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Paris climate deal
Topic Started: 14 Feb 2015, 12:20 AM (1,056 Views)
skibboy
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13 February 2015

UN agrees draft text for Paris climate summit

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Work is continuing on text aimed at a new climate change agreement by the end of the year

UN climate talks in Geneva have ended with agreement on a formal draft negotiating text for the summit in Paris in December.

The document, which runs to 86 pages, builds on negotiations in Peru last year.

The Swiss meeting set out to create a draft for consideration at the Paris talks.

The aim is to have a new global climate agreement in place by the end of 2015.

The latest climate talks, which started on Sunday, focussed on finalising a draft negotiating text for the Paris summit.

The six-day conference in the Swiss city was the first formal gathering since the Lima climate summit in December.

"I am extremely encouraged by the constructive spirit and the speed at which negotiators have worked during the past week," said Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC).

"We now have a formal negotiating text, which contains the views and concerns of all countries. The Lima Draft has now been transformed into the negotiating text and enjoys the full ownership of all countries," she added.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Analysis: Helen Briggs, BBC environment correspondent

The draft text was agreed before the end of the session, in a mood described as "the spirit of Lima".

But rather than being slimmed down, the document has more than doubled in size, to contain everything to be discussed in the run-up to Paris.

Delegates acknowledge that the hard work is still ahead, with the real conflicts to come when negotiators seek to "streamline" the text and narrow down the options for limiting a damaging rise in temperatures.

The key political test is the period from March to June, when individual countries announce their plans to reduce emissions.

At the next climate talks in June, real progress will have to be made to resolve issues such as financing the Paris agreement and ensuring that poorer countries get the support they need to adapt to impacts such as flooding.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


Three special sessions have been added to this year's schedule of climate meetings.

They include talks about "intended nationally determined contributions", the commitments to reduce emissions that are meant to pave the way towards a low-carbon future.

National plans

Governments are expected to submit their national plans by an informal deadline of the period from March to June.

China, the United States and the European Union have already given an indication of their plans.

The UN seeks to limit the increase of the average global surface temperature to no more than 2C (3.6F) compared with pre-industrial levels, to avoid "dangerous" climate change.

But scientists warn the Earth is on track for double that target.

The World Meteorological Organization confirmed this month that 2014 had been the hottest year on record, part of a continuing trend.

Fourteen out of the 15 hottest years have been this century.

The UNFCCC, based in Bonn, Germany, has 196 parties - including virtually all of the world's nations - and grew from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol for cutting greenhouse gases.

The next meeting will be held in Bonn in June.

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Trump 'does believe in climate change', says US ambassador to UN

4 June 2017

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The US president's decision led to protests against the withdrawal from the Paris agreement

US President Donald Trump "believes the climate is changing and he believes pollutants are part of the equation," says the US ambassador to the UN.

He knows "the US has to be responsible for it and that's what we're going to do," said Nikki Haley.

The president provoked widespread condemnation when he announced on Thursday the US would withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement.

The US becomes one of only three countries outside its framework.

When he made the announcement, Mr Trump said the deal would hurt the US economy.

He made no mention of climate change science.

During his election campaign, Mr Trump had said that climate change was a hoax and, since his announcement on Thursday, has avoided questions on the subject, as has White House press secretary Sean Spicer.

"Just because the US got out of a club doesn't mean we aren't going to care about the environment," Ms Haley told CNN, adding that the terms of the Paris agreement, reached in 2015, were "too onerous".

Scott Pruitt, the head of the US Environmental Protection Agency, said: "The world applauded when we joined Paris. And you know why? I think they applauded because they knew it would put this country at a disadvantage."

Mr Trump said the agreement would cost the US $3tn (£2.3tn) in lost GDP and 6.5 million jobs - while rival economies like China and India were treated more favourably.

The president is "absolutely intent on making sure that we have clean air, clean water, that he makes sure that we're doing everything we can to keep America's moral compass in the world when it comes to the environment," said Ms Haley.

Only war-torn Syria and Nicaragua, which believes the accords don't go far enough, failed to sign the Paris agreement.

China, the EU and India, which along with the US make up the four biggest emitters of carbon dioxide, have restated their commitment to the accord.

"The protection of the environment and the mother planet is an article of faith," said India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, after meeting France's President Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Saturday.

The Paris agreement committed countries to keeping rising global temperatures "well below" 2C (3.6F) above pre-industrial levels and "endeavour to limit" them even more, to 1.5C.

The World Meteorological Organisation said that, in the worst scenario, the US pullout could add 0.3C to global temperatures by the end of the century.

France and India are members of the International Solar Alliance, set up following the Paris agreement, which aims to generate $1tn of investment in solar power by 2030.

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05 June 2017

Bloomberg leads mass coalition declaring support for Paris climate deal

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© POOL/AFP/File | Former New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, seen here meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, leads a group of US business and government leaders pledging continued support for the Paris climate accord

NEW YORK (AFP) - Led by former New York mayor Mike Bloomberg, nearly 1,000 business and government leaders declared Monday their intent to honor the Paris climate accord, days after US President Donald Trump announced a US exit from the 190-plus nation pact.

"Today, on behalf of an unprecedented collection of US cities, states, businesses and other organizations, I am communicating to the United Nations and the global community that American society remains committed to achieving the emission reductions we pledged to make in Paris in 2015," said Bloomberg in a statement.

"I am confident the broad array of leaders and organizations that have signed today's declaration, and many others that will join in the days to come, will work together to reduce US carbon emissions by 26 percent by 2025, just as we had pledged in Paris."

Big names like Apple, Google and Microsoft are in the group, called "We Are Still In," along with more than 100 mayors and governors and a range of colleges and universities.

A full list of the signatories is available at wearestillin.org.

A statement by the group calls Trump's decision to pull the US out of the climate accord "a grave mistake that endangers the American public and hurts America's economic security and diplomatic reputation."

It also said "in the absence of leadership from Washington, states, cities, colleges and universities and businesses representing a sizeable percentage of the US economy will pursue ambitious climate goals."

Since Trump's announcement on Thursday, at least 211 mayors adopted the Paris goals for their own cities, and at least 17 governors have released individual statements saying they stand by the Paris deal, agreed in late 2015 by every country in the world except Syria and Nicaragua.

Bloomberg, a billionaire climate advocate, also met with French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday to tell him the American people intended to uphold the pact.

Bloomberg has also pledged to muster $15 million for the United Nations' climate body, substituting for US funding likely to be axed by Trump.

Bloomberg, 75, was mayor of New York from 2002 to 2013.

He is estimated by Forbes magazine to be the eighth richest person in the world.

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Juncker rejects US climate deal re-negotiation

By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

8 hours ago

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Green groups across Europe protested the US pullout from Paris

Speaking to the European Parliament, Jean-Claude Juncker categorically ruled out any re-negotiation of the Paris climate agreement.

The European Commission President said: "We have spent 20 years negotiating", and now was the time for implementation.

US President Trump has claimed that the accord could be amended and made more palatable to his country.

Mr Trump announced earlier this month that the US would leave the pact.

In his remarks to MEPs, Jean-Claude Juncker described the US decision as not just a sad event, "it is a sign of abdication from common action in dealing with the fate of our planet".

The US "abandonment" will not mean the end of the agreement, he said, but would make the world more united and determined to work towards the accord's full implementation.

He was very clear there would be no attempt to amend the agreement.

"The European Union will not renegotiate the Paris Agreement," Mr Juncker said.

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Commission President Juncker was speaking to MEPS

"The 29 articles of the agreement must be implemented and not renegotiated. Climate action does not need more distractions. We have spent 20 years negotiating. Now it is the time for action. Now it is the time for implementation."

The president of the Marshall Island, Hilda Heine, also addressed the parliamentarians, meeting in Strasbourg.

She re-iterated her view that the Paris agreement was set in stone.

"We cannot do better (than Paris), and we don't have the luxury of more time," she said.

She urged the EU member states and other countries to use the three years before the US pulls out of Paris to try to convince President Trump of the importance of climate action.

She also called on Europe to adopt harder goals when it comes to cutting emissions of carbon dioxide.

"We will not stay within 1.5C unless Europe and others move before 2020 to raise ambition."

The bloc should adopt five-year climate targets instead of the current 10-year plans, she said.

By a huge majority the EU Parliament voted on Wednesday in favour of binding national targets for cutting emissions from areas including transport, agriculture and waste management.

These areas are not covered by Europe's emissions trading scheme.

The move forms part of the EU's strategy for getting emissions down by 40% in 2030 below 1990 levels.

"Today's vote gives a crystal clear signal to Donald Trump: Europe acts on its commitments under the Paris agreement and seizes the opportunities of green growth, with or without you," said Gerben-Jan Gerbrandy, the Dutch MEP who helped guide the law through the parliament.

"Almost all political groups have backed a strong and ambitious climate law."

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21 June 2017

Oil, gas giants could waste trillions in a 2C world: report

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© AFP/File / by Marlowe HOOD | Projects worth $2.3 trillion (two trillion euros) could become unprofitable as energy shifts toward renewables and if fossil fuel prices stagnate

PARIS (AFP) - Thirty percent of investments planned by oil and gas majors over the next decade could be wasted if the world economy retools to cap global warming at two degrees Celsius, researchers warned Wednesday.

The 2C (3.6 degree Fahrenheit) target is the cornerstone of the 196-nation Paris Agreement, inked in 2015.

Projects worth $2.3 trillion (two trillion euros) could become unprofitable as energy shifts toward renewables and if fossil fuel prices stagnate, according to an analysis of investment budgets for 69 publically traded oil and gas companies.

Some players will be more exposed than others, said the report, "Two degrees of separation: Transition risk for upstream oil and gas in a low-carbon world."

Up to 50 percent of ExxonMobil's proposed capital expenditure to 2025, for example, is allocated to uneconomical projects likely to disappoint shareholders, the researchers concluded.

Shell, Chevron, Total and Eni were found to have put 30 to 40 percent of future spending at risk, about average for the companies examined.

At the other end of the scale, 14 companies -- including state-owned giant Saudi Aramco -- were seen as well-aligned with the 2C scenario.

"This report is a real game-changer for the future of corporate-investor engagement," said Nathan Fabian, director of policy & research at PRI, a UN-backed network of investors who oversee $62 trillion (56 trillion euros) in assets.

"Investors in oil and gas companies have been in the dark about their exposure to climate risk -- now they will be able to confront companies with precise information."

PRI produced the report in collaboration with Carbon Tracker, a financial think tank that assesses the impact of climate change on capital markets and investment.

Major energy companies are already under growing pressure from investors to explain how global warming -- and the shift to a low-carbon economy -- will affect their bottom lines.

Last month, three-fifths of ExxonMobil shareholders defied the board and voted for the company to report annually on how new technology and 2C policies will affect business and investment plans.

- Off the table -

Weeks earlier, a majority of Occidental Petroleum shareholders called for similar measures.

"There are clear signs that oil demand could peak in the early 2020s, so companies need to start taking options that would come onstream then off the table," said James Leaton, Carbon Tracker's research director.

"Sticking with the growth-at-all-costs scenario just doesn't add up for shareholder value when policy and technology are heading in the opposite direction."

The move towards corporate transparency around climate issues extends beyond the fossil fuel industry.

On June 29, the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures -- initiated at the COP21 Paris climate summit by former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg and Bank of England Governor Mark Carney -- will issue final recommendations.

The task force has already called for the disclosure of climate-related impacts and risks, and strategies to confront them -- backed by metrics and targets.

The Carbon Tracker report on investment risk in the fossil fuel industry looks at oil and gas production to 2035, and capital investment to 2025.

The proposed projects would generate 380 billion tonnes of CO2 -- 60 percent from oil, 40 percent from gas -- by 2035, exceeding the fossil fuel "carbon budget" consistent with a 2C cap on global warming.

Companies will need to knock off at least 60 billion tonnes of that total for the world to have a 50/50 shot at a 2C world.

In a joint statement, institutional investors backing the report -- including Britain's Legal & General Investment Management, Dutch pension fund PGGM, and the French fund FRR -- cautioned against the risk of stranded assets.

"Some companies have to reconsider their business strategy," they said.

ExxonMobil, Total, Eni and Shell are all involved in the single biggest uneconomic asset flagged by the report, the $33.5 billion (30 billion euro) Kashagan Phase 2 project in Kazakhstan.

Analysts estimate it would require oil prices of at least $110 a barrel to break even.

London Brent crude closed at just over $45 (40 euros) a barrel on June 21.

by Marlowe HOOD

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Merkel: Hamburg G20 to focus on Paris climate deal

7 hours ago

German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said this year's G20 summit will focus on furthering the aims of the Paris climate deal - putting her on a direct collision course with the US president.

Mrs Merkel said she knew the topic may be difficult following Donald Trump's decision to pull the US out the accord.

However, she said, tackling climate change remained a priority for Europe.

She was backed by other European leaders who said they would speak with "one voice" in Hamburg.

The summit of the world's largest economies takes place next week.

As host, it is up to Mrs Merkel to set out the priorities of the annual meeting.

This year, the Paris climate agreement, established to limit the impact of carbon emissions on the environment, with countries committed to keeping the rise in global temperatures "well below" 2C, will be among them.

Mrs Merkel laid out her views in a speech to the German parliament on Thursday, hours before a meeting of her fellow European leaders.

"The differences are obvious and it would be dishonest to try to cover that up. That I won't do," she said.

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French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are united in their view on climate change

"The European Union unconditionally stands by its agreement in Paris and will implement it speedily and with determination.

"More than that: since the decision of the United States to leave the Paris climate agreement, we are more determined than ever to make it a success."

Taking what appeared to be a second swipe at Mr Trump, Mrs Merkel went on to say: "Those who think that the problems of this world can be solved with isolationism or protectionism are terribly wrong."

Mrs Merkel does not stand alone.

At a news conference which followed the meeting of Europe's leaders, European Council President Donald Tusk said: "We will speak with one voice at the G20 summit".

The group had met in Berlin to discuss their priorities - including climate change and people smuggling - ahead of next week, when they will be joined by Mr Trump.

However, they made clear they were not trying to isolate Mr Trump, and were hoping it would give them the opportunity to change his mind.

French President Emmanuel Macron - who is a staunch opponent of Mr Trump's climate change policies - emphasised that "the relationship [with the US] is a long term relationship".

But he said Europe would "clearly reaffirm our very strong commitment to the Paris accords", adding: "I hope that the others can be brought back to their senses."

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Mr Macron indicated he hoped to change Mr Trump's mind on the Paris accord

Mr Trump pulled the US out of the deal on 1 June, saying the Paris agreement was a deal that aimed to hobble, disadvantage and impoverish the US.

He claimed the agreement would cost the US $3tn in lost GDP and 6.5 million jobs - while rival economies like China and India were treated more favourably.

Mr Trump said he wanted to negotiate a "fair" deal for the US.

The decision places the US as one of just three countries which has not signed up to the deal.

Nicaragua - which felt the agreement did not go far enough to tackle climate change - and Syria are the other two.

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30 June 2017

Trump 'proud' of leaving Paris climate deal

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© AFP | US President Donald Trump defended his decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accord during a speech on the future of the US energy sector

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Donald Trump on Thursday strongly defended his decision to pull out of the Paris climate accord, declaring himself "proud" of the move.

"In order to protect American jobs, companies and workers, we've withdrawn the United States from the one-sided Paris Climate Accord," Trump said to applause, during a speech on the future of the US energy sector.

"I will tell you we're proud of it," he said. "And when I go around, there are so many people that say thank you. You saved the sovereignty of our country."

"And maybe we'll be back into it someday, but it will be on better terms," he vowed. "It will be on fair terms."

Climate change has become a major bone of contention between the United States and its Western allies, and the issue is set to loom large when Trump meets Group of 20 leaders in Hamburg, Germany next week.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel appeared headed for a collision course with Trump, vowing Thursday to seek a clear commitment to fight global warming from at the July 7-summit, and calling the 2015 Paris deal "not negotiable."

The Paris Agreement commits signatories to efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming, which is blamed for melting ice caps and glaciers, rising sea levels and more violent weather events.

Trump -- who on the campaign trail labeled climate change a Chinese hoax -- on June 1 announced America's shock withdrawal from the accord, which he dubbed a "bad" deal.

The United States is the world's second largest emitter of greenhouse gases after China.

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France set to ban sale of petrol and diesel vehicles by 2040

7 hours ago

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Hybrid and electric cars, like this Renault, make up about 5% of the French car market

France is set to ban the sale of any car that uses petrol or diesel fuel by 2040, in what the ecology minister called a "revolution".

Nicolas Hulot announced the planned ban on fossil fuel vehicles as part of a renewed commitment to the Paris climate deal.

He said France planned to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Hybrid cars make up about 3.5% of the French market, with pure electric vehicles accounting for just 1.2%.

It is not yet clear what will happen to existing fossil fuel vehicles still in use in 2040.

Mr Hulot, a veteran environmental campaigner, was appointed by new French President Emmanuel Macron.

Mr Macron has openly criticised US environmental policy, urging Donald Trump to "make our planet great again".

President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris climate change agreement in June was explicitly named as a factor in France's new vehicle plan.

"France has decided to become carbon neutral by 2050 following the US decision," Mr Hulot said, adding that the government would have to make investments to meet that target.

Poorer households would receive financial assistance to replace older, more polluting vehicles with cleaner ones, he said.

Earlier this week, car manufacturer Volvo said all of its new car models would be at least partly electric from 2019, an announcement referenced by Mr Hulot.

He said he believes French car manufacturers - including brands such as Peugeot-Citroen and Renault - would meet the challenge, although he acknowledged it would be difficult.

Renault's "Zoe" electric vehicle range is one of the most popular in Europe.

However, traditional fossil fuel vehicles account for about 95% of the European market.

Other targets set in the French environmental plan include ending coal power plants by 2022, reducing nuclear power to 50% of total output by 2025, and ending the issuance of new oil and gas exploration licences.

Several French cities struggle with high levels of air pollution, including Paris, which endured several days of peak pollution in March.

The capital has implemented a range of measures to cut down on cars, but air pollution is also a problem in picturesque mountain regions.

Last month, a woman took the French state to court over what she said was a failure to protect her health from the effects of air pollution in Paris.

Norway, which is the leader in the use of electric cars in Europe, wants to move to electric-only vehicles by 2025, as does the Netherlands.

Both Germany and India have proposed similar measures with a target of 2030.

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G20: Merkel’s mission is to co-opt Saudis and Russia to embarrass US

By Roger Harrabin
BBC environment analyst

7 July 2017

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How will Mrs Merkel manoeuvre around Mr Trump?

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is battling to prevent US President Donald Trump undermining the world leaders' united front on climate change.

At the Paris climate deal, all world leaders spoke in favour of limiting global temperature rise to 2 degrees but that was after a massive diplomatic effort by President Barack Obama made membership of the climate club a moral imperative.

He and the French hosts created such an atmosphere that even the normally foot-dragging Russians and Saudis committed to the deal, despite their long history of slowing progress in climate negotiations behind the scenes.

They own vast fossil fuel reserves of oil and gas and fear they will stand to lose if the world shifts away from fossil fuels.

Many a UN climate conference has drawn to a semi-successful close, only for the chair to wearily announce "objection from Saudi Arabia".

The task for Chancellor Merkel and her allies is to bind these two nervous bedfellows into the great climate alliance between the EU and China, leaving the US looking out of touch.

Ideally, from Europe's standpoint, President Trump would recant his rejection of the Paris deal.

But that will not happen so the next least bad option is for Mr Trump to be isolated, with other nations standing together against him and in favour of stronger climate action.

President Putin wrote an article in a newspaper this week supporting the Paris deal but he and the Saudis understand that their co-operation on the matter is a huge diplomatic bargaining chip.

US solo tactic

Meanwhile the US is said to be preparing for a compromise statement that continues to reject the Paris deal but offers a promise that the US will tackle climate change on its own.

Given the president's onslaught on his predecessor's climate and energy policies, this pledge may ring hollow.

What is more, this is just a starting point.

In Paris all world leaders acknowledged that when it came to cutting emissions to reduce the risk of dangerous climate change, they all had to do much, much more.

Environmentalists want the G20 to increase their climate commitments over this weekend.

They may have to content themselves with the knowledge that the future of the planet is at least firmly on the agenda of the men and women who are running it.

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G20 Hamburg: Leaders fail to bridge Trump climate chasm

3 hours ago

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Many of the protesters in Hamburg were demonstrating against Donald Trump's position on climate change

Leaders of 19 nations at the G20 summit in Germany have renewed their pledge to implement the Paris deal on climate change, despite the US pulling out.

Deadlock over the issue had held up the last day of talks in Hamburg but a final agreement was eventually reached.

It acknowledges President Donald Trump's withdrawal from the Paris climate agreement without undermining the commitment of other countries.

The compromise comes after violent protests in the host city.

The joint summit statement released on Saturday said: "We take note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement."

However, the leaders of the other G20 members agreed the accord committing nations to restrict global temperature increases was "irreversible".

In her closing news conference, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said she still deplored Mr Trump's position on the Paris accord but she was "gratified" the other 19 nations opposed its renegotiation.

The statement also said the US would "endeavour to work closely with other countries to help them access and use fossil fuels more cleanly and efficiently".

Mr Trump has pledged to help the US coal industry make a comeback and has previously characterised the Paris agreement as trying to disadvantage American workers.

He won another concession on a second sticking point - trade.

While renewing a pledge against protectionism, the communiqué for the first time underlined the right of countries to protect their markets.

Mr Trump cancelled his own scheduled news conference on Saturday, reinforcing the image of the G20 as the G19 + 1, reports the BBC's diplomatic correspondent James Robbins.

It has been divisive summit in which the rest of the world has been struggling to come to terms with the US president's "America first" policy, our correspondent says.

Where do we go from here?

"I think it's very clear that we could not reach consensus, but the differences were not papered over, they were clearly stated," Mrs Merkel told reporters.

She said she did not share the view of UK Prime Minister Theresa May that Washington could decide to return to the climate agreement.

But Mrs May reiterated her belief that the US could rejoin the accord in her news conference on Saturday.

And French President Emmanuel Macron also remained hopeful of persuading Mr Trump to change his mind, saying: "I never despair of convincing him because I think it's my duty."

He announced that Paris would host another summit on 12 December to make further progress on the climate agreement and to address financing.

Why the street battles in Hamburg?

There have been large protests in the city, with demonstrators and armed police clashing into the early hours of Saturday.

Demonstrators - who were protesting against the presence of Mr Trump and Mr Putin, climate change and global wealth inequalities - set fire to vehicles and barricades, threw rocks at officers and looted shops.

At one point, police chased protesters across rooftops while officers on the streets used water cannon on protesters.

Nearly 200 police officers were injured during the protests.

Dozens of protesters have been detained.

What else happened at the summit?

President Trump met Prime Minister May on the sidelines of the summit on Saturday and said a US-UK trade deal would be signed soon.

He also confirmed he would visit the UK, but said the details had still to be worked out.

On Friday, the US president used his first meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the G20 to discuss the alleged Russian hacking of last year's US presidential election.

President Putin said on Saturday he believed President Trump had accepted his assurances that Moscow had not interfered in the vote.

He said he had established a working relationship with his US counterpart and a ceasefire in southern Syria - agreed between the US, Russia and Jordan on Friday - was a result of America becoming more pragmatic.

Mr Trump held his final talks of the event with President Xi Jinping, where they discussed efforts to rein in North Korea's nuclear ambitions.

President Xi suggested visits between the two countries' defence ministers, according to state news agency Xinhua.

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08 July 2017

Erdogan threatens not to ratify Paris climate accord

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© AFP | Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to follow in US President Donald Trump's footsteps and not ratify the Paris climate accord

HAMBURG (AFP) - Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened Saturday that his country would not ratify the Paris climate accord, speaking at the end of the G20 summit in Germany.

"After that step taken by America, the position that we adopt is in the direction of not passing it in parliament," Erdogan said at a press conference in Hamburg.

The summit of the world's biggest industrialised and developing economies agreed that 19 of its members would stick with the 2015 plan to fight global warming and "took note" of US President Donald Trump's pullout from the initiative.

But shortly after the mega-summit ended, Erdogan, who met Trump at the event, told a news conference that Turkey was no longer a certain candidate and suggested other members of the "G19" also had doubts.

He said he had clearly told French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel: "No offence, but we will not pass it in our parliament as long as the promises made to us are not delivered".

He said former French president Francois Hollande had promised him that Turkey would be classed as a developing and not an industrialised economy -- meaning Ankara would receive money from a global climate fund rather than have to pay into it.

He also suggested some other, unidentified, countries had a "problem" with the agreement and said "they are not renewing their full support".

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US notifies UN of Paris climate deal pullout

3 minutes ago

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President Trump's decision brought international condemnation

The Trump administration has issued its first written notification that the US intends to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement.

But in the notice to the United Nations the US state department said Washington would remain in the talks process.

President Donald Trump drew international condemnation in June when he first announced the US intention to withdraw.

He said the deal "punished" the US and would cost millions of American jobs.

Friday's announcement is seen as largely symbolic as no nation seeking to leave the pact can officially announce an intention to withdraw until 4 November 2019.

The process of leaving then takes another year, meaning it would not be complete until just weeks after the US presidential election in 2020.

Any new US president could then decide to rejoin the agreement.

"Today, the United States submitted a communication to the United Nations in its capacity as depositary for the Paris Agreement regarding the US intent to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as soon as it is eligible to do so," the US statement read.

"The United States will continue to participate in international climate change negotiations and meetings... to protect US interests and ensure all future policy options remain open to the administration."

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The Paris accord is seen as vital in the fight against global warming

In June, Mr Trump indicated he was open to another climate deal "on terms that are fair to the United States".

However, key signatories to the accord quickly ruled that out. The Paris Agreement took decades to finalise.

The US stance on climate change also caused divisions at the G20 summit in Germany last month.

A joint summit statement said it "took note of the decision of the United States of America to withdraw from the Paris Agreement".

However, leaders of the other G20 members agreed the accord was "irreversible".

The deal commits the US and 194 other countries to keeping rising global temperatures "well below" 2C above pre-industrial levels and "endeavour to limit" them even more, to 1.5C.

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'Dodgy' greenhouse gas data threatens Paris accord

By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent

21 minutes ago

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The air monitoring station at Jungfraujoch, in Switzerland, has detected the Italian emissions for nine years

Potent, climate warming gases are being emitted into the atmosphere but are not being recorded in official inventories, a BBC investigation has found.

Air monitors in Switzerland have detected large quantities of one gas coming from a location in Italy.

However, the Italian submission to the UN records just a tiny amount of the substance being emitted.

Levels of some emissions from India and China are so uncertain that experts say their records are plus or minus 100%.

These flaws posed a bigger threat to the Paris climate agreement than US President Donald Trump's intention to withdraw, researchers told BBC Radio 4's Counting Carbon programme.

Bottom-up records

Among the key provisions of the Paris climate deal, signed by 195 countries in December 2015, is the requirement that every country, rich or poor, has to submit an inventory of its greenhouse-gas emissions every two years.

Under UN rules, most countries produce "bottom-up" records, based on how many car journeys are made or how much energy is used for heating homes and offices.

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Scientist Dr Stefan Reimann has been recording high levels of warming gases over the Swiss Alps

But air-sampling programmes that record actual levels of gases, such as those run by the UK and Switzerland, sometimes reveal errors and omissions.

In 2011, Swiss scientists first published their data on levels of a gas called HFC-23 coming from a location in northern Italy.

Between 2008 and 2010, they had recorded samples of the chemical, produced in the refrigeration and air conditioning industries, which is 14,800 times more warming to the atmosphere than CO2.

Now the scientists, at the Jungfraujoch Swiss air monitoring station, have told the BBC the gas is still going into the atmosphere.

"Our estimate for this location in Italy is about 60-80 tonnes of this substance being emitted every year, then we can compare this with the Italian emission inventory, and that is quite interesting because the official inventory says below 10 tonnes or in the region of two to three tonnes," said Dr Stefan Reimann, from the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology.

"They actually say it is happening, but they don't think it is happening as much as we see.

"Just to put it into perspective, this greenhouse gas is thousands of times stronger than CO2.

"So, that would be like an Italian town of 80,000 inhabitants not emitting any CO2."

The Italian environment agency told the BBC its inventory was correct and complied with UN regulations and it did not accept the Swiss figures.

Another rare warming gas, carbon tetrachloride, once popular as a refrigerant and a solvent but very damaging to the ozone layer, has been banned in Europe since 2002.

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Coal use in China has been subject to major revisions in the country's statistics

But Dr Reimann told Counting Carbon: "We still see 10,000-20,000 tonnes coming out of China every year."

"That is something that shouldn't be there.

"There is actually no Chinese inventory for these gases, as they are banned and industry shouldn't be releasing them anymore."

China's approach to reporting its overall output of warming gases to the UN is also subject to constant and significant revisions.

Its last submission ran to about 30 pages - the UK's, by contrast, runs to several hundred.

Back in 2007, China simply refused to accept, in official documents, that it had become the largest emitter of CO2.

"I was working in China in 2007," said Dr Angel Hsu, from Yale University.

"I would include a citation and statistics that made this claim of China's position as the number one emitter - these were just stricken out, and I was told the Chinese government doesn't yet recognise this particular statistic so we are not going to include it."

A report in 2015 suggested one error in China's statistics amounted to 10% of global emissions in 2013.

The BBC investigation also discovered vast uncertainties in carbon emissions inventories, particularly in developing countries.

Methane, the second most abundant greenhouse gas after CO2, is produced by microbe activity in marshlands, in rice cultivation, from landfill, from agriculture and in the production of fossil fuels.

Global levels have been rising in recent years, and scientists are unsure why.

For a country such as India, home to 15% of the world's livestock, methane is a very important gas in their inventory - but the amount produced is subject to a high degree of uncertainty.

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There are huge uncertainties over methane emissions from India and other countries

"What they note is that methane emissions are about 50% uncertain for categories like ruminants, so what this means is that the emissions they submit could be plus or minus 50% of what's been submitted," said Dr Anita Ganesan, from the University of Bristol, who has overseen air monitoring research in the country.

"For nitrous oxide, that's 100%."

There are similar uncertainties with methane emissions in Russia, of between 30-40%, according to scientists who work there.

"What we're worried about is what the planet experiences, never mind what the statistics are," said Prof Euan Nisbet, from Royal Holloway, University of London.

"In the air, we see methane going up. The warming impact from that methane is enough to derail Paris."

The rules covering how countries report their emissions are currently being negotiated.

But Prof Glen Peters, from the Centre for International Climate Research, in Oslo, said: "The core part of Paris [is] the global stock-takes which are going to happen every five years, and after the stock-takes countries are meant to raise their ambition, but if you can't track progress sufficiently, which is the whole point of these stock-takes, you basically can't do anything.

"So, without good data as a basis, Paris essentially collapses. It just becomes a talkfest without much progress."

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23 October 2017

Nicaragua signs Paris climate agreement: official

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© AFP/File | Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega (R), flanked by his wife and Vice President Rosario Murillo (L), speaks to supporters in Managua on July 7, 2017 during the celebration of the 38th anniversary of "El Repliegue" at Victoria Square in Managua

MANAGUA (AFP) - Nicaragua signed the Paris climate agreement Monday, leaving the United States and Syria as the only two holdouts on the global climate pact.

The government of President Daniel Ortega said the global 2015 pact represented "the only international instrument that offers the conditions to face global warming and its effects," according to a statement read out by vice president Rosario Murillo.

Monday's announcement leaves the United States and Syria as the only countries holding out on the Paris deal, which set measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to prevent temperatures rising by more than two degrees.

US President Donald Trump in June announced the start of a three-year process to pull out of the agreement, signed by 195 countries, on the grounds that it would put the US at an economic disadvantage.

Ortega said last week that Nicaragua would sign the pact, but did not say when.

The tiny central American country had previously refused to sign the agreement on the grounds that it did not go far enough to combat global warming.

In September, the leftist Ortega announced during a private meeting with World Bank directors in Managua that his country would join the agreement, but the news was later removed from the official government website without explanation.

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24 October 2017

Trump on 'wrong side of history' on climate: Ban Ki-moon

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© AFP | Ban Ki-moon (C), South Korean diplomat and former Secretary-General of the United Nations, is seen leading a procession to Parliament Square in London on October 23, 2017 during the Elders Walk Together event

LONDON (AFP) - US President Donald Trump is "standing on the wrong side of history" in withdrawing from the Paris climate accord, former UN chief Ban Ki-moon told AFP in London on Monday.

"I am deeply concerned about what President Trump of (the) United States has declared that the US is withdrawing from this Paris agreement.

"I have been speaking out that his vision is politically short-sighted, and economically irresponsible and scientifically wrong. So he is standing on the wrong side of history," Ban said on the sidelines of a London peace walk.

The former Secretary-General of the United Nations joined other members of The Elders, a group created by Nelson Mandela, on the procession through the city before a discussion on world peace.

Ban said despite Trump's decision to pull out of the historic Paris agreement, he remained heartened by a US civil society campaign to continue to honour the environmental deal.

"I am encouraged and hopeful that whole worlds will be united in moving ahead with this Paris climate change agreement. This is the political and moral responsibility of our political leaders," he said.

Trump announced in June the start of a three-year process to pull out of the 2015 agreement, signed by 195 countries, on the grounds that it would put the US at an economic disadvantage.

Reflecting on the broader political climate, Ban said he had been "working very closely" with Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, who last week criticised the "politics of division" which characterised the 2016 US presidential race.

Ban also decried the current "lack of commitment" to an international spirit.

"A lack of leaders' global vision that we are living in a very tightly-interconnected small world, and that whatever is happening in this country may affect the neighbouring countries and even all around the world," he said.

He cited the "very tense period" on the divided Korean peninsula -- with Pyongyang staging its sixth nuclear test and launching two intercontinental ballistic missiles -- as one area where world leaders needed to act collectively.

"As one of the Korean citizens, I'm very much committed that the whole international community should stand resolute and unified and strong voices, so that North Korea realises that there is no other way but to return to dialogue to address these issues," he said.

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Paris climate accord: Syria to sign up, isolating US

3 hours ago

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Syria's decision was reported at the Bonn climate conference

The US is set to become isolated in its stance on the Paris climate agreement, after Syria said it was preparing to join the deal.

The Paris deal unites the world's nations in tackling climate change.

Syria and Nicaragua were the only nations outside the deal when it was agreed in 2015.

Nicaragua signed in October.

In June the US said it would withdraw, but the rules of the agreement state that this cannot be done until 2020.

Meanwhile, French officials said US President Donald Trump had not been invited to December's climate summit in Paris.

More than 100 countries have been invited to the summit, which is aimed at "building coalitions" with finance and business to further the accord, an aide to French President Emmanuel Macron said.

"I would like to affirm the Syrian Arab Republic's commitment to the Paris climate change accord," Syrian Deputy Environment Minister Wadah Katmawi told delegates of the 196 nations participating in the current climate talks in Bonn, Germany.

He said the accord would be signed "as soon as possible", adding that Syria would seek foreign aid to help it meet its commitments under the deal.

UN spokesman Nick Nuttall, quoted by AFP news agency, confirmed the move, saying that Syria would first have to submit ratification documents at the UN headquarters in New York.

Correspondents say Syria was effectively an international pariah when the accord was first signed, and sanctions would have made it difficult for officials to attend the discussions in Paris.

Also, the meetings coincided with some of the fiercest fighting in Syria's civil war, meaning the country was in no position to sign.

Announcing the US decision in June, Mr Trump said it was part of his "solemn duty to protect America" and he would seek a new deal that would not disadvantage US businesses.

He claimed that the accord would cost the US 6.5 million jobs and $3tn (£2.2tn) in lost GDP - while rival economies like China and India were treated more favourably.

A US statement issued in October when Nicaragua signed the agreement said the US would withdraw "unless we can re-enter on terms that are more favourable for our country".

White House spokeswoman Kelly Love said there had been no change in Washington's position since then.

Responding to the Syrian move, environmental NGO the Sierra Club issued a statement attacking the US position: "As if it wasn't already crystal clear, every single other country in the world is moving forward together to tackle the climate crisis, while Donald Trump has isolated the United States on the world stage in an embarrassing and dangerous position."

Scientists point out that work to implement the Paris accord must be stepped up if it is to have any chance of success.

Historically, the US, Europe and China account for almost half of the world's carbon emissions.

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08 November 2017

Syria not invited to Paris climate talks despite joining accord

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© AFP | Demonstrators roll a giant globe through a street as they take part in a so-called Climate March against fossil-based energy like coal ahead of the climate change conference in Bonn, western Germany

PARIS (AFP) - Despite signing up to the Paris climate accord Syria has not been invited to a summit on the pact in the French capital in December, the French foreign ministry said Wednesday.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad joins US President Donald Trump in being omitted from the list of around 100 leaders invited to Paris to strengthen the historic pact to curb global warming, clinched in 2013.

At UN climate talks in Bonn on Tuesday, Syria announced it would join the Paris Agreement, leaving the US as the only nation to say it will remain outside the landmark treaty.

Syrian government sources told AFP Wednesday that Assad had already promulgated a bill ratifying the agreement adopted by parliament last month.

Despite the announcement the French foreign ministry said Syria was not invited to the Paris gathering.

"The December 12 summit aims to bring together key players in the world of climate and finance. Syria has not been invited," the ministry said in a terse statement.

War-torn Syria is the 197th country to sign up to the deal on limiting carbon emissions.

The move leaves the US, which caused an international outcry in June when Trump announced plans to pull out of the pact, the world's sole hold-out.

The US State Department has attempted to downplay the isolation, saying if the Syrian government really cared about air quality "it wouldn't be gassing its own people" -- a reference to a raft of chemical attacks mostly blamed on government forces.

The US has been invited to send representatives to the Paris summit.

But the French, who are still smarting at Trump's decision to pull out, have not yet invited the president himself.

Explaining the omission President Emmanuel Macron's office said the leaders invited were from "those countries that are committed to implementing the deal".

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First CO2 rise in four years puts pressure on Paris targets

By Matt McGrath
Environment correspondent, Bonn

13 November 2017

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Consumption of coal has grown once again in China after three years of decline

Global emissions of CO2 in 2017 are projected to rise for the first time in four years, dashing hopes that a peak might soon be reached.

The main cause of the expected growth has been greater use of coal in China as its economy expanded.

Researchers are uncertain if the rise in emissions is a one-off or the start of a new period of CO2 build-up.

Scientists say that a global peak in CO2 before 2020 is needed to limit dangerous global warming this century.

The Global Carbon Project has been analysing and reporting on the scale of emissions of CO2 since 2006.

Carbon output has grown by about 3% per year in that period, but growth essentially declined or remained flat between 2014 and 2016.Concern at first CO2 rise in four years.

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The latest figures indicate that in 2017, emissions of CO2 from all human activities grew by about 2% globally.

There is some uncertainty about the data but the researchers involved have concluded that emissions are on the rise again.

"Global CO2 emissions appear to be going up strongly once again after a three-year stable period. This is very disappointing," said the lead author of the study, Prof Corinne Le Quéré from the University of East Anglia.

"With global CO2 emissions from human activities estimated at 41 billion tonnes for 2017, time is running out on our ability to keep warming well below 2 degrees C, let alone 1.5C."

The most important element in causing this rise has been China, which is responsible for around 28% of the global total.

Emissions there went up 3.5% in 2017, mainly because of increased coal use, driven in the main by a growing economy.

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US coal production has increased slightly this year mainly due to export demand

Another important factor in China has been lower water levels in rivers which have seen a drop in the amount of electricity made from hydro-power, with utilities turning to coal and gas to make up the shortfall.

US emissions have continued to decline but the fall has been less than expected. Higher prices saw a drop in the use of natural gas for electricity - with renewables and hydro-power picking up the slack.

Coal use has also grown slightly in the US this year, with consumption up about a half of one percent.

India's emissions are projected to grow by about 2%, which is a considerable decrease from around 6% per year over the last decade.

However, experts believe that this may be a temporary drop-off caused by a number of factors that have hampered the consumption of oil and cement.

Action required

Europe also saw a smaller decline than expected, falling by 0.2% compared with 2.2% over the last 10 years.

One common theme around the world is continued use of gas and oil, says Prof Le Quéré.

"There have been lots of ups and downs in the use of coal but in the background there has been no weakening in the use of oil and gas. And that is quite worrisome."

The report has been launched in Bonn where UN negotiators are trying to move forward with the rules for the Paris climate agreement.

Researchers involved with the study say they are not moving fast enough.

"Lots of diplomats are working out the rules but that is all a little bit meaningless unless they go back home to their countries and ratchet up climate action and that is where the gap is," said Dr Glen Peters, from the Centre for International Climate Research in Norway.

"These countries have to be pushing on with the policies, but everything keeps getting pushed back."

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Demonstrators at UN talks in Bonn demand faster cuts in carbon

The report is sure to increase tensions in Bonn between developed and developing nations.

There is increasing resentment about the fact that all the focus is on future commitments made under the Paris climate agreement but very little on the years before it becomes active.

Poorer countries want the richer ones to increase their carbon-cutting actions over the next three years.

"The climate will not let us wait until 2020 when the Paris agreement comes into force," said Nicaragua's chief negotiator, Paul Oquist.

"Climate change is happening now and it's vital that immediate actions to cut emissions become a feature of this summit."

The new research on carbon emissions has been published simultaneously in the journals Nature Climate Change,Earth System Science Data Discussions and Environmental Research Letters.

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16 November 2017

Obama climate envoy slams Trump's rejection of Paris Agreement

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© POOL/AFP/File / by Mariëtte Le Roux | Todd Stern says the US rejection of the Paris agreement is 'wrongheaded'

BONN (AFP) - The Obama-era official who helped deliver the 2015 Paris Agreement, lashed out Thursday at the Donald Trump administration's "wrongheaded" decision to abandon the first-ever pact committing all countries to limiting climate change.

Todd Stern, who was Barack Obama's special envoy for climate change, said he was "annoyed, frustrated" by the new president's rejection of a deal that took the world's nations more than two decades to negotiate.

"It's completely wrongheaded thing to do," Stern, who left the state department in 2016, told AFP on the sidelines of a UN climate conference in Bonn which he attended as an observer.

"Climate change is a huge challenge, we all know that," he said.

"We are in a... race against time to transform the economy faster than the bad stuff of climate change," he said.

"Trying to say it's a hoax, or it doesn't mean anything, or it's a terrible agreement and the rest of the world is laughing at us, is just so.. ridiculous."

Obama was a champion of the deal which America ratified just two months before Trump, who has described climate change as a "hoax", was elected to the White House.

Trump announced in June that America would abandon the pact, but the rules determine this cannot happen until November 2020.

The United States is the world's biggest historical greenhouse gas polluter, and second only to China for current-day emissions.

This week, Syria became the 196th country to formally adopt the Paris Agreement, leaving America as the only nation in the UN climate convention to reject it.

The pact commits countries to limiting average global warming to under two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over Industrial Revolution levels, and 1.5 C if possible, to avert calamitous climate change-induced storms, drought and sea-level rises.

To bolster the agreement, nations submitted voluntary commitments to curb emissions.

But the 1 C mark has already been passed, and analysts say the world is headed for a 3 C-warmer world, or more, on current country pledges.

- 'More angry than sad' -

While waiting to exit the deal, Washington is participating in the UN climate talks, where envoys are working out "rules" for putting the agreement into action.

Not all have welcomed the presence of the Americans in their midst, and Stern said Trump's decision "inevitably undermines the credibility and... strength of the US team."

He also criticised the White House hosting a sideline event at the talks on Monday, where administration officials and energy company executives defended continued fossil fuel use.

"Do I think it's constructive to do an event on coal? No, obviously not," said Stern, now a senior fellow with the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think-tank.

Having invested more than seven years in negotiating the Paris Agreement, Stern said he felt "more angry than sad" at the way things have turned out -- "annoyed, frustrated".

"Ideologues thought it was a good idea, and some of the president's so-called base supporters thought it was a good idea, but you have to look pretty hard to find informed people, companies... who thought that was a good idea," he said.

by Mariëtte Le Roux

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10 December 2017

Paris climate summit a chance for real progress: World Bank

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© AFP/File | World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said funding for climate projects will be key

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Paris climate summit next week offers a chance for concrete advances in the fight against global warming, even without the support of President Donald Trump, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said.

"What makes this summit different is that this is not just another high level political meeting," Kim told reporters. "This is going to bring together groups of people that normally don't get together, especially in talking about climate opportunities."

Tuesday's One Planet Summit, sponsored by France, the United Nations and the World Bank, brings together some 4,000 participants and 800 organizations to explore ways to finance climate projects.

Held two years after the Paris climate agreement -- and six months after Trump pulled out of the historic accord -- the talks will go ahead without a senior representative of the US administration.

But many American state and local officials and private groups will be there, and remain committed to addressing climate change, Kim said.

Among those in attendance will be former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former New York mayor Michael Bloomberg, whose foundation is helping to fund the summit.

Kim said funding for climate projects will be key, as the International Energy Agency has estimated it will take $3.5 trillion a year for the next 30 years to contain the rise of global temperatures.

"One of the big topics in Paris next week is the need to scale up financing which is still is not nearly enough to meet the Paris agreement commitments," he said.

Without financing "all you have is an agreement... and nothing would change actually on the ground."

A key part of that is providing funding for developing countries to address climate change.

The World Bank has pledged to increase its funding for such projects by 28 percent by 2020, a spokeswoman said.

This year, it has committed $13 billion to more than 200 climate-related initiatives.

Between 2011 and 2016, $63 billion was invested in more than 1,000 projects to help countries adapt to climate change or mitigate their impact, added the spokesperson.

French President Emmanuel Macron announced the upcoming summit last summer to reinject momentum into the fight against climate change, after the US decision to withdraw from the Paris agreement.

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Climate change: Trump says US 'could conceivably' rejoin Paris deal

5 minutes ago

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Donald Trump gave no indication of how likely it would be for the US to return to the accord

President Donald Trump has said the US could "conceivably" return to the 2015 Paris climate accord if an agreement treated America more fairly.

He said it "was a bad deal for the US", repeating comments made when he announced the US withdrawal last June.

But he said he had no problem with the accord itself.

A US pull-out will make the US in effect the only country not to be part of the accord.

The announcement sparked global anger.

Some critics have called it an abdication of US leadership on a key global challenge.

The Paris agreement commits countries to keeping the rise in global temperatures "well below" 2C more than pre-industrial levels and aiming for a tighter limit of 1.5C.

In a separate development on Wednesday, New York City announced plans to sell off $5bn (£3.7bn) in fossil fuel investments from its $189bn public pension funds over the next five years.

The city authorities also filed a multibillion dollar lawsuit against five major oil companies, seeking damages for "contributions to global warming".

New York City said this would help fund protection against climate change.

The lawsuit follows similar recent moves by a number of cities in California.

What did Mr Trump say about America's possible return?

"It's an agreement that I have no problem with but I had a problem with the agreement that they (the Obama administration) signed because, as usual, they made a bad deal," he told reporters.

"So we could conceivably go back in.

Mr Trump stressed his administration's commitment to environmental issues, "clean water, clean air", but added "we also want businesses that can compete".

"The Paris accord really would have taken away our competitive edge, and we're not going to let that happen," he said.

Has Washington started renegotiating?

Mr Trump has claimed in the past that the agreement would cost the US $3tn in lost GDP and 6.5 million jobs - while rival economies like China and India were treated more favourably.

When he announced last June he was pulling the US out of the accord, Mr Trump said he wanted to negotiate a new "fair" deal that would not disadvantage US businesses and workers.

He also said during the presidential election campaign that he wanted to help US oil and coal industries.

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Mr Trump has faced a storm of protest both at home and abroad over his decision to pull out of the deal

It was not clear from his comments on Wednesday whether he has embarked on any attempt to renegotiate America's terms.

French President Emmanuel Macron in December said he would not agree to a renegotiation but was hopeful the US would return to the accord.

Analysts have said the US withdrawal from the Paris agreement makes it more difficult for the world to reach the goals that it set for itself in the Paris agreement.

What is in the Paris climate deal?

The US contributes about 15% of global emissions of carbon, but it is also a significant source of finance and technology for developing countries in their efforts to fight rising temperatures.

No timescale for a US withdrawal from the accord has been given, although White House sources have previously suggested it could take up to four years.

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22 January 2018

France says it fell short on greenhouse gas emissions

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© AFP/File | France has been a world leader in fighting global warming but missed it 2016 greenhouse gas emissions target

PARIS (AFP) - France failed to meet its targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions in 2016, the government said Monday, just a month after President Emmanuel Macron warned that "we are losing the battle" against global warming.

The environment ministry said the country emitted 463 tons of greenhouse gases, measured as carbon dioxide equivalents, or 3.6 percent more than its goal.

It attributed the slip in part to lower oil prices which can prompt people and businesses to consume more in areas such as transportation or heating.

But emissions were down 15.3 percent from 1990 levels.

As part of the Paris climate accord signed by 195 nations in 2015, France has pledged to cut carbon emissions 27 percent from 2013 levels by 2028, and by 75 percent by 2050.

But the disappointing 2016 results show that "France can't be looking down" on other nations, environment minister Nicolas Hulot said.

"So stronger measures seem necessary to remain on track with our targets", he said.

Macron hosted world leaders last month for talks on financing efforts to combat climate change, with a coalition of 225 companies announcing a five-year plan for monitoring 100 of the world's largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters.

"We're not moving fast enough, that's the problem," Macron told the One Planet Summit, called to bolster the 2015 accord in light of US President Donald Trump's decision to pull out of the deal.

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28 January 2018

Trump willing to sign a revamped Paris climate deal

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© AFP/File | US President Donald Trump was met with global condemnation when he announced in June 2017 that the United States was pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, painting it a "bad deal" for the US economy

LONDON (AFP) - President Donald Trump would be willing to sign the US back up to the Paris climate accord, but only if the treaty undergoes major change, he said in comments published Sunday.

Trump was met with global condemnation when he announced in June 2017 that the United States was pulling out of the Paris climate agreement, painting it a "bad deal" for the US economy.

While the president remains firm in his criticism of the historic accord, which was signed by his predecessor Barack Obama, he said he would be willing to sign up to a revamped deal.

"The Paris accord, for us, would have been a disaster," he told Britain's ITV channel in an interviewed to be aired late Sunday.

"If they made a good deal... there's always a chance we'd get back," Trump added, describing the current agreement as "terrible" and "unfair" to the US.

The landmark treaty was agreed by 197 nations in 2015 after intense negotiations in Paris, where all countries made voluntary carbon-cutting pledges running to 2030.

"If somebody said, go back into the Paris accord, it would have to be a completely different deal because we had a horrible deal," Trump said, according to extracts of the interview.

"Would I go back in? Yeah, I'd go back in... I would love to."

Earlier this month Trump said the US could "conceivably" return to the deal under more favourable terms, raising questions about whether he was bluffing about pulling out of the Paris deal in a bid for easier emissions targets.

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29 March 2018

US on track to meet climate targets despite Trump: UN chief

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© AFP/File | The Paris climate agreement is aimed at limiting global warming to within two degrees Celsius, but Guterres warned that more action was needed by 2020 to reach that goal

UNITED NATIONS (UNITED STATES) (AFP) - The United States is on track to meet the targets of the Paris climate agreement despite President Donald Trump's plan to withdraw from the accord, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Thursday.

Guterres said emissions-cutting plans put in motion by American businesses, regional governments and cities meant that the goals set by the former US administration which signed the deal in 2016 were within reach.

"We have seen in the cities, and we have seen in many states, a very strong commitment to the Paris agreement, to the extent that some indicators are moving even better than in the recent past," Guterres told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

"There are expectations that, independently of the position of the administration, the US might be able to meet the commitments made in Paris as a country."

Under the deal, the administration of former president Barack Obama pledged to cut domestic greenhouse gas emissions 26 to 28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.

Nearly 200 countries and parties have signed the landmark agreement after intense negotiations in Paris, where all nations made voluntary carbon-cutting pledges running to 2030.

The agreement is aimed at limiting global warming to within two degrees Celsius, but Guterres warned that more action was needed by 2020 to reach that goal.

Trump faced condemnation when he announced in June 2017 that the United States was pulling out, painting the accord as a "bad deal" for the US economy.

Under the agreement, the United States can formally give notice that it plans to withdraw in 2019, three years after the accord came into force, and the withdrawal would become effective in 2020.

Describing climate change as "the most systemic threat to humankind," Guterres said recent data on extreme weather events showed that "2017 was filled with climate chaos."

"2018 has already brought more of the same," he said.

"Food security, health, stability itself all hang in the balance."

Guterres is planning to host a major summit next year to take stock of progress in implementing the climate deal, but it remains unlikely that Trump would attend.

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Global Shipping Is Part of the Climate Problem, Too: Editorial

April 5, 2018 by Bloomberg

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Photo: By Mr Nai / Shutterstock

By James Gibney and Clive Crook (Bloomberg View) — When almost all the world’s governments agreed in Paris more than two years ago to address climate change, they sidestepped an important issue: carbon emissions from international shipping.

Next week in London, they have a chance to put this right.

Shipping is by far the most energy-efficient mode of transport, and it moves some 80 percent of world trade by volume.

However, the fuel it uses is hard on the environment and human health — and ships last a long time, so deploying cleaner fleets takes time.

Already, international shipping accounts for about as much carbon dioxide each year as Germany’s whole economy.

On current trends, its share of the total will rise quickly.

It could account for roughly 15 percent of the global carbon budget set by the Paris accord for 2050.

Next week, the International Maritime Organization is expected to announce a strategy for reducing these emissions.

The plan is unlikely to be bold.

Countries including Argentina, Brazil, India, Panama and Saudi Arabia are resisting carbon dioxide targets for shipping.

Unsurprisingly, the industry itself is also opposed.

Despite this resistance, the IMO needs to be ambitious.

Ultimately, the most cost-effective approach would be to put a tax on carbon, and let that guide investment and innovation.

But devising and implementing an international carbon-price system won’t be done overnight.

In the short run, the IMO ought to propose a variety of useful course corrections.

For instance, slower transits and/or bigger ships would cut emissions; so would reducing the time vessels spend waiting to unload.

California has mandated the use of cleaner onshore power for ships in port.

Subsidies and port-fee reductions could be deployed to encourage use of electric barges and ferries.

Taken together, innovations such as these could make a real difference while easing the path to a more comprehensive solution.

The main thing next week is to acknowledge that confronting climate change is too urgent a goal for any sector of the global economy to be given a pass.

–Editors: James Gibney, Clive Crook.

© 2018 Bloomberg L.P

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IMO Faces Climate Choices at Next Week's Summit

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IMO headquarters in London (file image)

2018-04-06

Next week, the IMO Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC) will meet to consider a strategy for the reduction of shipping's greenhouse gas emissions.

Interest groups representing environmental advocates, shipowners and flag states have put forward a wide range of reduction targets.

It will be up to MEPC to adopt a particular strategy or defer the decision until a future date, as it has in previous meetings.

In an address, IMO Secretary General Kitack Lim urged MEPC to reach an agreement.

"Postponing the adoption of the initial strategy to a future session of MEPC should not be an option. We have already approved the roadmap for developing a comprehensive strategy on reducing GHG emissions from ships, and this roadmap includes adoption of an initial strategy at next week’s committee meeting," he said.
"Never before has a meeting generated such great interest – not only within the maritime community but far beyond . . . the stakes are high and the expectations even higher."

A range of options

Member states have proposed a wide range of options for MEPC's initial strategy.

At the most ambitious end of the spectrum, the Marshall Islands has called for eliminating CO2 emissions from shipping by 2035.

The world's second-biggest flag state also has the most to lose from climate change, as its average altitude is only seven feet above sea level.

The most severe predictions for sea-level rise by the century's end are in the range of 6.5 feet.

Alternatively, to keep shipping in line with the goals of the Paris Climate Accord, EU member states have proposed cutting shipping's emissions by 70 to 100 percent of 2008 levels by 2050.

The EU members have leverage: the European Union has already announced that if it is not satisfied with IMO action on climate change, it will act unilaterally to impose its own restrictions on CO2 output from shipping by incorporating the sector into its emissions trading scheme.

The chairman of the International Chamber of Shipping, Esben Poulsson, called for IMO member states to compromise and reach an agreement in order to head off regional regulation.

“Agreement upon a mid-century objective for the total reduction of CO2 emissions by the sector, regardless of trade growth, will be vital to discourage unilateral action and to provide the signal needed to stimulate the development of zero CO2 fuels," he said.

Poulsson suggested that the EU targets are unlikely to achieve enough support to pass at MEPC next week.

As an alternative, Norway would like to see a slightly less ambitious 50 percent cut by 2050, and Japan is calling for a reduction of 50 percent by 2060.

ICS, which represents most of the world's fleet, has endorsed the Japanese proposal.

Nine developing nations and top oil-producing states have called for no action.

Pollution control agenda

MEPC is set to consider other important pollution-control issues next week, unrelated to climate change.

It will examine a proposed ban on the carriage of high-sulfur fuel (except aboard vessels with scrubbers) after 2020, when the world-wide cap of 0.5 percent sulfur content takes effect.

Member states will also look at revised guidance for type approval process for ballast water treatment systems and on the scaling of these systems.

In addition, MEPC will consider proposed courses of action to reduce the risks of the use and carriage of heavy fuel oil in the Arctic.

HFO is banned in the Artarctic, and the United States, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Iceland have proposed that IMO should require the same standard in the Arctic as well.

Canada and the Marshall Islands have called for more study before taking up a ban.

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