In UN talks for a global plastic treaty, delegates to face off over production limits
Reuters As the world’s nations enter another round of talks this week on creating a first-ever treaty to contain plastic pollution, officials are bracing for tough negotiations over whether to limit the amount of plastic being produced or just to focus on the management of waste. Working with a document called a “zero draft” that […]
Plastic-spewing artwork unveiled for Paris talks against waste
Paris, FranceReuters Lobbyists Greenpeace unveiled an artwork in Paris on Saturday in the shape of a machine churning out bottles in front of an oil derrick to coincide with talks on eliminating plastic waste. Canadian artist Benjamin Von Wong said his five-metre-high work by the River Seine showed the link between fossil fuels and plastic […]
At COP15 summit, UN announces nature restoration priorities through 2030
London, UKReuters The United Nations on Tuesday announced its top priorities for restoring ecosystems from South America’s Atlantic Forest to the Ganges River in India. With countries negotiating a global conservation pact at the UN nature summit in Montreal, the UN sought to boost momentum by naming 10 flagship restoration initiatives to receive funding and […]
Nature needs $US384 billion annually by 2025, UN says
New York, USReuters Investments into protecting and better managing the world’s ecosystems need to reach $US384 billion a year by 2025, more than double their current levels, to guard against the threats of climate change and loss of natural resources, the UN’s environment watchdog said on Thursday. The calculation will inform a biodiversity summit starting […]
Every fraction of a degree counts, UN says, as 2.8 degree Celsius warming looms
London, UKReuters Government pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions put the planet on track for an average 2.8 degrees Celsius temperature rise this century, after “woefully inadequate” progress to curb warming, a United Nations report said. Representatives from around the world will meet from 6th to 18th November at the COP27 climate talks in Egypt […]
Explainer – Can the tide of plastic pollution be turned?
Thomson Reuters Foundation From drinks bottles to straws and cotton buds, the amount of plastic waste that flows into the world’s oceans and marine areas is expected to nearly triple by 2040, adding up to 37 million tonnes each year, the UN Environment Programme says. Just nine per cent of all the plastic waste ever […]
Extreme wildfires are here to stay – and multiply
London, UKReuters Indonesia’s peatlands, California’s forests, and, now, vast swathes of Argentine wetland have all been ravaged by extreme wildfires, heralding a fiery future and the dire need to prevent it. With climate change triggering droughts and farmers clearing forests, the number of extreme wildfires is expected to increase 30 per cent within the next […]
Climate change extremes spur UN plan to fund weather forecasting
Glasgow, UKReuters As climate change triggers deadly heatwaves, droughts and floods, three UN agencies on Wednesday will roll out funding plans to improve weather forecasting in vulnerable countries. The initiative, announced at the UN climate summit in Glasgow, aims to plug gaps in weather monitoring and data collection so developing countries can better prepare for […]
Postcards: Yemen’s famed beekeepers feel the sting of climate change
MAYA GEBEILY, of Thomson Reuters Foundation, reports on how bee-keepers in war-torn Yemen are facing growing threats from the impacts of climate change…
Curb climate change, protect environment to prevent future pandemics, countries told
Nairobi, KenyaThomson Reuters Foundation Land degradation, wildlife exploitation, intensive farming and climate change are driving the rise in diseases that, like the coronavirus, are passed from animals to humans, United Nations experts said on Monday. The UN Environment Programme and International Livestock Research Institute jointly identified seven trends responsible for such diseases, known as zoonotic, […]