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Such is the scene at the annual COP conference, this year being held Nov. 30-Dec. 12 in the Emirati city of Dubai. Here's how the climate summit unfolds on the ground. THE OPENING CEREMONYThe UAE has spent the last year laying the diplomatic groundwork for this year's summit. But it officially takes on the COP presidency only at the opening ceremony, which features welcome speeches and opportunities to bang the gavel. THE SCENEDuring the first few days, national leaders jet in for what is called the "High-Level Segment" involving back-to-back speeches in the venue's main plenary hall.

Persons: William James, Katy Daigle, Lisa Shumaker Organizations: UAE, Thomson Locations: Emirati, Dubai, UAE, COP26

Here's what you need to know:WHAT ARE CARBON OFFSETS? Supporters of carbon offsets see them as key means to help meet these goals. At the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, negotiators reached a breakthrough agreement to regulate trading of carbon credits, in schemes first envisioned in Article 6 of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Separate from the offsets trading envisioned under the Paris Agreement, there are two existing types of carbon markets – compliance and voluntary. It is not yet clear how various existing carbon markets might play into the U.N.-run trading scheme, which also would depend on national laws.

Persons: Chris Pryor, Elizabeth Frantz, WHAT'S, Marco Berg, Gilles Dufrasne, IETA, Jake Spring, Kate Abnett, Susanna Twidale, Katy Daigle, Josie Kao Organizations: New England Forestry Foundation, REUTERS, KliK Foundation, BE, Carbon Market Watch, Compliance, European Union, London Stock Exchange Group, Thomson Locations: New, Hersey, New Hampton , New Hampshire, U.S, Glasgow, Paris, U.S ., California

The United States, European Union and many climate-vulnerable countries are insisting on a final COP28 deal that commits countries to phase out fossil fuels. While the International Energy Agency says these emissions-abatement technologies are crucial for meeting global climate goals, they are also expensive and not currently used on a large scale. But the EU and some climate-vulnerable countries insist on pairing this pledge to boost renewables with phasing out fossil fuels, setting up a clash. FINANCING FOR THE COSTS OF CLIMATE CHANGETackling climate change and its consequences will take an astonishing amount of investment - far more than the world has budgeted so far. At COP28, countries will be tasked with setting up a "loss and damage" fund to help with this, which developing nations say should unlock at least $100 billion by 2030.

Persons: Sultan al, Jaber, Kate Abnett, Katy Daigle, Josie Kao Organizations: European, COP28, International Energy Agency, European Union, EU, U.S, United Arab Emirates, Thomson Locations: Dubai, Paris, COP26, United States, European Union, Russia, UAE, EU, China, COP28

Here are some of the main players and negotiating blocs involved in the COP28 conference starting Nov. 30 in Dubai. In climate negotiations, Beijing argues that wealthy developed countries like the United States, the biggest historical CO2 emitter, should move first and fastest in climate policy and finance. Despite having the world's second largest economy after the United States, China considers itself as a developing nation in the climate talks. But U.S. delegates will face pressure for climate finance after Washington pledged no new climate cash to the United Nations this year. AFRICAN GROUP OF NEGOTIATORSAfrican countries will be pushing at COP28 for climate finance and financial mechanisms to speed up green energy projects.

Persons: Rula, Kate Abnett, Katy Daigle, Josie Kao Organizations: Abu Dhabi Sustainability, REUTERS, UNITED, Washington, United Nations, EU, GROUP, Marshall, European Union, Thomson Locations: UAE, Abu Dhabi, Dubai . CHINA China, China, Beijing, United States, U.S, Union, United, United Kingdom, London, Brazil, South Africa, India, Saudi Arabia, CHINA, Kenya, Ethiopia, Senegal, Mozambique, Vanuatu, Costa Rica

Some oil and gas companies have so far participated in voluntary programs to monitor or reduce their methane emissions. Last year's methane emissions from the energy industry totaled some 135 million metric tons, slightly higher than the year before. Climate experts say that including methane efforts in a legally binding summit agreement is a priority. That means that reining in methane emissions can have a more immediate impact in limiting climate change. Countries and philanthropies previously have pledged roughly $200 million for tackling methane – less than 2% of all current climate financing.

Persons: Rachel Kyte, Rick Duke, Mark Brownstein, Durwood Zaelke, Valerie Volcovici, Sarah McFarlane, Kate Abnett, Katy Daigle, Josie Kao Organizations: Reuters, Clean Air Task Force, U.S, United Arab, The, Bank, Environmental Defense Fund, Institute for Governance, Sustainable Development, D.C, EU, Thomson Locations: EU, United Arab Emirates, UAE, Turkmenistan, The UAE, U.S, China, Canada, COP28, Washington, London, Brussels

☆ The promise and risks of deep-sea mining
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +13 min

The promise and risks of deep-sea mining A vast treasure of critical minerals lies on the ocean floor. All of these factors make deep-sea mining more appealing, supporters say. Environmentalists, however, say it’s a false dichotomy, as land mining will continue whether or not deep-sea mining is allowed. Any country can allow deep-sea mining in its territorial waters, and Norway, Japan and the Cook Islands are close to allowing it. For now, the ISA's members are hotly debating the best standards for deep-sea mining.

Persons: Gerard Barron, Margo Deiye, “ We’re, ”, Barron, “, Beth Orcutt, Jason Gillham, Joe Carr, Pradeep Singh, Kira Mizell, Julia Wolfe, Katy Daigle, Claudia Parsons Organizations: International Energy Agency, P Global, Authority, United Nations, ISA, Metals Co, Russia's JSC, Blue Minerals, Exploration, Metals, Clarion, Companies, U.S . Geological Survey, Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, The Metals Co, Northwest, Maine's Bigelow Laboratory, Ocean Sciences, Impossible Metals, NOAA, Research, Aquarium Research, Bigelow Laboratory, Research Institute, Sustainability, . Geological Survey Locations: Brazil, Norway, Japan, Cook, Vancouver, Blue, Blue Minerals Jamaica, China, Hawaii, Mexico, Nauru, U.S, Russia, France, India, Poland, Tokyo, Monterey

☆ In UN Talks for a Global Plastic Treaty, Delegates to Face off Over Production Limits
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-12 | by ( Nov. | At A.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +4 min

That position is opposed by the plastic industry and by oil and petrochemical exporters like Saudi Arabia, who want to see plastic use continue. They argue that the treaty should focus on recycling and reusing plastics, sometimes referred to in the talks as "circularity" in the plastics supply. In a submission ahead of this week's negotiations, Saudi Arabia said the root cause of plastic pollution was "inefficient management of waste." "The plastics agreement should be focused on ending plastic pollution, not plastic production," Kastner told Reuters in a statement. Countries will also be debating whether the treaty should set transparency standards for chemical use in plastics production.

Persons: Valerie Volcovici, David Azoulay, Matthew Kastner, Kastner, Bjorn Beeler, Beeler, Christina Dixon, Katy Daigle, Aurora Ellis Organizations: Center for International Environmental, UN, European Union, U.S . State Department, Reuters, The International Council of Chemical Associations, Network, Saudi, Environmental Investigation Agency Locations: Nairobi, Kenya, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United States, U.S

Persons: Carlo Allegri, David Azoulay, Matthew Kastner, Kastner, Bjorn Beeler, Beeler, Christina Dixon, Valerie Volcovici, Katy Daigle, Aurora Ellis Organizations: United Nations, UN, REUTERS, Center for International Environmental, European Union, U.S . State Department, Reuters, The International Council of Chemical Associations, Network, Saudi, Environmental Investigation Agency, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, New York City , New York, U.S, Nairobi, Kenya, Japan, Canada, Saudi Arabia, United States

Mendoza, a former fighter for the now-disbanded Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, dragged her children back inside the house. In interviews with Reuters, those people recounted how the attacks left conservation projects adrift, with conservationists withdrawing from environmental protection works because of fear of more violence. Municipal data from local environmental authorities and the Colombian Institute of Meteorology (IDEAM) also showed that in the year after each killing, deforestation at a local level was worse than national trends. Santofimio's killing brought his hard-fought conservation project to a halt. In the tree nursery, which stopped work after Santofimio's killing, saplings bask in the dappled sunlight beneath protective nets.

Persons: Duberney Lopez, Jorge Santofimio, PUERTO, Leidy Mendoza, Mendoza, Jorge !, they'd, Susana Muhamad, Muhamad, Colombia's, –, Armando Aroca, Santofimio, Lopez, Kevin Murakami, Comuccom, Aroca, Javier Franciso Parra, Francisco couldn't, Andres Felipe Garcia, Cormacarena, Parra, Garcia, Luisz Martinez, Martinez, La, KfW, Roberto Gomez, Gonzalo Cardona, Sara Ines Lara, Oliver Griffin, Julia Symmes Cobb, Katy Daigle, Claudia Parsons Organizations: Revolutionary Armed Forces, Colombian, Villagers, Reuters, Environment Ministry, Global, Colombian Institute of Meteorology, Comuccom, International Narcotics, Law, Affairs, U.S, National Liberation Army, UN, Programme, Meta, UNDP, Progress, World Wildlife Fund, Security, USAID, Thomson Locations: Colombia, PUERTO GUZMAN, Putumayo, Bogota, La, Meta, La Macarena, Amazonia, Puerto Guzman

Countries pledged in the 2015 Paris Agreement to hold global warming to within 1.5C above pre-industrial temperatures but the new paper by a team of scientists, including from NASA and Columbia University, adds to evidence suggesting that this goal is already out of reach. Most emissions scenarios under the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) envision the world breaching 1.5C during the 2030s. EARTH SENSITIVITYThe study's findings, published in the journal Oxford Open Climate Change, result from two factors. The IPCC has given a best-guess estimate that the doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide levels would yield global warming of around 3C (5.4F). Cleaning the skies, while bringing health benefits and saving lives, accelerates climate change.

Persons: Thomas Peter, James Hansen of, Michael Mann, Pennsylvania's Mann, Klaus Hubacek, Katy Daigle, Gareth Jones Organizations: REUTERS, NASA, Columbia University, United Nations, James Hansen of Columbia, Earth Institute, University of Pennsylvania, IPCC, University of Gronigen, Thomson Locations: Gan, Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China, UN, Paris, 1.5C, heatwaves, Libya, Dubai, 4.8C

Nov 2 (Reuters) - Air pollution, a global scourge that kills millions of people a year, is shielding us from the full force of the sun. "It's this Catch-22," said Patricia Quinn, an atmospheric chemist at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), speaking about cleaning up sulphur pollution globally. "If you implement technologies to reduce air pollution, this will accelerate – very significantly – global warming in the short term." The Chinese and Indian environment ministries didn't immediately respond to requests for comment on the effects of pollution unmasking. As the implications of the pollution unmasking become more apparent, experts are casting around for methods to counter the associated warming.

Persons: poring, Patricia Quinn, Paulo Artaxo, Xi Jinping, Xi, El, Yangyang Xu, Xu, unmasking, Laura Wilcox, COVID, Sergey Osipov, Michael Diamond, Jake Spring, David Stanway, Sakshi Dayal, Katy Daigle Organizations: U.S . National Oceanic, Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, Reuters, World Health Organization, U.S . Clean, National People's, China Meteorological Administration, El Nino, M University, Britain's University of Reading, India Meteorological Department, India, Clean, Programme, King Abdullah University of Science, Technology, Florida State University, Thomson Locations: India, China, Beijing, 10.34C, Texas, Chongqing, Wuhan, SO2, heatwaves, Xinjiang, INDIA, Europe, Northern China, U.S, Saudi Arabia, Sao Paulo, Singapore, New Delhi

The Global Cooling Pledge – set to be announced at the upcoming United Nations climate summit, COP28 – represents a tough request given the cooling industry is only expected to grow. The emissions from both the refrigerants and the energy used in cooling now account for about 7% of global greenhouse gas emissions, and are expected to triple by 2050 as temperatures continue to rise. "We need cooling, but it has to become more efficient," UNEP Cool Coalition global coordinator Lily Riahi said. Another 13 commitments outlined in the draft pledge include establishing minimum energy performance standards for air conditioning by 2030, and including cooling emissions in countries' overall climate action plans, called Nationally Determined Contributions. The UNEP estimates that global efforts to tackle cooling emissions could have a significant impact by 2050, avoiding the release of up to 86 billion metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent.

Persons: Tyrone Siu, –, Noah Horowitz, Lily Riahi, Gloria Dickie, Katy Daigle, Alexandra Hudson Organizations: China Import, Export Fair, Canton Fair, REUTERS, Reuters, United, Programme's, Cool Coalition, International Energy Agency, UNEP, Coalition, Alexandra Hudson Our, Thomson Locations: Canton, Guangzhou, China, India, United States, Nations, United Arab Emirates, Kigali, Montreal, Dubai, London

But even EU countries clashed over how ambitious to be - and their ministers were locked in talks into the evening on Monday. The faultlines tended to fall between wealthier EU members seeking rapid climate action, and poorer economies concerned about the cost of quitting fossil fuels. Another submission, by Saudi Arabia, did not explicitly mention a fossil fuel phase-out. 'NOT VERY HOPEFUL'The resistance shows how hard it will be to strike an ambitious climate deal at COP28. "I am not very hopeful," Carlos Fuller, U.N. climate negotiator for Belize, said of the fossil fuels phase-out - which Belize supports.

Persons: Wolfgang Rattay, Carlos Fuller, COP28, Jennifer Morgan, Natalie Jones, Kate Abnett, Glwadys Fouche, Katy Daigle, Barbara Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Diplomats, Reuters, African Group, International Institute for Sustainable Development, Thomson Locations: Niederaussem, Germany, Rights BRUSSELS, Poland, Czech Republic, COP28, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Belize, COP27, China, Japan, United States, Colombia, Norway, U.N, Paris, Oslo

China, the world's biggest fossil fuel consumer, is among those signalling that it intends to keep using them for decades. By inserting "unabated" before fossil fuels, the pledge targeted only fuels burned without emissions-capturing technology. "We cannot use it to green-light fossil fuel expansion," the countries said in a joint statement. We can't say we want to avoid 1.5 C ... and not say anything about phasing out fossil fuels," Cox said. The Alliance of Small Island States, whose members face climate-fuelled storms and land loss to rising seas, wants a fossil fuel phase-out and an end to the $7 trillion governments spend annually on subsidising fossil fuels.

Persons: Eduardo Munoz, General Antonio Guterres, Sultan Al Jaber, John Kerry, Teresa Ribera, Eamon Ryan, Ryan, Peter Cox, Cox, Fatih Birol, Valerie Volcovici, Kate Abnett, Katy Daigle, Emelia Organizations: U.S, REUTERS, United Nations General Assembly, United Arab Emirates, United, European Union, Reuters, Ireland's, American Petroleum Institute, University of Exeter, International Energy Agency, Rockefeller Foundation, Organization of, Petroleum, Small, States, United Nations, D.C, Thomson Locations: New York, New York City , New York, U.S, Dubai, China, United States, Saudi Arabia, Russia, France, Kenya, Chile, Colombia, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Japan, Union, Washington, Brussels

"The move from fossil fuels to renewables is happening – but we are decades behind," Guterres said at the start of the one-day summit. "We must make up time lost to foot-dragging, arm-twisting and the naked greed of entrenched interests raking in billions from fossil fuels." Those not invited to speak were the world's two top polluters - the United States and China – though U.S. Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry was in the audience. "This climate crisis is a fossil fuel crisis," he said, drawing applause from the heads of state and others in the room. "Climate change is a top priority for my administration," Thavisin told the gathering, his country having recently created a climate change ministry.

Persons: Antonio Guterres, Mike Segar, Guterres, John Kerry, China's U.N, William Ruto, Ruto, Gavin Newsom, Srettha Thavisin, Thavisin, Sultan Ahmed al, Jaber, COP28, Mia Mottley, Ursula von der Leyen, Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Valerie Volcovici, Katy Daigle, Howard Goller Organizations: United Nations, General Assembly, REUTERS, Companies Allianz, General, United Arab Emirates, Thailand's, FINANCE, Security Council, Allianz, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Fund, Thomson Locations: New York City, U.S, COP28, Dubai, Brazil, Canada, Pakistan, South Africa, Tuvalu, United States, China, California, UAE, Barbados, Ukraine

[1/2] Former mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg speaks during a meeting with Earthshot prize winners and finalists at the Glasgow Science Center during the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, November 2, 2021. The $500 million infusion into his decade-long Beyond Carbon initiative aims to "finish the job on coal" by working with state and local organizations to force the closure of the roughly 150 coal plants that have not yet retired, slash current gas generation in half and block the construction of new gas-fired plants. Bloomberg already has spent over $500 million to support the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal campaign, which originally aimed to retire 30% of the U.S. coal fleet by 2020. The money would support litigation brought against utilities and power companies by grassroots groups, state and local policy advocacy and financing to assist local communities with coal plant closures, Bloomberg Philanthropies said. Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Katy Daigle and Grant McCoolOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: New York Michael Bloomberg, Alastair Grant, Michael Bloomberg, Bloomberg Philanthropies, U.N, Antonio Guterres, Valerie Volcovici, Katy Daigle, Grant McCool Organizations: New York, Glasgow Science Center, Change, UNITED NATIONS, Former New York City, Bloomberg, Sierra, General Assembly, Thomson Locations: Glasgow, Scotland, Britain, United States, U.S, America

☆ Global climate protests demand world leaders phase out fossil fuels
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Organizers of the protests expect global turnout over the weekend to total more than a million people. "This is directed at world leaders," said Mitzi Jonelle Tan, a climate activist with youth movement Fridays for Future in Manila, the Philippines. We need a just transition, and we need to phase out the fossil fuels causing the destruction of our environment," she told Reuters. The burning of fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change, but countries have never agreed in U.N. climate talks to phase out fossil fuels - though they have committed to phase down use of coal power. Despite having plentiful solar energy resources, Africa received only 2% of global investments in renewable energy over the last two decades, the International Renewable Energy Agency has said.

Persons: Greta Thunberg, Mitzi Jonelle Tan, Eric Njuguna, U.N, General Antonio Guterres, Kate Abnett, Katy Daigle, Aurora Ellis Organizations: United States, Organizers, Reuters, Governments, International Renewable Energy Agency, General Assembly, Thomson Locations: COP28, BRUSSELS, Pakistan, Nigeria, United, Swedish, Manila, Philippines, Nairobi, Kenya, U.N, Africa, New York

In climate negotiations, "loss and damage" refers to existing costs incurred from climate-fueled weather impacts, such last year's devastating Pakistan flooding. The U.S. is part of a 24-country committee deciding how the fund will work before the COP28 climate summit in Dubai can officially adopt it this year. Both voted to approve new funding arrangements under the condition that the fund not be about liability for rich countries and compensation. Instead, both Washington and Brussels say the fund should be filled from myriad sources including industry taxes, philanthropic donations or other schemes. The world’s least developed nations want the fund to be limited to the neediest nations.

Persons: Akhtar Soomro, that's, ”, Sue Biniaz, Biniaz, Christina Chan, “, “ That’s, Avinash Persaud, Mia Mottley, Persaud, Dileimy Orzoco, Valerie Volcovici, Katy Daigle, Josie Kao Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, . State Department, Reuters, The, State Department, EU, Nonprofit, Thomson Locations: Sehwan, Pakistan, U.S, Washington, The U.S, Dubai, Dominican Republic, Paris, Brussels, China, Barbados, Philippines

☆ How climate change drives heatwaves and wildfires in Europe
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-17 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Here's how climate change drives these events. FINGERPRINTS OF CLIMATE CHANGETo find out exactly how much climate change affected a specific heatwave, scientists conduct "attribution studies". CLIMATE CHANGE DRIVES WILDFIRESClimate change increases hot and dry conditions that help fires spread faster, burn longer and rage more intensely. The study found that human-induced climate change played an absolutely overwhelming role in the extreme heatwaves that swept across North America, Europe and China in July. But scientists concur that without steep cuts to the greenhouse gases causing climate change, heatwaves, wildfires, flooding and drought will significantly worsen.

Persons: Alexandros Avramidis, Friederike Otto, Sonia Seneviratne, Seneviratne, Rhodes, Copernicus, Mark Parrington, Victor Resco de, Kate Abnett, Gloria Dickie, Katy Daigle, Barbara Lewis, Josie Kao, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: Firefighters, REUTERS, Rights, United Nations, Imperial College London, ETH Zurich, Union, Spain's Lleida University, Thomson Locations: Sesklo, Greece, Europe, Spain, France, Netherlands, Paris, North America, China, Victor Resco de Dios

France has used an anti-terrorism unit to question some climate activists, the police confirmed to Reuters. Britain’s National Police Chiefs’ Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment and its interior ministry did not comment. Germany does not have a national policy targeting climate activists, who the government considers mainly non-extremist, a spokesperson for the country’s interior ministry said. "Climate protesters can perhaps be locked away, but the climate catastrophe will come anyway," Lachner said after being convicted in Berlin in July for glueing incidents last year and fined 2,700 euros. In the January newspaper interview, the local office of the interior ministry confirmed both devices had been installed.

Persons: Yves Herman, Simon Lachner, he'd, “ radicalisation ”, Lachner’s, Lachner, Regensberg, Lafarge Holcim, SLT, Julien Le Guet, Le Guet, Pascale Leglise, Riham Alkousaa, Juliette Jabkhiro, Andrew MacAskill, William James, Katy Daigle, Frank Jack Daniel Our Organizations: REUTERS, GPS, Bavaria, Reuters, Britain’s National Police Chiefs ’, Los, Prosecutors, Bavarian, Berlin, Military, National Commission, Control, Thomson Locations: France, Sainte, Soline, BERLIN, Lachner, Britain, Germany, Berlin, Europe, Los Angeles, Brandenburg, Bavaria, Bavarian, Regensberg, French, Deux, Sevres, Nouvelle Aquitaine, SLT, Paris, London

Their data showed mercury contamination from informal gold mining making its way into the biodiversity hotspot's mammals — from rodents to ocelots to titi monkeys. Leaders from the eight countries around the Amazon meeting in Brazil next week will discuss how to end illegal gold mining. While the scientists began testing for mercury at Los Amigos in 2021, some of the samples were gathered as early as 2018. During Reuters' visit to Los Amigos, scientists caught rodents in metal traps baited with peanut butter and snagged birds and a bat in mist nets floating through the forest. In 2021, mining arrived on Los Amigos' doorstep.

Persons: Conservación Amazônica, Mrinalini Erkenswick, Erkenswick Watsa, biogeochemist Jacqueline Gerson, there's, it's, Gideon Erkenswick, Jorge Luis Mendoza Silva, Caroline Moore, Moore, Chris Sayers, Jake Spring, Gloria Dickie, Marco Aquino, Oliver Griffin, Katy Daigle, Suzanne Goldenberg Organizations: Los, Biological, Amigos, Reuters, San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, Projects International, Los Amigos, University of Colorado, REUTERS, Gold Council, USAID, Peruvian, Nature Communications, San Diego Zoo Wildlife, University of California, Thomson Locations: Peru, Peruvian, Peru's, de Dios, Madre de Dios, Brazil, Colombia, California, University of Colorado Boulder, Los Amigos, Dios, Latin America, Congo, Indonesia, University of California Los Angeles, London, Lima, Bogota

☆ Which countries are paying their 'fair share' to fight climate change?
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-21 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WHICH COUNTRIES PAY U.N. CLIMATE FINANCE? That analysis suggested only seven countries had paid their "fair share" in 2020 - Denmark, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden. By ODI's ranking, the U.S. lags behind every other developed nation, when its past climate finance contributions are compared with what its "fair share" would be. Taken together, the 27-country EU is the biggest provider of climate finance, contributing 23.38 billion euros ($26.15 billion) in 2020.

Persons: Kate Abnett, Katy Daigle Organizations: UN, FINANCE, Economic, European Union, United, WHO, FAIR, U.S, Finance, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, China, United Arab Emirates, London, U.S, EU, Lincoln

REUTERS/Stringer/File PhotoSummary Countries at odds over which should pay climate financeEU wants China to contribute to climate fundsChina among countries not currently obliged to payBRUSSELS/BEIJING, July 21 (Reuters) - Record-breaking heat in China. The EU, today the biggest contributor of climate finance, has lobbied to expand the pool of donor countries that provide it. Climate finance refers to money that wealthy countries pay toward helping poorer nations reduce CO2 emissions and adapt to a hotter, harsher world. Advocates for the change argue that an expansion needs to happen before a new - and, likely, far bigger - U.N. target for climate finance kicks in after 2025. "It would earn China diplomatic clout, and pressure Western donors to raise their stakes on climate finance," he said.

Persons: Stringer, John Kerry, Janet Yellen, Kerry, Li Qiang, Pa'olelei Luteru, Luteru, Byford Tsang, Kate Abnett, Valerie Volcovici, Katy Daigle, Stephen Coates Organizations: REUTERS, BRUSSELS, U.S, Union, Reuters, EU, United Arab Emirates, of Small, WHO, United, Climate Cooperation, Initiative, Bridgetown Initiative, Thomson Locations: Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, China, EU, BEIJING, COP28, Dubai, Beijing, U.S, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Singapore, States, United States, South Korea, U.N, Barbados, Bridgetown, Brussels

Earlier this month, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said contributions from Beijing could boost U.N. climate funds. It has, however, signalled a willingness to offer climate finance to developing countries through different instruments, like a South-South Climate Cooperation fund it launched in 2015. And the United States hopes that China will unveil its domestic plans to tackle the issue before the next U.N. climate conference in December. Global emissions levels have only risen since. The United States tends to look at overall national emissions, ignoring both historical emissions and the per-capita breakdown.

Persons: Janet Yellen, Donald Trump's, Joe Biden, John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Kerry, Xie, David Stanway, Katy Daigle, Jacqueline Wong Organizations: European Union, Treasury, Climate Cooperation, Technological, Biden, Kerry, Microvast Holdings, Global, European, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, China, United, Beijing, U.S, U.N, Rio de Janeiro, United States, Xinjiang, Paris, Glasgow, 1.5C, European Union, COP28, Dubai, Singapore

During those COP27 climate talks last year in Egypt, China's top climate envoy, Xie Zhenhua, made an unexpected appearance at a meeting of the Global Methane Partnership, a U.S.-EU led initiative aimed at slashing 2020-level methane emissions by 30% by the end of this decade. Xie said China had drafted a plan with concrete measures to curb methane emissions from energy, agriculture and waste. COAL GASTwo big sources of methane emissions growth in China are livestock and rice production, neither of which are included in the country's climate plans. China is the world's largest source of methane from coal mines, with 28% of the world's biggest methane emissions points, according to Antoine Halff, co-founder of the environmental research group Karryos. "When you look around at the sources of coal mine methane worldwide, China is three or four times bigger than the next country's coal mine methane emissions," Banks said.

Persons: John Kerry, Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Xie, Jonathan Banks, Joe Biden, Biden, Banks, Antoine Halff, Halff, Valerie Volcovici, David Stanway, Dominique Patton, Timothy Gardner, Katy Daigle, Will Dunham Organizations: Sunday, Methane Partnership, EU, Air Task Force, Program, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Task Force, Thomson Locations: BEIJING, U.S, China, Beijing, United States, Washington ., Glasgow, Sharm el, Egypt, Dubai, Shanxi, Boston, Singapore, Washington

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