights on Tuesday sided with the Norwegian government over six young adults and a pair of climate groups, the plaintiffs still welcomed the tribunal’s ruling as “a major step forward,” in the words of Frode Pleym, head of GreenpeaceNorway.
The case stems from the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy granting 10 exploration licenses to 13 companies for fossil fuel production in the Arctic Barents Sea in 2016. The plaintiffs argued that doing so violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, or the right to respect for private and family life.
The court unanimously held that “there had been no violation” of Article 8, but it also affirmed that the government must conduct a full environmental impact assessment, including greenhouse gas emissions from combustion, for any new petroleum production.
“It’s a relief to see the court recognize what science has told us for years—that new oil and gas fields threaten our most basic human rights,” Pleym said in a statement. “Requiring governments to assess the global climate consequences of oil and gas combustion before approving new fossil projects is common sense, and long overdue.”
Young Friends of the Earth Norway, which sued alongside Greenpeace and the six individuals, also praised the ruling as progress.
“This decision is a quantum leap for climate accountability,” said the group’s leader, Sigrid Hoddevik Losnegård. “The government can no longer continue its oil and gas policy as if climate change doesn’t exist. This judgment will have ripple effects far beyond Norway.”
I can think of at least seven ways fossil fuel producers could wiggle out of this, but still: holy shit this is huge.
The plaintiffs noted in a joint statement that the ruling “builds on” recent decisions from the International Court of Justice and the UK Supreme Court. The ICJ said in a landmark advisory opinion in July that countries have a legal obligation to take cooperative action to address the fossil fuel-driven climate emergency. At the time, Danilo Garrido, legal counsel at Greenpeace International, hailed the development as “the start of a new era of climate accountability at a global level.”
That decision came roughly a year after the UK’s top court ruled that Surrey authorities’ approval of the Horse Hill drilling project “was unlawful” because they didn’t consider “emissions that will occur when the oil produced is burnt as fuel,” as required by law. Friends of the Earth UK called the ruling “a heavy blow for the fossil fuel industry” that could impact other projects.
The European court’s Tuesday decision came less than two weeks away from the start of the 30th United Nations Climate Change Conference in Belém, Brazil. In preparation for COP30, the UN on Tuesday released a report warning that governments’ climate plans would reduce fossil fuel emissions by just 10% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels, far short of what is needed to meet the Paris Agreement goal of limiting temperature rise this century to 1.5°C above preindustrial levels.
As Oil Change Internationalpointed out in a June report, Norway and three other wealthy nations—Australia, Canada, and the United States—account for the majority of planned oil and gas expansion over the next decade. This month, the group commissioned a poll that found a majority of Norwegians believe their country should either stop exploring for new oil and gas or slow down the pace.
“The data show that Norwegians increasingly want political leadership that aligns the country’s oil policy with its climate goals,” Oil Change’s North Sea campaign manager, Silje Lundberg, said Monday. “People are calling time on endless oil expansion—it’s the government that’s stuck in the past. The public clearly wants a plan to phase down oil and gas and deliver real climate leadership, not more empty talk from ministers protecting the industry.”
Orcas comment on killer apes destroying the planet by continuing to burn fossil fuels.Donald Trump urges you to be a Climate Science denier like him. He says that he makes millions and millions for destroying the planet, Burn, Baby, Burn and Flood, Baby, Flood.Nigel Farage urges you to ignore facts and reality and be a climate science denier like him and his Deputy Richard Tice. He says that Reform UK has received £Millions and £Millions from the fossil fuel industry to promote climate denial and destroy the planet.
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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney speaks during a press conference after a Cabinet meeting to discuss both trade negotiations with the US and the situation in the Middle East, at the National Press Theatre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada on July 30, 2025. [DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images]
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney confirmed on Monday that he would uphold the decision of his predecessor, Justin Trudeau, to enforce the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) arrest warrant against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, should he enter Canadian territory.
In a brief press statement, Carney said his government “respects international law and the principle of accountability,” stressing that Canada “will treat the ICC’s warrant as it does any binding international judicial order.”
He added that his country would carry out the arrest if Netanyahu enters Canada, in fulfilment of its international obligations.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague had earlier issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on charges of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity during the recent war in Gaza.
Canada is one of the signatories to the Rome Statute, which established the ICC, and is therefore legally required to execute arrest warrants issued by the court.
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Keir Starmer objects to criticism of the IDF. He asks how could anyone object to them starving people to death, forced marches like the Nazis did, bombing Gaza’s hospitals and universities, mass-murdering journalists, healthworkers and starving people queuing for food, killing and raping prisoners and murdering children. He calls for people to stop obstructing his genocide for Israel.Genocide denier and Current UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is quoted that he supports Zionism without qualification. He also confirms that UK air force support has been essential in Israel’s mass-murdering genocide. Includes URLs https://www.declassifieduk.org/keir-starmers-100-spy-flights-over-gaza-in-support-of-israel/ and https://youtu.be/O74hZCKKdpAOrcas discuss Genocide-supporting and complicit Zionists. Donald Trump, Keith Starmer, David Lammy, Rachel Reeves, Angela Rayner and Wes Streeting are acknowledged as evil genocide-complicit and supporting cnuts.
