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Climate Change

After rough start, UN plastic treaty talks end with mandate for first draft

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(Last Updated On: June 3, 2023)

After a rocky start to a week of negotiations, around 170 countries agreed to develop a first draft by November of what could become the first global treaty to curb plastic pollution by the end of next year.

Country delegations, NGOs and industry representatives gathered in Paris this week for the second round of UN talks toward a legally binding pact to halt the explosion of plastic waste, which is projected to almost triple by 2060, with around half ending up in landfill and less than a fifth recycled, according to a 2022 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development report.

Though the first half of the five-day negotiations was spent arguing over procedural issues, delegations split into two groups to discuss the range of control measures that can be taken to stop plastic pollution as well as whether countries should develop national plans or set global targets to tackle the problem, Reuters reported.

By the session’s close on Friday, countries agreed to prepare a “zero draft” text of what would become a legally binding plastics treaty and to work between negotiation sessions on key questions such as the scope and principles of the future treaty.

The “zero draft” text would reflect options from the wide-ranging positions of different countries by the start of the next round of talks to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, in November.

“My appeal to you at the beginning of this session was that you make Paris count. You have done so by providing us collectively with a mandate for a zero draft and intersessional work,” said Jyoti Mathur-Filipp, executive secretary of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC) on Plastic Pollution at the closing plenary.

The start of negotiations was bogged down by more than two days focused on the rules of procedure for the talks.

Saudi Arabia, Russia and China led objections to the treaty decisions being adopted by a majority vote rather than a consensus. A consensus would give one or a few countries the ability to block adoption.

Marian Ledesma, a campaigner with Greenpeace Philippines, told Reuters that if the INC process enables adoption by consensus instead of majority voting, it “will block a lot of important provisions.”

“Voting allows for as many states as possible to be able to support the treaty and allow us to move forward,” she said.

The issue has not yet been fully resolved and will come up at the next round of talks.

Climate Change

Pakistan, India and Bangladesh bottom in air quality rankings in 2023

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(Last Updated On: March 19, 2024)

Pakistan remained one of the world’s three smoggiest countries in 2023, as Bangladesh and India replaced Chad and Iran, with particulate matter about 15 times the level recommended by the World Health Organization, data published on Tuesday showed.

Average concentrations of PM2.5 – small airborne particles that damage the lungs – reached 79.9 micrograms per cubic meter in Bangladesh in 2023, and 73.7 micrograms in Pakistan. The WHO recommends no more than 5 micrograms.

“Because of the climate conditions and the geography (in South Asia), you get this streak of PM2.5 concentrations that just skyrocket because the pollution has nowhere to go,” said Christi Chester Schroeder, air quality science manager at IQAir, a Swiss air-monitoring organisation.

“On top of that are factors such as agricultural practices, industry and population density,” she added. “Unfortunately, it really does look like it will get worse before it gets better.”

In 2022, Bangladesh was ranked as having the fifth-worst air quality, and India was eighth.

About 20% of premature deaths in Bangladesh are attributed to air pollution, and related healthcare costs amount to 4%-5% of the country’s GDP, said Md Firoz Khan, an air pollution expert at Dhaka’s North South University.

Indian pollution also increased last year, with PM2.5 levels about 11 times higher than the WHO standard. India’s New Delhi was the worst-performing capital city, at 92.7 micrograms.

Only Australia, Estonia, Finland, Grenada, Iceland, Mauritius and New Zealand met WHO standards in 2023.

The IQAir report was based on data from more than 30,000 monitoring stations in 134 countries and regions.

Chad, the world’s most polluted country in 2022, was excluded from the 2023 listings because of data issues. Iran and Sudan were also taken off the 2023 list.

Afghanistan was meanwhile not included on the list.

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Climate Change

In Bolivia, heavy rains prompt authorities to declare state of emergency

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(Last Updated On: March 11, 2024)

Heavy rain in Bolivia’s capital, La Paz, prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency, a government document showed on Sunday, after overflowing rivers destroyed many houses over the weekend.

Bolivian President Luis Arce pledged to send heavy machinery and 3,000 troops to prevent further damage, according to the document, Reuters reported.

Heavy rains caused flooding in several neighborhoods and isolated parts of the city by cutting water, electricity and roads.

“We are deeply concerned by the difficult situation that our municipality in La Paz is going through,” Arce said in a post on social media platform X.

One person died over the weekend in La Paz because of the heavy rains, while nearly 50 people have died in deluges across the country since the rainy season began in January, according to official data.

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Indonesia floods, landslide kill 19, with seven missing

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(Last Updated On: March 10, 2024)

Days of torrential rain have brought floods and landslides in Indonesia’s province of West Sumatra, forcing the evacuation of more than 70,000 people, while killing at least 19, with seven going missing, authorities said on Sunday.

The havoc since last Thursday in the provincial capital of Padang and eight other areas has damaged nearly 700 homes, scores of bridges and schools and 113 hectares of farmland.

Indonesia’s rescue agency is searching for those missing, officials said, with 150 rescuers drafted into the effort, hampered by blocked roads following the landslides.

“Today’s search involves 150 personnel from various disaster agencies,” Abdul Malik, the chief of the provincial rescue team, said in a statement.

Those evacuated gathered in the nearest mosques, said Abdul Muhari, the spokesperson of Indonesia’s disaster agency BNPB, but no temporary shelters were set up. They received food, water and medicines, while others returned home as waters subsided, Reuters reported.

Most areas in Padang are still flooded, Abdul added, with roads blocked by a landslide extending 50 meters in the area of Padang Pariaman.

With more rain expected in the next few days, the agency warned of further damage from floods and landslides.

Indonesia’s rainy season began in January with the BMKG meteorological agency forecasting a first-quarter peak, particularly on the islands of Java and Sumatra.

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