Tag: Opinion
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The Climate Action Summit in New York has failed to deliver
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guitterez, has been holding an annual Climate Action Summit on the margins of the UN General Assembly in September each year. He invites world leaders to come and share what they are doing to tackle climate change, the biggest human-induced global crisis. Over the years, his language to…
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Prof Huq’s opinion on G20 Summit Delhi
Watch Prof Saleemul Huq’s comments on the news of the G-20 Summit 2023 in New Delhi. Find the full clip link.
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COP28 must set up a new ‘Dubai Loss and Damage Fund’
The litmus test of success for the U.N. climate summit will be the creation of an urgently needed fund to help the most vulnerable people. Open letter to the incoming president of the COP28 U.N. climate summit Dear Dr Sultan Al Jaber, Let me thank you for inviting me to join the Advisory Committee for…
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‘It is not easy, but one cannot give up’
A conversation from COP27 on inclusive locally led adaptation. When it comes to climate change adaptation in affected communities, top-down approaches where international- and national-level decision-makers drive interventions do not work. In recognition of this, efforts to promote locally led adaptation (LLA) have been growing steadily and in August 2022, over 100 organisations endorsed eight…
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What Bangladesh Can Teach the World About Talking About Climate Change
The lights are out here in my home city of Dhaka as I write these words. Cyclone Sitrang has knocked out the electricity in Bangladesh’s capital, plunging much of this city of 22 million people into darkness. But one thing we Bangladeshis are not in the dark about is climate change. We understand that overheating the planet…
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OPINION: We need a clearer roadmap to a resilient food system
As climate change hits farmers and those who depend on them, creating a smarter food system is now critical Each year the country presiding over the UN Climate Summit – which this year is Egypt – can choose key areas in which to raise ambition through the ‘presidency programme’. The news that Egypt has chosen…
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Preparations for CoP 27 in Egypt leave vulnerable countries with serious doubts on outcomes for Loss and Damage
I have just spent two weeks in Bonn, Germany attending the Subsidiary Bodies meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in preparation for the 27th Conference of Parties (CoP 27) to be held in Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt in November this year. I have been participating in these meetings since 1992…
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OPINION: The G7 should keep its word on trillions for developing countries
G7 progress on mobilising trillions needed in clean infrastructure investment for developing countries appears largely rhetorical Developing country observers gazed on at COP26 when various leaders of wealthy and industrialized G7 countries spoke of aspirations to mobilize the trillions needed in clean infrastructure investment for developing countries. The teasing of trillions was an important part…
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OPINION: We must all learn how to tackle climate-induced loss and damage
Losses are growing in rich as well as poor countries – and it’s time to have an effective system to deal with them The adverse impacts from human-induced climate change are known as “loss and damage” – and how to tackle this issue has been a politically contentious issue in the United Nations climate negotiations…
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OPINION: The era of loss and damage from climate change is upon us
As extreme weather worsens, what can Germany and other disaster-hit countries learn from well-prepared at-risk nations like Bangladesh? Sitting in Dhaka, Bangladesh I have been glued to my TV watching the heart-rending loss of so many lives and so much property due to the horrendous flash floods in Germany over the last few days. My…
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OPINION: If ‘totemic’ climate finance pledge is missed, developing nations should skip COP26
The UK official running the UN summit says rich nations must fulfill an unmet promise to provide $100 billion a year if they are to retain their credibility in negotiations Back in 2009, at the U.N. climate summit in Copenhagen, Denmark, rich countries first set a goal of channelling $100 billion in public and private…
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OPINION: We must discuss the Paris Agreement every day – not just once a year at COP
As the pandemic again threatens the annual UN climate summit, known as the COP, it’s time to push on with a fresh approach that uses all opportunities for climate action The British government, as the host of the COP26 U.N. climate conference that was originally planned for November 2020, decided to postpone it a year…