Most recent 40 articles: Climate Change News - Politics
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Modi, Macron, Xi and Biden among many leaders yet to request COP29 speech - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 21) |
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Oct 21 · Just over 100 world leaders have said they will speak at the upcoming UN climate summit, about a fifth down on last year’s figure The Baku Olympic Stadium will be the COP29 venue (Photo: Matteo Civillini) The leaders of the US, China, India and France are among the many heads of state and government who have yet to confirm they will attend the opening of the COP29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in three weeks’ time. In a document posted online, the United Nations lists 106 leaders registered to speak at the Baku conference on November 12-13, including those of Brazil, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom and Russia. While the speakers’ list is ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Why we need new laws to end coal, oil and gas – now - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 18) |
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Oct 18 · Comment: Introducing strong policies to accelerate the rollout of renewables, coupled with a rapid, legally implemented phase-out of fossil fuels, may be our best hope for curbing global warming An oil and gas industry worker walks at a facility of OzenMunayGaz company in Zhanaozen in the Mangystau region of Kazakhstan, November 14, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Turar Kazangapov) Katherine Quinn is policy lead at the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership. BP has ditched its pledge to curb oil production by 2030 – a plan that was once the most ambitious in the industry – switching instead to developing more fossil fuels in the Middle East. The new approach ... | By Katherine Quinn Read more ... |
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The Global South is surging ahead in the renewables revolution - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 16) |
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Oct 16 · Comment: Many developing countries are rich in renewable resources and growing them fast – with more investment, they can tip the balance towards green industrialisation An aerial view shows the largest solar plant in Bangladesh, built on a 350-acre site. The plant began to supply electricity from 25 December 2021. The photo was taken from Borodurgapur village of Mongla upazila in Bagerhat October 26, 2023. (Photo: Mushfiqul Alam/NurPhoto via Reuters Connect) Vikram Singh is senior principal for the Global South with energy think-tank RMI. If you’d asked me a month ago who was deploying renewables faster – the Global South or the Global North ... | By Vikram Singh Read more ... |
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Australian renewables pioneer Adelaide bids to host COP31 climate summit - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 15) |
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Oct 15 · South Australia has one of the world’s cleanest electricity grids, which it wants to showcase at the COP31 conference in 2026 The Adelaide Convention Centre and the Torrens River (Photos: Denisbin/Flickr) The state government of South Australia has launched a bid for the city of Adelaide to host the COP31 climate summit in late 2026, showcasing the region’s prowess in clean energy. The government set out its case on Monday, saying the state is a pioneer in renewables, hydrogen and battery storage, and also has sufficient accommodation for more than 30,000 visitors. Welcoming delegates to the Adelaide Convention Centre would deliver local economic ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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How the world can set itself up for success at COP29 - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 10) |
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Oct 10 · Comment: A new climate finance goal is the top priority for the Baku summit – and there are signs of convergence on critical issues In this photo illustration, a smartphone shows the logo of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2024 COP29 in front of its website. (Photo: Timon Schneider / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect) Mukhtar Babayev is the COP29 President-Designate and Azerbaijan’s Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources. This week, the COP29 Presidency of Azerbaijan is hosting a series of crunch climate negotiations in Baku across both technical and political tracks of the UN talks. These discussions represent a pivotal moment in the lead-up to ... | By Mukhtar Babayev Read more ... |
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Progress on structure for new global climate finance goal but trickier divides persist - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 9) |
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Oct 9 · Negotiators cite “convergence” on the shape of the post-2025 finance goal but gaps remain on contributors and amounts A man stands in a home where the roof was ripped apart, in the aftermath of Hurricane Beryl, in St. Elizabeth Parish, Jamaica, July 5, 2024. REUTERS/Maria Alejandra Cardona Governments have made progress on how a new global climate finance goal should be structured – but big gaps remain on who should pay out and how large the goal should be, negotiators chairing United Nations talks said on Wednesday. Ministers gathered in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku to discuss a new post-2025 goal for finance to help developing countries ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Why we need to keep climate COPs inclusive - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 9) |
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Oct 9 · Comment: Frustration at slow progress towards the Paris Agreement goals is prompting calls to streamline the COP process – but restricting participation is the wrong response Delegates negotiate in a huddle during informal consultations on the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai, UAE, on December 10, 2023. (Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis) Delegates negotiating in a huddle during informal consultations on the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage Manuel Pulgar-Vidal is WWF’s Global Climate and Energy Lead, former Minister of Environment for Peru and COP20 President. As we approach the latest ... | By Manuel Pulgar-Vidal Read more ... |
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Japan backs fossil fuels in Southeast Asian “zero emission” initiative - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 7) |
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Oct 7 · Japan’s Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) supported 56 projects using fossil fuel technologies in Southeast Asia - including LNG and carbon capture Participants of the inaugural summit of the Asia Zero Emission Community after their photo session ahead of the meeting at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Dec. 18, 2023. (Photo: Reuters) During his three-year tenure as Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida created the Asia Zero Emission Community (AZEC) to, in his words, “help Asia decarbonise together”. But a year and a half after AZEC was formally launched, a new report by the international research organization Zero Carbon Analytics shows that ... | By Walter James Read more ... |
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Delay to EU deforestation law must not lead to dilution - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 4) |
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Oct 4 · Comment: The EU needs to stand firm against the countries and companies hellbent on weakening its pioneering regulation to stop commodities harming forests A farmer walks on his cocoa farm in Gabeadji near San Pedro, Ivory Coast, January 31, 2023. (Photo: Reuters/Ange Aboa) Nicole Polsterer is sustainable production and consumption campaigner at forests and rights NGO Fern. The rumours were swirling for months, but when the news broke on October 2, it came abruptly and without warning. Just a week earlier, the European Commission insisted that it had no plans to delay implementing the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the so-called 'jewel’ in its flagship ... | By Nicole Polsterer Read more ... |
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Civil servants warn fossil fuel exploration could harm New Zealand’s climate reputation - Climate Change News - Politics  (Oct 3) |
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Oct 3 · Advice to politicians says revoking a ban on oil and gas drilling could damage relations with Pacific neighbours and risk lawsuits New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon visits a school in Tonga, August 30, 2024. (AAP Image/Ben McKay) Civil servants from New Zealand’s foreign and trade ministry have advised politicians that reversing a ban on offshore oil and gas exploration could harm the country’s international reputation and relationships, anger Pacific nations and risk lawsuits over climate change. In 2018, the country’s then centre-left prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, effectively banned fresh efforts to look for fossil fuels offshore. ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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As COP Troika dithers on 1.5C-aligned climate plans, experts set the bar high - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 27) |
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Sep 27 · UAE, Azerbaijan and Brazil have promised NDCs compatible with the safest warming limit in the Paris Agreement – but it’s not clear what they mean A demonstration outside the COP27 venue in Sharm el Sheik, Egypt. Photo: ENB/IISD The three countries hosting the annual COP climate summits from 2023-2025 – known as “the Troika” – have again called on governments to submit stronger climate action plans that can keep the warming goals of the Paris Agreement “within reach”. The United Arab Emirates, Azerbaijan and Brazil this week in New York reiterated their promise to lead by example and produce by the end of this year ... | By Matteo Civillini and Megan Rowling Read more ... |
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New global climate commitments critical – but strong national laws must follow - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 26) |
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Sep 26 · Comment: International emissions-cutting targets need to be translated into national laws to guarantee delivery and protect the rights of future generations Two climate activists from the “Last Generation” group threw orange paint on the glass facade of the Zlote Tarasy shopping mall in central Warsaw, Poland, on August 28, 2024. The demonstration, timed to coincide with the beginning of the new school year, was intended to draw attention to the urgent climate crisis and its future impact on children. (Photo: Marek Antoni Iwanczuk / SOPA Images via Reuters) Pierre Cannet is global head of public affairs and policy at ClientEarth. The UN Summit of the Future that ... | By Pierre Cannet Read more ... |
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UN climate chief warns of “two-speed” global energy transition - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 24) |
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Sep 24 · Simon Stiell tells investors in NYC that rich countries are benefiting most from clean energy growth while poorer nations are deprived of finance for cheaper renewables A solar microgrid run by Husk Power Systems serves Kiguna village in Nasarawa state, Nigeria, September 26, 2022 (Photo: Megan Rowling) Some economies are starting to see dividends from the hundreds of billions of dollars flowing each year into clean energy around the world – but progress is uneven, with richer countries reaping most of the benefits and poorer ones held back, the United Nations’ climate chief said on Tuesday. Simon Stiell told investors at an event in New York that the ... | By Megan Rowling Read more ... |
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Global push to triple renewables requires responsible mining of minerals - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 23) |
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Sep 23 · Comment: As leaders at the UN debate how to meet renewable energy goals, they must also ensure supply chains are sustainable Wind turbines are seen near Foggia, Puglia, Italy, on September 1, 2023. (Photo: Lorenzo Di Cola/NurPhoto) Mads Christensen is the international executive director of Greenpeace. In the two decades since Greenpeace launched its groundbreaking Energy Revolution scenarios in 2005, renewable energy uptake has accelerated at speeds most analysts could not have anticipated, but leaders at the UN General Assembly must act even more boldly. Greenpeace’s pioneering vision for the clean energy transition was once considered unrealistic, perhaps ... | By Mads Flarup Christensen Read more ... |
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COP29 aims to boost battery storage and grids for renewables, as pledges proliferate - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 19) |
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Sep 19 · Governments are being asked to sign up to a goal to boost energy storage six-fold and renew or add 80 million km of electric grids, among other initiatives Electricity cables at the Lethaba power station in 2007 (Photos: World Bank) Azerbaijan, which is hosting this year’s COP29 UN summit, this week announced 14 climate initiatives it hopes countries will sign up to, including one to promote energy storage and electric grids. Governments are being asked by the COP29 presidency to back a pledge to increase global energy storage capacity six times above 2022 levels, reaching 1,500 gigawatts (GW) by 2030, and to add or refurbish more than 80 million kilometres ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Developing countries denounce rich nations’ disregard for just transition talks - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · One negotiator said it was “very unfortunate” that no developed-country officials travelled to Ghana for UN climate talks on “response measures” Women illegally gather coal to sell from Jharia mine in Jharkand state, India, in 2008 (Pic: Peter Caton/Greenpeace) United Nations talks on how to make the global green transition fair provoked frustration last week among developing countries as rich nations did not attend in person and refused to discuss thorny issues. About 30 developing countries sent civil servants to a five-star hotel in Ghana for official UN discussions on “response measures” that are meant to tackle how to ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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UK calls for “ambition” on COP29 climate finance goal but won’t talk numbers - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 17) |
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Sep 17 · The UK’s new foreign minister, David Lammy, says Global North rhetoric on climate action must be matched by funding but stays silent on the size of a new global finance goal David Lammy makes his speech at Kew Gardens on September 17, 2024 (Photos: Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office/Ben Dance) Britain’s new foreign minister has called on governments to set an “ambitious” new goal for climate finance to help developing countries at the COP29 UN climate summit, but declined to discuss how much it should be. In his first major speech in government, after the Labour Party won power in July, Foreign Secretary David Lammy told ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Is Brazil’s Lula a climate leader? - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 16) |
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Sep 16 · Comment: The Brazilian president has run up against similar challenges to his US counterpart Joe Biden – and it’s bad news for the planet U.S. President Joe Biden and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva attend an event with labor leaders from the United States and Brazil, on the sidelines of the 78th U.N. General Assembly in New York City, U.S., September 20, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque) Marcio Astrini is the executive secretary of Observatório do Clima, a network of 120 Brazilian civil society organizations. In a big country in the Americas, an elderly leader defeats his far-right rival by a narrow margin. After facing a coup ... | By Marcio Astrini Read more ... |
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Slow progress in Baku risks derailing talks on new climate finance goal at COP29 - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 13) |
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Sep 13 · Azerbaijan’s COP29 president calls for determination and leadership from all countries to bridge the gaps on finance A delegate's laptop bears a slogan calling for loss and damage finance at the mid-year UN climate talks in Bonn on June 7, 2024. (Photo: IISD/ENB - Kiara Worth) At the latest climate talks in Baku, which ended on Thursday, countries made little progress towards agreeing a new climate finance goal to replace the current $100-billion-a-year target, dimming prospects for the main expected outcome from November’s COP29 summit. Negotiators gathered in Azerbaijan this week for the last round of technical talks before COP29, after mid-year ... | By Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ... |
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British Airways plans to offset rising emissions by sprinkling crushed rocks - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 12) |
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Sep 12 · The airline will pay a UK company to carry out enhanced rock weathering, which speeds up natural carbon-absorbing processes A British Airways flight takes off in Sao Paulo in 2017 (Photos: Rafael Conossa) British Airways has completed a deal to cancel out some of its rising emissions by financing a process that sprinkles crushed-up rocks on the ground to capture and store more planet-warming carbon dioxide. The company has agreed to pay British project developer UNDO to take around 4,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) out of the atmosphere – about 0.02% of the airline’s current annual emissions – through a form of carbon removal known as ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Human rights must be “at the core” of mining for transition minerals, UN panel says - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 12) |
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Sep 12 · The UN Panel on Critical Energy Transition Minerals launches principles to guide responsible, fair extraction of minerals for green value chains People hold placards as they protest against environmental degradation which they blame on mining activity and climate change, near the Chamber of Mines of the Philippines Convention in Pasay city, metro Manila, September 16, 2014. (Photo: REUTERS/Romeo Ranoco) A panel of experts convened by the UN Secretary-General has called on governments and industry to prevent human rights abuses in mining for minerals that will play a key role in the world’s transition to clean energy. After five months of discussion, the UN ... | By Sebastian Rodriguez Read more ... |
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How to convince Beijing of the case for stronger climate targets - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 10) |
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Sep 10 · Comment: An ambitious NDC would boost China’s economy, win it recognition as a responsible global power – and keep its people safer from climate disasters White House Senior Advisor for Clean Energy John Podesta and China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi speak during a bilateral meeting at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, September 6, 2024. (Photo: Andy Wong/Pool via REUTERS) Yao Zhe is global policy advisor for Greenpeace East Asia. John Podesta visited Beijing last week on his first trip to China as US climate envoy. Both countries’ new climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), were high on his agenda, along ... | By Yao Zhe Read more ... |
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Green Climate Fund restructures, aiming to become donors’ “partner of choice” - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 9) |
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Sep 9 · GCF chief Mafalda Duarte tells Climate Home how she plans to boost the fund’s impact and position it to secure more resources GCF Executive Director Mafalda Duarte speaks at the High-level Pledging Conference for the fund's second replenishment in October 2023. (Photo: Green Climate Fund / Ute Grabowsky) Since the Green Climate Fund (GCF) approved its first eight projects just before the Paris Agreement was sealed in 2015, its investments to curb emissions and adapt to climate change in developing countries have grown to $15 billion across 270 projects. Mafalda Duarte, the Portuguese climate finance specialist who heads the fund’s South Korea-based ... | By Megan Rowling Read more ... |
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As Pacific Islanders, we need climate action – not greenwashing – from Azerbaijan - Climate Change News - Politics  (Sep 2) |
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Sep 2 · Comment: As host of the COP29 summit, Baku must stop fossil fuel expansion, cut its emissions further, and work to deliver an ambitious climate finance goal A performer wears the flag of Tuvalu as she waits at a signing ceremony for the Australia-Tuvalu Falepili Union to come into force at the 53rd Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting in Nuku'alofa, Tonga on August 28, 2024. (Photo: AAP Image/Lukas Coch via Reuters) Joseph Zane Sikulu is a member of the Pacific Climate Warriors and Pacific Director for climate campaign group 350.org. Here is his open letter to Mukhtar Babayev, president-designate of the COP29 UN climate summit, which will take place in November in Baku, ... | By Joseph Zane Sikulu Read more ... |
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Fossil fuel transition back in draft pact for UN Summit of the Future after outcry - Climate Change News - Politics  (Aug 30) |
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Aug 30 · The new text of a UN pact for the high-level event brings back a mention of the headline COP28 agreement Activists calling for an end to fossil fuels at COP28 in Dubai. Photo by IISD/ENB | Mike Muzurakis Governments have reinstated a commitment to transition away from fossil fuels in the draft of a new United Nations pact due to be adopted next month, following widespread condemnation over its previous removal. The U-turn comes after nearly 80 Nobel prizewinners and world leaders hit out at the deletion of any references to fossil fuels in a previous version of the negotiating text for the Summit of the Future taking place in New York during this year’s UN General ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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As Swiss propose ways to expand climate finance donors, academics urge new thinking - Climate Change News - Politics  (Aug 16) |
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Aug 16 · Switzerland pitches criteria to include China and Gulf States in the donor base. But experts recommend incentives not coercion An activists holds a placard during a climate strike in September 2023, in Edmonton, Canada. Photo: Artur Widak/NurPhoto As diplomats get ready to restart talks next month over the new UN climate finance target, the question of who should be putting money into the pot looms large over the negotiations. Most developing countries offer a straightforward answer: keep the status quo, meaning only the countries classified as industrialised when the UN climate treaty was adopted in 1992. But this club of developed nations, vocally led by ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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Climate Home News is hiring! Apply to be our new energy transition reporter (Africa-based) - Climate Change News - Politics  (Aug 13) |
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Aug 13 · Climate Home News is looking for a journalist to cover climate and energy policy developments across Africa, with a global view Workers install solar panels in Senegal (Photo credit: European Investment Bank) Climate Home News is seeking a full-time energy transition reporter based in Africa with remote working, who will contribute to expanding our coverage of international climate diplomacy. Founded over a decade ago, Climate Home News is a leading independent digital media outlet?covering climate change.?We aim to be the go-to newsroom for a global community seeking to understand the political, social and economic drivers of the climate crisis and responses to ... | By CHN Staff Read more ... |
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It’s time for Azerbaijan to shift gears on diplomacy ahead of COP29 - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jul 26) |
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Jul 26 · Comment: Amid record-breaking climate impacts, the COP29 host nation needs to ramp up action for an ambitious outcome in Baku Mukhtar Babayev, Azerbaijan's COP29 President-Designate, at the Petersberg Climate Dialogue 2024 in Berlin, Germany, on April 25, 2024. (Photo by Christian Marquardt/NurPhoto) Manuel Pulgar–Vidal is WWF’s Global Lead for Climate and Energy and, previously, he was the COP20 President. July will be a month of records. Athletes and spectators gather for the Paris Olympics to celebrate feats of human endurance and record-breaking achievement. But July is also seeing records of another kind breaking. This month we experienced the ... | By Manuel Pulgar-Vidal Read more ... |
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UAE’s ALTÉRRA invests in fund backing fossil gas despite “climate solutions” pledge - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jul 24) |
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Jul 24 · Four months after partnering with the new “landmark” climate vehicle at COP28, a BlackRock fund put money into a US gas pipeline COP28 President Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber and ALTÉRRA CEO Majid Al Suwaidi attend a plenary meeting at COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. REUTERS/Amr Alfiky As world leaders gathered in Dubai at the start of COP28 last December, the United Arab Emirates dropped a surprise headline-grabbing announcement. The host nation of the UN talks promised to put $30 billion into a new climate fund aimed at speeding up the energy transition and building climate resilience, especially in the Global South. ALTÉRRA was billed as the world’s ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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The world needs a new global deal on climate and development finance - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jul 18) |
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Jul 18 · Comment: A more effective framework led by the UN could involve a binding financial target, a role for emerging economies and consolidation of funds Members of the Nasinya Omom women's group from the Maasai pastoralism community handle honeycombs harvested from their beehive after they embraced economic beekeeping, dropping their traditional pastoralism as a response to climate change, at the Nasaru-Olosho conservancy near the Amboseli ecosystem in Kajiado County, Kenya, May 29, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Monicah Mwangi) Moazzam Malik is managing director at the World Resources Institute and honorary professor at the UCL Policy Lab. At COP29 in Baku in November, the ... | By Moazzam Malik Read more ... |
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Hurricane Beryl shows why the new UK government must ramp up climate finance - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jul 15) |
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Jul 15 · Comment: In the wake of yet another Caribbean climate disaster, Labour should raise its ambition in offering international support A woman looks at an alley filled with debris after the passage of Hurricane Beryl, in St. George's, Grenada, July 1, 2024. (Photo: REUTERS/Arthur Daniel) Hannah Bond is co-CEO at ActionAid UK. This month has been unprecedented, even in a news cycle that has grown increasingly immune to ever-worsening climate catastrophes. After Beryl, a powerful category five hurricane, smashed its way across the Caribbean, an alarming report by the Copernicus Climate Change Service found that the planet has breached 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming for ... | By Hannah Bond Read more ... |
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Global goal of tripling renewables by 2030 still out of reach, says IRENA - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jul 11) |
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Jul 11 · The renewable energy agency calls for more concrete policy action and finance, with Africa especially lagging on clean energy A wind turbine is seen on a wind farm on a field between agricultural produce in a countryside in a village near Radom, Poland, on July 9, 2024 (Photo: Dominika Zarzycka/NurPhoto via Reuters) Despite growing at an unprecedented rate last year, renewable energy sources are still not being deployed quickly enough to put the world on track to meet an international goal of tripling renewables by 2030, new data shows. At the COP28 climate summit in Dubai in 2023, nearly 200 countries committed to tripling global renewable energy capacity – ... | By Daisy Clague Read more ... |
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EU “green” funds invest millions in expanding coal giants in China, India - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jul 1) |
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Jul 1 · Climate Home found leading asset managers hold shares in coal firms within funds touting sustainable credentials An open-cast coal mine in India's Jharkhand state operated by Coal India, one of the firms included in 'green' funds. Photo: TripodStories- AB EU-regulated “green” funds are investing in some of the world’s biggest coal companies that are expanding their operations in contrast to a 2021 UN agreement for countries to reduce their use of the dirty fossil fuel. European investors hold shares worth at least $65 million in major coal firms across China, India, the United States, Indonesia and South Africa within funds designated as “promoting environmental ... | By Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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UN action on gender and climate faces uphill climb as warming hurts women - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jun 28) |
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Jun 28 · At June’s Bonn talks, governments made little progress on gender equality while evidence shows women bear a heavy climate burden In poor households without taps, the responsibility for collecting water typically falls on women and girls. As climate change makes water scarcer and they have to travel further and spend more time fetching it, their welfare suffers. In a new study quantifying how gender shapes people’s experiences of climate change, scientists at the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research (PIK) found that, by 2050, higher temperatures and changing rainfall patterns could mean women globally spend up to 30% more time collecting water. PIK ... | By Daisy Clague Read more ... |
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UK’s Labour promises “solidarity” with poorer nations on climate – but no new cash - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jun 27) |
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Jun 27 · Labour’s shadow foreign minister says cost-of-living crisis means some climate finance must come from outside rich governments’ budgets The Labour Party's shadow prime minister Keir Starmer (left), foreign secretary David Lammy (centre) and finance minister Rachel Reeves (right) A Labour Party government in the UK would show “full solidarity and partnership” with developing countries wanting to take climate action, shadow foreign secretary David Lammy said this week ahead of a July 4 general election. Opinion polls predict that voters are set to back the left-wing Labour Party over the incumbent Conservative government by a significant ... | By Daisy Clague and Joe Lo Read more ... |
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New European Parliament must act on climate change as a systemic threat - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jun 26) |
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Jun 26 · Comment: The recent European election sets a trajectory for policymakers to shy away from the climate agenda rather than giving it the urgent boost needed A thousand climate activists gathered in front of Deutz station to protest and march for better climate policy ahead of the Europa election 2024 in Cologne, Germany, on May 31, 2024. (Photo: Ying Tang/NurPhoto/via Reuters) Mikael Allan Mikaelsson is a policy fellow at Stockholm Environment Institute. Johan Munck af Rosenschöld, is group manager and senior research scientist at Syke (Finnish Environment Institute). Europe’s first comprehensive climate risk assessment, published in May, sent a clear and unequivocal ... | By Mikael Allan Mikaelsson and Johan Munck af Rosenschöld Read more ... |
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IEA calls for next national climate plans to target coal phase-down - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jun 25) |
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Jun 25 · Countries have agreed to reduce power generated from coal, but shutting down plants is an economic and social challenge, especially in emerging economies IEA head Fatih Birol speaks at the Battersea power station shopping centre Governments should promise in their next round of climate plans, due by early next year, not to build any new coal-fired power stations and to shut down existing ones early, the head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) has said. Speaking on Monday at an old London coal power plant-turned-shopping centre, IEA head Fatih Birol said he would be “very happy” to see new NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) that ... | By Joe Lo Read more ... |
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Lessons from trade tensions targeting “overcapacity” in China’s cleantech industry - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jun 18) |
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Jun 18 · Comment: Clean technology is turning into the next global climate spat. The debate over China’s dominance is highly politicized, but there are ways forward New energy vehicles (electric or hybrid) are seen at Changan Automobile's vehicle distribution center in Chongqing, China, on June 16, 2024. (Photo: Costfoto/NurPhoto via Reuters) Yao Zhe is global policy advisor for Greenpeace East Asia. “Overcapacity”, a geeky economic term, has recently become the new buzzword for international discussion around China’s solar and electric vehicle industries. It is also becoming one of the thorniest issues in China’s relations with other major economies. Notably, ... | By Yao Zhe Read more ... |
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New finance goal needed to protect climate momentum from a Trump win - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jun 17) |
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Jun 17 · Comment: The victims of the climate crisis will need support, and the energy transition will need to be funded, whoever is elected as the next US president Mohamed Adow is the founder and director of Power Shift Africa There’s no getting around it. The recently concluded climate talks in Bonn have left the goal of limiting global heating to under 1.5C in peril. The reason: rich countries are backtracking on their financial pledges. The crucial deadline for next year’s new national climate plans, known as NDCs – which are the bedrock for the collective global effort to tackle climate change – are now in danger. This is because developing countries have ... | By Mohamed Adow Read more ... |
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UN climate chief warns of “steep mountain to climb” for COP29 after Bonn blame-game - Climate Change News - Politics  (Jun 14, 2024) |
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Jun 14, 2024 · Countries expressed disappointment as key negotiations on climate finance and emissions-cutting measures made scant progress at mid-year talks UNFCCC Executive Secretary Simon Stiell speaking at the closing plenary. Photo: IISD/ENB - Kiara Worth UN climate talks in Bonn ended in finger-pointing over their failure to move forward on a key programme to reduce planet-heating emissions, with the UN climate chief warning of “a very steep mountain to climb to achieve ambitious outcomes” at COP29 in Baku. In the closing session of the two-week talks on Thursday evening, many countries expressed their disappointment and frustration at the lack of any outcome on ... | By Megan Rowling and Matteo Civillini Read more ... |
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