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☆ India election: Modi’s Muslim remarks spark ‘hate speech’ accusations as mammoth vote deepens divides
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-22 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

CNN —India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been accused of delivering Islamophobic remarks during an election rally Sunday, triggering widespread anger from prominent Muslims and members of the opposition. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking during a rally in Sydney, Australia, on May 23, 2023. Kalpit Bhachech/Getty Images Narendra Modi, then BJP secretary is welcomed at Ahmedabad Railway Station by the party's followers on January 31, 1992. Kalpit Bhachech/Dipam Bhachech/Getty Images Narendra Modi pictured in India on January 23, 1998. Brent Lewin/Bloomberg/Getty Images India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2023.

Persons: CNN —, Narendra Modi, Islamophobic, Modi’s, Modi, ”, ” Modi, Matthew Abbott, Hiraben, Damodardas, Dipam Bhachech, Lal Krishna Advani, Subhas Chandra Bose, Kalpit Bhachech, Kalpit, Negi Yasbant, Amit Dave, Ajit Solanki, Kevin Frayer, Saurabh Das, AP Modi, Manish Swarup, Lucas Jackson, Barack Obama, Adrien Helou, Reuters Modi, Adnan Abidi, Stringer, Mark Zuckerberg, David Paul Morris, Marco Longari, Angela Merkel, Tobias Schwarz, Emmanuel Macron, Charles Platiau, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, India's, Jair Bolsonaro, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Amit Shah, Money Sharma, Boris Johnson, Phil Noble, Anthony Albanese, Brent Lewin, Pedro Ugarte, Joe Biden, Doug Mills, Paul Mashatile, Jacoline, Imtiyaz Khan, Amr Alfiky, Rana Ayyub, Asaduddin Owaisi, “ Modi, Mallikarjun Kharge Organizations: CNN, CNN — India’s, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Indian National Congress, of India, India's, New York Times, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Getty, Modi, Hospital, Narendra, India Today, AP, Madison, Garden, Reuters, Washington , D.C, French National Space Agency, of Yoga, Meta, Facebook, Bloomberg, European, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kyodo, British, Summit, Qudos Bank, White, Anadolu Agency, Anadolu, United, United Arab Emirates, Sangh, Hindu, “, Hate Locations: Rajasthan, Sydney, Australia, Gujarat, India, Ahmedabad, Ahmadabad, Varanasi, New Delhi, United States, Washington, Washington ,, Toulouse, France, Xian, AFP, Menlo Park , California, U.S, Pretoria, South Africa, China, Berlin, Paris, Rashtrapati, Russian, Brasilia, Glasgow, Red, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, Abu Dhabi, United Arab, BJP, “

☆ In India’s 2024 election, BJP’s main opposition appears increasingly weak in face of Modi juggernaut
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-20 | by ( Helen Regan | Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +21 min

Supporters of India's opposition party, Indian National Congress, during an election rally in Puducherry on April 15, 2024 R. Satish Babu/AFP/Getty ImagesDemocracy under threat? Dipam Bhachech/Hulton Archive/Getty Images Modi worked his way through the ranks of the BJP, establishing himself as a respected politician. Tobias Schwarz/AFP/Getty Images Modi hugs French President Emmanuel Macron after a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, on June 3, 2017. Brent Lewin/Bloomberg/Getty Images India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2023. Pedro Ugarte/AFP/Getty Images Modi offers a toast during a State Dinner with President Joe Biden at the White House in Washington, on June 22, 2023.

Persons: ”, Narendra Modi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Indira Gandhi, Gandhi, ” Hazari Lal Rajput, Satish Babu, Modi, Modi’s, Matthew Abbott, Hiraben, Damodardas, Dipam Bhachech, Lal Krishna Advani, Subhas Chandra Bose, Kalpit Bhachech, Kalpit, Negi Yasbant, Amit Dave, Ajit Solanki, Kevin Frayer, Saurabh Das, AP Modi, Manish Swarup, Lucas Jackson, Barack Obama, Adrien Helou, Reuters Modi, Adnan Abidi, Stringer, Mark Zuckerberg, David Paul Morris, Marco Longari, Angela Merkel, Tobias Schwarz, Emmanuel Macron, Charles Platiau, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, India's, Jair Bolsonaro, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Amit Shah, Money Sharma, Boris Johnson, Phil Noble, Anthony Albanese, Brent Lewin, Pedro Ugarte, Joe Biden, Doug Mills, Paul Mashatile, Jacoline, Imtiyaz Khan, Amr Alfiky, Arati Jerath, “, it’s, Rahul Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira, India’s, Jawaharlal Nehru, gunning, ” Modi, shouldn’t, Mohammad Irfan, —, Arvind Kejriwal, Altaf Qadri, Kejriwal, Atishi, you’re, Jerath, Gandhi ‘, ’ Modi, Christophe Jaffrelot, CNN Modi, Rasheed Kidwai, Rahul, Diptendu Dutta, Mamata Banerjee, Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin, ” Kidwai, ” Jerath Organizations: CNN, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, Indian National Congress, Getty, Democracy, Modi’s BJP, Pew, New York Times, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Modi, Hospital, Narendra, India Today, AP, India's, Madison, Garden, Reuters, Washington , D.C, French National Space Agency, of Yoga, Meta, Facebook, Bloomberg, European, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kyodo, British, Summit, Qudos Bank, White, Anadolu Agency, Anadolu, United, United Arab Emirates, Developmental Inclusive Alliance, Indian, Aadmi Party, Delhi, AAP, Aam Aadmi Party, All, Trinamool, West, All India, Congress, “, “ Democracy Locations: India, Uttar Pradesh, Ramlila, Puducherry, Modi’s, Sydney, Australia, Gujarat, Ahmedabad, Ahmadabad, Varanasi, New Delhi, United States, Washington, Washington ,, Toulouse, France, Xian, AFP, Menlo Park , California, U.S, Pretoria, South Africa, China, Berlin, Paris, Rashtrapati, Russian, Brasilia, Glasgow, Red, Ayodhya, Abu Dhabi, United Arab, INDIA, Delhi, India’s, Lok Sabha, Atishi, ”, Manipur, Siliguri, West Bengal, Tamil

☆ Narendra Modi: India’s popular but controversial leader seeking a transformative third term
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-15 | by ( Rhea Mogul | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +26 min

Varanasi and New Delhi CNN —Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi once famously made a simple election promise: “good days are coming”. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses his supporters during an election campaign rally in Pushkar on April 6, 2024. India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaking during a rally in Sydney, Australia, on May 23, 2023. Kalpit Bhachech/Getty Images Narendra Modi, then BJP secretary is welcomed at Ahmedabad Railway Station by the party's followers on January 31, 1992. Brent Lewin/Bloomberg/Getty Images India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on June 22, 2023.

Persons: Narendra Modi, Modi, Himanshu Sharma, Getty Images Modi, –, ”, Saba Naqvi, “, Vajpayee, Naqvi, Dileep Patel, John Mees, Akash Jaiswal, “ We’ve, ” Jaiswal, isn’t, Matthew Abbott, Hiraben, Damodardas, Dipam Bhachech, Lal Krishna Advani, Subhas Chandra Bose, Kalpit Bhachech, Kalpit, Negi Yasbant, Amit Dave, Ajit Solanki, Kevin Frayer, Saurabh Das, AP Modi, Manish Swarup, Lucas Jackson, Barack Obama, Adrien Helou, Reuters Modi, Adnan Abidi, Stringer, Mark Zuckerberg, David Paul Morris, Marco Longari, Angela Merkel, Tobias Schwarz, Emmanuel Macron, Charles Platiau, Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, India's, Jair Bolsonaro, Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, Amit Shah, Money Sharma, Boris Johnson, Phil Noble, Anthony Albanese, Brent Lewin, Pedro Ugarte, Joe Biden, Doug Mills, Paul Mashatile, Jacoline, Imtiyaz Khan, Amr Alfiky, Patel, India’s, Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv, Rahul Gandhi, Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, “ Narendra Modi, ” Mukhopadhyay, Mukhopadhyay, ” Modi, Keshav Baliram, “ Modi, BJP Modi, Lord Ram, ” Naqvi, Critics, Christophe Jaffrelot, Karan Thapar, ” Jaffrelot, Modi’s, it’s, —, Raj, India Narendra Modi, Kenny Hoston, Ram, ” Raniva, That’s Organizations: New Delhi CNN, Indian, Bharatiya Janata Party, BJP, India's, Getty Images, Pew, CNN, World Health Organization, New York Times, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Getty, Modi, Hospital, Narendra, India Today, Indian National Congress, AP, Madison, Garden, Reuters, Washington , D.C, French National Space Agency, of Yoga, Meta, Facebook, Bloomberg, European, Saudi Arabia's Crown, Rashtrapati Bhavan, Kyodo, British, Summit, Qudos Bank, White, Anadolu Agency, Anadolu, United, United Arab Emirates, Cambridge, today’s Congress Party, Harvard, The Times, Muslim, Australia Locations: Varanasi, New Delhi, Gujarat, Pushkar, India, “ India, United States, Brazil, “, Sydney, Australia, Ahmedabad, Ahmadabad, Washington, Washington ,, Toulouse, France, Xian, AFP, Menlo Park , California, U.S, Pretoria, South Africa, China, Berlin, Paris, Rashtrapati, Russian, Brasilia, Glasgow, Red, Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, Abu Dhabi, United Arab, Oxford, Vadnagar, Babri, Kadi, Kashmir, United Kingdom, Russia, Ukraine, Israel, Ghaziabad, Meerut, Jama

☆ Banks Made Big Climate Promises. A New Study Doubts They Work.
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-09 | by ( Eshe Nelson | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Two and half years ago, bankers and investors attended the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, an annual event normally dominated by activists and policymakers. It was considered a milestone as the financial sector agreed to put its might into tackling climate change. But a recent study, published by the European Central Bank, disputed the effectiveness of those promises. The researchers found that since 2018 the banks had reduced lending 20 percent to sectors they had targeted in their climate goals, such as oil and gas and transport. That seems like progress, but the researchers argued it was not sufficient because the decline was the same for banks that had not made the same commitment.

Persons: ” Organizations: United, Glasgow Financial Alliance, European Central Bank, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Columbia Business School, Zero Banking Alliance Locations: United Nations, Glasgow

The world's governments have agreed they want to triple renewable energy by 2030, a goal laid out at the U.N. climate summit in December. Here are the big hurdles to solar, wind and other renewable energy projects:COSTLY CREDITCentral banks in Europe and the U.S. have raised interest rates to combat inflation. Renewables have much higher up-front costs to build wind farms, solar arrays and more, and that borrowing costs money. Germany's southern region of Bavaria, for example, is known for resisting the noise and appearance of wind turbines in its scenic landscape. Installations have lagged in Bavaria and other regions despite the German government's push for more renewable energy after losing affordable Russian natural gas used to heat homes, generate electricity and power factories.

Persons: Todd Moss Organizations: U.S, Renewables, State Department, Energy, Growth Locations: Europe, Germany's, Bavaria, Ghana, U.S, Washington

And perhaps best of all, money — from selling the electricity generated by the wind turbines studding the flat green fields stretching out to the North Sea. A slice of the cash goes to the villagers themselves, with the local buy-in making this windy farming enclave near the border with Denmark a showcase for ways to push ahead with renewable energy projects. The S&P Global Clean Energy Index of shares in companies with clean energy-related businesses has fallen 26% over the past year, even as broader market indexes have surged to records. In sub-Saharan Africa, where half the population lacks access to electricity, renewable projects face even steeper challenges with financing. In Nigeria, where blackouts are an everyday event for about half of the country’s 213 million people, some 14 solar projects have stalled because the finances don’t add up.

Persons: ”, Astrid Nissen, moos, “, Mackenzie, it's, Nissen, Christian Andresen, Andresen, Orsted, Vattenfall, David Shepheard, Edu Okeke, Taiwo Organizations: U.S . Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, University College London, Solar, Energie Andresen GmbH, Energy, logjams, World Bank Locations: SPRAKEBUELL, Germany, Denmark, village's, Spain, Italy, Africa, Flensburg, Sprakebuell's, German, Danish, New Jersey, Swedish, North American, Saharan Africa, Nigeria, Katsina, Abuja

☆ Google is making a map of methane leaks for the whole world to see
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Catherine Boudreau | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Oil, gas, and coal operations are thought to account for 40% of global methane emissions from human activities. At least 155 countries have also signed the Global Methane Pledge, which calls for a 30% reduction in emissions. The pledge initially launched in 2021, but since then, methane emissions have continued to rise . To help change that trajectory, the US and Europe last year issued regulations cracking down on methane emissions from fossil fuel infrastructure. By 2027, those imports will have to meet methane emissions standards on par with Europe's.

Persons: Steve Hamburg, —, Yael Maguire, Maguire Organizations: Service, Google, Environmental Defense Fund, Business, International Energy Agency, Google Geo Locations: Agriculture, MethaneSAT, Dubai, Europe, Japan, South Korea, Hamburg

☆ Why Singapore is quickly becoming the choice location for firms to support global carbon markets
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-15 | by ( Sponsor Post | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Carbon credits continue to play an important role in the global transition towards net zero. As an innovative financing mechanism, carbon credits allow corporates to mobilize capital to support emission-reduction projects. The decision to anchor CAD Trust in Singapore stems from acknowledging that transparency and governance are rooted in its DNA. Why Singapore is a prime location for firms to support global carbon marketsSingapore has successfully attracted more than 100 carbon market and services players to establish the city-state as their home base in Southeast Asia. Singapore's expertise in carbon services and its trailblazing move implementing Southeast Asia's first carbon tax in 2019, also appealed to Calyx Global.

Persons: — Dinesh Babu, Grace Fu, Duncan van Bergen, Van Bergen, — Duncan van Bergen Organizations: Reuters, Singapore, for Nature, National University of Singapore, Data Trust, Government of, Emissions Trading Association, Singapore's, Sustainability, Meta, Trust, Insider Studios, Singapore Economic Development Board Locations: Dubai, Singapore, Government of Singapore, South Asia, Southeast Asia, Oceania, Africa, Paris, Bhutan, COP28, Asia

A look at Swift's recent travel, carbon dioxide emissions from private jets versus commercial plan and one of the most common, albeit controversial, solutions floated to address such pollution. SWIFT'S CARBON FOOTPRINTIf Swift attends the Super Bowl, she will be traveling from Tokyo, where she is on tour. Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio and many others have periodically gotten attention for their travel on private jets. All air travel creates emissions, though private jets produce much more per person. A 2023 study by the Institute for Policy Studies found that private jets emit at least 10 times more pollutants per passenger compared to commercial planes.

Persons: Taylor Swift’s, Travis Kelce, Swift, Gregory Keoleian, Keoleian, Julia Stein, “, Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Leonardo DiCaprio, ”, Jeff Colgan, Gates, didn't, Jonathan Foley, ” Foley Organizations: PHILADELPHIA, Kansas City Chiefs, Chiefs, Baltimore Ravens, Super, Center for Sustainable Systems, University of Michigan, Dassault, U.S . Energy Information Administration, University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, Brown University, Olympic Games, of Parties, Institute for Policy Studies, Associated Press, Washington Post Locations: Las Vegas, Tokyo, AP.org

☆ The US, Russia and China are in a race to dominate new-wave nuclear energy — and win global influence
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Angela Dewan | Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +12 min

Russia's floating nuclear power plant, Akademik Lomonosov, leaving the service base Rosatomflot on August 23, 2019. For some experts, nuclear energy — in all forms, large or small — has an important role to play in that transition. Globally, the construction of conventional nuclear power plants dipped following the Chernobyl meltdown in 1986. Russia has already built or designed nuclear plants — the traditional type — for China, India, Bangladesh, Turkey, Slovakia, Egypt and Iran. “It certainly dampens the excitement abroad,” said John Parsons, a senior lecturer at MIT and a financial economist focused on nuclear energy.

Persons: Akademik Lomonosov, Biden, Lomonosov, Maxim Shemetov, “ There’s, ”, Josh Freed, China —, Vladimir Putin’s, Bill Gates ’, Luo Yunfei, Kirsten Cutler, they’re, Cutler, ” Cutler, They’re, John Parsons, John Kerry, Thomas Mukoya, Way’s Freed, “, ” Parsons, Mohammed Hamdaoui, ” Hamdaoui, “ It’s Organizations: CNN, Reuters, European Union, International Energy Agency, Energy, World Nuclear, IEA, US, SMR, US Export, Import Bank, International Development Finance Corporation, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, China, Changjiang, China News Service, Nuclear Energy, US State Department, “, MIT, InfluenceMap, The State Department, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, Rystad Energy Locations: Alaska, Russian, Russia, China, European, Japan, India, South Korea, Europe, Dubai, America, Poland, North Carolina, Southeast Asia, Bangladesh, Turkey, Slovakia, Egypt, Iran, Lomonosov, Siberia, Russia’s, Washington, Bill Gates ’ TerraPower, Wyoming, Changjiang Li Autonomous County, Hainan province, United States, Oregon, Idaho, United Arab Emirates

☆ John Podesta will take over for John Kerry as top US climate diplomat
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —John Podesta, a senior White House adviser focused on clean energy and climate, will take over as US climate diplomat after John Kerry steps down this spring, according to a source familiar with the move. Podesta first came to the Biden White House in September 2022, when he was tasked with implementing the climate measures in the Inflation Reduction Act. Podesta also previously served as a top climate adviser to former President Barack Obama, where he was involved both in domestic and international climate policy. Podesta will inherit a more favorable international climate landscape than Kerry did when he took the role in 2021. And Kerry prioritized restarting international climate talks between the US and China, after China abruptly halted cooperation over other geopolitical issues.

Persons: CNN — John Podesta, John Kerry, Podesta, Hillary Clinton’s, Biden, Barack Obama, integrally, Kerry, Jeff Zients, John Podesta, ” Zients, “ John, –, ” Kerry, ”, “, “ We’ve, Biden’s, John, “ He’s, Donald Trump, “ We’re Organizations: CNN, White, Democratic, White House, State Department, Biden White House, Obama, Dubai . White, COP28 Locations: Paris, Dubai ., Glasgow, Sharm el, Dubai, China

Kerry and Xie paved the way for progress at international summits that could have otherwise stagnated. The annual U.N. climate summit was being held in Copenhagen later that year, and Kerry was eager to talk about it with Chinese officials. Stern said the deal “ricocheted around the climate world" and convinced countries that “we can actually get this done.”The importance of the deal became evident one month later. It was the relationship with China, Kerry said afterward, that helped “change the paradigm.”——-The warm feelings were short-lived. Donald Trump was elected president in 2016, and he promptly withdrew the U.S. from the Paris agreement after taking office.

Persons: John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Kerry, Xie, Mao Zedong's, Christiana Figueres, ”, Li Shuo, ” —, George W, Bush, Barack Obama's, Obama, Todd Stern, ” Stern, “, Xi Jinping, Stern, Figueres, ” Xie, —, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Xi, hadn’t, Trump, Biden, Jonathan Pershing, Nancy Pelosi, John, John Podesta, Podesta, ___ Read, Chris Megerian, Seth Borenstein Organizations: WASHINGTON, United, Communist Party, U.S, Asia Society, Greenpeace, Senate Foreign Relations, International, Trump, William, Flora Hewlett Foundation, Associated Press Locations: United Nations, Dubai, Paris, England, Vietnam, China, Copenhagen, Lima, Glasgow, Sunnylands, Beijing, Christiana, U.S, “, Lima , Peru, South, Taiwan, COVID, Egypt, California, Arab Emirates, AP.org

☆ Will leaders stay focused on the green agenda? Watch CNBC’s Sustainable Future Forum from Davos 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Cnbc.Com Staff | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CNBC's "Sustainable Future Forum" returned as a special event live from the 54th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. CNBC convened top policymakers and business leaders to evaluate the outcomes of COP28 and examine what needs to happen in 2024 to ensure pledges are upheld, and progress is made. This panel examines what needs to happen to stay on course. watch nowNavigating the Energy TransitionCOP28 climate summit reached a historic deal to transition away from fossil fuels but did the agreement go far enough? Guests on the panel included: Marco Alvera, CEO, TES Vaishali Sinha, co-founder, ReNew Alfred Stern, CEO, OMV Bold Baatar, CEO, Rio Tinto Copper Henrik Andersen, CEO, Vestas

Persons: Badr Jafar, Daniel F, Feldman, John Kerry, Biden Rachel Kyte, Sanda Ojiambo, Tania Bryer, Kofi Annan, Marco Alvera, TES Vaishali Sinha, Alfred Stern, OMV, Rio Tinto Copper Henrik Andersen, Vestas Organizations: Economic, CNBC, Crescent Petroleum, Business, Philanthropy, Conference of, UN, Partner, Staff, Initiative, Energy, TES Vaishali, Rio Tinto Copper Locations: Davos, Switzerland, Dubai, Covington, Rio

☆ John Kerry, the US climate envoy, to leave the Biden administration
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON (AP) — John Kerry, the U.S. special envoy on climate, is stepping down from the Biden administration in the coming weeks, according to two people familiar with his plans. Kerry, a longtime senator and secretary of state, was tapped shortly after Joe Biden's November 2020 election to take on the new role created specifically to fight climate change on behalf of the administration on the global stage. "John Kerry's tireless work to deliver global progress on the climate crisis has been heroic," former Vice President Al Gore, who has focused primarily on climate in his post-public office life, said in a statement Saturday. While his gravitas has made him a central climate figure around the world, Kerry also has strong critics who argue America's climate policies don't amount to leadership in fighting global warming. The Inflation Reduction Act, the largest climate law in U.S. history, is pumping billions of dollars into renewable energies.

Persons: — John Kerry, Biden, Joe Biden's, Axios, Kerry, Obama, Han Zheng, John Kerry's, Al Gore Organizations: WASHINGTON, U.S, Senate Foreign Relations, Massachusetts, Senate, Democratic Locations: Kerry, Paris, Beijing, Pacific, United States, COP27, Egypt, U.S

☆ John Kerry to step down as US climate envoy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —US climate envoy John Kerry plans to step down from his post by this spring, a source close to Kerry confirmed to CNN. Kerry is leaving the position after three years at the helm of US climate diplomacy under the Biden administration. Kerry specifically prioritized restarting international climate talks between the US and China, and was key in negotiating the November Sunnylands agreement, a wide-ranging climate agreement between the two countries before COP28. And in 2019, Kerry co-founded a bipartisan initiative of world leaders and celebrities to combat the climate crisis called World War Zero. In 2009, when Biden became vice president, Kerry took over his role as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

Persons: John Kerry, Kerry, Biden, Axios, Joe Biden, Michael Dukakis, George W, Bush, Barack Obama Organizations: CNN, Economic, Munich, Conference, Democratic, Biden, White, Senate, Gov, Senate Foreign Relations, Navy, Silver Star, Star Locations: Dubai, Kerry, China, Paris, Massachusetts, Vietnam

☆ John Kerry Bows Out as U.S. Climate Envoy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-13 | by ( Lisa Friedman | More About Lisa Friedman | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

John Kerry, President Biden’s special envoy for climate, plans to step down from the Biden administration by spring, according to two people familiar with his plans. Mr. Kerry, 80, has served as the president’s top diplomat on climate change since early 2021, working to cajole governments around the world to aggressively cut their planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. He led the U.S. negotiating team through three United Nations climate summits, reasserting American leadership after the country withdrew from the Paris climate agreement during the Trump administration. Mr. Kerry championed cooperation on global warming between the United States and China, the world’s two largest polluters, during times of tension.

Persons: John Kerry, Biden’s, Biden, Kerry, Trump Organizations: U.S Locations: Nations, Paris, United States, China

☆ Tackling Climate Change in the Birthplace of Oil
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Manuela Andreoni | More About Manuela Andreoni | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

For the second year in a row, the United Nations climate summit known as COP will take place in a petrostate. COP29 will be in Baku, Azerbaijan, and overseen by Mukhtar Babayev, who worked for more than two decades at Socar, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company. There’s a precedent: Last year’s climate summit was controversially hosted by the United Arab Emirates and led by Sultan Al Jaber, who also runs the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company. It remains to be seen whether Babayev, a former low-ranking executive who is now Azerbaijan’s environment minister, will have the same impact. But there is also a poignant historical resonance to COP29: By some measures, Azerbaijan is where the modern oil industry began.

Persons: Mukhtar Babayev, There’s, Sultan Al Jaber, Al Jaber’s, COP28 Organizations: United Arab, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Company Locations: United Nations, Baku, Azerbaijan, Socar, Azerbaijan’s, United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi

☆ One country dominated clean energy growth this year, and it isn't the US, UK, or Germany. It's China, by a landslide.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-27 | by ( Associated Press | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +11 min

In the United States, California continues to have the most solar energy, followed by Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Arizona. China was one of the few growing markets this year for wind, the Global Wind Energy Council said. Faster permitting and other improvements in key markets such as Germany and India also helped add more wind energy. The top three markets this year are still China, the United States, and Germany for wind energy produced on land, and China, the United Kingdom, and Germany for offshore. The analysts are predicting that the global industry will rebound next year and make nearly 12% more wind energy available worldwide.

Persons: Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Joshua A, Bickel, it's, Michael Taylor, IRENA, Karim Shahi, Rafiq Maqbool, Daniel Bresette, Bresette, Abigail Ross Hopper, Wood, Wood Mackenzie, Julia Nikhinson Construction, John Hensley, Seth Wenig, Hau Dinh, Evan Hartley, Paul Braun, John Eichberger, Daan Walter Organizations: Service, International Energy Agency, Business, IEA, United Arab Emirates, Climate, AP, International Renewable Energy Agency, Arizona . Workers, Energy Limited's, Energy, Environmental, Energy Study Institute, Solar Energy Industries Association, Global Energy Monitor, Wind Energy, Clean Power, Workers, Atlas Public, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, Benchmark, University of Illinois, Panasonic, Toyota, Health, General Motors Co, LG Energy, Transportation Energy Institute, Rocky Mountain Institute Locations: Germany, Spain, Mohammed, Dubai, United, Bickel China, Europe, United States , California, Texas , Florida, North Carolina, Arizona, Karim, Khavda, Bhuj, India, Pakistan, Gujarat, China, Wood Mackenzie, Montauk Point , New York, Asia, United States, State, New London, Conn, United Kingdom, Hai Phong, Vietnam, Kansas, Ohio

☆ Pacific Islands lash out at COP28 presidency: ‘We weren't in the room’ when deal was announced
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-13 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Anne Rasmussen, the lead negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), told the COP28 Presidency in a closing statement: "We are a little confused about what just happened." "It seems that you gavelled the decisions, and the small island developing states were not in the room. Participants attend a presentation at the Moana Blue Pacific pavilion of Pacific islands prior to the opening ceremony of the UNFCCC COP28 Climate Conference at Expo City Dubai on November 30, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesFor Pacific Island nations, however, and many other island and low-lying coastal states vulnerable to rising sea levels, the deal falls severely short. For the Pacific Islands, climate change poses an existential threat.

Persons: Michael Runkel, Tina Stege, Anne Rasmussen, Sean Gallup, Brianna Fruean, we've, Fruean, weren't, Toeolesulusulu Cedric Schuster Organizations: Getty Images, United Arab Emirates — Representatives, Pacific, United Arab, Marshall, Alliance of Small, States, UAE, Expo City, Getty, Big Oil, Pacific Climate Warriors, CNBC, UNITED, Natural Resources, United Arab Emirates Locations: Ouvea, New Caledonia, Getty Images DUBAI, United Arab, United Arab Emirates, Pacific, Expo City Dubai, Dubai, Paris, DUBAI, EMIRATES, Samoa, States

COP28 president Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber speaks during the Transforming Food Systems in the Face of Climate Change event on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit at Dubai Expo on December 1, 2023. "We delivered world first after world first," the UAE summit presidency said in a further social media update. And we have language on fossil fuels in our final agreement." Many believed the COP28 summit could only be considered a success if it resulted in a deal to phase out all fossil fuels. COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber sparked a backlash earlier this month after he claimed there is "no science" behind calls for a phase-out of fossil fuels.

Persons: Sultan Ahmed Al Jaber, Ludovic Marin, Licypriya Kangujam, Sean Gallup, Wopke Hoekstra, Alok Sharma, Sharma, CNBC's, Simon Stiell, We're, John Kerry, Selma de Montgomery, Avinash Persaud, Mikhail Gitarskiy, Sultan al, Jaber, he'd, Al Organizations: Food Systems, Dubai Expo, Afp, Getty Images, UAE Consensus, UAE, United Arab Emirates, Getty, Russian, BBC, Abu, Abu Dhabi National Oil Co Locations: Dubai, UAE, United Arab, United Arab Emirates, Pacific, Caribbean, Latin America, Africa, Asia, North America, Paris, United States, China, Denmark, Barbados, Moscow, Abu Dhabi

☆ Anger and frustration as COP28 draft text omits fossil fuel phaseout
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-12 | by ( Natasha Turak | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

COP28 President Sultan al-Jaber speaks to the media at the U.N. climate conference on Dec. 10, 2023 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — The draft text for a COP28 climate deal that does not include the phasing out of fossil fuels has drawn widespread criticism from major players, highlighting enduring rifts on the international summit's final day. The document, published by the United Arab Emirates' presidency of the climate summit, stressed the need to reduce emissions, but did not call for the doing away of fossil fuels altogether. Scientists say fossil fuels are the single biggest factor contributing to potentially life-threatening climate change. Many of us have called for the world to largely phase out fossil fuels, and that starts with a critical reduction this decade."

Persons: Sultan al, Jaber, Wopke Hoekstra, Hoekstra, John Kerry Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Pacific Locations: Dubai, United Arab, DUBAI, U.S, Union, Africa

☆ A ‘thirsty’ generative AI boom poses a growing problem for Big Tech
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Shaolei Ren, a researcher at the University of California, Riverside, published a study in April investigating the resources needed to run buzzy generative AI models, such as OpenAI's ChatGPT. Hundreds of millions of monthly users all submitting questions on the popular chatbot quickly illustrates just how "thirsty" AI models can be. The study's authors warned that if the growing water footprint of AI models is not sufficiently addressed, the issue could become a major roadblock to the socially responsible and sustainable use of AI in the future. For Google, meanwhile, total water consumption at its data centers and offices came in at 5.6 billion gallons in 2022, a 21% increase on the year before. watch nowIt's notable, however, that their latest water consumption figures were disclosed before the launch of their own respective ChatGPT competitors.

Persons: Shaolei Ren, Ren, Eitan Abramovich, OpenAI, Somya Joshi, Microsoft's Bing, Bard, Joshi, Paul Hanna Organizations: UNITED, EMIRATES, Tech, Microsoft, Google, University of California, Uruguay's Central Union, CNT, Afp, Getty, CNBC, Big Tech, Meta, SEI, U.S ., Stockholm Environment Institute, United, Inc, Talavera de la Reina, Bloomberg Locations: Dubai, Riverside, Montevideo, U.S, Stockholm, United Arab Emirates, Talavera de, Spain

☆ ‘It’s game on’: The world’s largest iceberg is on the move. Scientists explain why it matters
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-06 | by ( Sam Meredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

"It's just astonishingly big and it's a reminder of how much risk we're at from sea level rise." "Antarctica has historically been quite a small contributor to sea level rise, but it is growing, and it is taking up a bigger and bigger share of the sea level rise that we see every year," he added. "So, it's a symbol of the growing dominance of Antarctica in the sea level rise equation." This temperature threshold is widely recognized as crucial because so-called tipping points become more likely beyond this level. Tipping points are thresholds at which small changes can lead to dramatic shifts in Earth's entire life support system.

Persons: Robbie Mallett, A23a, Mallett, Mallet, That's, Gail Whiteman, Taalas, Hollie Adams, NASA Modis Organizations: United Arab Emirates, Continent, University of College London, CNBC, United, NASA, World Meteorological Organization, University of Exeter, WMO, Expo, Bloomberg, Getty Images Bloomberg, Getty Locations: DUBAI, United Arab, Antarctica, New York City, United Arab Emirates, South Georgia, Dubai, COP28, Green

REUTERS/Yves Herman/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsDUBAI, Dec 5 (Reuters) - Global carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels are set to hit a record high this year, exacerbating climate change and fuelling more destructive extreme weather, scientists said. The Global Carbon Budget report, published on Tuesday during the COP28 climate summit, said that overall CO2 emissions, which reached a record high last year, have plateaued in 2023 due to a slight drop from uses of land like deforestation. Countries are expected to emit a total 36.8 billion metric tons of CO2 from fossil fuels in 2023, a 1.1% increase from last year, the report by scientists from more than 90 institutions including the University of Exeter concluded. When land use emissions are included, global CO2 emissions are set to total 40.9 billion tons this year. China produces 31% of global fossil fuel CO2 emissions.

Persons: Yves Herman, India's, Pierre Friedlingstein, Friedlingstein, Kate Abnett, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, University of Exeter, 1.5C, IPCC, Research, Energy, Clean, European, Thomson Locations: Dunkirk, France, India, China, Paris, COP28, Helsinki, U.S, European Union, Europe

☆ Activists protest against fossil fuel industry at COP28 climate summit
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Alexander Cornwell | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Climate activists protest against fossil fuel emitters, demanding action and more contributions to the Loss and Damage Fund, during the United Nations Climate Change Conference COP28 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, December 5, 2023. Chiponda argued that language calling for the phase-out of "unabated" fossil fuels was merely a distraction that would allow for their continued use. Governments at COP26 agreed to phase down the use of unabated coal, the most polluting of fossil fuels. This year, countries remain split over what role fossil fuels should play in the future. Jaber has made a point of including the fossil fuel industry at the summit, insisting that oil and gas companies should be part of discussions on tackling climate change.

Persons: Amr Alfiky, Lorraine Chiponda, Chiponda, Sultan Al Jaber, Jaber, Thomas Joseph, Jainno Congon, Alexander Cornwell, Katy Daigle Organizations: Damage, United Nations, United Arab Emirates, REUTERS, Rights, United, COP26, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Dubai, United Arab, COP28, Glasgow, Paris, United Arab Emirates, UAE, California

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