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☆ Biden and Xi are glaringly absent from the UN's climate summit. That doesn't bode well for the world.
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

World leaders are gathering in the UAE for the COP28 climate change summit. But President Joe Biden and Xi Jinping of China will be absent. But the leaders of the world's biggest polluting nations — President Joe Biden and China's leader Xi Jinping — will be conspicuous by their absence. AdvertisementA man walks past a COP28 sign during the United Nations climate summit in Dubai on December 1, 2023. Xi and Biden are doing little to signal their commitment to sharing the burden of reducing the climate crisis equally by not attending the summit, say critics.

Persons: Joe Biden, Xi, King Charles, Pope Francis, Xi Jinping, LUDOVIC MARIN, Biden, Kamala Harris, John Kerry, Xie Zhenhua, Tom Evans, Evans, Sultan Al Jaber, Kerry Organizations: Service, United Arab Emirates, White, Sunday, US, Democratic, APEC, BBC, Climate, Business, Sierra Club Locations: UAE, China, United Nations, Dubai, Biden's, Xi, San Francisco

CNN —The United States is receiving criticism for contributing an “embarrassing” amount of money to a new climate fund adopted Thursday at the COP28 talks in Dubai, offering a pledge more than five times lower than the United Arab Emirates . Some countries pledged money to the fund right after it was agreed. Money from rich nations must now begin flowing into the fund, they said. Several wealthy nations, including the United States, have been reluctant to tie countries’ obligations to their historic emissions. It’s also been contentious because wealthy nations have expressed concern that paying for such a fund could be seen as admission of climate liability.

Persons: Sultan Al Jaber, ”, Ani Dasgupta, Dasgupta, ” “, ” Dasgupta, Mohamed Adow, ” Adow, “, Biden, John Kerry, ” Tom Evans, ” Evans, “ they’re, It’s, Al Jaber —, ADNOC —, Al Jaber Organizations: CNN, United, United Arab Emirates, World Bank, Japan, World Resources Institute, Republican, Republicans, US Locations: United States, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, United Arab, Germany, UAE, COP28, Egypt

Washington CNN —President Joe Biden is not expected to attend the opening of the global climate summit in Dubai this week, according to a White House schedule of the president’s events. Since taking office, Biden has attended the annual UN climate summit in person in 2021 and 2022. The move has the potential to frustrate climate advocates both at home and abroad, though some activists and small island nations have called into question the effectiveness of the annual international climate summit process. O’Hanlon said Sunrise Movement also has critiques of the international climate summit itself – which is itself embroiled in controversy as it is being hosted by the oil-rich United Arab Emirates this year. A July Washington Post-University of Maryland poll found that 57% of Americans disapprove of the way Biden has handled climate policy, including 59% of voters 18-29 years old.

Persons: Joe Biden, John Kerry, Ali Zaidi, Biden, John Kirby, haven’t, Tom Evans, “ It’s, he’s, ” Evans, ”, Greta Thunberg, greenwashing ”, “ Biden, Stevie O’Hanlon, O’Hanlon, ” O’Hanlon, –, Donald Trump, John Podesta, Xi Jinping Organizations: Washington CNN, White, National Security, CNN, Sunrise Movement, Sunrise, United, Washington Post, University of Maryland, Republican, U.S, National Locations: Dubai, Israel, United Arab Emirates, Washington, China

☆ World isn’t moving fast enough to cut pollution and keep warming below 2 degrees Celsius, UN scorecard says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-08 | by ( Ella Nilsen | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +3 min

CNN —In the eight years since the landmark Paris Climate Agreement, the world’s nations have not done enough to cut pollution and avert catastrophic levels of warming, according to the first United Nations scorecard since Paris, released on Friday. The planet has already warmed about 1.2 degrees above preindustrial levels; during this year’s summer of record heat, it hit 1.5 degrees above preindustrial levels. June to August was the planet’s warmest such period since records began in 1940, according to data from the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service. While the UN report finds the Paris Agreement “has driven near-universal climate action” from each country and put a major focus on lowering emissions, the actions themselves from countries aren’t matching up to the crisis. “Against forecasts made prior to its adoption, the Paris Agreement has led to contributions that significantly reduce forecasts of future warming, yet the world is not on track to meet the long-term goals of the Paris Agreement,” the UN authors wrote.

Persons: “, Dr, Sultan Al Jaber, ” Al Jaber, COP28, ” Tom Evans, ” Evans Organizations: CNN, United Nations, Paris, COP28, UN, United Locations: Paris, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

With the world far off track on its 2015 pledge to curb global warming, a new United Nations report central to upcoming climate negotiations details how quickly and deeply energy and financial systems must change to get back on a safer path. “The window of opportunity to secure a livable and sustainable for future for all is rapidly closing,” Friday's report warned. To get there, the report said, “the phase-out of unabated fossil fuels is required,” using a phrase international climate negotiators have shied away from before. “Halting and reversing deforestation” and adopting better crop-growing practices are critical to fighting climate change, the report said. Limiting warming to 1.5 degrees is another window of opportunity that is rapidly closing, the report said.

Persons: ”, Sultan Al Jaber, David Waskow, “, Antonio Guterres, there's, Bill Hare, —, Al Jaber, Tom Evans, ” Evans, Seth Borenstein Organizations: United, World Resources Institute, United Nations, World Meteorological Organization, Twitter, AP Locations: United Nations, India, Paris, Dubai

The report, culminating a two-year evaluation of the 2015 Paris climate agreement goals, distils thousands of submissions from experts, governments and campaigners. "The Paris Agreement has driven near-universal climate action by setting goals and sending signals to the world regarding the urgency of responding to the climate crisis," it said. "While action is proceeding, much more is needed now on all fronts." More than 20 gigatonnes of further CO2 reductions were needed this decade - and global net zero by 2050 - in order to meet the goals, the U.N. assessment said. Commitment was needed to phase out fossil fuels, set 2030 targets for renewable energy expansion, ensure the financial system funds climate action, and raise funds for adaptation and damage, he said.

Persons: Tom Evans, Sultan Al Jaber, U.N, Antonio Guterres, David Stanway, Andrew Cawthorne Organizations: United Nations, United Arab Emirates, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Dubai, Paris, UAE, Singapore, Berlin

☆ Courtney Dauwalter: Ultra runner breaks Western States 100 course record by almost 80 minutes
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-26 | by ( George Ramsay | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

CNN —Ultramarathon runner Courtney Dauwalter crushed the women’s course record at the Western States 100-mile race in California, taking more than an hour off the previous best time. Dauwalter finished the Western States 100 – the world’s oldest 100-mile race – in 15 hours, 29 minutes and 34 seconds, almost 80 minutes faster than Ellie Greenwood’s record set in 2012. Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty ImagesAfter running with fellow American Katie Schide, Dauwalter started pulling away around the 30-mile mark, steadily eating away at Greenwood’s course record. Schide finished in second on Saturday in 16 hours, 43 minutes and 45 seconds, which was also quicker than Greenwood’s previous course record. In the men’s event, the United Kingdom’s Tom Evans won in 14 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds – the fourth-fastest time in the history of the race.

Persons: CNN —, Courtney Dauwalter, Dauwalter, Ellie Greenwood’s, “, ” Dauwalter, iRunFar, Snow, Chandan Khanna, Katie Schide, Schide, Tom Evans Organizations: CNN, Getty Locations: California, Olympic Valley , California, Twin Lakes , Colorado, Auburn, Placer County, Colorado

☆ Analysis: Climate damage fund trumps 1.5C push as COP27 summit nears end
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Megan Rowling | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

The focus on loss and damage certainly reflects that," said David Waskow, director of the international climate initiative at the U.S.-based World Resources Institute. Since COP26, only about 30 countries have strengthened their national plans to cut fossil fuel emissions. FOSSIL FUEL OMISSION? Progress toward reducing fossil fuel use - and the resulting climate-warming emissions - was less clear in the proposed deal. "Unabated" fuels are those whose emissions are not captured in some way to prevent them entering the atmosphere and adding to climate change.

[1/5] Climate activists take part in a protest during the COP27 climate summit, in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, November 16, 2022. "There's still a lot of gaps in the texts," said a spokesperson for Britain's COP26 Presidency, which hosted last year's climate summit in Glasgow. EU climate policy chief Frans Timmermans said the first draft left a lot to be desired. TEMPERATURE TARGETOn limiting the global temperature rise, the document mirrors language included in last year's COP26 agreement. Temperatures have already increased by 1.1C, and are projected to blow past 1.5C without swift and deep cuts to emissions within this decade.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, Nov 17 (Reuters) - The U.N. climate agency published a first draft on Thursday of a hoped-for final agreement from the COP27 climate summit, repeating many of last year's goals while leaving contentious issues still to be resolved. The draft repeats the goal from last year's Glasgow Climate Pact "to accelerate measures towards the phase down of unabated coal power and phase out and rationalize inefficient fossil fuel subsidies." The text does not include details for launching such a fund - a key demand from the most climate vulnerable countries, such as island nations. Climate policy experts said there was deep concern about the talks reaching consensus on many key issues. The document is based on requests that delegates from nearly 200 countries have sought to be included in the final deal.

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.

☆ 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.

☆ EU plans to upgrade its Paris Agreement climate target - document
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-19 | by ( Kate Abnett | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Miguel Vidal//File PhotoBRUSSELS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - The European Union plans to raise its target to tackle global warming under the Paris climate agreement, although the upgrade is unlikely to happen in time for this year's U.N. climate summit, according to a draft document seen by Reuters. That's because the bloc's package of climate policies was designed in July 2021 to deliver the 55% emissions target - and parts of it have since been made more ambitious. The draft could still change before EU countries approve it in October. Some experts said making clear that the EU is planning a higher target would still increase pressure on other emitters. "Taking this step would put the EU further ahead as a global climate leader," said Tom Evans from think-tank E3G.

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