A Diplomatic step towards peace: Sharm El-Sheikh Summit
The Gaza summit held on 13 October in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, is being hailed as a significant diplomatic milestone for securing peace in the region....
As U.N. delegates gather in Busan, South Korea, for the fifth round of talks on a global plastics treaty, deep divisions persist, raising doubts about reaching a final agreement on curbing plastic pollution.
As delegates from 175 nations convene in Busan, South Korea, for the fifth round of U.N. talks aimed at securing a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution, unresolved divisions raise concerns over whether a final agreement will be reached. The meeting, which began on Monday, is expected to be the concluding session of the U.N. Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC-5). However, the previous round of discussions in Ottawa, held in April, ended without a clear resolution on capping plastic production.
The focus of this week's talks will shift towards addressing chemicals of concern and other measures, following strong opposition from petrochemical-heavy nations such as Saudi Arabia and China, who resisted proposals to target plastic production. Their objections stand in stark contrast to the positions of countries that face the harsh consequences of plastic pollution.
These ongoing disagreements mirror the tensions that have long impeded U.N. efforts to combat global warming. The most recent climate summit, COP29, ended with an agreement that many developing nations criticised as insufficient.
At the opening session in Busan, INC Chair Luis Vayas Valdivieso warned that without decisive action, the amount of plastic entering the environment annually by 2040 could nearly double compared to levels in 2022. He emphasised the urgency of addressing this "existential challenge," noting that microplastics have been detected in human organs.
In a surprising development in August, the United States expressed its support for a cap on plastic production in the treaty, aligning itself with the European Union, Kenya, Peru, and other members of the High Ambition Coalition. This move has raised expectations for progress in the negotiations.
Despite the hurdles, Inger Andersen, executive director of the U.N. Environment Programme, remains optimistic that an agreement will emerge from the talks. She highlighted the communique from the recent Group of 20 summit, where leaders called for a legally binding treaty by the end of this year.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least 69 people have died and almost 150 injured following a powerful 6.9-magnitude earthquake off the coast of Cebu City in the central Visayas region of the Philippines, officials said, making it one of the country’s deadliest disasters this year.
Authorities in California have identified the dismembered body discovered in a Tesla registered to singer D4vd as 15-year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez, who had been missing from Lake Elsinore since April 2024.
A tsunami threat was issued in Chile after a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck the Drake Passage on Friday. The epicenter was located 135 miles south of Puerto Williams on the north coast of Navarino Island.
The war in Ukraine has reached a strategic impasse, and it seems that the conflict will not be solved by military means. This creates a path toward one of two alternatives: either a “frozen” phase that can last indefinitely or a quest for a durable political regulation.
At least 44 people were killed in Mexico after days of heavy rain and flooding, the government said on 12 October.
Azerbaijan is stepping up its renewable energy ambitions with plans to develop eight new solar and wind plants by 2027, backed by $2.8 billion in investment and aimed at exceeding its 2030 climate targets ahead of schedule.
On the second day of Baku Climate Action Week (BCAW), attention centred on strengthening international cooperation, accelerating the transition to clean energy, and ensuring a fair and inclusive approach.
Super Typhoon Ragasa lashed Hong Kong with hurricane-force winds and torrential rain on Wednesday.
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