2023-12-09 13:54

DUBAI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - China's top climate envoy Xie Zhenhua on Staurday said there was little chance the COP28 climate summit would be called a success if nations could not agree to language on the future of fossil fuels. Asked if China supported a fossil fuel "phase out" he referred to the terms used in the 'Sunnylands' agreement reached with the United States last month. He said another option would be to gradually reduce the share of fossil fuels in the global energy mix. He also said China supports efforts to triple global renewable energy capactiy. https://www.reuters.com/world/china-says-not-much-chance-success-cop28-without-solution-fossil-fuels-2023-12-09/

2023-12-09 13:36

DUBAI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Eight of the world's top commodities traders have pledged to stop buying soy from farms that ruin South American grasslands, adding to previous commitments to shun growers that clear forests, a sector group said on Saturday on the sidelines of the COP28 climate summit. The move could bolster conservation for Brazil's Cerrado, the world's most biodiverse savanna, at least half of which has already been destroyed for agriculture. Farming, forestry and land use account for more than a fifth of planet warming-emissions. The firms, including Archer Daniels Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus Company, agreed that by the end of the decade they will longer buy soy from farms that destroyed any non-forest natural vegetation in the Amazon rainforest, Chaco dry woodlands or the Cerrado, said Petra Tanos of the Tropical Forest Alliance. The commitment adds to the sector's pledge last year to eliminate deforestation by 2025. Tanos said the move is most consequential for the Cerrado, Brazil's most rapidly expanding agricultural frontier that includes large stretches of grassland. In 2023, Cerrado destruction hit its highest point in eight years. The Tropical Forest Alliance is a World Economic Forum initiative that works with commodities firms on environmental commitments. Beyond the United States, the largest soy exporting nations are in South America, where natural vegetation is typically cleared to make way for farms. In the lead up to United Nations COP28 climate change summit in Dubai, some of the companies announced even more aggressive commitments. Last month, Cargill announced it would eliminate deforestation and land conversion from its supply chains by 2025 in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. Archer Daniels Midland committed to eliminating land conversion among its direct suppliers by 2025 and indirect suppliers by 2027 across sensitive South American biomes. But the industry has a history of failing to meet past commitments. In 2010, hundreds of consumer brands pledged to reach "net zero" deforestation by 2020, but failed to meet the goal. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/commodities-traders-pledge-cop28-protect-south-american-grasslands-2023-12-09/

2023-12-09 13:16

Dozen countries on board, including Canada and France Big fossil fuel subsidy providers U.S., China missing DUBAI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - A Dutch-led coalition of a dozen nations committed on Saturday to publish an inventory of their own fossil fuel subsidies within a year, with the aim of creating a clear strategy for eliminating them. Governments agreed at the 2021 United Nations climate summit in Glasgow to phase out "inefficient" fossil fuel subsidies to help tamp down global warming. But individual countries were left to decide for themselves how to do this. Global subsidies for fossil fuels have since soared, rising by $2 trillion over the past two years to hit a record $7 trillion in 2022, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). "We cannot phase out fossil fuels without tackling fossil fuel subsidies," said Dutch climate minister, Rob Jetten, at the U.N. climate summit COP28 in Dubai. "We must ensure the right economic incentives are in place." The Dutch-led voluntary agreement provides the building blocks for disposing of such subsidies, which are typically employed to help protect consumers by keeping fuel prices low - especially amid energy price crises. It was backed by Antigua and Barbuda, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Costa Rica, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain. China, which did not join the new coalition, last year provided $2.2 trillion in fossil fuel subsidies, amounting to 12.5% of the country's total GDP, the IMF found. The United States, which the IMF estimates spent around $760 billion on fossil fuel subsidies in 2022, also did not sign on. Earlier this year, Canada released its own plan to eliminate inefficient fossil fuel subsidies - the only G20 country yet to do so and the world's fourth largest oil and gas producer. The coalition would see countries share best practices for getting rid of subsidies, and develop national phase-out strategies. "By eliminating subsidies, governments are better able to direct support towards clean economic growth and innovation," said Canadian environment minister Steven Guilbeault in a statement on Saturday. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/dutch-led-coalition-moves-phase-out-fossil-fuel-subsidies-cop28-2023-12-09/

2023-12-09 12:40

COLOMBO, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Sri Lanka is experiencing a countrywide power outage due to a system failure, a government official said on Saturday. Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB), the country's power monopoly, is working to restore power, CEB spokesperson Noel Priyantha said. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/nationwide-power-outage-sri-lanka-due-system-failure-government-official-2023-12-09/

2023-12-09 12:15

DUBAI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - India's environment minister, Bhupender Yadav, on Saturday demanded "equity and justice" in U.N. climate negotiations, holding that rich countries should be leading global climate action. The comments underlined India's long-held position that, as a developing country, it should not be a forced to cut its energy-related emissions - even as it is the world's third-biggest emitting country after China and the United States. With the COP28 climate summit in Dubai scheduled to end on Tuesday, delegates were working to resolve an impasse over whether to address the future use of fossil fuel. India and other countries whose economies rely on fossil fuels argue that wealthy countries should be doing more, because they have released more climate-warming emissions since the industrial revolution. "India firmly believes that equity and climate justice must be the basis of global climate action," Yadav told the summit. Earlier in the two-week COP28 conference, India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a speech in which he offered to host COP33 talks in 2028. "Over the past century, a small section of humanity has indiscriminately exploited nature," he said. "However, entire humanity is paying the price for this, especially people living in the global south." Coal-fired power accounts for about 80% percent of India's electricity supply. After the COP26 summit in Glasgow led to a pact calling for a global "phase down" in unabated coal power, India lobbied unsuccessfully at last year's COP27 in Egypt for that call to be extended to all fossil fuels. It has since opposed setting specific timelines for phasing down coal, while domestic power demand surged to new heights during this year's sweltering summer. Total electricity demand in June hit a record 140 billion kilowatt-hours - nearly 5% up from June 2022. India has set a goal for 50% of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2030. It also plans to add another 17 gigawatts of coal capacity over the next 16 months, after producing a record amount of electricity from coal in October to make up for a shortfall in hydropower generation following lower-than-normal monsoon rains. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/india-cop28-insists-equity-climate-talks-2023-12-09/

2023-12-09 11:17

DUBAI, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Russia said on Saturday it was looking into whether its frozen gold reserves, taken after Russia invaded Ukraine, could be used to fund the climate damage fund to help developing countries. In what looked like an attempt to try to fulfil Moscow's aim of doing "everything possible" to stop the West from seizing its frozen reserves, Russia's climate envoy said at the COP28 summit the move would help to close the gap between developed and developing countries in dealing with climate change. It is unlikely to be agreed upon. The West froze around half - or more than $300 billion - of Russia's international reserves after Moscow sent its armed forces into Ukraine in February last year. Kyiv wants the proceeds from Russian frozen assets to be used to help rebuild the country -- something many in the West want to happen but which has been complicated by legal questions and the move's possible future ramifications. "We are ready to announce that Russia is looking into the voluntary contribution of finance to the loss and damage fund from the frozen national gold reserves held by international organisations," Ruslan Edelgeriev, Russia's climate representative, said on the main stage at COP28 in Dubai. "It is a step dictated by the need to close the gap between developing and developed countries." https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/sustainable-finance-reporting/russia-tries-unfreeze-gold-reserves-climate-funds-cop28-2023-12-09/