U.K. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on Wednesday said he will attend this month's U.N. climate summit in Egypt, reversing a decision to skip it that had drawn criticism at home and abroad.

Sunak's office previously said he had to skip the gathering, known as COP27, which start on Sunday. It cited "pressing domestic commitments," including preparations for a major government budget statement scheduled for Nov. 17.

Schools and offices closed and some events were canceled in Hong Kong on Wednesday as Tropical Storm Nalgae swept south of the city, while a finance conference meant to restore Hong Kong's image as an international business center went ahead.

As the city braced itself, temporary shelters were opened and theme parks were closed. Afternoon trading was suspended in the stock market, and some ferry and bus services were halted. The Hong Kong Jockey Club scrapped the evening's horse races.

High demand for metals ranging from copper to cobalt is pushing the mining industry to explore the world's deepest oceans, a troubling development for scientists who warn that extracting minerals from critical ecosystems that help regulate climate could cause irreparable damage.

The issue will be in spotlight this week as dozens of scientists, lawyers and government officials gather in Jamaica to debate deep sea mining as part of a two-week conference organized by the International Seabed Authority, an independent body created by a United Nations treaty.

Sayed Abuel-Ezz has seen his crops wither from seawater before. As the Nile Delta farmer walks among his mango trees on his land not far from the Mediterranean Sea, he worries it will happen again despite spending the equivalent of tens of thousands of dollars to prevent it.

"If it gets higher, the trees will die," Abuel-Ezz said, looking towards the sea.

The European Central Bank is warning that many of the financial institutions it oversees are moving too slowly to shield themselves and Europe's banking system from the impact of climate change, and it is setting new deadlines to meet those requirements.

The ECB said some progress had been made but that a review of 186 banks published Wednesday showed change was uneven and that "the glass remains half full," top ECB official Frank Elderson said in a blog post on the central bank's website.

The United States announced a clean energy partnership on Tuesday with the United Arab Emirates worth $100 billion, the White House said.

The Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE) will aim to develop low-emission energy sources to distribute 100 gigawatts of clean energy worldwide by 2035, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

In a victory speech, Brazil's president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva promised to reverse a surge in deforestation in the Amazon rainforest.

"We will once again monitor and do surveillance in the Amazon. We will fight every illegal activity," leftist da Silva said in his speech at a hotel in downtown Sao Paulo. "At the same time, we will promote sustainable development of communities in the Amazon."

Germany is postponing politically sensitive decisions on reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector until 2023 amid strong opposition from one governing party to the idea of a universal speed limit, officials said Monday.

The libertarian Free Democratic Party, which controls the Transport Ministry, has long blocked the introduction mandatory speed limits seen in most of Germany's neighbors.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said she will skip next month's COP27 talks in Egypt, slamming the global summit as a forum for "greenwashing".

"I'm not going to COP27 for many reasons, but the space for civil society this year is extremely limited," she said during a question and answer at the launch of her latest book at London's Southbank Centre.

As countries gathered in Scotland were crystallizing their pledges at last year's United Nations climate conference, India used its might to intervene. Along with China, India took issue with the draft deal's suggestion to "phase out" coal, preferring the wording, "phase down."

After much back and forth and hurried discussions between leaders, Bhupendra Yadav, India's minister for environment, forests, and climate change, read out the final version. It said that nations should work toward a "phase down" of coal power.