Emission creep: a contentious COP closes

<p>It is telling and troubling that the annual climate talking-shop’s <a href="https://www.economist.com/international/2025/11/22/cop30-ends-with-a-whimper?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">outcome</a> did not even mention fossil fuels. We ask whether the COP process is still fit for purpose. Cryptocurrencies could be heading for an <a href="https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2025/11/18/crypto-got-everything-it-wanted-now-its-sinking?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">almighty fall</a>: what would they take down with them? And the revealing vowels and diphthongs of <a href="https://www.economist.com/science-and-technology/2025/11/12/sperm-whales-communicate-with-vowels?utm_campaign=a.io&amp;utm_medium=audio.podcast.np&amp;utm_source=theintelligence&amp;utm_content=discovery.content.anonymous.tr_shownotes_na-na_article&amp;utm_term=sa.listeners" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">whale communications</a>. (Hear much more on animal communication in our series on “Babbage”: <a href="https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2025/02/12/do-animals-have-language" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">part 1</a> asks whether animals truly have language, and <a href="https://www.economist.com/podcasts/2025/02/19/could-ai-translate-animal-communication" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">part 2</a> whether AI could translate it.)&nbsp;</p><br /><p><em>Additional audio courtesy of </em><a href="https://www.projectceti.org" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Project CETI</em></a><em>.&nbsp;</em></p><br /><p><em>Get a world of insights by </em><a href="https://subscribenow.economist.com/podcasts-plus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>subscribing to Economist Podcasts+</em></a><em>. For more information about how to access Economist Podcasts+, please visit our </em><a href="https://myaccount.economist.com/s/article/What-is-Economist-Podcasts" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>FAQs page</em></a><em> or watch </em><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gczo71bg1uY" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>our video</em></a><em> explaining how to link your account.</em></p><br /><p><br /></p><hr /><p style="color: grey; font-size: 0.75em;"> Hosted on Acast. See <a href="https://acast.com/privacy" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: grey;" target="_blank">acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>