The world’s biodiversity crisis is “flashing red,” yet as representatives from almost every country gather in Montreal from Dec. 7 for the UN COP15 summit, agreement is far from certain.

Rishi Sunak this week celebrated the end of his first month as UK prime minister, yet many of his fellow Conservative MPs are already looking beyond his time in office to the next leader and the party’s future direction.

In typical COP fashion, world governments seized a last-minute agreement on Sunday in summit overtime, including a breakthrough on the loss and damage agenda.

This year has been an unexpectedly consequential one for the EU as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but next year could prove to be an even bigger, tougher test for the bloc.

UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt may have pledged not to return the UK to the financial austerity of the years from 2010 to 2019, but he announced on Thursday collective tax rises and spending cuts of £55 billion ($64 billion).

While COP27 in Sharm-El-Sheikh in Egypt has only reached the halfway mark, it is already clear that one of the key, distinctive features of this year’s UN climate summit is the way in which the voice of developing countries has been brought to the fore.

As the COP27 summit in Sharm El-Sheikh moved into overdrive this week, the eyes of many at the event were focused some 6,000 miles away in Washington on Tuesday’s midterm election results, where Democrats have fared better than some exit polls forecast.

While much of the world’s attention this month is on the UN Climate Change Conference, COP 27, in Egypt, there are also important summits taking place in Asia that will help shape the international order into 2023 and beyond.