Hilda Heine and Kevin Rudd Bonn – When Donald Trump was elected US president a year ago, some said the end of the Paris climate agreement was nigh. Yet, as the latest round of global climate talks in Bonn, Germany,…
Category: climate
Carbon pricing takes off
Catherine McKenna and Feike Sijbesma Bonn – The hurricanes that pummeled the Caribbean, Texas, and Florida this year left highways submerged, homes and businesses demolished, and lives lost. The floodwaters have since receded, but the images of upheaval remain etched…
Natural solutions to climate change
Justin Adams Oxford – In response to climate change, land is key. Today, agriculture, forestry, and other land uses account for roughly a quarter of global greenhouse-gas emissions. But adopting sustainable land management strategies could provide more than one-third of…
‘Combating climate change? Combat land degradation.’
By Stella Paul Bonn, Germany, Nov 24 (IPS) – Land restoration is not a “glamorous subject even when you give all the numbers,” admits Monique Barbut, the Executive Secretary of United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification UNCCD). But she also…
A Cop cut at COP23?
By Tharanga Yakupitiyage UN, Nov 23 (IPS) – Despite a few victories, the UN’s annual climate change conference ended without achieving its goals or injecting a sense of much needed urgency.
Wrangling on addressing ex-ante information on public finance
Penang, 23 Nov (TWN) — Developed countries’ reluctance to address the modalities for the ex-ante information on public financial resources to be provided to developing countries referred to in Article 9.5 of the Paris Agreement (PA) delayed the closing of…
Conclusions adopted to advance Paris Deal work programme
Kathmandu, 22 Nov (Prerna Bomzan and Meena Raman) – The meeting of UNFCCC’s Ad Hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) eventually closed after 1 am, early morning of 18 Nov, with the adoption of conclusions to advance the…
Developing nations welcome COP23 decisions, worry over finance
Kuala Lumpur, 21 Nov (Jade Chiang and Meena Raman) – Despite the delayed ending of the climate talks at Bonn by nearly a day, developing countries, in welcoming some key decisions adopted at COP 23, also emphatically registered their unhappiness…
Climate goal in peril as science points to 3 degree warming
Saleem Shaikh Bonn – As developing countries push the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement, scientists and leaders at the UN-led climate talks underway in Germany say the world will fail to meet the key goal of limiting global average…
Sounding the alarm on biodiversity loss
Robert Watson Norwich – With the United Nations’ climate change conference underway in Bonn, Germany, rising global temperatures are once again at the top of the world’s agenda. But why care about the increase in temperature, if not because of…
UN climate envoys agree to 2018 stocktake of planet
UN negotiators agreed at climate talks Saturday to take stock in 2018 of country efforts to cut fossil fuel emissions as part of a pact — rejected only by Washington — to limit global warming. Closing two weeks of talks…
Climate change: The world’s poorest will judge us by action
By Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu Bonn, Nov 16(IPS) – Two years ago, 197 parties came together in Paris and agreed to the historical Paris Framework. Since that December 2015, we all have seen countless pictures of utterly devastating floods, wildfires, hurricanes…
COP23 parties agree on way forward on pre-2020 action
Bonn, 16 Nov (Meena Raman)- Parties to the UNFCCC have arrived on a way forward on pre-2020 climate action. In a closed-door informal consultation held on the morning of 15 Nov, COP22 Presidency representative Ambassador Aziz Mekouar from Morocco presented…
Climate change is already upon us & will only worsen
By António Guterres Bonn, Nov 15 (IPS) – It is fitting that this year’s conference of parties (on climate change, COP 23) is led by Fiji, a nation on the frontlines.
Pacific Islands call to limit oil, gas, coal to achieve Paris Goals
Bonn, Germany Nov 15 – High-level officials from Pacific Islands have called for a reining in of fossil fuel production in order to stay within the climate limits agreed to in Paris. They were joined in their call by civil…
Heads of state arrive as COP23 parties iron out differences
Bonn, 15 Nov (TWN)- With three days left for the climate talks to conclude in Bonn, Germany, Parties are hard at work to iron out the remaining differences, as Heads of States and Government have arrived for the high-level segment…
Climate change poses threat to food security in Pacific islands
By Razeena Raheem ROME, Nov 12 (IPS) – A high-level meeting of political leaders -– hosted by the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) -– sounded an ominous warning: that climate change poses an “alarming threat to food systems and food…
For ‘equity’ in global stocktake under Paris Deal
Bonn, 14 Nov — On 11 Nov, Parties to the UNFCCC’s Ad hoc Working Group on the Paris Agreement (APA) had an interesting exchange on how equity can be operationalized in the global stocktake (GST) that will take place in…
COP23: Nations concerned at lack of progress on finance issues
Bonn, 13 Nov (Prerna Bomzan) – Developing countries, led by the Group of 77 and China, expressed concerns over the lack of progress on all finance related issues due to the lack of political will by developed countries, adding that…
US cities, states defy Trump, still back Paris climate deal
Bonn, Germany (AP) — A group of U.S. states, cities, businesses and universities said Saturday they are still committed to curbing global warming even as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration is walking away from the Paris climate accord.
People, planet and the climate talks: Poles apart?
By: Tetet Nera-Lauron November 10, Bonn – The 23rd Conference of Parties (COP 23) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is happening from November 6-17, 2017 in Germany, with the Government of Fiji presiding. The 2-week…
Sounding the alarm on biodiversity loss
Robert Watson Norwich – With the United Nations’ climate change conference underway in Bonn, Germany, rising global temperatures are once again at the top of the world’s agenda. But why care about the increase in temperature, if not because of…
Celebrate 20th year of Kyoto Protocol – developing nations
Bonn, 10 Nov (Jade Chiang) – The climate talks in Bonn could be a historic moment if Parties are able to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol (KP) by ensuring the entry into force of…
Fiji steps forward to unite the world for climate action
It’s been a year of catastrophic climate events. Rains of biblical proportions across South Asia brought floods that affected more than 41 million people and killed at least 1,200. Record-breaking hurricanes claimed lives and destroyed infrastructure across several island states…
Fighting the creeping catastrophe of climate change
By Lourdes Tibig and Denise Margaret Matias Bonn, Germany, Nov 8 (IPS) – November 8 marks the fourth anniversary of Haiyan’s landfall in the Philippines. The super typhoon was the strongest ever to make landfall.
Will policymakers listen to climate change science this time?
By Busani Bafana Bremerhaven, Germany (IPS) – Climate change is altering the ecosystem of our oceans, a big carbon sink and prime source of protein from fish. This is old news.
Developed countries oppose pre-2020 actions in COP23 agenda
Bonn, 9 Nov (Meena Raman) — Developed countries opposed the inclusion of an agenda item dealing with implementing pre-2020 actions onto the agenda of the 23rd meeting of the Conference of Parties to the UNFCCC (COP 23) taking place in…
When climate leaders protect dirty investments
Nathalie Bernasconi – Osterwalder , Jorg Haas In 2016, global spending on oil and gas projects was more than double the total spent on renewables. That imbalance can be addressed only by restructuring the mechanisms, particularly existing trade treaties, that govern…
Mild tremor shakes Dhaka, rest of Bangladesh
Dhaka, Nov 8 – A mild tremor jolted different parts of the country including the capital Dhaka on Wednesday morning.
La Nina rains, winter to reduce global supply of natural rubber
Bangkok, Thailand – 8 November – The International Rubber Consortium (IRCo) — comprising representatives from Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia — has forecast a reduction in the supply of natural rubber (NR) for the global market amidst strong sentiments for its…