UN plastic pollution treaty talks floundering, with countries wildly at odds
Geneva, Switzerland - Talks on forging a groundbreaking treaty to combat the scourge of plastic pollution were floundering Saturday, with...
Science
Restoring sea floor after mining may not be possible, researchers warn
Kingston, Jamaica -- Scientists present at the latest effort to hash out international rules for deep-sea mining say it's unclear...
Geostrategy
AI talking trees feature at Chelsea Flower Show
Arts & Culture
Business
Electric cars credited with lower CO2 emissions in US neighborhoods
LOS ANGELES, US – The booming use of electric vehicles in parts of California is reducing CO2 emissions in those areas,...
- Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, say a network of sensors has logged a small drop in the volume of carbon dioxide.
- Carbon dioxide is one of the main contributors to global warming, the human-caused phenomenon of rising temperatures.
Economy
Climate change is slowing heat waves, prolonging misery
While previous research has found climate change is causing heat waves to become longer, more frequent and more intense, the...
- "If a heatwave is moving slower, that means heat can stay in a region longer, so that has effects on communities," senior author Wei Zhang of Utah State University told
- Researchers used climate models to determine what the results would have looked like absent human-caused climate change, and found manmade factors loomed large
Economy
Sprinklers and drip irrigation help Iraqis beat drought
After four years of drought, Iraqi farmer Mohammed Sami was about to abandon his father's parched land, but then a...
- Last year the WFP's water management project helped more than 1,100 farmers "in areas most affected by climate change and drought," said Khansae Ghazi from the UN agency
- The new irrigation systems "use 70 percent less water than traditional methods such as flooding" -- the vastly more wasteful method used for millennia
Geostrategy
Poorer countries need money before raising climate targets, says COP29 head
Copenhagen, Denmark - Developing countries should not have to set stricter targets for cutting their carbon emissions before funds are available...
- Addressing the meeting, Azerbaijan's Mukhtar Babayev said "there is a growing gap between the needs of developing countries and what's available.
- This year, "finance will lie at the heart of climate diplomacy", said Babayev, the ecology and natural resources minister of Azerbaijan, host of COP29 climate summit.
No oil and gas majors aligned with climate targets: report
An A grade would be potentially aligned with the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit temperature rise to...
- The assessment of the 25 largest listed fossil fuel firms by the think-tank Carbon Tracker is designed to enable investors to judge whether the firms are in line with international
- At the bottom of the Carbon Tracker list were Saudi Aramco, Brazil's Petrobras, and the US's ExxonMobil, all rated G. The US firm Conoco Phillips was given an H
Geostrategy
Methane emissions under spotlight at global forum in Geneva
Methane emissions from the fossil fuel industry have risen for three consecutive years, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA),...
- Methane -- which is potent but relatively short-lived -- is a key target for countries wanting to slash emissions quickly and slow climate change
- It is the second largest contributor to climate change, accounting for roughly 30 percent of global warming since pre-industrial levels
Geostrategy
Women, rural poor most affected by climate change, says UN
PARIS, FRANCE – Heatwaves and floods inflict greater economic pain on rural women than men because climate change intensifies existing inequalities,...
- The report said rural, women-led households in low- and middle-income nations already face more financial burdens than men when disaster strikes.
- It estimated that if average temperatures increase one degree Celsius, women would face a 34 percent greater loss in total income compared to men.
Above-normal temperatures for March-May due to El Nino: UN
El Nino, the large-scale warming of surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, typically has the greatest...
- Though El Nino is now gradually weakening, its impact will continue over the coming months by fuelling the heat trapped in the atmosphere by greenhouse gases
- It is a naturally occurring climate pattern typically associated with increased heat worldwide, as well as drought in some parts of the world and heavy rains elsewhere
Economy
World resource extraction could surge 60 percent by 2060, UN warns
Paris, France - Extraction of Earth's natural resources could surge 60 percent by 2060, imperiling climate goals and economic prosperity, the...
- The hunger for natural resources -- everything from food to fossil fuels -- keeps growing by an average of more than 2.3 per cent per year, it said.
- Extraction and processing of the huge amount of resources accounts for over 60 percent of planet-warming emissions, the report said.
Interview
WEF24: Catalyzing investment, trade transform Africa
Addressing infrastructure and climate change is crucial for Africa's development, British Robinson, the Coordinator of the Prosper Africa Initiative, tell...
- Addressing infrastructure and climate change is crucial for Africa's development, British Robinson, the Coordinator of the Prosper Africa Initiative, tell TRENDS in an interview.
- Prosper Africa is a national security initiative aimed at providing supportive and positive assistance to the continent, ensuring its efforts are beneficial and not exploitative.
UN plastic pollution treaty talks floundering, with countries wildly at odds
Geneva, Switzerland - Talks on forging a groundbreaking treaty to combat the scourge of plastic pollution were floundering Saturday, with...
Science
Company News
Latest News
AI talking trees feature at Chelsea Flower Show
Arts & Culture
AI talking trees feature at Chelsea Flower Show
London, United Kingdom -- Talking trees powered by AI, drought-resistant crops and sweet potatoes sprouting among flowers -- the prestigious...
Arts & Culture
Morocco volunteers on Sahara clean-up mission as part Nomads Festival
M'HAMID EL GHIZLANE, Morocco - It may be the gateway to the vast Sahara desert, but that does not mean...
Economy
Nations divided ahead of decisive week for shipping emissions
London, United Kingdom -- Members of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) are divided over whether to approve a carbon tax on...
Geostrategy
Most Read
Qatar to invest 1 bn pounds in climate technologies with UK
London, United Kingdom - The British government said Wednesday that it has agreed to a partnership with Qatar that will see...
- British industrial group Rolls-Royce, which manufactures aircraft engines, will receive investments for programs dedicated to energy efficiency, the statement said
- Qatar's investments in the British economy are estimated at over 40 billion pounds and the emirate indicated in 2022 that it intends to invest another 10 billion pounds by 2027
Plastic pollution talks South Korea fail to reach landmark deal
Busan, South Korea - Deeply divided negotiators failed on Sunday to reach a landmark global treaty to curb plastic pollution, missing...
- For a week, delegates from nearly 200 nations meeting in South Korea have wrestled with how to stop millions of tonnes of plastic waste entering the environment each year
- Plastic pollution is so ubiquitous that microplastics have been found on the highest mountain peak, in the deepest ocean and throughout almost every part of the human body
Saudi Arabia hosts UN talks on drought, desertification
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia - Saudi Arabia will host the COP16 UN conference on land degradation and desertification next week as the...
- The subject of desertification is close to home for the Gulf kingdom, which has one of the biggest deserts on the planet
- Land degradation disrupts ecosystems and makes land less productive for agriculture, leading to food shortages and spurring migration