Macron and Wang Yi vow stronger trade ties and global cooperation
French President Emmanuel Macron and Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi met in Paris to discuss enhancing trade, multilateralism, and cooperation on glo...
COP29 has opened with pledges for increased climate funding from global banks and renewed calls for urgent action. Developing nations seek stronger commitments from wealthy countries to combat climate change impacts, as Indigenous leaders push for representation in future climate decisions.
BAKU, Nov 13 (Reuters) - COP29 negotiators welcomed a pledge by major development banks to lift funding to poor and middle-income countries struggling with global warming as an early boost to the two-week summit.
A group of lenders, including the World Bank, announced on Tuesday a joint goal of increasing this finance to $120 billion by 2030, a roughly 60% increase on the amount in 2023.
"I think it's a very good sign," Irish Climate Minister Eamon Ryan told Reuters on Wednesday.
"It's very helpful. But that on its own won't be enough", Ryan said, adding countries and companies must also contribute.
China's Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang said on Tuesday that Beijing has already mobilized around $24.5 billion to help developing countries address climate change.
Ryan's view was echoed by Patrick Verkooijen, CEO of the Global Center on Adaptation who welcomed the announcement as "a shot in the arm for the climate finance discussion."
"But there is so much more work ahead," he added.
The chief aim of the conference in Azerbaijan is to secure a wide-ranging international climate financing agreement that ensures up to trillions of dollars for climate projects.
Developing countries are hoping for big commitments from rich, industrialized nations that are the biggest historical contributors to global warming, and some of which are also huge producers of fossil fuels.
"Developed countries have not only neglected their historical duty to reduce emissions, they are doubling down on fossil-fuel-driven growth," said climate activist Harjeet Singh.
Wealthy countries pledged in 2009 to contribute $100 billion a year to help developing nations transition to clean energy and adapt to the conditions of a warming world.
But those payments were only fully met in 2022 and the pledge expires this year.
'GET IT DONE'
Hopes for a strong deal have been dimmed by Donald Trump's U.S. election win. The President-elect has promised to again withdraw the U.S. from international climate cooperation.
The United States is already the world's largest oil and gas producer and Trump has vowed to maximize output.
Officials representing President Joe Biden's outgoing administration at COP29 have said China and the European Union may need to pick up the slack if Washington cedes leadership.
"We have a clear choice between a safer, cleaner, fairer future and a dirtier, more dangerous, and more expensive one. We know what to do. Let's get to work. Let's get it done," U.S. climate envoy John Podesta told the conference.
With 2024 on track to be the hottest year on record, scientists say global warming and its impacts are unfolding faster than expected.
Climate-fuelled wildfires forced evacuations in California and triggered air quality warnings in New York. In Spain, survivors are coming to terms with the worst floods in the country's modern history.
Indigenous leaders from Brazil, Australia, the Pacific and Eastern Europe said on Wednesday they intend to work together to ensure indigenous people have a say in future climate decisions.
The group said it was pushing for an indigenous co-presidency at next year’s COP, which is meant to be held in Brazil’s Amazon, as well as at future COP conferences.
Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama told the conference he was concerned that the international process to address global warming, now decades old, was not moving swiftly enough.
"Life goes on with its old habits, and our speeches, filled with good words about fighting climate change, change nothing," Rama said.
The European Commission is set to propose allowing carbon credits from other countries to count towards the EU’s 2040 climate target, according to a leaked internal document.
A magnitude 5.5 earthquake struck off Japan’s Tokara Islands on Wednesday, with no tsunami warning issued but residents advised to remain vigilant.
The United States has rescinded licensing restrictions on ethane exports to China, allowing shipments to resume after a temporary halt and signalling progress in efforts to ease recent trade tensions.
Italy plans to grant approximately 500,000 work visas to non-EU nationals between 2026 and 2028, as announced in a cabinet statement. The initiative aims to address labor shortages by expanding legal immigration pathways
A malfunction in the radar transmission system at the Area Control Center in Milan suspended more than 300 flights at the weekend, across northwest Italy since Saturday evening according to Italy's air traffic controller Enav (National Agency for Flight Assistance).
Australia has pledged $283 million to support a green hydrogen project led by explosives manufacturer Orica, aiming to boost renewable energy production and reduce industrial emissions.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Friday proposed creating a low-emissions corridor and regional climate initiatives under the Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), warning that climate change is severely affecting food security and livelihoods across the region.
Australian researchers have pioneered a low-cost and scalable plasma-based method to produce ammonia gas directly from air, offering a green alternative to the traditional fossil fuel-dependent Haber-Bosch process.
The world’s largest climate fund approved a record volume of climate finance for developing countries, scaling up its efforts in response to growing global demand for climate finance.
A second person has died in a wildfire in Türkiye as the country battles a seventh day of blazes across several regions. The latest death is a firefighter who was tackling the flames in western İzmir province on Tuesday.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment