Brasília, Brazil (AFP) – Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro and his Colombia counterpart Ivan Duque said on Tuesday they would head to the next UN climate summit “united” in defense of the Amazon. The Cop26 climate conference begins in Glasgow on October 31 and will last two weeks. “We will arrive in Glasgow untied to tackle a very important and dear affair for all of us: our dear, rich and desirable Amazon,” said Bolsonaro following his meeting […]
Tag: COP26
‘Running out of time’: Asia struggles to kick coal addiction
by with Sam Reeves in Kuala Lumpur / Haeril Halim Agence France-Presse CILEGON, Indonesia (AFP) – Smokestacks belch noxious fumes into the air from a massive coal-fired power plant on the Indonesian coast, a stark illustration of Asia’s addiction to the fossil fuel which is threatening climate targets. Asia-Pacific accounts for about three-quarters of global coal consumption — even as the region struggles with the environmental and public health impacts of global warming, from deadly […]
New Zealand boosts climate aid ahead of Glasgow summit
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AFP) – New Zealand pledged Monday to quadruple foreign aid spending on climate change, addressing its “woefully inadequate” response to the challenge in recent decades. As representatives from around the world prepare for a landmark UN summit on global warming, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said Wellington would lift its climate aid budget to $930 million over four years. Ardern said at least half the money would go to Pacific island nations, many […]
Australia’s PM drops threat to skip UN climate summit
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) – Australia’s prime minister on Friday withdrew a threat to skip next month’s landmark UN climate summit, describing the meeting as “an important event”. “I confirmed my attendance at the Glasgow Summit, which I’m looking forward to attending,” Scott Morrison told journalists. Under mounting pressure to adopt more ambitious climate targets, the conservative leader had suggested he would not join other heads of government in Scotland’s largest city. His comments angered climate […]
Climate change a double blow for oil-rich Mideast: experts
by Frank ZELLER Agence France-Presse PAPHOS, Cyprus (AFP) – The climate crisis threatens a double blow for the Middle East, experts say, by destroying its oil income as the world shifts to renewables and by raising temperatures to unliveable extremes. Little has been done to address the challenge in a region long plagued by civil strife, war and refugee flows, even as global warming looks likely to accelerate these trends, a conference heard last week. […]
Nuclear option: Earth’s climate panacea or poison?
by Julien MIVIELLE Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – For its supporters, nuclear energy is the world’s best — perhaps only — hope to avoid catastrophic climate change. Opponents say it is too expensive, too risky and totally unnecessary. Standing between the two camps are those who see atomic power as a necessary evil that will buy the time needed to develop cleaner and safer alternatives. “We don’t have the luxury of choosing one or […]
In Glasgow, China-US tensions could shape climate future
by Shaun TANDON Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, D.C., United States (AFP) – Global momentum is building on the climate crisis but action will be impossible without two nations, China and the United States, which together account for more than half of emissions — and whose governments don’t get along. Ahead of the COP26 summit in Glasgow, experts believe that breakthrough US-China cooperation could be the catalyst for a historic agreement on climate change — but also […]
COP26 president denies UK rift over climate
by Jitendra JOSHI Agence France-Presse MANCHESTER, United Kingdom (AFP) – British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s pointman for the COP26 climate summit insisted Tuesday that his own Conservative party was on board with the ambition of saving the planet. COP26 president Alok Sharma said that despite grumbling on the party’s right wing at its annual conference, MPs all saw the potential for a green economic revolution. “Sometimes people don’t perceive the Conservatives as leading on this,” […]
Severe droughts dry up dreams of Turkish farmers
by Raziye Akkoc Agence France-Presse AKKUZULU, Turkey (AFP) – Turkish farmer Hava Keles stares inconsolably at withered vines of rotting tomatoes in a field that has been devastated by a series of droughts blamed on climate change. “My tomatoes, my beans, my peppers are ruined. My watermelons didn’t even grow. The cucumbers I planted have shrivelled up on the branches,” lamented Keles, 58, standing in an arid Anatolian plot in Akkuzulu, north of Ankara. Keles […]
Dry year leaves Syria wheat farmers facing crop failure
by Delil Souleiman with Maher al-Mounes in Damascus Agence France-Presse TAL SHAEER, Syria (AFP) – After Syrian farmer Abdelbaqi Souleiman lost his last wheat crop to a wildfire, he had hoped for a better harvest this summer. But this spring there was hardly any rain. “Last year the field I planted was burnt to the ground,” said the 48-year-old. “This year there wasn’t enough rain, and we didn’t harvest any wheat.” As man-made climate change […]
Climate change threatens the Everglades, Florida’s gem
by Gerard MARTINEZ Agence France-Presse MIAMI, Florida (AFP) – Umberto Gimenez loves alligators. He gives them nicknames such as “Smile” and “Momma Gator” and laughs when he thinks of their antics. Gimenez, an airboat captain, has found his paradise in Florida’s Everglades National Park, a natural gem in the southeastern US state at risk from climate change. “It’s an amazing place and there’s only one in the world,” he says. The largest wetland in the […]
Senegal’s old capital on the frontline against rising sea
by Laurent Lozano Agence France-Presse SAINT-LOUIS, Senegal (AFP) – In the northern Senegalese city of Saint-Louis, excavators are ripping up the beach to lay giant blocks of basalt, in an eleventh-hour effort to keep the sea at bay. When work is finished, a black sea wall will stretch for kilometres along the coastline of the West African country’s former capital, famed for its colonial-era architecture. Dire warnings about the risk of rising sea levels due […]





