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Climate Change

COP28 chief, groups, urge tripling renewable capacity by 2030

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(Last Updated On: October 30, 2023)

The presidency of next month’s COP28 climate summit and two renewable energy organisations on Monday urged governments to triple renewable energy capacity by 2030 as part of efforts to stop global warming exceeding 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Countries hope to strike a deal on the increase in capacity at the latest round of global climate negotiations set to get under way in Dubai in late November, which will focus on the gaps in the implementation of the 2015 Paris Agreement that established the 1.5°C ceiling, Reuters reported.

Renewable energy capacity needs “to reach more than 11,000 GW” by 2030, the United Arab Emirates’ COP28 presidency, the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) and the Global Renewables Alliance said in a joint report.

Most major economies are already on board with that goal. Group of 20 nations, among them China, the United States and India, agreed in September to pursue efforts to triple global renewable energy capacity by 2030.

Without rapid action to cut CO2 emissions, scientists say Earth will cross the 1.5°C threshold in the coming decade, unleashing far more severe climate change effects on people, wildlife and ecosystems.

However, striking a deal among the nearly 200 countries that attend COP28 meetings will not be easy. European nations and climate-vulnerable states argue that it is not enough to agree to scale up clean energy, if countries do not also agree to quit the polluting energy that is causing climate change.

They say a renewable energy deal at COP28 must be paired with a commitment to phase out CO2-emitting fossil fuels – a pledge that has faced resistance from Saudi Arabia, Russia and other fossil fuel-reliant economies.

“You cannot just have the renewables goal and then call the COP a success,” European Union climate policy chief Wopke Hoekstra told an event in Brussels on Friday.

Guiding the COP28 talks will be the UAE’s Sultan al-Jaber, a choice that has drawn criticism from some U.S. and EU lawmakers as well as campaigners as he is the boss of state oil giant ADNOC, and the UAE’s climate envoy.

The report also called for doubling energy efficiency, urging targets with specific time frames, strong regulatory frameworks, financial incentives and awareness campaigns.

Climate Change

Afghanistan a victim of climate change, says Muttaqi

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(Last Updated On: May 13, 2024)

The Acting Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amir Khan Muttaqi, met with Edem Wosornu, UNOCHA Director of Operations and Advocacy on Monday in Kabul and said although Afghanistan plays no role in the “destruction of the climate”, the country continues to suffer from this phenomenon.

Muttaqi appealed to countries contributing to the climate change problem to act responsibly as they are not doing anything in terms of compensating countries suffering the effects of climate change.

This comes just days after heavy rains claimed the lives of over 300 people in northern Afghanistan as flash floods hit the area.

Muttaqi meanwhile also said that Afghanistan should be allowed to participate at global climate change meetings and the country should have access to funding.

Wosornu in turn expressed her willingness to send UNOCHA teams to flood affected areas as soon as possible.

She also said they try to keep humanitarian needs and politics separate.

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Climate Change

Rescuers race to reach those trapped by floods in China’s Guangdong

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(Last Updated On: April 22, 2024)

WATCH: Rescuers on boats in China’s flood-ravaged Guangdong province raced to evacuate trapped residents, carrying some elderly people by piggyback from their homes and deploying helicopters to save villagers caught in rural landslides.

The southern Chinese province has been battered by unusually heavy, sustained and widespread rainfall since Thursday, with powerful storms ushering in an earlier-than-normal start to the region’s annual flooding season, Reuters reported.

Eleven people were missing in Guangdong by Monday morning, the state-owned Xinhua News Agency reported without giving further details.

Across the province, 53,741 people have been relocated, with 12,256 people being urgently resettled, Xinhua reported, citing the provincial government.

The cities of Shaoguan, Qingyuan, Zhaoqing and Jiangmen to the west and north of the provincial capital Guangzhou have been particularly hard hit.

In Qingyuan, houses and shops along the Bei River were submerged as the Pearl River tributary swelled, local media reported.

Aerial footage showed flood waters overwhelming a nearby town, leaving only roofs and treetops untouched.

Rescuers in Qingyuan tackled muddy waters, neck-high in some areas, to extract residents, including an elderly lady trapped in waist-deep water in an apartment building, videos on social media showed.

Other social media videos showed water gushing through roads and vehicles in disarray.

In Shaoguan, landslides trapped villagers who had to be rescued by helicopter while other rescuers traveled on foot to reach cut-off disaster sites, Reuters reported.

The Chinese military also stepped in to help clear roads.

The rains eased early on Monday, but some schools in the province were suspended.

Powerful thunderstorms are expected to return later in the week after a brief respite, marking an unusually early wet spell that is more typical in the months of May and June.

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Climate Change

Massive river flooding expected in China, threatening millions

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(Last Updated On: April 21, 2024)

Major rivers, waterways and reservoirs in China’s Guangdong province are threatening to unleash dangerous floods, forcing the government on Sunday to enact emergency response plans to protect more than 127 million people.

Calling the situation “grim”, local weather officials said sections of rivers and tributaries at the Xijiang and Beijiang river basins are hitting water levels in a rare spike that only has a one-in-50 chance of happening in any given year, state broadcaster CCTV news said on Sunday.

China’s water resource ministry issued an emergency advisory, CCTV reported.

Guangdong officials urged departments in all localities and municipalities to begin emergency planning to avert natural disasters and promptly disperse disaster relief funds and materials to ensure affected people have food, clothing, water and a place to live, Reuters reported.

The province, a major exporter and one of China’s main commercial and trading centers, has seen torrid downpours for several days and strong winds due to severe convective weather, which has also affected other parts of China.

A 12-hour stretch of heavy rain, starting from 8 p.m. (1200 GMT) Saturday, battered the central and northern parts of the province in the cities of Zhaoqing, Shaoguan, Qingyuan and Jiangmen.

Almost 20,000 people have been evacuated in Qingyuan, according to state media, and some power facilities in Zhaoqing were damaged, cutting power to some places, Reuters reported.

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