Sprinklers and drip irrigation help Iraqis beat drought

• 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

Poorer countries need money before raising climate targets, says COP29 head

• 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

• 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

Methane emissions under spotlight at global forum in Geneva

• 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

Women, rural poor most affected by climate change, says UN

• 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

• 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

World resource extraction could surge 60 percent by 2060, UN warns

• 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.

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 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.

Wind-powered Dutch chemical tanker sets sail for greener future

• The MT Chemical Challenger, a 16,000-ton chemicals transporter set sail from Antwerp for Istanbul on Friday, and will undergo sea trials along the way
• "As an avid sailor myself, I have been thinking for a long time how we can make our industry more sustainable," said Niels Grotz, chief executive of Chemship

Roadmap out for environmental education, sustainable development at WEEC2024