The second day of the 2025 Hong Kong Laureate Forum kicked off with a keynote speech on black holes and a plenary session on biological intelligence.

Nobel Prize winner Reinhard Genzel discussed massive black holes and his journey to discovering them.

Shaw laureates Peter Walter and Kazutoshi Mori also spoke about their career paths, how their research has evolved through the years, and advice for young scientists in the crowd.

So far, there's a common thread in how all these world-renowned scientists came across their breakthroughs: most of the time, they happened by serendipity. But it isn't just blind luck—they had to be prepared, have the right resources, and the instinct to know which odd observations can lead to a breakthrough.

Meet these three Filipino scientists currently based in Hong Kong! They are among 200 young researchers selected to attend the 2025 Hong Kong Laureate Forum.

This year's United Nations Climate Change Conference, or COP30, is happening in Brazil from November 10 to 21.

There are three key points to follow at COP30: the new climate targets, the roadmap to climate finance of up to $1.3 trillion, and a new arrangement that will ensure just energy transition. Read more in @Iya Gozum's report @here: https://www.rappler.com/environment/paris-agreement-climate-targets-cop30-2025/

Quezon City has launched a first-in-the-country textile recycling facility in Payatas, where residents give a second life to thrown-out fabric into functional fashion and furniture, Mayor Joy Belmonte said during the QC Green Awards at the Quezon City M.I.C.E. Center on Thursday, November 13, 2025.

The third edition of the QC Green Awards (QCGA) logged 290 entries for the Resilient and Green categories.

QCGA hands out awards to communities, civic-society organizations, and establishments that practice resiliency and implement projects for the city's environment.

Student-led organizations in the University of the Philippines bag awards in 3rd QC Green Awards

The UP Association of Civil Engineering Students received the Excellence in Resiliency Award for their disaster risk reduction workshops. 

Meanwhile, the UP Circuit received the Excellence in Climate Action award for its projects to transform and mitigate electronic waste.

Barangay San Bartolome won the Excellence in Resiliency award for its RFID tag project. Residents of the barangay are issued a tag for officials to easily identify them during disaster rescue operations and the collection of relief goods. 

Barangay West Kamias won the Excellence in Climate Action award for its waste segregation project, in which residents exchange plastic waste for food and school supplies. 

Ayala Group’s renewable energy firm ACEN is discontinuing its proposed 1,100 MW combined-cycle gas turbine Batangas Clean Energy, according to a disclosure on Friday, November 14. The gas project is handled by ACEN’s subsidiary ENEX Energy Corp.

“This decision was driven primarily by the difficulty in securing an offtake contract to ensure the BCE project's viability, coupled with challenges in securing a third investor due to uncertainties surrounding the project’s offtake arrangements,” the disclosure read. 

“Furthermore, this decision aligns with ENEX’s parent company’s (ACEN Corporation) strategic shift toward renewable energy generation.”

Non-governmental organization Philippine Movement for Climate Justice welcomed the discontinuation. PMCJ’s Elle Bartolome said this “sends a clear message” that “there is no future in fossil gas.” 

"This development is a direct result of what our communities in Pinamucan, Libjo, Malitam, and across Batangas have been saying for years, that their health, our environment, and our right to a livable future cannot be sacrificed for dirty, deadly, costly energy projects,” said Bartolome in a statement on Friday. 

Envi advocates from Quezon Province marched on Monday, November 17, to denounce Meralco PowerGen’s proposed 1,200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Atimonan. 

“Greed invites human-made disasters which the innocent, poorest communities are mostly suffering. And we want those corporations, in collusion with concerned government bodies, to realize that they are not solely taking profits, but lives,” Catholic priest Warren Puno said in a statement on Monday. 

I previously interviewed some of the community members in vicinity of the proposed coal plant in this story: https://www.rappler.com/environment/climate-change/atimonan-coal-plant-quezon-construction-protests-impact/

Photos from CEED 

Users of ChatGPT report the website being down and inaccessible for more than two hours as of 10 PM now.

According to Cloudflare, its hosting provider, this is due to "spike in unusual traffic."

Fisherfolk from PAMALAKAYA–Navotas stage a fluvial protest on November 19, denouncing alleged massive corruption in flood-control projects and the plunder of coastal resources. The group demands the resignation of top government officials and full accountability for programs they say have worsened flooding and endangered coastal communities.

Photos from PAMALAKAYA-Navotas

https://www.rappler.com/world/global-affairs/philippine-government-urged-back-roadmap-move-away-fossil-fuels/

Turning away from a framework of development that only value profit over the environment.