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 and it is depressing to …

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 of advancing the dialogue at …

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 for years. But loss and …

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 heart goes out to all …

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 finance each year to help …

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 due to the COVID 19 …

Migrant workers and slumdwellers have received little official help during the pandemic, but are finding their own ways to cope As the months pass from the start of the COVID19 pandemic, the world is on a rapid learning curve about what, and who, really matters. In developed countries, there has been a recognition that often low-paid staff in hospitals, nursing …

Insight into the UN climate talks Under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), all the countries meet each year at the annual Conference of Parties (COP) held in December–  moving from continent to continent each year to review progress and agree on any new decisions. It is a two-week-long event with the first week dedicated to technical …