Villagers face a daily struggle against a declining water table, affecting their health and their futures as farmers. “You see the challenges they face over the years in terms of access to water, and linking food security to water and the impact that climate change has on those gives me the energy to really push for climate diplomacy, so that our people can live,” he tells … [Read more...]
Rich countries must make 40% carbon cut by 2020
China’s government says industrialised countries should commit to new 2020 emission reduction targets of 40% on 1990 levels by the end of next month. In a strongly worded submission to the UN’s climate body China also says developed countries must provide $40 billion of low carbon finance in 2014, rising by $10 billion a year to 2020. “The pre-2020 mitigation gap would … [Read more...]
Countries gather in Bonn on road to climate deal
Climate change negotiators representing 200 countries yesterday kicked off the latest round of negotiations in what will be a make or break year for efforts to deliver a global agreement to tackle climate change at the Paris Summit in late 2015. United Nations climate envoys met in Bonn, Germany for the first negotiating session of 2014 for the Durban Platform for Enhanced … [Read more...]
Public not keen on climate engineering
As political apathy and inaction on climate change dims hopes of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, scientists are increasing exploring plan B – engineering the climate to avoid the worst of what is predicted to come if emissions can’t be curtailed. A Royal Society of London paper put the issue squarely in the spotlight in 2009 when it issued an influential paper that … [Read more...]
Can Green Climate Fund deliver a ‘paradigm shift’?
UN’s green bank has been talked up, but few know exactly when, or how, it will really open for business. “It’s not particularly high profile. No is the short answer.” That was the answer Nathan Goode, Head of Energy, Cleantech & Sustainability at Grant Thornton gave when asked if the UN’s flagship climate change fund was the talk of boardrooms across the … [Read more...]
Stop forest destruction and hot air now at Doha
As ministers arrived at climate talks in the Qatari capital Doha, Greenpeace urged European countries not to take the side of Poland and Russia in a battle over whether to maintain the Kyoto Protocol’s biggest loophole and to make real progress on a deal to prevent catastrophic climate change. Europe has traditionally been seen as a progressive force in climate negotiations, … [Read more...]
Fynbos fire project gets underway
South Africa has been granted US$3.5m for a three-year project to implement integrated fire management programmes in the Fynbos biome. The grant was made available through the Global Environment Facility Special Climate Change Fund, established to support adaptation and technology transfer in developing countries party to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate … [Read more...]
Second meeting of new Technology Mechanism’s policy kicks off
"Technology is vital for developing countries to both curb their emissions and to build more climate-resilient societies," said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. "This meeting is an important next step towards ensuring that the Mechanism becomes fully operational this year and begins delivering concrete results,” she said. The second meeting of the … [Read more...]
Plastics ready for COP17
All eyes are on South Africa this year. COP17 is upon us and the world is hoping for global agreement and participation in order to stop the undeniable effects of global warming. This mark the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and it is being held in Durban from 28 November to 9 December. At the … [Read more...]
No ceiling in ongoing climate negotiations
What is your assessment of the outcomes of Cancun and how much progress has been achieved in following up and in implementation of the decisions that were made, particularly as relates to adaptation and finance? The Cancun Outcome must be commended as one that contributed to keeping the climate change negotiations process alive after Copenhagen where trust in the process was … [Read more...]
