On the eve of the Cop27 climate conference that has just finished in Sharm el-Sheikh, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, warned of the stark consequences of failure. “There is no way we can avoid a catastrophic situation, if the two [the developed and developing world] are not able to establish a historic pact,” he said, in an interview with the Guardian. “Because at the present level, we will be doomed.” In the end, after two weeks of fraught and often bitter negotiations, the “historic pact” Guterres wanted was finally…
Tag: Climate crisis
China and US renew commitment to tackling climate crisis but differences remain
China and the US have renewed their partnership to tackle the climate crisis, and are working closely and productively on ways of bringing down greenhouse gas emissions, China’s head of delegation has said. The surprise news from Xie Zhenhua, who briefed a small group of journalists at the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt on Saturday, comes as a rare moment of progress amid a conference mired in stalemate and bitter fighting between developed and developing countries. Xie said he and John Kerry, the US special presidential envoy for climate,…
Cop27: is it right to talk of ‘reparations’?
Todd Stern, the US climate envoy to Barack Obama who negotiated the Paris climate treaty on behalf of the US, recalls how at his first UN climate summit in 2009, the first question at his first press conference caught him offguard. “I had just arrived, and I was asked: do you believe in paying reparations to developing countries?” he recalls. “I said no, absolutely not. But I certainly believe in significant support for developing countries.” The issue of reparations struck him as one that should be relegated to the fringes…
Qatar’s World Cup of woe: inside the 18 November Guardian Weekly
Ordinarily a football World Cup would be a moment for celebration, a time to savour sport’s power to unite nations and a glorious distraction from the problems of the day. Not this time: the 2022 tournament has been mired in controversy since it was awarded to Qatar 12 years ago. The small but ultra-wealthy Middle Eastern state thought that hosting the world’s most-watched sporting event would showcase it as a major player on the global stage. But instead Qatar has come in for severe criticism on a number of fronts,…
The Guardian view on climate diplomacy: it’s crunch time – again | Editorial
Less than two weeks before Cop27 opens in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, an outline of what to expect from the negotiations is becoming more distinct. The issue of loss and damage is expected to dominate – as it should. Wealthy countries have broken the promise made in 2009 at Cop15 in Copenhagen. An annual climate finance budget of $100bn was agreed then to help the countries most dangerously exposed to global heating. But contributions have fallen short. The group of countries known as the V20, which includes the…
UN body reaches long-term aviation climate goal of net zero by 2050
A United Nations body has agreed to a long-term aspirational goal for aviation of net-zero emissions by 2050, despite challenges from China and Russia, as countries aligned overwhelmingly with airlines amid pressure to curb pollution from flights. Nevertheless, environmentalists criticised the non-binding nature of the agreement as toothless. The decision, described as a compromise by several European countries who wanted a more ambitious target, was met with applause by members at the 193-nation International Civil Aviation Organization’s (ICAO) assembly, held every three years. China, backed by Russia and Eritrea, questioned…
China reports ‘most severe’ heatwave and third driest summer on record
China recorded its highest temperatures and one of its lowest levels of rainfall in 61 years during a two-month summer heatwave that caused forest fires, damaged crops and hit power supplies, the national meteorological agency said. The average national temperature in August, 22.4C, was 1.2C higher than the seasonal norm, while average rainfall fell 23% to 82mm, the third lowest since records began in 1961, according to Xiao Chan, the vice-director of China’s national meteorological administration. He told reporters that 267 weather stations across China recorded their highest temperatures in…
‘It’s getting extremely hard’: climate crisis forces China to ration electricity
There were still some streetlights on the Bund, one of the main roads in central Shanghai. But the decorative lights which light up the city skyline – blue, pink, and red – were turned off for two days to cope with the peaking power demand. The power restriction imposed by the city authorities, was the first in Shanghai, the financial hub of China. But across the rest of the country similar restrictions have been put in place, as cities, notably in the south-western region, grapple with ongoing power shortages caused…
Rain eases China’s record heatwave but fresh energy crisis looms
Rain across central China this week is expected to relieve the country’s worst heatwave on record, but weather agencies are now warning of potential floods, while analysts say the energy crisis exacerbated by the months-long drought is not over. Almost half of China has been affected by the latest heatwave, the hottest since record-keeping began in 1961. Hundreds of temperature records have been broken, and the heat has exacerbated the effects of low rainfall, drying up rivers and reservoirs across the country. Light to moderate showers have moved into central…
Pat Conroy on Labor’s engagement with our Pacific neighbours
Sarah Martin, Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent, talks to the minister for international development and the Pacific, who is newly returned from a visit to Solomon Islands. Together they discuss the climate crisis, democracy and China’s growing presence in the region How to listen to podcasts: everything you need to know The Guardian