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The failure by rich nations to deliver in full on a past pledge to deliver $100 billion in annual climate finance to developing countries has rankled in recent years of climate talks. "We cannot afford a further erosion of trust between the developed and developing countries," said Samoa's Prime Minister Fiame Naomi Mataafa. The burning of fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change, but coal, gas and oil were notably absent in the draft deal. The draft COP27 text did not hint at which route the final deal will take on this issue. "We cannot lose 1.5 at this COP," said Alok Sharma, president of last year's U.N. climate summit, COP26, in Glasgow, Scotland.

☆ Climate justice gets harder as world population passes 8 billion
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-15 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

These are also among the countries most vulnerable to climate impacts, and most in need of climate finance. "A SIGN OF HUMAN SUCCESS"Globally, the 8 billion population milestone represents 1 billion people added to the planet in just the last 11 years. Even while the global population reaches ever-new highs, demographers note that the growth rate has fallen steadily to less than 1% per year. "A big part of this story is that this era of rapid population growth that the world has known for centuries is coming to an end," Wilmoth said. Rapid population growth combined with climate change is likely to cause mass migration and conflict in coming decades, experts said.

An EU official said Lula would also meet on Wednesday with EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans. Last month, Lula defeated right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, who oversaw mounting destruction of the Amazon rainforest and refused to host the 2019 climate summit originally planned for Brazil. His team also worked to secure a jungle conservation alliance announced on Monday between the three largest rainforest nations - Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo and Indonesia. They said other countries know Brazil will soon have a Lula government that has promised to take the issue more seriously than Bolsonaro, a climate change sceptic. Colombia's Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said Lula's election would allow renewed regional cooperation among Amazon rainforest nations to tackle deforestation, a major contributor to climate change.

☆ Senate Moves Ahead With Vote on Gay-Marriage Bill
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Katy Stech Ferek | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

The top Senate Democrat is moving ahead on advancing legislation protecting same-sex marriage, as lawmakers got back to work following the midterm elections. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) late Monday filed for cloture on the Respect for Marriage Act, setting up an initial vote for later this week. Any legislation would require at least 60 votes in the Senate, which is split evenly between Democrats and Republicans.

☆ Analysis: In final week of COP27 climate talks, success hinges on 'loss and damage'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-14 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

[1/2] People pass in front of a wall lit with the sign of COP27 as the COP27 climate summit takes place, at the Green Zone in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt November 10, 2022. Some negotiators and observers warn that failure to agree on such "loss and damage" funding could sour the U.N. talks and thwart other deals. At last year's U.N. climate summit all countries agreed to set tougher climate targets this year to keep average global temperature rises to the 1.5C limit that scientists say would avoid global warming’s worst impacts. A relaunch of U.S.-China collaboration on climate change, which China halted earlier this year, could help boost negotiations at COP27. Germany and a group of climate-vulnerable countries launched a "Global Shield" scheme on Monday to attempt to improve insurance for climate disaster-prone countries.

Those pledges include making steep cuts in climate-warming emissions within this decade and contributing to hundreds of billions of dollars needed each year by developing nations already struggling to cope with the impacts of climate change. That could also complicate the talks among government ministers on the so-called cover decisions - which make up the core political deal from the two-week summit. "We haven't seen huge solidarity between the developed and developing countries" but instead "disappointing commitments and action this year, which has dented trust." Developing nations have demanded that COP27 agree to launch a special fund to address loss and damage. The United States and other rich nations are wary of this idea, saying these rapid funds are better channeled through existing programs.

For more than 70 days this summer, a marine heatwave cooked the waters of the western Mediterranean. "We've been witnessing marine heatwaves during the last 20 years," said Garrabou, who's also coordinator of the T-MEDNet marine monitoring network. A 2016 marine heatwave along Chile's southern coast caused huge algae blooms that wiped out fish farms and cost the aquaculture industry some $800 million, said scientist Kathryn Smith with the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. As the world warms, marine heatwaves are expected to become more frequent, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Though economists have yet to account fully for the impacts of marine heatwaves, recent experience has many concerned.

☆ Climate disasters put plight of displaced in COP27 focus
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

There are some 22 million people like Hassan displaced every year in climate-fueled disasters, according to the U.N. International Organization for Migration (IOM). And with climate change fueling increasingly extreme weather worldwide, the number displaced is expected to grow to about 143 million by mid-century. Given the growing need, developing countries at the COP27 climate summit in Egypt this month are demanding that wealthy nations offer more in the way of help. "Each government impacted by climate change migrants can raise the subject" at the U.N. summit, said Caroline Dumas, the IOM's special envoy for migration and climate action. "I'm a refugee, former refugee," said Emtithal Mahmoud, a goodwill ambassador for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR.

☆ What to watch this weekend at COP27 in Egypt
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 12 (Reuters) - After a full week of speeches from world leaders, presentations by scientists and closed-door negotiations, the U.N. climate conference was poised for a weekend break. On Saturday, delegations will be invited to weigh in on what they want to include in a final deal - in the first of several open discussions to be held by the Egyptian COP27 presidency. Those talks are expected to intensify through next week until the conference concludes on Nov. 18, as delegates jockey for their priorities to be included in the closing declaration. Saturday could also see more announcements made on agriculture, land use and food security - coinciding with the conference theme for the day. Reporting by Katy Daigle; Editing by David GregorioOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Many House Races Too Close to Call as Republicans Make Gains
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Joshua Jamerson | Katy Stech Ferek | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

WASHINGTON—Control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives still hinged on races that were too close to call as of early Friday morning, with both parties girding for a final outcome that might not be known for days. Tuesday’s election-night roller coaster, with Democrats faring much better than either party expected, has morphed into a several-day slog. Republicans and Democrats were awaiting results in uncalled races while poring over various scenarios on how a party can capture the majority.

☆ Factbox: Sam Bankman-Fried: The crypto mogul whose empire came crashing down
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried on Friday resigned from his role as chief executive of FTX and the crypto exchange said it will initiate bankruptcy proceedings in the United States, capping off a tumultuous week for the industry. Following are some facts about the co-founder and former CEO:EDUCATION AND VENTURES BEFORE FTXBorn in 1992, Sam Bankman-Fried grew up in California. Bankman-Fried later graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a degree in physics. After a more than three-year stint at the New York-based firm, he moved to crypto trading and founded Alameda Research in 2017. The company offered trading on crypto tokens and derivatives, while also boasting of a robust risk management system.

☆ COP27: U.N. to hunt sources of climate-warming methane from space
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Richard Valdmanis | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The system, dubbed MARS or Methane Alert and Response System, will build on a pledge signed by 119 countries since last year to cut methane emissions by 30% this decade, a goal scientists say is crucial to averting extreme climate change. "The Methane Alert and Response System is a big step in helping governments and companies deliver on this important, short-term climate goal," Inger Andersen, executive eirector of the U.N. "Reducing methane emissions can make a big and rapid difference, as this gas leaves the atmosphere far quicker than carbon dioxide." UNEP’s International Methane Emissions Observatory will then share information about the leak with whoever is responsible in the hope they will find the cause of the leak and repair it. U.S. Special Climate Envoy John Kerry, who helped spearhead the Global Methane Pledge to cut methane emissions last year, called the new system "critical" to climate efforts.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden addressed the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Friday, saying the global climate crisis posed an existential threat to the planet and promising that the United States was doing its part to combat it. "The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security, and the very life of the planet," Biden said, before outlining steps the United States, the world’s second-biggest greenhouse gas emitter, was taking. It came even as a slew of crises - from a land war in Europe to rampant inflation - distract international focus. "Against this backdrop, it's more urgent than ever that we double down on our climate commitments. Upon arrival, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi told U.S. President Joe Biden that Egypt has launched a national strategy for human rights and is keen to develop in that regard.

☆ Pakistan at COP27 demands climate aid, says 'dystopia' already here
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Valerie Volcovici | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Pakistan will not be satisfied unless U.N. climate summit negotiators unlock emergency cash for the country to rebuild after this year's devastating floods, its climate minister said Thursday. "The dystopia has already come to our doorstep," the country's climate minister, Sherry Rehman, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the COP27 summit in Egypt. Pakistan is playing a high-profile role at the COP27 summit in Egypt this year, serving as one of two co-chairs invited by conference host Egypt, with the other being Norway. Pakistan also represents the G77 umbrella group of developing countries, pushing for a doubling in finance to help poor nations adapt to climate impacts. "There is a recognition [at COP27] that we are facing a new climate normal for the world," she said.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 11 (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden told the COP27 climate conference in Egypt on Friday that global warming posed an existential threat to the planet and promised the United States would meet its targets for fighting it. "The climate crisis is about human security, economic security, environmental security, national security, and the very life of the planet," Biden told a crowded room of delegates at the U.N. summit in the seaside resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh. Biden said global crises, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, were not an excuse to lower climate ambition. U.S. President Joe Biden delivers a speech at COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 11, 2022. "It's radio silence on loss and damage finance," Singh said, calling Biden "out of touch with the reality of the climate crisis."

☆ Target is remodeling more stores and some new ones will be bigger, brighter, and more sustainable — see what they'll look like
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Ann Matica | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Target announced it plans to open large-format stores, which will be nearly 150,000 square feet. The new design will help the company expand its online ordering services and in-store merchandise. More than 95 percent of digital orders are fulfilled at Target stores, and its same-day services account for more than 10 percent of overall sales, according to a company press release. According to the company, the new store design "infuses elements such as plants and regionally sourced reclaimed wood." On Thursday, the big-box retailers debuted the new large-format store design at its first location outside Houston in Katy, TexasTarget will continue to open stores of all sizes, but will focus on rolling out its large-format stores in the next few years.

☆ Wins in New York State Ease Republicans’ Path to House Majority
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Katy Stech Ferek | Jimmy Vielkind | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Republicans netted at least two U.S. House seats in New York after wins that included defeating a member of the Democratic leadership, putting the state at the center of its push to pick up enough districts nationwide to regain the majority. Republicans will succeed retiring Democrats in two Long Island districts, cementing GOP representation over New York City’s eastern suburbs. In the Hudson Valley, Republican candidates won two elections that were considered tossups, including Republican Mike Lawler’s defeat of Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney , the Democrats’ House campaign chief. Other races are too close to call.

SHARM EL-SHEIK, Nov 10 (Reuters) - African nations must be allowed to develop their fossil fuel resources to help lift their pepole out of poverty, governments said at the COP27 talks in Egypt, which welcomed leaders of oil and gas companies sidelined at previous talks. African nations said wealthy countries had failed to deliver promised funding that would help them to expand clean energy instead of exploiting their fossil fuel resources. Some 636 fossil fuel lobbyists were registered to attend COP27, another report from a group of organisations that analysed the U.N.'s provisional list of attendees found. That's 100 lobbyists more than attended the Glasgow COP26 summit last year, the group said, lamenting what it described as "rise in the influence of the fossil fuel industry". The analysis also counted delegation members acting on behalf of their country's fossil fuel industry.

☆ They Caught the Seattle Market on the Way Down, but Could They Afford a House There?
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( Anna Kodé | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Lauren Held and Kyle Frederick didn’t think they could afford to own a home anytime soon, especially in Seattle’s pricey housing market. “It seemed way too competitive, with way too much tech money all around us,” she said. So the couple, both North Carolina natives, started casually hunting for a house to buy, hoping something would work out. “But we were still seeing multiple offers.”They wanted to stay in north Seattle, preferably in an area like Phinney Ridge. The pandemic market was cooling, but homes in north Seattle were still going for over asking price.

"We can now show that a meaningful pipeline of investible opportunities does exist across the economies that need finance most," Mahmoud Mohieldin, one of the U.N. appointed experts, known as U.N. After a year of meetings with stakeholders around the world, they released the initial list so that banks and others can assess the projects. "We now need a creative collaboration between project developers and public, private and concessionary finance, to unlock this investment potential and turn assets into flows," said Mohieldin, High-Level Champion for COP27. For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter. Reporting by Simon Jessop and Kate Abnett; Editing by Katy Daigle and Frank Jack DanielOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

[1/4] China's chief climate negotiator Xie Zhenhua speaks during a news conference at the COP27 climate summit in Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El GhanySHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 9 (Reuters) - China would be willing to contribute to a mechanism for compensating poorer countries for losses and damage caused by climate change, its climate envoy Xie Zhenhua said on Wednesday at the United Nations COP27 climate summit in Egypt. Xie said China had no obligation to participate, but stressed his solidarity with those calling for more action from wealthy nations on the issue, and outlined the damage China had suffered from climate-linked weather extremes. He added that China already contributed billions of yuan to developing countries to help with their mitigation efforts. "The door is absolutely closed by (the United States)," he said.

"Many countries faced with sharply rising energy costs and heightened security of supply concerns are turning to nuclear power," the IAEA said in a release announcing the exhibit. "We don't get to net zero by 2050 without nuclear power in the mix." The United States has already earmarked billions of dollars toward keeping existing nuclear power plants open as part of a broader strategy to decarbonize the economy and is hoping to encourage new projects. The nuclear power industry has had trouble raising money in recent years, having taken a huge public relations hit following the 2011 reactor meltdown at the Fukushima power plant in Japan. Even so, Hannah Fenwick, the co-lead of Nuclear for Climate which represents a network of 150 associations advocating for governments to embrace nuclear power, said her organization was lobbying policy-makers at COP27 to consider nuclear energy investments and was getting decent feedback.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 9, (Reuters) - Civil society groups and youth activists at the U.N. COP27 summit held small pop-up rallies Wednesday at designated areas in this Red Sea resort town. At yet another small gathering, about 20 protesters demanded an end to fossil fuel use, chanting: "What do we want? Climate justice ... when do we want it? Youth activist Lucky Abeng of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance said the group wanted world leaders to take the financing agenda seriously. "Adaptation financing and also climate financing for Africa, it’s nonnegotiable," he said.

"We can now show that a meaningful pipeline of investible opportunities does exist across the economies that need finance most," Mahmoud Mohieldin, one of the U.N. appointed experts, known as U.N. After a year of meetings with stakeholders around the world, they released the initial list so that banks and others can assess the projects. "We now need a creative collaboration between project developers and public, private and concessionary finance, to unlock this investment potential and turn assets into flows," said Mohieldin, High-Level Champion for COP27. World Bank President David Malpass addressed delegates on Wednesday, running through the bank's climate efforts and involvement in a partnership under which Western nations would provide $8.5 billion to South Africa for its energy transition. For daily comprehensive coverage on COP27 in your inbox, sign up for the Reuters Sustainable Switch newsletter.

☆ Explainer: COP27: How climate change impacts countries around the world
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Gloria Dickie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 9 (Reuters) - While delegates at the COP27 climate conference discuss the shared problem of climate change, each country will face its own challenges and threats. In February, the U.N. climate science agency released a major report on adapting to a warmer world - and detailed how that effort would differ from place to place. While some countries see glaciers melt or coastlines rise, others will contend mostly with raging wildfires and extreme heat, the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said. A World Bank report warned in September that climate impacts, including water scarcity and declining crop yields, could force some 216 million to migrate within their own countries by 2050. And in the Arctic, melting sea ice, warming temperatures, and thawing permafrost will push many species to the brink of extinction.

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