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Cop28 bulletin: Fossil fuel phase-out language takes shape - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 6) |
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Dec 6 · Delegates around the Cop28 venue (Photo: IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis)
Negotiators are locked in feverish marathon talks to hammer out the final technical draft of the global stocktake. The version published early Tuesday is a 24-page smörgåsbord of wildly ranging alternatives.
Take the energy package. On the defining battle of Cop28 – the fossil fuels conundrum – the draft text lays out two phase out options.
The first simply calls for “an orderly and just phase out of fossil fuels”, reflecting the position of the “high ambition coalition” (France, Kenya, Colombia and others).
The second is wordier. It has qualifiers that give cover to coal, oil and ... | By Matteo Civillini and Joe Lo Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: IPCC chief defends Al Jaber over science firestorm - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 5) |
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Dec 5 · German youth activist Luisa Neubauer at the Cop28 venue (Photo: Flickr/UN Climate Change/Kiara Worth)
“Science has guided my life”, Sultan Al Jaber hit back after being accused of denying the scientific consensus that a massive cut-back on fossil fuels is needed to prevent devastating climate impacts.
Striking a firm, and at times exasperated, tone, the oil executive-turned-Cop28 president slammed press reports as “misrepresentations”, the result of “statements taken out of context”.
Al Jaber insisted he had said “over and over that the phase-down and phase out of fossil fuels is inevitable”. But, “how come does this never get picked up [by the media]?” he asked, ... | By Matteo Civillini and Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: Al Jaber goes off script, denies science - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 4) |
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Dec 4 · One of the largest demonstrations in the Cop28 venue on Sunday called for a ceasefire in Gaza (Photo: Mariel Lozada)
Do you find it hard to reconcile the Sultan Al Jaber the climate champion with Sultan Al Jaber the oil chief? So does he, if an unscripted moment reported by the Guardian is anything to go on.
In a live event with former UN special envoy Mary Robinson in November, Al Jaber momentarily forgot his PR-approved lines and reverted to industry talking points.
“There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5C,” he said.
He dismissed Robinson’s call for a phase-out as ... | By Megan Darby and Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ...
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Don’t be fooled: CCS is no solution to oil and gas emissions - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 4) |
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Dec 4 · The oil and gas industry wants you to believe it can capture its emissions and keep drilling as usual. That’s no way to avert climate chaos
Al Wasl Dome at the Cop28 venue in Dubai, UAE (Pic: Flickr/Cop28/Neville Hopwood)
At the Cop28 climate conference taking place in Dubai, oil and gas producers are counting on carbon capture and storage (CCS) for a social license to keep drilling as usual. Don’t fall for it.
While it can be helpful at the margins, CCS cannot possibly deliver reductions in greenhouse gas emissions on the scale needed to avert climate disaster. This can only happen if the main sources of emissions – fossil fuels – are phased ... | By Laurence Tubiana and Emmanuel Guérin Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: US GCF pledge and ‘greenwash’ oil and gas charter - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 3) |
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Dec 3 · An emotional President Lula pays tribute to environment minister Marina Silva's work reversing deforestation in Brazil (Photo: Cop28/Stuart Wilson)
It was UAE National Day yesterday in Dubai. While citizens celebrated with fireworks and drone shows, world leaders convened for a big dinner at Cop28, their speeches made.
In one of the last speeches of the day, US vice-president Kamala Harris promised $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund, claiming the country is “a leader in the effort to expand international climate finance”.
Now she has to get it past Republicans in Congress, something that kept the US from delivering all of Barack Obama’s 2014 $3 billion pledge. | By Sebastian Rodriguez, Joe Lo, Matteo Civillini and Mariel Lozada Read more ...
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Vietnam charts uncertain coal path as finance falls short - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 3) |
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Dec 3 · Vietnam’s just energy transition partnership plan has no timeline for retiring coal, as backers offer commercial loans, not grants
Vietnamese prime minister Ph?m Minh Chính addressing the plenary session at Cop28. Photo: COP28 / Christopher Pike
When Vietnam and a group of rich countries struck up a $15.5 billion energy transition deal nearly a year ago, they set out an enticing prospect: cheap financing would help the nation leave coal behind.
But, as vague ambitions now turn into concrete plans, the reality looks rather different.
A timeline for the early closure of coal power plants is absent from the investment blueprint for the Just Energy ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: Fossil fuel phaseout is on the table - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 2) |
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Dec 2 · Around the Cop28 venue in Dubai (Pic: Flickr/UNFCCC/Kiara Worth)
In the early hours of Friday in Dubai, a city surrounded by oil and gas plants, a draft text emerged at Cop28 that opened the possibility of phasing out all fossil fuels.
Other options are to “phase down” all fossil fuels, to focus purely on coal or to say nothing at all. The coin is in the air.
The text is in response to the global stocktake of progress to meet the Paris Agreement goals.
The draft recognises that current policies have made some progress to avoid the worst climate change scenarios, but “notes with significant concern” that we’re still not in line with the Paris Agreement ... | By Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ...
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US tees up Congress battle with $3bn Green Climate Fund pledge - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 2) |
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Dec 2 · Vice-president Kamala Harris pledged $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund at Cop28, which Congressional Republicans will likely try to block
Vice-president Kamala Harris speaks to Cop28 (Photo credit: Kiara Worth/UNFCCC)
The US has promised $3 billion to the Green Climate Fund (GCF), for reducing emissions and adapting to climate change in developing countries.
US vice-president Kamala Harris made the promise at the Cop28 summit in Dubai on Saturday, claiming the US is “a leader in the effort to expand international climate finance”.
Together with pledges from Italy, Switzerland, Portugal and Estonia, it brings the total raised in the latest GCF ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: A loss and damage fund is born - Climate Change News - Politics (Dec 1) |
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Dec 1 · Negotiators applaud as the loss and damage fund is agreed (Photo credit: Kiara Worth/UNFCCC)
In a remarkable early win for the Cop28 presidency, a loss and damage fund became official on day one. Sultan Al Jaber banged his gavel and the room rose in applause.
There were a few complaints from negotiators. But the hard-fought compromise struck in Abu Dhabi three weeks ago held, with the World Bank the interim host of the yet-to-be-named fund.
The UAE set an example by contributing $100 million of a little over $400m in pledges.
With that potentially contentious matter out of the way – and the agenda agreed – public attention will now focus squarely on the issue ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Cop28 bulletin: Welcome to Dubai - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 30) |
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Nov 30 · UN climate change head Simon Stiell walks around the Expo City venue (Photo credit: Kiara Worth/UNFCCC)
Dubai airport is filling up with Cop delegates, who are passing quickly through immigration without having to show their visas.
Their Uber rides are taking them along highways flanked by banners from Saudi Arabia’s Green Initiative, urging them to visit their pavilion.
Many are popping in their complimentary sim cards, handed over with your passport by immigration officials.
But others are suspicious of this free gift. With the UAE’s reputation for cyber-spying, there’s talk of VPNs, burner phones and not using the venue’s wifi, QR codes or app (after last ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Four questions for Cop28 to settle about a global carbon market - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 29) |
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Nov 29 · As carbon credits face intense scrutiny, negotiators will wrangle over how to ensure the integrity of a new global carbon market
Negotiators attend early sessions at Cop28 in Dubai. Photo: UN Climate Change - Kiara Worth
Governments are set to take a decisive step at Cop28 towards making a long-awaited global carbon market governed by the UN a reality.
The Paris Agreement establishes ways for countries to “voluntarily cooperate” to meet their climate targets by allowing emission reductions and removals to be traded.
In Dubai, negotiators will finalise the architecture of a new mechanism allowing countries to sell offsets to other governments, ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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How can corporates ‘course correct’ on climate? - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 29) |
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Nov 29 · Special reports are produced by Climate Home News journalists with the support of partners on topics of mutual interest. Partners do not review the copy before publication.
When jubilant government negotiators signed the Paris agreement in 2015, they agreed to hold a global stocktake at the end of 2023 of how the fight against climate change is going.
That time has now come and the verdict is not good. The UN climate chief Simon Stiell told reporters last month “we are far from where we need to be as a global community” and the “window of opportunity is rapidly closing”.
He called for a “course correction”. Governments will ... Read more ...
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Seven things to watch out for in world leader speeches at Cop28 - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 29) |
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Nov 29 · Leaders including Narendra Modi, Rishi Sunak, Emmanuel Macron and Lula will share their climate plans in Dubai on Friday and Saturday
World leaders will gather at Expo City in Dubai on Friday and Saturday (Photo credit: Kiara Worth)
It has become a tradition for world leaders to kick off the annual UN climate conference by telling each other and the world what they’re doing to tackle climate change.
This year, some big hitters like the US’s Joe Biden and China’s Xi Jinping will stay away. Other influential leaders including Narendra Modi, Emmanuel Macron, Mohamed bin Salman, Mia Mottley, William Ruto and Lula Da Silva are due to ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Here’s how the oil-rich UAE delivers a Cop28 'win’ - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 27) |
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Nov 27 · The Cop28 team must show leadership on fossil fuel phase-out, renewable and energy efficiency, finance, climate plans and loss and damage
Sultan Al Jaber, oil and climate chief for the United Arab Emirates (Pic: Sammy Dallal / Crown Prince Court - Abu Dhabi/Flickr)
In just over two weeks nearly 200 governments will signal what they believe the world needs to do next to tackle the climate crisis.
The final outcome of Cop28 will – when it finally lands around 12-13 December – offer the best assessment of how far and how fast leaders are willing to go to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
That deal will not be easy for Cop28 President Dr Sultan Al-Jaber ... | By Alex Scott and Linda Kalcher Read more ...
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The ‘inevitable’ fossil fuel fight set to dominate Cop28 - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 24) |
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Nov 24 · Could petrostate UAE be the climate summit host that lands an international agreement to exit coal, oil and gas?
An oil refining facility operated by Adnoc in the United Arab Emirates. Photo: Rickmaj
Phasing down fossil fuels is “inevitable” and “essential”. It is hard to imagine the CEO of an oil major saying that 10 years, five years, even one year ago.
It’s a measure of how far the discourse has moved since the Paris Agreement that Sultan Al Jaber has taken that line in the run-up to Cop28.
As president of the UN climate summit starting in Dubai on 30 November, Al Jaber could not ignore mounting calls to quit coal, oil and ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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Meet the Italian fugitive advising Emirati start-up Blue Carbon - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 23) |
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Nov 23 · Samuele Landi has been convicted for bankruptcy fraud in Italy. That was no problem for the UAE firm doing forest carbon credit deals across Africa.
Liberia is among the African countries that have signed preliminary agreements with Blue Carbon over forestry rights. Photo: Travis Lupick/Flickr
Living on a floating island off the Gulf, Samuele Landi advises a little-known company with big plans to shake up the carbon offsetting market.
Blue Carbon plans to take over forested areas the size of the United Kingdom and sell carbon credits from their conservation under a mechanism established by the UN. The UAE firm, chaired by a member of Dubai’s royal family, has ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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In numbers: The state of the climate ahead of Cop28 - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 22) |
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Nov 22 · Annual emissions may have just peaked but the world’s temperature will keep rising until we reach net zero
Increasing temperatures have split Italy's Forni glacier into three (Photo credit: Lorenzo Moscia/Greenpeace)
Ahead of every Cop climate talks, think tanks, campaign groups and United Nations agencies get their number-crunchers to produce a load of reports summarising where the fight against climate change is at.
These reports can start to induce deja-vu. We’re doing some stuff to tackle climate change, usually more than the year before. But not fast enough to avoid some pretty terrifying destruction.
“Broken record,” is the title ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Oil, carbon and loss: navigating Cop28 with Climate Home News - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 17) |
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Nov 17 · Climate Home News is hosting a series of three online events to guide you through Cop28. Join us to hear from the experts and ask your questions.
Climate Home News is hosting ‘Oil, carbon and loss: navigating Cop28’, a series of three online events to guide you through Cop28. Join us to hear from the experts and ask your questions.
Expect drama at this year’s UN climate summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Emotions are running high as the Israel-Palestine conflict tests geopolitical alliances. In a region economically dependent on oil and gas exports, the imperative to quit fossil fuels will be front and centre. Countries at the sharp end of the climate ... | By Mariel Lozada Read more ...
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EU law pushes foreign oil and gas producers to cut methane - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 16) |
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Nov 16 · The EU has introduced a methane import standard, pressuring any company which exports oil and gas to the EU to cut its emissions
A pumpjack in Angola (Flickr/ Jobdodane)
The European Union reached a deal on Wednesday on a law to place methane emissions limits on Europe’s oil and gas imports from 2030, pressuring international suppliers to clamp down on leaks of the potent greenhouse gas.
Methane is the second-biggest cause of climate change after carbon dioxide, and in the short term has a far higher warming effect. Rapid cuts in methane emissions this decade are crucial if the world is to avoid severe climate change.
After all-night talks, negotiators ... | By Reuters Read more ...
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US and China promise cooperation on renewables and methane - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 15) |
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Nov 15 · After talks in Sunnyland, California, the US and China agreed to revive a bilateral working group on climate change
U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry shakes hands with his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua before a meeting in Beijing, China July 17, 2023. (Reuters/Valerie Volcovici/ File Photo)
The United States and China will back a new global renewables target and work together on methane and plastic pollution, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday after a meeting to find common ground ahead of Cop28 talks in Dubai later this month.
Climate envoys John Kerry and Xie Zhenhua, meeting in Sunnylands, California on 4-7 November, agreed to ... | By Reuters Read more ...
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China sets out methane plan, but no reduction target - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 9) |
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Nov 9 · Experts said that China didn’t want to shut down coal mines and was likely under-counting its coal mine methane emissions
An aerial view of the machinery at the coal terminal of Huanghua port, in Hebei province (Pic: China Daily via Reuters)
The Chinese government has published its long-awaited 11-page plan setting out how it will tackle emissions of methane, a particularly potent greenhouse gas.
The plan was announced ahead of a US-China climate summit and outlines measures that will be taken to cut emissions from coal mines, rice paddies, landfills and other methane sources.
But it did not include any targets for emissions reductions. This stands in ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Australia’s bid to host climate talks is welcome but its words must be matched with action - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 4) |
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Nov 4 · The climate minister of Pacific Island Vanuatu says those choosing the Cop31 host should examine Australia’s gas expansion plans
Woodside's gas pipelines in the Burrup hub region of Australia (Photo credit: Conservation Council of Western Australia)
The Pacific Islands Forum next week will bring together nations who share what we call the Blue Pacific Continent, stretching from the hundreds of islands and atolls of Micronesia in the North all the way down to the Alpine like conditions of New Zealand’s Southern tip.
Together, we are custodians of almost a fifth of the earth’s surface, and at the great crossroads of strategic interest for many nations. We are ... | By Ralph Regenvanu Read more ...
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Forests, methane, finance: Where are the Cop26 pledges now? - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 3) |
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Nov 3 · Climate Home analysed how highly-publicised commitments are faring two years on from their announcement
World leaders gathered at the Cop26 climate summit in Glasgow in 2021. Photo: Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
At Cop26 in Glasgow, hundreds of governments and private institutions joined forces in a series of pledges promising ambitious goals on methane reduction, forest protection and the shift of finance away from fossil fuels.
Nearly two years on, Climate Home News looks at how these commitments are holding up to the test of time.
WHAT: Reduce human-made methane emissions by 30% between 2020 and 2030. Cutting the amount of methane present in the ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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DRC hands gas rights to Canadian start-up that failed criteria - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 2) |
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Nov 2 · The technically complex contract was won by Alfajiri, which is based in a residential property in Canada and has only existed a few months
Fishermen prepare to sail at Lake Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (Reuters/Arlette Bashizi)
A Canadian start-up run from a private home was chosen by Democratic Republic of Congo for a technically complex project to extract methane from the deep waters of a volatile lake, despite the company not meeting the tender’s financial criteria, documents seen by Reuters show.
President Felix Tshisekedi, who is seeking re-election in December, has promised to shake off Congo’s reputation for opaque dealings as he ... | By Reuters Read more ...
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Wars are closing down the window for climate action - Climate Change News - Politics (Nov 1) |
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Nov 1 · Wars harm climate action because large militaries emit a lot and military spending diverts money away from tackling climate change
A Moroccan soldier on a training exercise in Senegal (Photo: US Africa Command/Flickr)
Largely because of the US not paying its fair share, the developed world has failed to meet its promise to provide $100 billion in climate finance to the developing world.
For years, this has sowed distrust and hindered negotiations with major emerging economies like China and India.
But on October 16, US treasury secretary Janet Yellen told Sky News that the US can “certainly” afford to support Israel’s war on Palestine as ... | By Nick Buxton and Deborah Burton Read more ...
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Movement mourns ‘driving force for climate justice’ Saleemul Huq - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 30) |
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Oct 30 · Bangladeshi scientist and campaigner Saleemul Huq attended every UN climate summit and championed the cause of developing countries
Saleemul Huq at a conference on community-based adaptation in Nepal (Photo credit: Stephanie Andrei)
Veteran Bangladeshi climate scientist and campaigner Saleemul Huq died on Sunday at the age of 71.
After the think tank he directed announced his death, tributes poured in from climate campaigners, diplomats, scientists and others.
The head of the Climate Action Network, Tasneem Essop, described him as a “giant in our movement and an inspiration to many of us”.
German climate envoy and former Greenpeace head ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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To triple renewable energy, the Global South needs finance - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 30) |
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Oct 30 · A renewable energy target will be debated at Cop28 but financial reforms are needed for the Global South outside China to meet that target
A woman cleans solar panels in Fulani village, in southern Mauritania (Photo: Raphael Pouget / Climate Visuals Countdown)
With one month to go until Cop28, ministers meet in the UAE this week and a global target to triple renewable capacity by 2030 to over 11,000 gigawatts is poised to take centre stage.
This offers hope in our battle against climate chaos. The target is not only aligned with limiting temperature to 1.5C, it is reasonably likely to be agreed in Dubai.
But to realise this aspiration necessitates a ... | By Andreas Sieber Read more ...
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Climate diplomats pay tribute to Pete Betts, EU negotiator who helped land Paris Agreement - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 24) |
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Oct 24 · Betts was the EU’s chief negotiator when the Paris Agreement was signed. He has died a year after being diagnosed with cancer.
Pete Betts speaking at the Bonn Climate Change Conference in 2015. Photo: Earth Negotiations Bulletin / IISD
Pete Betts, a veteran British climate negotiator and one of the architects of the Paris Agreement, has died aged 64.
His 35-years-long career in the UK civil service culminated in him taking on the role of the EU’s lead negotiator – at a time when the UK was still in the EU.
Widely praised for his ability to build bridges and challenge entrenched positions, Betts is credited by some as having laid the ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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EU countries hammer out joint stance for Cop28 climate summit - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 17) |
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Oct 17 · The 27 member states agreed to pursue a tripling of renewable energy by 2030 but softened language on phasing out fossil fuels
Wopke Hoekstra, European commissioner for climate action, and Teresa Ribera, Spain's minister for the ecological transition, at a press conference in Brussels (Pic: European Union)
EU countries on Monday (16 October) adopted a common stance for the United Nations Cop28 international climate conference but language on the EU’s emissions reduction target and fossil fuel exit goal was softened to reach a unanimous decision.
The EU’s 27 environment ministers met in Luxembourg on Monday to agree on the EU’s stance for the Cop28 summit opening in ... | By Frédéric Simon and Kira Taylor for Euractiv Read more ...
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Africa and India push rich nations to phase out fossil fuels faster - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 16) |
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Oct 16 · At Cop28, developed nations will face calls to quit fossil fuels faster than developing countries, who did less to cause the climate crisis
The Inglewood Oil Field in Los Angeles (Photo: Peter Bennet/Greenpeace)
Six weeks ahead of the Cop28 climate talks, negotiators from Africa and India have set out separate plans to push developed countries to do more to move away from fossil fuels.
The African Group of negotiators want rich countries to stop greenlighting new fossil fuel production projects by 2030 while India is calling on them to go beyond net zero and start sucking carbon out of the atmosphere by 2050.
The proposals play on a key principle of United ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Climate Home News is hiring a finance and operations manager - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 16) |
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Oct 16 · Climate Home News is looking for a highly organised individual to support its financial management and operations on a part time basis
Light-up keyboard optional (Pic: Pixabay)
Are you a highly organised individual looking for a flexible part-time job with a purpose?
The finance and operations manager will ensure the smooth and effective running of Climate Home News, leading on finance, human resources, administrative and information systems.
As a member of a small team, your role will span everything from processing invoices to guiding strategy.
You will report to the CEO and work closely with the editor to solve problems and create the conditions for ... | By CHN Staff Read more ...
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Could you be the next editor of Climate Home News? - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 16) |
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Oct 16 · Climate Home News is looking for an editor to lead its award-winning team and sustain original journalism on international climate action
A delegate at Cop24 catches up on the news (Photo: Soila Apparicio)
Climate Home News is looking for an editor to lead its award-winning team.
This is a unique opportunity to set the news agenda internationally on a topic of intense public interest.
Since 2012, Climate Home News has built a reputation as the go-to news source for original reporting on the international politics and diplomacy of the climate crisis.
Climate Home’s core audience includes climate diplomats, policymakers, researchers, practitioners and ... | By CHN Staff Read more ...
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UN puts climate ‘course correction’ on Cop28 negotiating table - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 4) |
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Oct 4 · In response to a global stocktake report, ministers will debate collective goals such as phasing out fossil fuels by 2040
Firefighters extinguish fires on peatland in Indonesia (Photo credit: Al Zulkifli/Greenpeace)
The United Nations has put a series of challenging climate goals on the agenda for Cop28, in its effort to get the world back on course to limit global warming to 1.5C.
A UN “stocktake” of progress found the world is heading to blow past the 1.5C goal and, after speaking to governments, the UN has put together a list of options to stop that happening.
The head of the UN’s climate arm Simon Stiell told reporters today that “we are far from where we ... | By Joe Lo Read more ...
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Cop28 boss’ appeal to raise climate targets met with total indifference - Climate Change News - Politics (Oct 2) |
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Oct 2 · Sultan Al Jaber urged governments to update their national climate targets by September. Not one heeded the call
Cop28 president-designate Sultan Al Jaber urged countries to step up climate targets. Photo: IISD/ENB - Kiara Worth
In July, when Cop28 chief Sultan Al Jaber laid out his battle plan for the upcoming climate summit in Dubai, he issued a plea to all governments: raise your climate targets by September.
His appeal has gone totally unanswered. Two and a half months later no country has updated its nationally determined contribution (NDC), the Paris Agreement-mandated blueprint to reduce emissions and adapt to climate impacts.
The deafening silence ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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Ministerial shows fault lines on climate loss and damage fund - Climate Change News - Politics (Sep 25) |
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Sep 25 · On the sidelines of the UN general assembly, rich and poor countries were divided on how to deliver funds to victims of the climate crisis
A woman stands on the logs in front of her ruined house after flash floods hit the region of South Sulawesi in Indonesia. Photo: Hariandi Hafid / Greenpeace
Governments are starkly divided over plans for a loss and damage fund, with two months to go until it is due to be established.
While rich and poor countries have agreed to set up a fund to address loss and damage caused by climate change, they are miles apart on who pays and who benefits.
At a ministerial meeting on the sidelines of the UN general assembly on Friday, ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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At UN climate summit big polluters’ absence speaks volumes - Climate Change News - Politics (Sep 22) |
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Sep 22 · While “ambitious” countries made few new announcements, the US, China, India and the UK had not offered enough to even sit in the room
Thirty-four government leaders spoke at the UN Climate Ambition Summit on Wednesday. Photo: IISD/ENB - Diego Noguera
As United Nations chief Antonio Guterres convened a climate summit for the first time in four years, he was keen to avoid platforming greenwash.
Instead of a long procession of leaders, the stage would be given only to those with “credible policies and plans” to keep the goals of the Paris Agreement alive.
On Wednesday, the absence of most of the world’s biggest polluters spoke volumes. ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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Five climate announcements from UNGA & Climate Week NYC - Climate Change News - Politics (Sep 22) |
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Sep 22 · In a relatively low powered year for climate leadership, a handful of government, climate finance and corporate initiatives are worth noting
A rainy night in New York (Photo credit: Steven Pisano)
Despite floods in Libya showing the urgency of the climate crisis, 2023’s United Nations General Assembly has been quiet on climate change.
The wave of net zero pledges has crested and the next big UN deadline for nearer-term climate plans is not until 2025.
UN chief Antonio Guterres’ Climate Action Summit, for all his fiery rhetoric on ending fossil fuel addiction, was more notable for the absentees than groundbreaking commitments.
But there were ... | By Matteo Civillini and Joe Lo Read more ...
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‘First movers’ only: US, China, UK left off UN climate guestlist - Climate Change News - Politics (Sep 20) |
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Sep 20 · Only five of the G20 major economies made the cut for Antonio Guterres’ Climate Action Summit in New York, despite pressure from big powers
UN head Antonio Guterres witnesses hurricane damage in Antigua and Barbuda in 2017 (Photo credit: UN photo/Rick Bajornas)
UN chief Antonio Guterres left big players off the lineup for his Climate Action Summit on Wednesday, putting climate credibility above power politics.
Over 100 governments expressed an interest in speaking at the summit in New York but only 34 made the cut, with slots restricted to what the UN called “first movers and first doers”.
Of the G20 nations, only the leaders of Brazil, ... | By Joe Lo and Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ...
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Lula scraps Bolsonaro’s cuts to Brazilian climate target ambition - Climate Change News - Politics (Sep 18) |
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Sep 18 · Brazil will go back to the climate targets it drew up in 2015 while it works on new and improved ones
Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva addresses the audience at the summit of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO), in Belem, Brazil August 8, 2023. (Photo: Ricardo Stuckert/Brazil Presidency/Reuters)
The Brazilian government has agreed to cancel former president Jair Bolsonaro’s cuts to its climate ambition and to work on a new improved climate target.
The moves were agreed by a group of government ministers at the Interministerial Committee on Climate Change last week.
The government will change Brazil’s climate plan, ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ...
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Small islands slam 'endless’ climate talks at landmark maritime court hearing - Climate Change News - Politics (Sep 11) |
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Sep 11 · Small island states have asked the world’s maritime tribunal to clarify state obligations on climate change, which could be influential for other courts.
Plenary session of the COP27 Climate Change Conference in Sharm el Sheikh, (Photo: Thomas Trutschel/Reuters)
The heads of small island states most vulnerable to climate change have criticised “endless” climate change negotiations at the start of an unprecedented maritime court hearing.
During the opening of a two-week meeting in Hamburg today to clarify state duties to protect the marine environment, prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne told the International Tribunal for the Law ... | By Isabella Kaminski Read more ...
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