Prime Minister of the UK, Margaret Thatcher studied chemistry at Oxford, and worked briefly as a research chemist before becoming a barrister
Mr President, it gives me great pleasure to return to the Podium of this assembly. When I last spoke here four years ago, on the 40th anniversary of the United Nations, the message that I and others like me gave was one of encouragement to the organisation to play the great role allotted to it.
Of all the challenges faced by the world community in those four years, one has grown clearer than any other in both urgency and importance—I refer to the threat to our global environment. I shall take the opportunity of addressing the general assembly to speak on that subject alone.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announcing last month that the U.K. will delay the phaseout of gasoline and diesel cars. JUSTIN TALLIS / POOL VIA AP
While Britain has long been a leader in cutting emissions, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now implementing a stunning reversal of climate-friendly policies, with new plans to “max out” oil production. Business leaders have joined environmentalists in condemning the moves.
In 1988, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher became the first world leader to take a stand on fighting climate change. Last month, exactly a quarter-century later, her successor Rishi Sunak tore up a cross-party consensus on the issue that had survived the intervening eight general elections and replaced it with a populist assault on what had been his own government’s environmental policies.
Thatcher, who trained as a chemist before entering politics, took her stand at a packed meeting of the country’s most prestigious science body, the Royal Society, on September 27, 1988. She told the assembly that “we are creating a global heat trap which could lead to climate instability” and promised action to curb global warming and achieve “stable prosperity”.
The Amazon River fell to its lowest level in over a century on Monday at the heart of the Brazilian rainforest as a record drought upends the lives of hundreds of thousands of people and damages the jungle ecosystem.
Brokering for the environment for the G77, the biggest negotiating bloc of low-income countries, comes with both challenges and triumphs, says the Filipino lawyer. He shares what it is like to spend sleepless nights at the climate meetings, ahead of COP28.
Vicente Paolo Yu III, known by his nickname Vice, at COP24 in Katowice, Poland in 2018. Image: Vice Yu
It is 12 midnight on the last Saturday before the conclusion of the world’s biggest climate summit.
The Conference of the Parties (COP) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) are two-week gatherings that have been held yearly for almost three decades in a bid to make major resolutions to combat worsening impacts of global warming.
The crowd of delegates from nearly 200 countries, dozens of world leaders and hundreds of the biggest companies and nonprofits has dissipated. At the venue, negotiators, however, are huddling in a room to grapple with the final wording of text that could potentially shift the discourse on climate change for the long term. Most of them have not eaten a proper meal, and are surviving on energy bars and the water served for free at the venue.
This is a typical scene into the last hours at the COPs, said Vicente Paolo Yu III, coordinator for the biggest negotiating bloc of low-income countries at the conference, the Group of 77 (G77) and China. The Asian superpower is not classified a developed country under international standards and has provided consistent support to the G77 on climate issues.
Residents of Myanmar’s flood-hit Bago city navigate the city’s submerged streets, salvaging food and belongings from their waterlogged homes, after record rainfall triggered floods that authorities said have displaced 14,000 people. “My house is flooded. This is the first time my house has been flooded in my life,” says Phwar Than Hme, a 101-year-old resident of Bago.
The world is very warm right now. We’re not only seeing record temperatures, but the records are being broken by record-wide margins.
Take the preliminary September global-average temperature anomaly of 1.7°C above pre-industrial levels, for example. It’s an incredible 0.5°C above the previous record.
The preliminary September global temperature is well above every previous value in the instrumental record. Copernicus
So why is the world so incredibly hot right now? And what does it mean for keeping our Paris Agreement targets?
Here are six contributing factors – with climate change the main reason temperatures are so high.
1. El Niño
One reason for the exceptional heat is we are in a significant El Niño that is still strengthening. During El Niño we see warming of the surface ocean over much of the tropical Pacific. This warming, and the effects of El Niño in other parts of the world, raises global average temperatures by about 0.1 to 0.2°C.
Led by China and Southeast Asia, new oil and gas facilities are being developed that will make decarbonisation harder to achieve.
Almost three-quarters of new oil and gas capacity is being built in Asia, with one-fifth of global supply under development in China. Image: Jon Sullivan, CC BY-NC 2.0
Record growth in solar power capacity and electric car sales are in line with a pathway towards net zero emissions globally by mid-century, as are industry plans for the roll-out of new manufacturing capacity for them. This is significant, since those two technologies alone deliver one-third of the emissions reductions between today and 2030 in the pathway.
Clean energy innovation has also been delivering more options and lowering technology costs. In the IEA’s original Roadmap in 2021, technologies not yet available on the market delivered nearly half of the emissions reductions needed for net zero in 2050. That number has now fallen to around 35% in this year’s update.
Extreme heat and flooding could erase $65bn in apparel export earnings from four Asian countries by 2030 as it jeopardises the health of the workers, new research has revealed.
The slow growth from extreme climate conditions will also result in one million fewer jobs being created, found the study by Cornell University and Schroders.
The research mapped out the climate vulnerability of 32 apparel production hubs of six global brands in Bangladesh, Cambodia, Pakistan and Vietnam. It found flooding and heat pose material risks to entire fashion industry, leading to a 22 per cent decline in export earnings.
These projections are expected to rise significantly by 2050, representing about 69 per cent in foregone export earnings and 8.64 million fewer jobs, warned the researchers.
But brands, investors or regulators are not prioritising in planning for these risks in the countries that collectively represent 18 per cent of global apparel export due to the industry’s focus on mitigation rather than adaptation measures, said the study.
September 11, 202311:48 PM GMT+7Updated 9 days ago
Sept 11 (Reuters) – The prime ministers of two small island nations that face ongoing impacts from rising sea levels appeared at legal hearings at an international court in Germany on Monday, and seek an advisory opinion on the obligations of countries to combat climate change.
Prime Ministers Kausea Natano of Tuvalu and Gaston Browne of Antigua and Barbuda gave evidence at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, which will consider whether carbon emissions absorbed by the ocean should be considered marine pollution, and what obligations nations have to protect the marine environment.
In addition to the small island states, countries including Germany, France, Saudi Arabia and Australia will speak at hearing sessions scheduled until September 25.
The tribunal will then issue an advisory opinion, which is not legally binding, but offers an authoritative statement on legal matters that could guide countries as they craft climate protection law.
Amid rising geopolitical tension, Southeast Asia is fulfilling a “vital role in building bridges of understanding” worldwide said the UN chief on Thursday.
António Guterres was speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia, at the opening of the ASEAN-United Nations Summit, addressing Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and declaring “our partnership is more important than ever.”
Climate security refers to the impacts of the climate crisis on peace and security, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
Climate change impacts can trigger competition over natural resources, insecure livelihoods, and mass displacement, increasing the risk of social tensions and instability.
Investing in climate action can be an opportunity to strengthen cooperation, rebuild trust, and mend the social fabric in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
UNDP supports countries in fragile settings align responses to climate change with conflict prevention and peacebuilding actions.
What is climate security?
Climate security refers to the impacts of the climate crisis on peace and security, particularly in fragile and conflict-affected settings.
Climate change can exacerbate food, water, and livelihood insecurity, with cascading effects such as increased competition over natural resources, social disruptions, and displacement. This can lead to increased tensions, conflict, and instability in a country or region.
In settings where conflict already exists, the impacts of climate change can aggravate or prolong it, making it more difficult to reach and sustain peace. Conflict can in turn disrupt or impede climate action, either through the active destruction of energy, water, and agricultural assets, or by delaying or blocking mitigation and adaptation interventions.
Why does climate security matter?
By 2030, climate change could push up to 130 million more people into poverty, not only exacerbating existing vulnerabilities, including food and water insecurity, but also socio-economic fragility, and political grievances. Within already fragile settings, these impacts can escalate security challenges and worsen instability. Furthermore, climate-related security risks often affect women at disproportionate levels.
The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality under the Ministry of Science and Technology has issued International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) standards regarding climate change adaption as a practical action to realise Vietnam’s net zero commitments.
VNA Wednesday, August 23, 2023 09:06 https://link.gov.vn/cxKMN5Hf
Hanoi (VNA) – The Directorate for Standards, Metrology and Quality under the Ministry of Science and Technology has issued International Standardisation Organisation (ISO) standards regarding climate change adaption as a practical action to realise Vietnam’s net zero commitments.
The standards named TCVN ISO 14090:2020 contain principles, requirements and guidelines to instruct organisations and sectors to adapt to climate change. They can be applied to every organisation of all sizes, local, regional, international, and at all types of business, corporation, sector, and natural resource manager.
The plaintiffs, who range in age from 5 to 22, successfully argued that the state’s refusal to consider climate change impacts before supporting fossil fuel development violated their right a clean environment under the Montana state constitution. Their lawsuit was the first to reach trial among several similar cases in the United States and is likely to bolster other actions seeking to use the legal system to force action on curbing emissions.
VHO- Có thể nói, hòn Trống Mái nằm ngay ở ví trí trung tâm của di sản thiên nhiên thế giới vịnh Hạ Long, là biểu tưởng du lịch nổi tiếng trong nước và quốc tế của vùng đất này, nhưng lại đang phải đối mặt với nhiều nguy cơ đổ, trượt nếu chính quyền, cơ quan chức năng sở tại không có ngay giải pháp bảo tồn cấp thiết.
Hòn Trống Mái được giới chuyên gia cảnh báo có nguy cơ cao bị gãy, trượt
Cuộc hội thảo góp ý cho Báo cáo tổng kết và các sản phẩm chính của nhiệm vụ khoa học công nghệ “Nghiên cứu đánh giá hiện trạng và các yếu tố ảnh hưởng làm cơ sở đề xuất các giải pháp bảo tồn hòn Trống Mái, vịnh Hạ Long” diễn ra từ hồi cuối tháng 7 vừa qua, tuy nhiên cho đến nay theo tìm hiểu của chúng tôi, các bên liên quan vẫn chưa có những động thái mạnh mẽ cho vấn đề “cấp cứu” biểu tượng có một không hai của di sản vịnh Hạ Long.
Còn nhớ vào cuối năm ngoái, chúng tôi cùng đoàn chuyên gia thuộc nhiều lĩnh vực khác nhau có chuyến tham quan vịnh Hạ Long, và một trong những điểm đến là hòn Trống Mái. Cơ duyên đưa đến địa điểm này không hề xuất phát từ sự tò mò hay chụp ảnh lưu niệm vì biểu tượng này đã nằm lòng trong sự yêu thích của biết bao du khách, mà trong đoàn có một chuyên gia về địa chất mong muốn mọi người có cái nhìn thực địa ở khoảng cách gần nhất có thể để nhận diện rõ hơn về sự ăn mòn đáng sợ đối với “hai chân” của hòn Trống Mái. Bằng con mắt chuyên môn, vị chuyên gia về địa chất đã cảnh báo rằng, với tốc độ xâm thực và bào mòn của sóng, gió và tác động của con người như hiện nay, chẳng bao lâu nữa độ kết cấu “hai chân” của hòn Trống Mái sẽ bị cưa đứt. Tại thời điểm đó có người nói đùa rằng, hòn Trống Mái đang đứng trên hai “que tăm” bởi trông nó rất chênh vênh, chung chiêng nhất là khi những đợt sóng cao ập vào. Vị chuyên gia còn nói thêm, cũng đã nhiều lần lên tiếng cảnh báo qua mối quan hệ công việc nhưng nhìn chung chưa mấy ai tin, hoặc nhận được câu trả lời đại loại như “trông thế thôi, nó còn vững chãi lắm”.
CVD 