More countries hike climate pledges, piling pressure on major emitters
Brussels, BelgiumReuters A group of mostly smaller countries submitted new, more ambitious climate pledges to the United Nations last week, raising pressure on big emitters including China to do the same ahead of a major UN climate summit in November. UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa said that as of Saturday the United Nations had received […]
Paris accord rules must be wrapped up this year, says UN climate chief
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation Governments must finalise rules for the Paris Agreement on climate change at November’s COP26 summit so the pact can be fully implemented and serve as the basis for a green recovery from the pandemic, the UN climate chief said on Monday. As three weeks of virtual climate talks opened, Patricia Espinosa also called […]
Climate pledges for 2030 put world far off 1.5 degrees goal, UN warns
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation Updated plans to reduce emissions, submitted so far by about 75 nations ahead of November’s COP26 summit, barely make a dent in the huge cuts needed to meet global climate goals, the UN climate chief said on Friday, calling for redoubled efforts. A UN report summarising the revised climate action plans – covering […]
US formally exits global climate pact amid election uncertainty
Washington DC, US/Brussels, BelgiumReuters The United States formally exited the Paris Agreement on Wednesday, fulfilling an old promise by President Donald Trump to withdraw the world’s second-largest greenhouse gas emitter from the global pact to fight climate change. But the outcome of the tight US election contest will determine for how long. Trump’s Democratic rival, […]
Climate-menaced nations say survival depends on stronger 2020 action
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation Developing countries at risk from wilder weather and rising seas on Wednesday urged all governments to meet a deadline to deliver stronger national climate action plans to the United Nations by the end of 2020, stressing that their survival depended on it. About 195 nations committed under the 2015 Paris Agreement […]
Political ‘retreat’ on climate action harms all nations, says UN climate chief
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation Rich nations are failing on promises to help poorer ones meet the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change, even though such help would be “not charity but a global act of self-interest”, UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa said on Monday. In an unusually pointed speech, she decried the erosion […]
Uncertainty over UN talks must not delay climate action, green groups say
Barcelona, SpainThomson Reuters Foundation A surprise decision by Chile, rocked by violent unrest, to withdraw as host of December’s UN climate conference risks throwing international efforts to ramp up action on global warming off course, environmentalists and rights activists fear. They urged quick efforts to reorganise the negotiations, aimed at accelerating cuts in planet-warming emissions […]