When more than two dozen world leaders deliver remarks at the United Nations' annual climate conference on Wednesday, many are likely to detail their nations' firsthand experience with the catastrophic weather that has come with climate change. That could include Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, whose nation has seen deadly flooding this year from monsoon rains that scientists say have become heavier with climate change. Just two years ago, more than 1,700 people died in widespread flooding. Pakistan has also suffered from dangerous heat, with thousands of people hospitalised with heatstroke this spring as temperatures soared to 47 degrees Celsius. Also on the list of speakers Wednesday is Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Edward Davis. Like many other countries in the Global South, the Bahamas has piled up debt from warming-connected weather disasters it did little to cause, including Hurricanes Dorian in 2019 and Matthew in 2016. Leaders have been seeking help and money from the
The wavering global commitment is particularly worrying because the coming 12 months will be vital for setting the next decade of climate policies
Nearly 200 nations have gathered at the annual UN climate summit in Baku, focused this year on raising hundreds of billions of dollars to fund a global transition to cleaner energy sources
But Global North is sidestepping their responsibilities and deflecting the core issue of historical pollution, participants said
This agreement enables climate action by increasing demand for carbon credits and ensures that the international carbon market operates with integrity under UN supervision
Issuing a stark warning on the massive economic toll of climate change, UN Climate Change chief Simon Stiell on Tuesday said its worsening impacts will put inflation on steroids and urged nations to take more decisive action. Stiell, the executive secretary of the United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), also criticised the tendency to sideline climate action in national policies, calling it a recipe for disaster. Addressing the World Leaders Climate Action Summit at the annual UN Climate Change conference -- COP29 here, he characterised the climate crisis as an economy-killer with impacts already draining up to 5 per cent of GDP in various countries. Highlighting the urgent need for bold policies, Stiell underscored how climate impacts have evolved from a distant concern to an immediate financial threat, and emphasised that worsening climate events are no longer just a future generations' issue. The climate crisis is a cost-of-living crisis, he said, pointing to how
Azerbaijan, the host of this year's UN climate conference, called on all countries on Monday to urgently resolve outstanding issues to agree on a new climate finance goal to help developing nations combat and adapt to climate change. Delivering his remarks at the opening ceremony of the UN summit, COP29 President Mukhtar Babayev said current policies are leading the world towards 3 degrees Celsius of warming, which would be catastrophic for billions of people. He said that the COP29 Presidency's top priority is to find consensus on a fair and ambitious New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG), or new climate finance goal, to replace the previous goal of USD 100 billion per year agreed in 2009. Babayev emphasized that the NCQG must be effective and adequate to address the scale and urgency of the problem. Negotiations have seen some progress but a lot of work is left, with just 12 days to land the deal. Countries now urgently need to finalise the elements, resolve differences on ...
Trump has promised to again remove the United States, the world's biggest historic greenhouse gas emitter, from international climate cooperation
Afghanistan's first delegation at United Nations climate talks since the Taliban's return to power in 2021 has arrived in Baku, Azerbaijan on Monday in a bid to garner support for climate action in the climate-vulnerable nation. Matuil Haq Khalis, who's head of the country's environment protection agency, told The Associated Press that Afghanistan is among the worst affected nations by climate change and needs the world's support to deal with extreme weather like erratic rainfall, prolonged droughts and flash floods. All the countries must join hands and tackle the problem of climate change, said Khalis, speaking through a translator. Afghanistan is particularly vulnerable to climate change, with a recent assessment by climate experts ranking it the sixth most climate vulnerable country in the world. In March this year, northern Afghanistan was hit by heavy rains resulting in flash floods, killing over 300 people. Climate scientists have found that extreme rainfall has gotten 25 pe
India's strong data system can also speak for other nations who have less means and capabilities - financial or intellectual to record them, understand macroeconomic, monetary and financial aspects
India's approach at COP29 focuses on accountability, green credit, fair financing, and incremental goals for its developing economy, multiple delegates said on Monday as the latest edition of the world's most important meeting on climate change kickstarted here. The 29th session of the climate change conference of parties (COP29) is being held from November 11-22 in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. While moderate in terms of attendance and scale, India's primary priorities at the conference are expected to include holding developed nations accountable for climate finance, enhancing resilience for vulnerable communities, and advancing an equitable energy transition, a delegate said. Another focus area for India would be to promote green credit and the LiFe (Lifestyle for Environment) philosophy towards sustainability, another delegate said. A member of the delegation said that India's COP29 strategy is expected to challenge developed nations on the gaps in fulfilling climate pledges
Setting ambitious objectives for the COP29 climate summit here, UN Climate Change Executive Secretary Simon Stiell on Monday emphasised the need for an updated global climate finance target and robust action on carbon markets. Stiell's remarks came during the opening of the 29th session of the climate change conference of parties (COP29) in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. India's key priorities at the conference are likely to focus on ensuring accountability for developed nations on climate finance, strengthening resilience for vulnerable communities, and achieving an equitable energy transition, experts anticipate. Stiell delivered a rallying call to global leaders, emphasising the urgency of coordinated action on climate change. Stiell's address highlighted that despite incremental progress, COP remains the sole forum for addressing the escalating climate crisis globally. "This UNFCCC process is the only place we have to address the rampant climate crisis, and to credibly hold
A complex international two-week-long game of climate change poker is convening. The stakes? Just the fate of an ever-warming world. Curbing and coping with climate change's worsening heat, floods, droughts and storms will cost trillions of dollars and poor nations just don't have it, numerous reports and experts calculate. As United Nations climate negotiations started Monday in Baku, Azerbaijan, the chief issue is who must ante up to help poor nations and especially how much. The numbers are enormous. The floor in negotiations is the $100 billion a year that poor nations based on a categorization made in the 1990s now get as part of a 2009 agreement that was barely met. Several experts and poorer nations say the need is $1 trillion a year or more. It's a game with high stakes, said Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare, a physicist. Right now the fate of the planet depends very much on what we're able to pull off in the next five or 10 years. But this year's talks, known as COP29, wo
Indian minister likely to skip summit, which begins today; Trump's shadow looms over climate finance commitments
As world leaders and climate negotiators converge on Baku for COP29, beginning Monday, India is set to bring renewed focus to the urgent need for climate finance, accountability, and protection for vulnerable communities. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not attend the conference, and Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav may also be absent, with Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest, and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh leading the 19-member delegation instead. India's national statement is scheduled for November 18-19. India's key priorities at the conference are likely to focus on ensuring accountability of developed nations on climate finance, strengthening resilience for vulnerable communities, and achieving an equitable energy transition, experts anticipate. Dr. Arunabha Ghosh, CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), emphasised that COP29 must go beyond promises, pushing developed nations to accelerate their paths to net zero and meet their ...
For the second year in a row, Earth will almost certainly be the hottest it's ever been. And for the first time, the globe this year reached more than 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming compared to the pre-industrial average, the European climate agency Copernicus said Thursday. It's this relentless nature of the warming that I think is worrying, said Carlo Buontempo, director of Copernicus. Buontempo said the data clearly shows the planet would not see such a long sequence of record-breaking temperatures without the constant increase of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere driving global warming. He cited other factors that contribute to exceptionally warm years like last year and this one. They include El Nino the temporary warming of parts of the Pacific that changes weather worldwide as well as volcanic eruptions that spew water vapour into the air and variations in energy from the sun. But he and other scientists say the long-term increase in temperatures beyond fluctuations like E
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is unlikely to attend the UN climate conference in Azerbaijan that Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav may also miss, official sources said on Thursday. Union Minister of State for Environment, Forest and Climate Change Kirti Vardhan Singh will lead the 19-member Indian delegation and deliver India's national statement at the high-level segment on November 18-19. India will not host a pavilion at COP29, marking its first absence since the 2021 UN climate conference in Glasgow. Modi will not attend the World Leaders' Climate Action Summit at COP29, scheduled for November 12-13, an official source confirmed to PTI. Yadav is expected to skip the climate conference as he will be occupied with the November 20 assembly elections in Maharashtra where he is the BJP's in-charge. According to sources, India's key priorities for COP29 include securing an ambitious new climate finance goal that meets the needs of all developing countries and the operationalisatio
India has launched its updated biodiversity action plan with a goal to protect at least 30 percent of its terrestrial, inland water, and coastal and marine areas by 2030, in line with global biodiversity targets. The updated National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan (NBSAP), unveiled at the 16th UN Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia, outlines 23 national targets aligned with the 23 global goals set under the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (KM-GBF), which was adopted at the 15th UN Biodiversity Conference in Canada in 2022. A key goal of the KM-GBF is to protect at least 30 percent of the world's land and ocean areas by 2030. It also aims to restore degraded ecosystems, such as forests, wetlands, and rivers, to ensure they continue providing essential resources like clean water and air. India, recognised as one of the 17 megadiverse countries, became a party to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) in 1994. It harbours 7-8 percent of the world's
Global investment in combating and adapting to climate change reached nearly USD 1.5 trillion, doubling between 2018 and 2022, but it must increase at least fivefold by 2030 to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, according to a new study. The "Global Landscape of Climate Finance 2024: Insights for COP29" report, published by global think tank Climate Policy Initiative (CPI), said climate finance currently represents only 1 per cent of global GDP, far short of the required level. Emerging markets and developing economies (EMDEs) may need around 6.5 per cent of their GDP by 2030 to meet climate goals. "While global climate finance has made some strides, a much more ambitious, cohesive, and effective approach is essential to address the vast funding gap," said Barbara Buchner, CPI''s Global Managing Director. "The data from CPI's Global Landscape report leaves no doubt that investment needs to scale across all fronts -- domestically, internationally, and across sectors -- to reach o
Global efforts to protect the world's plants and animals have made slight progress and some species remain in serious decline, according to two reports released Monday at a major United Nations biodiversity summit in Colombia. A report from the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) evaluated global progress since its biodiversity report in 2020. Two years ago, 196 countries signed a historic treaty to protect biodiversity on 30% of the planet by 2030. The biodiversity summit underway in Cali, Colombia is a follow-up to the 2022 accord in Montreal, which includes 23 measures to halt and reverse nature loss. One calls for putting 30% of the planet and 30% of degraded ecosystems under protection by 2030. The UNEP report found countries have made some headway on pledges, but that expansion of the global network must accelerate over the next six years to meet the goal. The report says 17.6% of land and inland waters and 8.4% of the ocean and coastal areas globally are within ...