Paris, 4 December (Chee Yoke Ling and Meena Raman) – The Group of 77 and China are deeply frustrated over the refusal of some developed countries to engage in negotiations of the Paris agreement on the issues of importance for…
Category: Climate
Bangladesh sixth in risk list
Bangladesh ranked sixth in a new list of nations hardest hit by two decades of storms, floods and landslides that killed more than half a million people, climate analysts reported, warning of more frequent disasters if Earth’s overheating cannot be…
Group of-77, China detail on moving climate negotiations forward
Paris, 3 December (Chee Yoke Ling and Hilary Chiew) – The Group of 77 and China made a detailed proposal on moving forward the negotiations for the Paris agreement at a stocktake session of the Contact Group of the Ad…
Chennai Airport runway, ‘built on river is doomed to suffer’
If the runway of a city’s airport is built over a dry river, there is that once-in-a-lifetime possibility of the river running over its banks and flooding the airport. On Tuesday, December 1, that’s exactly what happened when the otherwise…
Delegates under pressure as negotiations reach frenzy mode
Paris, 2 December (Meena Raman and T. Ajit) — Negotiations to reach a deal on the Paris agreement is in a frenzy mode, as delegates are under intense pressure to conclude their work by the evening of Thursday, 3 December,…
The Copenhagen-Paris Express
by Lars Christian Lilleholt COPENHAGEN – In 2009, when Copenhagen hosted the United Nations Climate Change Conference, I was there as a member of parliament, and I had the feeling that I was witnessing a world-changing event. For years, negotiators…
Pragmatism in Climate Policy
by Oliver Geden BERLIN – The diplomatic effort to forge an international agreement to mitigate climate change is undergoing a fundamental shift. The top-down approach that has guided the effort since 1992 is slowly being replaced by a bottom-up model.…
The arc of climate justice
by Sherry Rehman Islamabad – It is a painful irony of climate change that those least responsible for the problem are often the most exposed to its ravages. And if any country can claim to be the victim of this…
The long march to Paris
by Rana Kapoor,Johan Rockström,Khalifa Ababacar Sall,Feike Sijbesma PARIS – Over the next few weeks, Paris will once again dominate global headlines. This time, however, the news is likely to be positive, as world leaders come together to forge a meaningful…
COP21 climate negotiations update
Paris, 30 November (TWN) ‘” Incoming French President of the 21st meeting of the Conference of the Parties (COP 21) to the United Nations FrameworkConvention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), Laurent Fabius, assured Parties that theprocess of reaching an agreement in…
From Worldwatch Institute at UN Climate Change Negotiations
Washington, D.C – Worldwatch will contribute to the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) starting in Paris, France today by advising governmental delegations, participating in high-level consultations,…
Hollande calls for “universal, differentiated and binding” agreement
Paris 1 Dec, (Hilary Chiew) – French President Francoise Hollande said the agreement from the Paris climate talks can be universal, differentiated and binding where developed countries must assume their historical responsibility as they are the ones that for years…
4 top climate scientists challenge COP21 climate confce
Paris, France — Four of the world’s leading climate scientists, Dr. James Hansen, Dr. Tom Wigley, Dr. Ken Caldeira and Dr. Kerry Emanuel, will issue a stark challenge to world leaders and environmental campaigners attending the COP21 climate summit at…
Worldwatch newsfeed direct from Paris
Worldwatch will contribute to the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties (COP21) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) starting in Paris, France today by advising governmental delegations, participating in high-level consultations, and speaking at…
Germany ready to help Bangladesh
German Ambassador in Dhaka Thomas Prinz has said his country is ready to help Bangladesh prepare for climate change impacts.The German embassy in Dhaka issued a statement on Monday when world leaders met in Paris to discuss climate change.“Due to…
Key issues at COP 21 on the Paris Agreement
30 Nov, Paris (Meena Raman) – The Paris agreement is expected to be the most important outcome of the 21st meeting of the Conference of Parties (COP 21) to the UNFCCC, to be held from November 30 to December 11.…
Rockey road from Durban to Paris
30 Nov, Paris (TWN) — Around 7 am on a Sunday, 11 December 2011, the seventeenth session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 17) concluded in Durban, South Africa, with the establishment of a new subsidiary body to the…
Global travel, tourism leaders hopeful of positive COP21 outcome
On the eve of the United Nations Climate Change Conference, COP 21, taking place in Paris next week, the members of the Global Travel Association Coalition (GTAC) reiterate the industry’s commitment to contribute to fight climate change, and express their…
EU envoys visit climate change affected areas on COP-21 eve
Dhaka – On 17 and 18 November, representatives of the European Union Member States based in Dhaka and of the EU Delegation, including 5 Heads of Missions, visited areas in Satkhira District, South-West of Bangladesh, that are particularly affected by…
Climate change root cause of Syrian war: Prince Charles
Britain’s Prince Charles has pointed to the world’s failure to tackle climate change as a root cause of the civil war in Syria, terrorism and the consequent refugee crisis engulfing Europe. The heir to the British throne is due to…
147 world leaders to attend Paris climate summit
Paris – A total 147 heads of state and government so far will attend a climate summit due to start in Paris next week, the French government said Tuesday. The November 30-December 11 conference is tasked with signing the first-ever…
Nearly 100 killed in India Tamil Naidu rain-induced flood
New Delhi – Incessant rains continued to disrupt normal life in Chennai and across Tamil Nadu on Monday, with the death toll rising to 95. Many areas in Chennai have been inundated, road traffic has been severely hit and schools…
Pressuring the poachers
by Michael Meyer Nairobi – At one of Hanoi’s priciest restaurants, a group of Vietnamese businessmen meet their new American partners to celebrate their latest venture. “A toast!” someone exclaims. They raise their glasses, filled with the finest scotch, which…
Fifty years of climate dithering
by Stefan Rahmstorf Sydney – In November 1965, US President Lyndon B. Johnson was presented with the first-ever government report warning of the dangers that could result from burning large amounts of fossil fuels. Fifty years is a long time…
Cloud over climate summit: Sarkozy wants it postponed
Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy will demand the upcoming UN climate talks in Paris be postponed by several months following a wave of deadly attacks on the city, his party sources said, news agency AFP reported on Sunday. The French…
People’s climate march in Dhaka Nov 28
In solidarity with the global climate march a people’s climate march will be organised in Dhaka on 28 November. The National Committee for Saving the Sundarbans, NCSS, Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon, BAPA, Water Keepers Alliance, WKA and AVAAZ Bangladesh, have jointly…
Developing countries caution against new concepts not in UNFCCC
Bonn (Indrajit Bose and Chee Yoke Ling) — During the last climate talks in Bonn, developing countries cautioned against the introduction of new terms and concepts in the draft agreement to enhance climate actions expected to be adopted in Paris…
Addressing climate change vulnerabilities
Climate experts at a workshop in Dhaka on Tuesday have stressed the need for adopting right policies and adaptation measures to address the vulnerabilities emerging due to climate change. They said Bangladesh is highly vulnerable to climate change due to…
Contentious negotiations over farmers’ rights resolution
Geneva (Sangeeta Shashikant) — Negotiations on the Farmers’ Rights resolution became particularly contentious during the 6th meeting of the Governing Body of the International Treaty for Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) when certain delegations such as Australia,…
Big polluters, pay up
by Stephen Leonard Jakarta – Earlier this year in Myanmar, torrential rain caused mudslides that wiped out hundreds of houses and caused large-scale crop destruction. More than 1.3 million people were affected, and over 100 died. In Vietnam, the same…