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Little drama in Bonn other than some star turns and a pantomime villain. All eyes are now on Poland, the next summit host
For an issue that often seems to lurch from crisis to catastrophe, the steady but vital progress at the UN’s global climate change talks in Bonn was reassuring. But there remains a very long way to go before the world gets on track to avoid catastrophic levels of global warming.
There was little drama as the diplomatic sherpas trekked up the mountain of turning the political triumph of the 2015 Paris agreement into a technical reality, with a rulebook that would allow countries to start ramping up action. They got about as far as expected in turning the conceptual into the textual, but no further.
Continue reading...The UN negotiations in Bonn lay the groundwork for implementing the landmark Paris deal, but tough decisions lay ahead
The world’s nations were confident they were making important progress in turning continued political commitment into real world action, as the global climate change summit in Bonn was drawing to a close on Friday.
The UN talks were tasked with the vital, if unglamorous, task of converting the unprecedented global agreement sealed in Paris in 2015 from a symbolic moment into a set of rules by which nations can combine to defeat global warming. Currently, the world is on track for at least 3C of global warming – a catastrophic outcome that would lead to severe impacts around the world.
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Continue reading...The successes and disappointments this week in Germany, where the world’s nations gathered for the 23rd annual conference of the parties to prevent dangerous global warming
Week one at Bonn in picturesContinue reading...Acting on climate can certainly be driven by pure pragmatism: the economics of it are clear, writes Felipe Calderón
Climate negotiators are meeting in Bonn. Beyond the intricacies of the negotiations, here is one key thing to remember instead: about $1tn is already being invested in climate solutions, ranging from renewables and energy efficiency to public transport.
To put it simply: for those that act on climate now, the size of the economic prize will be immense.
Continue reading...Veteran climate scientist says litigation campaign against government and fossil fuels companies is essential alongside political mobilisation in fighting ‘growing, mortal threat’ of global warming
One of the fathers of climate science is calling for a wave of lawsuits against governments and fossil fuel companies that are delaying action on what he describes as the growing, mortal threat of global warming.
Former Nasa scientist James Hansen says the litigate-to-mitigate campaign is needed alongside political mobilisation because judges are less likely than politicians to be in the pocket of oil, coal and gas companies.
Continue reading...Unusually cold patches of the Pacific ocean are again on the move, threatening to disrupt weather patterns worldwide
A gigantic blob has surfaced in the Pacific, a monster of unusually cool water stretching out from South America across the equator. This is La Niña and it could send the world’s weather haywire over the next few months. Its impact could even be felt in Britain. Seven years ago one of the most powerful La Niñas on record led to catastrophic floods in Queensland, Colombia, southern Africa, and Pakistan, as well as drought in east Africa and the Amazon. There were record snowfalls followed by spring floods in the US.
Related: La Niña blamed for east African drought
Continue reading...In a turbulent era, the media must define its values and principles, writes Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner
‘No former period, in the history of our Country, has been marked by the agitation of questions of a more important character than those which are now claiming the attention of the public.” So began the announcement, nearly 200 years ago, of a brand-new newspaper to be published in Manchester, England, which proclaimed that “the spirited discussion of political questions” and “the accurate detail of facts” were “particularly important at this juncture”.
Now we are living through another extraordinary period in history: one defined by dazzling political shocks and the disruptive impact of new technologies in every part of our lives. The public sphere has changed more radically in the past two decades than in the previous two centuries – and news organisations, including this one, have worked hard to adjust.
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Continue reading...New alliance launched at Bonn climate talks hopes to signal the end of the dirtiest fossil fuel that kills 800,000 people a year with air pollution
A new alliance of 19 nations committed to quickly phasing out coal has been launched at the UN climate summit in Bonn, Germany. It was greeted as a “political watershed”, signalling the end of the dirtiest fossil fuel that currently provides 40% of global electricity.
New pledges were made on Thursday by Mexico, New Zealand, Denmark and Angola for the Powering Past Coal Alliance, which is led by the UK and Canada.
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Continue reading...Leading climate economist says world leaders must move forward without the US on crucial issues in the closing days of the UN summit
Ministers from governments around the world meeting in Bonn for the final days of the UN climate talks must prove they can pass “the Trump test” by moving on without the US on issues crucial to combating global warming, a leading climate economist has said.
“It’s about getting on with it,” Lord Nicholas Stern told the Guardian. “They have to get on with it. But there are good signs.”
Continue reading...German chancellor, UN secretary general, Emmanuel Macron and others urge world’s leaders to succeed in their negotiations in Bonn
“Climate change is an issue determining our destiny as mankind – it will determine the wellbeing of all of us,” the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, has told the world’s nations gathered at a climate summit.
The delegates heard a series of strong political messages on Wednesday, urging them to use the final two days of the summit to complete important work on putting the landmark 2015 Paris deal into action. Without this, the world faces a devastating 3C or more of global warming.
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