Tag: UN

UN deforestation scheme under scrutiny after Indonesia debacle

by Sam Reeves / with Lucie Godeau in Jakarta KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — The collapse of a $1-billion deal to curb Indonesian deforestation has highlighted the pitfalls of a UN-backed global initiative, which critics say has been ineffective and trampled on indigenous communities’ rights. Protecting trees is key to meeting ambitious climate goals, with tropical rainforest loss accounting for about eight percent of annual carbon dioxide emissions, according to monitoring platform Global Forest Watch. […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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UN alarmed by Myanmar military moves

YANGON, Myanmar (AFP) — The United Nations voiced alarm Friday at Myanmar’s military junta deploying heavy weapons and troops to particular townships, fearing for the civilian population. The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said the deployment of two high-ranking commanders represented a worrying escalation in the situation. “Alarming reports indicate that there has been substantial deployment of heavy weapons and troops by the Myanmar military, the Tatmadaw, over the past few […]

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Medical supply shortages fuel deaths in Tigray: UN

by Robbie COREY-BOULET ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AFP) — Medical supply shortages are having fatal consequences in Ethiopia’s war-hit Tigray region, with patients succumbing to post-partum haemorrhage or dying for lack of dialysis equipment, the UN’s emergency-response agency said on Thursday. The latest situation report from the agency comes one week after Ethiopia expelled seven senior UN officials over accusations of “meddling”, exacerbating concerns about the humanitarian response in a region where hundreds of thousands reportedly […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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Half a degree makes a big difference in a warming world

by Stéphane ORJOLLET Agence France-Presse PARIS, France (AFP) – Half a degree Celsius may not seem like much, but climate experts say a world that has warmed 1.5 degrees Celsius above 19th-century levels compared to 2C could be the difference between life and death. A 2C Earth would see the number of people facing extreme heat waves more than double. A quarter of a billion more people would face water shortages. The Arctic Ocean will […]

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‘Severe crisis’ as number of people needing aid in Myanmar triples: UN

UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Myanmar is facing a “severe crisis” with the number of people needing aid tripling to three million in the eight months since the military launched a coup, the UN humanitarian coordinator to the country said Thursday. Andrew Kirkwood described the situation as “very concerning.” “The people of Myanmar are really living in a severe crisis at the moment,” he said in a virtual meeting with reporters. “The United Nations […]

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COP26 ‘won’t be easy’, UN climate chief admits

by Amélie BOTTOLLIER-DEPOIS Agence France-Presse MILAN, Italy (AFP) – The forthcoming COP26 summit — which could determine the viability of the Paris Agreement — will “not be easy” but an outcome matching the urgency of the crisis is an “absolute necessity”, the UN’s climate chief said Wednesday. As the world faces stronger and more frequent droughts, wildfires, flooding and storm surges made worse as the planet warms, the COP26 summit in Glasgow is being billed […]

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