UN

World still split over money as clock ticks on COP29

  • The draft reflects the broad and opposing positions of developed countries -- which are obligated to pay climate finance -- and the developing countries that receive it.
  • A fresh draft deal published Thursday at the deadlocked COP29 climate talks shows rich and poor countries still divided as time runs out to strike a finance agreement for developing nations.
  • The draft reflects the broad and opposing positions of developed countries -- which are obligated to pay climate finance -- and the developing countries that receive it.
A fresh draft deal published Thursday at the deadlocked COP29 climate talks shows rich and poor countries still divided as time runs out to strike a finance agreement for developing nations.
The streamlined text released in Azerbaijan recognises developing countries need a trillion dollars per year to fight global warming, but does not present a much-sought figure needed to land the deal.
This will be the focus as nations go back to the negotiating table with just a day to go until COP29 is supposed to conclude in Baku.
The draft reflects the broad and opposing positions of developed countries -- which are obligated to pay climate finance -- and the developing countries that receive it.
"The new finance text presents two extreme ends of the aisle without much in between," said Li Shuo, director of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute.
The main sticking points -- who should pay, how much and the type of funding -- remain unresolved in the slimmed-down 10-page document.
Ali Mohamed, the chair of the African Group of Negotiators, said the "elephant in the room" was the lack of a concrete number.
"This is the reason we are here... but we are no closer and we need the developed countries to urgently engage on this matter," said Mohamed, who is Kenya's climate envoy.
Rich countries have been under pressure to say how much they are willing to provide developing countries to wean off fossil fuels and build resilience against disaster.
Some developing countries have pushed for a final commitment of $1.3 trillion, mostly in grants from government coffers, and not loans they say add to debt.
The European Union and the United States, two of the biggest climate finance providers, had said they would not reveal a figure until the scope of any deal was much clearer.
"The fact there is no number specified for the climate finance goal is an insult to the millions of people on the frontlines bearing the brunt of climate change impacts," said Greenpeace's Jasper Inventor.
Mohamed Adow, a Kenyan climate activist, also lamented the lack of clarity around a figure.
"We came here to talk about money. The way you measure money is with numbers. We need a cheque but all we have right now is a blank piece of paper," said the founding director of think tank Power Shift Africa.
Developing countries, excluding China, will need $1 trillion a year in foreign assistance by 2030.
This number rises to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035, according to an expert economic assessment commissioned by the United Nations. 
But many of the nations obligated to help cover this cost face political and fiscal pressures, and insist they cannot rely on their balance sheets alone.
lth/np/fox

bees

Bees help tackle elephant-human conflict in Kenya

BY ROSE TROUP BUCHANAN

  • It is also expensive -- about 150,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,100) to install hives -- well beyond the means of subsistence farmers, though the project organisers say it is still cheaper than electric fences.
  • "We used to hate elephants a lot," Kenyan farmer Charity Mwangome says, pausing from her work under the shade of a baobab tree.
  • It is also expensive -- about 150,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,100) to install hives -- well beyond the means of subsistence farmers, though the project organisers say it is still cheaper than electric fences.
"We used to hate elephants a lot," Kenyan farmer Charity Mwangome says, pausing from her work under the shade of a baobab tree.
The bees humming in the background are part of the reason why her hatred has dimmed.
The diminutive 58-year-old said rapacious elephants would often destroy months of work in her farmland that sits between two parts of Kenya's world-renowned Tsavo National Park.
Beloved by tourists -- who contribute around 10 percent of Kenya's GDP -- the animals are loathed by most local farmers, who form the backbone of the nation's economy.
Elephant conservation has been a roaring success: numbers in Tsavo rose from around 6,000 in the mid-1990s to almost 15,000 elephants in 2021, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS).
But the human population also expanded, encroaching on grazing and migration routes for the herds.
Resulting clashes are becoming the number one cause of elephant deaths, says KWS.
Refused compensation when she lost her crops, Mwangome admits she was mad with the conservationists. 
But a long-running project by conservation organisation Save the Elephants offered her an unlikely solution -- deterring some of nature's biggest animals with some of its smallest: African honeybees.
Cheery yellow beehive fences now protect several local plots, including Mwangome's. 
A nine-year study published last month found that elephants avoided farms with the ferocious bees 86 percent of the time during peak crop season.
"The beehive fences came to our rescue," said Mwangome.

Hacking nature

The deep humming of 70,000 bees is enough to make many flee, including a six-tonne elephant, but Loise Kawira calmly removes a tray in her apiary to demonstrate the intricate combs of wax and honey.
Kawira, who joined Save the Elephants in 2021 as their consultant beekeeper, trains and monitors farmers in the delicate art.
The project supports 49 farmers, whose plots are surrounded by 15 connected hives. 
Each is strung on greased wire a few metres off the ground, which protects them from badgers and insects, but also means they shake when disturbed by a hungry elephant. 
"Once the elephants hear the sound of the bees and the smell, they run away," Kawira told AFP.
"It hacks the interaction between elephants and bees," added Ewan Brennan, local project coordinator. 
It has been effective, but recent droughts, exacerbated by climate change, have raised challenges.
"(In) the total heat, the dryness, bees have absconded," said Kawira.
It is also expensive -- about 150,000 Kenyan shillings ($1,100) to install hives -- well beyond the means of subsistence farmers, though the project organisers say it is still cheaper than electric fences.

'I was going to die'

Just moments after AFP arrived at Mwanajuma Kibula's farm, which abuts one of the Tsavo parks, her beehive fence had seen off an elephant.
The five-tonne animal, its skin caked in red mud, rumbled into the area and then did an abrupt about-face. 
"I know my crops are protected," Kibula said with palpable relief.
Kibula, 48, also harvests honey twice a year from her hives, making 450 shillings per jar -- enough to pay school fees for her children.
She is fortunate to have protection from the biggest land mammals on Earth.
"An elephant ripped off my roof, I had to hide under the bed because I knew I was going to die," said a less-fortunate neighbour, Hendrita Mwalada, 67.
For those who can't afford bees, Save the Elephants offers other solutions, such as metal-sheet fences that clatter when shaken by approaching elephants, and diesel- or chilli-soaked rags that deter them. 
It is not always enough. 
"I have tried planting but every time the crops are ready, the elephants come and destroy the crops," Mwalada told AFP.
"That has been the story of my life, a life full of too much struggling."
ra-rbu/er/kjm

conservation

Canada AI project hopes to help reverse mass insect extinction

BY SAMIRA AIT KACI ALI GONZALEZ

  • Researchers eventually hope to apply their modeling to identify new species in the deep sea and others harmful to agriculture.
  • Researchers in Canada are using artificial intelligence to monitor the ongoing mass extinction of insects, hoping to collect data that can help reverse species collapse and avert catastrophe for the planet.
  • Researchers eventually hope to apply their modeling to identify new species in the deep sea and others harmful to agriculture.
Researchers in Canada are using artificial intelligence to monitor the ongoing mass extinction of insects, hoping to collect data that can help reverse species collapse and avert catastrophe for the planet.
"Of all the mass extinctions we have experienced in the past, the one affecting insects is happening a thousand times faster," said Maxim Larrivee, director of the Montreal Insectarium.
The decline is occurring so quickly it can't be properly monitored, making it impossible "to put in place the necessary actions to slow it down," he told AFP.
For the Montreal-based project, called Antenna, some of the data collection is happening inside the insectarium under a large transparent dome, where thousands of butterflies, ants and praying mantises are being studied. 
Solar-powered camera traps have also been installed in several regions, from the Canadian far north to Panamanian rainforests, snapping photos every 10 seconds of insects attracted to UV lights.
Larrivee said innovations like high-resolution cameras, low-cost sensors and AI models to process data could double the amount of biodiversity information collected over the last 150 years in two to five years.
"Even for us, it sounds like science fiction," he said, a grin stretched across his face.

'Tip of iceberg'

Scientists have warned the world is facing its biggest mass extinction event since the dinosaur age.
The drivers of insect species collapse are well understood -- including climate change, habitat loss and pesticides -- but the extent and nature of insect losses have been hard to quantify.
Better data should make it possible to create "decision-making tools for governments and environmentalists" to develop conservation policies that help restore biodiversity, Larrivee said. 
There are an estimated 10 million species of insects, representing half the world's biodiversity, but only a million of those have been documented and studied by scientists.
David Rolnick, a biodiversity specialist at the Quebec AI Institute working on the Antenna project, noted that artificial intelligence could help document some of the 90 percent of insect species that remain undiscovered. 
"We found that when we went to Panama and tested our sensor systems in the rainforest, within a week, we found 300 new species. And that is just the tip of the iceberg," Rolnick told AFP.

Public education

At Antenna, testing to advance AI tools is currently focused on moths. 
With more than 160,000 different species, moths represent a diverse group of insects that are "easy to identify visually" and are low in the food chain, Rolnick explained.
"This is the next frontier for biodiversity monitoring," he said.
The Montreal project is using an open source model, aiming to allow anyone to contribute to enriching the platform.
Researchers eventually hope to apply their modeling to identify new species in the deep sea and others harmful to agriculture.
Meanwhile, the Montreal Insectarium is using its technology for educational purposes. Visitors can snap pictures of butterflies in a vivarium and use an app to identify the exact species
French tourist Camille Clement sounded a note of caution, saying she supported using AI to protect ecology provided "we use it meticulously."
For Julie Jodoin, director of Espace Pour La Vie, an umbrella organization for five Montreal museums including the Insectarium: "If we don't know nature, we can't ask citizens to change their behaviour."
str-maw/amc/bs

UN

Brazil will not 'shy away' from fossil fuels issue as COP30 host: envoy

BY NICK PERRY

  • She said Brazil, which plans to host the COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem, was pushing nations to consider how to address fossil fuel use through taxes or ending subsidies.
  • Brazil will not "shy away" from championing a phaseout of fossil fuels as host of COP30 next year, even if it is a major oil producer, the country's climate envoy said Wednesday.
  • She said Brazil, which plans to host the COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem, was pushing nations to consider how to address fossil fuel use through taxes or ending subsidies.
Brazil will not "shy away" from championing a phaseout of fossil fuels as host of COP30 next year, even if it is a major oil producer, the country's climate envoy said Wednesday.
Ana Toni told AFP that Brazil wanted to spur a global "debate" about how to turn a promised fossil fuel phasedown into action, including through possible taxes on coal, oil and gas.
"This should be a just transition on stopping fossil fuels," Toni, who is Brazil's national secretary for climate change, said in an interview on the sidelines of the COP29 summit in Azerbaijan.  
"We will never shy away from those very important discussions because it is in our own interests."
COP30 will be the third consecutive year the UN's top climate talks have been held in a country that plans to expand domestic production of fossil fuels.
Brazil is the largest oil producer in Latin America, and its COP30 comes after COP29 in Azerbaijan and last year's COP28 in the United Arab Emirates.
Some high-profile climate leaders last week called for COPs to no longer be held in countries that do not support phasing out their own production of fossil fuels, the main driver of global warming.
Toni, who has held senior advisory roles with Greenpeace and ActionAid, said Brazil had always been a climate champion and would keep "leading by example".
"We were the first ones to say, let us stop deforestation. The same we'll do with fossil fuels," said Toni, who is also heading Brazil's delegation at COP29.
"But that agreement needs to be together with the other countries, and Brazil will play a very, very strong role in pushing to get the other countries to do so."

Nothing to prove

In a landmark moment, nearly 200 countries agreed last year at COP28 to transition away from fossil fuels.
But the burning of coal, oil and gas hit record highs in 2024 and efforts to advance the transition away from fossil fuels have hit political opposition at this year's COP.
Toni said Brazil shared similar "contradictions" to the United States and Norway, both fossil fuel producers who also advocate cuts to planet-heating emissions.
She said Brazil, which plans to host the COP30 in the Amazonian city of Belem, was pushing nations to consider how to address fossil fuel use through taxes or ending subsidies.
Ahead of COP30, all nations are supposed to submit updated plans for slashing their emissions of greenhouse gases.
Last month, the UN said current national plans fell "miles short" of what was needed to avoid severe consequences of climate change.
Ahead of COP29, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's left-leaning government announced it would cut emissions more dramatically than had been planned.
Climate activists said Brazil did not go far enough, but Toni said it was the most ambitious plan of any developing country. 
"We don't have anything to prove to anyone," she said.
Before COP30, Toni first must help break an impasse at COP29, where she has been appointed along with UK Energy Secretary Ed Miliband to land a successful financing deal by Friday when the summit is supposed to conclude.
She said failure to reach a deal on financing energy transitions and adaptations for developing countries could deflate global climate action right as Brazil prepares to take the reins.
"That's exactly what we don't want to happen. So the success of COP30 depends on the success of a good COP29," she said.
np/gv

animal

Argentine farmer sentenced for killing penguin chicks

  • The sheep farmer from the southern province of Chubut was found guilty last month of destroying dozens of nests and killing chicks in 2021 while clearing land along the Punta Tumbo nature reserve, home to one of the main colonies of Magellanic penguins on the Atlantic coast.
  • An Argentine farmer was given a three-year prison sentence for animal cruelty Wednesday, likely to be commuted, after being found guilty of killing over 100 Patagonian penguin chicks.
  • The sheep farmer from the southern province of Chubut was found guilty last month of destroying dozens of nests and killing chicks in 2021 while clearing land along the Punta Tumbo nature reserve, home to one of the main colonies of Magellanic penguins on the Atlantic coast.
An Argentine farmer was given a three-year prison sentence for animal cruelty Wednesday, likely to be commuted, after being found guilty of killing over 100 Patagonian penguin chicks.
The sheep farmer from the southern province of Chubut was found guilty last month of destroying dozens of nests and killing chicks in 2021 while clearing land along the Punta Tumbo nature reserve, home to one of the main colonies of Magellanic penguins on the Atlantic coast.
The farmer is unlikely to be incarcerated as Argentina's penal code recommends alternatives to prison for a first conviction and sentences up to three years.
Prosecutors had requested a four-year sentence.
Environmental group Greenpeace, the complainant in the case, had welcomed the farmer's conviction as "an important step for environmental justice."
The farmer argued there was no choice but to clear the land as the state had failed to set up an access route to his property, or boundaries between his farm and the reserve. 
The Magellanic Penguin is listed as a species of "least concern" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List, meaning it is not at risk of extinction even though numbers are in decline.
tev/lm/lab/pbl/ial/mlr/des

environment

Awaiting Trump, US auto execs further temper EV push

  • Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, spoke during the campaign dismissively of Biden administration fuel economy standards as a "mandate" that he argued would doom internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
  • US auto giants signaled Wednesday they could further slow the ramp-up of electric vehicle production as Detroit awaits the arrival of a Trump administration eager to reverse key Biden climate initiatives.
  • Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, spoke during the campaign dismissively of Biden administration fuel economy standards as a "mandate" that he argued would doom internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
US auto giants signaled Wednesday they could further slow the ramp-up of electric vehicle production as Detroit awaits the arrival of a Trump administration eager to reverse key Biden climate initiatives.
Donald Trump's transition officials have discussed killing a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicles, according to US media. The EV tax credit was included in President Joe Biden's flagship climate change law, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, spoke during the campaign dismissively of Biden administration fuel economy standards as a "mandate" that he argued would doom internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
US auto executives said Wednesday they are preparing for potentially significant policy changes from Washington. 
"We're modeling various scenarios and we will adjust accordingly," Ford Chief Financial Officer John Lawler said at a Wall Street conference.
Lawler said Ford's embrace of hybrid vehicles provided greater flexibility depending on how the new rules evolve.
He described the potential removal of the tax credit as exacerbating an oversupply of costly electric models.
"One of the things we believe is that there is going to be incredible pressure on prices next year in the EV market," Lawler said. "The one thing we do know... is that consumers are not willing to pay much of a premium for EVs versus an ICE vehicle."
General Motors Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said it is "too soon" to speculate on what policies Trump will pursue, but that the company is committed to its EV strategy as a "long-term objective."
GM is focused on reducing costs throughout EV development and on having flexible operations, such as a plant in Tennessee that can produce both combustion and electric vehicles, he said.
The storied automaker could "temper" future EV investment steps depending on how the market evolves, Jacobson said.
Both Ford and GM have slowed or reversed some EV projects in recent years amid uneven demand growth.
Trump transition officials targeting the tax credit include oil executive Harold Hamm, according to articles in the New York Times and other publications.
Trump softened his own EV criticism somewhat during the campaign as he worked closely with mega supporter Elon Musk, the chief executive of EV maker Tesla. 
Musk has said that eliminating the tax credit could harm competitors seeking to challenge Tesla's leadership in the segment.
jmb/mlm

hurricanes

2024's record ocean heat revved up Atlantic hurricane wind speeds: study

  • The new analytical approach allows researchers to hone in on a given storm's track -- showing for example that, at Hurricane Milton's point of peak intensification before landfall, climate change made the warm sea surface temperatures 100 times more likely to occur than otherwise, and increased maximum wind speed by 24 mph.
  • Human-driven warming of ocean temperatures increased the maximum wind speeds of every Atlantic hurricane in 2024, according to a new analysis released Wednesday, highlighting how climate change is amplifying the destructive power of storms.
  • The new analytical approach allows researchers to hone in on a given storm's track -- showing for example that, at Hurricane Milton's point of peak intensification before landfall, climate change made the warm sea surface temperatures 100 times more likely to occur than otherwise, and increased maximum wind speed by 24 mph.
Human-driven warming of ocean temperatures increased the maximum wind speeds of every Atlantic hurricane in 2024, according to a new analysis released Wednesday, highlighting how climate change is amplifying the destructive power of storms.
The study, published by the research institute Climate Central, found that all eleven hurricanes in 2024 intensified by nine to 28 miles per hour (14-45 kph) during the record-breaking ocean warmth of the 2024 hurricane season.
"Emissions from carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases have influenced the temperatures of sea surfaces around the world," author Daniel Gilford said in a call with reporters. 
In the Gulf of Mexico, these emissions made sea surface temperatures around 2.5 degrees Fahrenheit (1.4C) hotter than they would have been in a world without climate change.
This rise fuels stronger hurricanes.
The increased temperatures intensified storms like Debby and Oscar, which grew from tropical storms into full-fledged hurricanes. 
Other hurricanes were pushed up a category on the Saffir-Simpson scale, including Milton and Beryl which escalated from Category 4 to Category 5 due to climate change, while Helene climbed from Category 3 to Category 4.
Each rise in category corresponds to a roughly fourfold increase in destructive potential.
Helene proved particularly devastating, claiming more than 200 lives, making it the second deadliest hurricane to strike the US mainland in over half a century, surpassed only by Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
The new analytical approach allows researchers to hone in on a given storm's track -- showing for example that, at Hurricane Milton's point of peak intensification before landfall, climate change made the warm sea surface temperatures 100 times more likely to occur than otherwise, and increased maximum wind speed by 24 mph.
Gilford and his colleagues also published a peer-reviewed study in the journal Environmental Research Climate examining hurricane intensities from 2019 to 2023. They found that 84 percent of hurricanes during that period were significantly strengthened by human-caused ocean warming.
While their two studies focused on the Atlantic Basin, the researchers said that their methods could be applied to tropical cyclones globally.
Climatologist Friederike Otto of Imperial College London, who leads World Weather Attribution, praised the team's methodology for advancing beyond previous research that primarily linked climate change to hurricane-related rainfall.
Otto warned that these climate supercharged storms are occurring with the world at just 1.3C (2.3F) above pre-industrial temperatures, and that the impacts are likely to worsen as temperatures rise beyond 1.5C (2.7F).
"The hurricane scale is capped at Category Five -- but we might need to think about, should that continue to be the case just so that people are aware that something is going to hit them that is different from everything else they've experienced before," she said.
ia/st

UN

Rich nations pressed to put money on table at UN climate talks

BY NICK PERRY AND LAURENT THOMET

  • "The concern is that at this moment, nobody is putting a figure on the table," Muhamad said.
  • Pressure mounted on wealthy nations Wednesday to put a figure on the table as time runs out at COP29 to strike a deal on climate assistance for poorer countries.
  • "The concern is that at this moment, nobody is putting a figure on the table," Muhamad said.
Pressure mounted on wealthy nations Wednesday to put a figure on the table as time runs out at COP29 to strike a deal on climate assistance for poorer countries.
With two days left to break the impasse at the UN talks in Azerbaijan, rich nations have still not revealed how much they are ready to provide the developing world to fight climate change.
"We need a figure," said Adonia Ayebare, chair of the G77+China group of developing nations.
"Then the rest will follow. But we need a headline," the Ugandan negotiator told reporters.
Developing nations, from islands imperilled by rising seas to drought-afflicted states, contribute the least to global warming but have called for $1.3 trillion annually to prepare for its impacts.
They say rich historic polluters have a duty to help, and are clamouring for an existing commitment of $100 billion a year to be increased many times over at COP29.
Talks have gone around in circles for over a week but a slimmed-down draft is expected to land in the early hours of Thursday, ensuring a sleepless night for negotiators.
"I'm sure we will have some long days and hours ahead of us... This will be a very steep climb," EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters.
Colombian Environment Minister Susana Muhamad said it was difficult to speed things up "when there's nothing to negotiate".
"The concern is that at this moment, nobody is putting a figure on the table," Muhamad said.
Rich countries on the hook for climate finance, including the European Union and United States, say they cannot show their hand until they know what they are agreeing to.
"Otherwise... you will have a shopping basket with a price, but you don't know exactly what is in there," said Hoekstra.
"We don't just want to pluck a number from the sky," echoed Germany's climate envoy Jennifer Morgan.

China role

Developing countries, excluding China, will need $1 trillion a year in foreign assistance by 2030 to wean off fossil fuels and adapt to worsening disasters.
This number rises to $1.3 trillion annually by 2035, according to an expert economic assessment commissioned by the United Nations. 
But many of the nations obligated to pay face political and fiscal pressures, and insist they cannot cover this cost on their balance sheets alone.
Developing countries want public grants from governments -- not loans or private capital -- to make up the majority of the new finance goal under negotiation.
Three figures -- $440 billion, $600 billion and $900 billion -- had been floated, said Australian climate minister Chris Bowen, one of the envoys leading the finance negotiations.
Delegates from several countries told AFP these numbers were not proposed by developed nations themselves.
"Many parties told us they need to see certain building blocks in place before they can put forward their suggested number," Bowen told COP29 delegates.
Chief among these is a demand for emerging economies such as China and Saudi Arabia, which have grown wealthy yet remain classified as developing nations, to chip into the pot.
"There are countries out in the world that have an income level that is close to or above the poorest European countries, and we think that it's only fair to ask them to contribute," Danish climate minister Lars Aagaard told AFP.

'Receding hope'

Bowen said some countries had drawn a "red line" over the type of money that could be included in any deal, insisting it come "from a wide range of sources and instruments".
Bolivia's chief negotiator, Diego Pacheco, said there was a "steadily receding hope of getting an ambitious" deal and cited $200 billion as one number in circulation.
"Only 200 billion," he told the conference. "This is unfathomable, we cannot accept this."
The lead negotiator of COP29 hosts Azerbaijan, Yalchin Rafiyev, urged countries to "pick up the pace".
"Let us embrace the spirit of collaboration, compromise and determination to ensure that we leave this conference with outcomes that make a real difference," he said.
bl-lth-np/lth/sbk

education

Pakistan reopens Punjab schools after smog improves

BY MUHAMMAD SOHAIL ABBAS

  • "It's good that schools are reopening, as children's education was being disrupted," said Muhammad Akmal, who had just dropped off his daughter.
  • Schools reopened Wednesday in Pakistan's most populated province after authorities announced a drop in dangerous air pollution, with parents rejoicing their children's return to classes. 
  • "It's good that schools are reopening, as children's education was being disrupted," said Muhammad Akmal, who had just dropped off his daughter.
Schools reopened Wednesday in Pakistan's most populated province after authorities announced a drop in dangerous air pollution, with parents rejoicing their children's return to classes. 
Punjab, home to more than half of Pakistan's 240 million people, closed schools in its major cities on November 6 after dense smog hit "hazardous" levels, a situation described by the province's environment minister as a "national disaster."
But Punjab's environmental agency said late Tuesday that "the ambient air quality had improved in Punjab" due to rain in the north, as well as change in wind direction and speed.
"Therefore, all the educational institutions in the whole province, including Lahore and Multan Division, shall be opened" beginning Wednesday, it announced.
By morning, smog still shrouded the Punjab capital of Lahore as commuters headed to work, while road tractors continued belching wafts of dark smoke.
However the Air Quality Index for Lahore was 150, reflecting a massive improvement from two week ago when pollution in the city climbed to a record-high AQI value of 1,100. 
Parent Muhammad Waheed, 48, said his children were "happy when the announcement was made about schools reopening". 
"The children were getting bored at home," the daily wage worker told AFP. "Thank God, they'll be going back to school."
According to authorities, students and staff will still be required to wear face masks. 
There is also a "complete ban on outdoor sports and outdoor co-curricular activities till further orders", said the environmental agency.
Every Lahore winter, a mix of low-grade fuel emissions from factories and vehicles, exacerbated by seasonal crop burn-off by farmers, blanket the city, trapped by cooler temperatures and slow-moving winds.
According to a University of Chicago study, high levels of pollution have already reduced life expectancy in Lahore, a city of 14 million inhabitants, by 7.5 years.
But the issue is "not limited to Lahore alone", said Punjab's environment minister Marriyum Aurangzeb during a press conference Wednesday. 
"Due to seasonal atmospheric conditions, it is also affecting southern Punjab, northern Punjab, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Abbottabad, and now Karachi. The wind speed is also impacting Karachi," she said. 
"This is a national disaster, and we must treat it as such. As a nation, we need to come together and take collective action to address this (smog)."
- 'Disrupted' education - 
A steady stream of parents ferrying their children on motorbikes arrived at a Lahore school Wednesday, with staff members checking to see that the girls clad in blue uniforms had on face masks.
"It's good that schools are reopening, as children's education was being disrupted," said Muhammad Akmal, who had just dropped off his daughter. "Kids were distracted by their phones and not focusing on anything else." 
Instead of closing schools, he said the government should have pursued other measures "such as using artificial rain to address the smog".
Breathing toxic air has catastrophic health consequences, with the World Health Organization (WHO) warning that strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases can be triggered by prolonged exposure.
Even before smog descended on Pakistan, UNICEF reported that "around 12 percent of deaths among children under five were due to air pollution".
Two weeks ago, the Air Quality Index hit a record high of 1,110. By Sunday, it had fallen below 300 -- the threshold considered "hazardous" for humans. 
Still, as of Tuesday evening, the concentration of PM2.5 micro-particle pollutants in Lahore was still more than 10 times higher than levels deemed acceptable by the WHO.
Similar hazardous conditions have hit India's capital New Delhi, where classes have been moved online after air pollution surged past 60 times the WHO-recommended daily maximum.
Experts believe that modernising car fleets, reviewing farming methods, and making the transition to renewable energies are key to overcoming the smog that paralyzes millions of Pakistanis and Indians every year.
strs-vid-stm/dhc/mlm

UN

As Trump returns, China seizes chance for climate mantle

BY SHAUN TANDON

  • The Asian power has now surpassed Europe as the second-largest historical emitter after the United States.
  • With Donald Trump expected to take the United States again out of climate diplomacy, China, the world's largest emitter but green energy powerhouse, is seizing on the chance to project itself as the global leader.
  • The Asian power has now surpassed Europe as the second-largest historical emitter after the United States.
With Donald Trump expected to take the United States again out of climate diplomacy, China, the world's largest emitter but green energy powerhouse, is seizing on the chance to project itself as the global leader.
At COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan, China has sought to show a cooperative side and for the first time gave details on its international climate finance, while still firmly resisting pressure to be reclassified as a donor.
The go-nice approach -- a contrast to Beijing's frequent shrillness about international disputes -- keeps the tone from a year ago at COP28 in Dubai.
There, China and the then US envoy John Kerry worked together for a breakthrough call on the world to transition away from fossil fuels responsible for climate change.
Few expect the warm feelings between China and the United States -- which together account for 41 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions -- to persist after Trump returns to the White House on January 20.
Trump is an outspoken and three-fold sceptic -- on working with China, on providing foreign assistance and on climate change in general.
Trump's election "opens up an opportunity for China to step up into even more of a climate leadership role," said Belinda Schaepe, a China analyst at the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air in London.
"It makes it easy for China to portray itself as the more responsible global power of the two," she said.
But she said China would bolster its case if it offered forward-looking promises on aid and ambitious targets for cutting emissions through 2035, not just in the longer term.

Addressing critics on finance

In the Baku talks, wealthy countries are being urged to go beyond an expiring goal of providing $100 billion a year to poor countries worst hit by climate change.
China has resolutely resisted pressure by Western nations as well as some threatened island states to be considered a donor, which would subject it to greater accounting scrutiny.
Vice Premier Ding Xuexiang, visiting Baku, revealed that China had contributed $24.5 billion in international climate finance since 2016.
Jennifer Morgan, Germany's negotiator, said the announcement "shows that China can do a lot and is already doing a lot".
"But we can only take account of what has been reported transparently," she said.
One option would be for China to promise future aid but on a voluntary basis, while remaining listed as a developing country.
The classification dates back to 1992, before China's breakneck economic development. The Asian power has now surpassed Europe as the second-largest historical emitter after the United States.
"Not only China, but also Gulf nations and other countries should give in line with their capabilities," said Susana Muhamad, Colombia's environment minister.
But she also said that if Trump pulled the United States out of the Paris accord, "I think there are countries that will take the climate lead and China is very committed, at least in terms of the multilateral process."
US climate negotiators' leverage evaporated with Trump's election on November 5.
President Joe Biden, on a visit Sunday to the Brazilian Amazon, said his administration has made good on his promise to deliver more than $11 billion in bilateral climate finance this year, a major increase during his term.

Turbulence ahead

China's priority on climate is rooted in self-interest as authorities address dire environmental woes.
China has also quickly emerged as the global leader on clean energy, dominating the electric car and solar industries -- leading both the United States and European Union to impose tariffs.
Li Shuo, director of the China climate hub at the Asia Society Policy Institute, said he saw China negotiating constantly in Baku with the Europeans -- much like they did previously with Kerry -- in anticipation of difficulties once Trump takes office.
"The politics will get worse before they get better. The US-China relationship will deteriorate and the China-EU relationship will see turbulence," he said.
But Li said that a US exit under Trump could have an unexpected upside in climate negotiations, if not on climate overall.
"Ironically, the Trump election might make dealmaking easier because the US carries the most extreme position," he said.
sct/lth/jj

Azerbaijan

US lawmaker accuses Azerbaijan in near 'assault' at COP29

  • "You know this was orchestrated by the government.
  • A US lawmaker said he was nearly assaulted while attending COP29 in Azerbaijan in what he called a government-orchestrated attack, leading Washington on Tuesday to press Baku to ensure safety at the global climate talks.
  • "You know this was orchestrated by the government.
A US lawmaker said he was nearly assaulted while attending COP29 in Azerbaijan in what he called a government-orchestrated attack, leading Washington on Tuesday to press Baku to ensure safety at the global climate talks.
"It was no question that if it wasn't for the fact that security that the embassy hired protected me, I would have been in the hospital," Representative Frank Pallone told reporters on his return to Washington on Monday.
Pallone, an outspoken supporter of Azerbaijan's rival Armenia, said he first sensed trouble when he was confronted by hostile and seemingly coordinated questions by local media during the UN-led climate conference taking place in a Baku stadium.
"It was sort of like an exercise in what despots do," said Pallone, a Democrat from New Jersey.
"In Azerbaijan there is no free media. The media is totally controlled by the state," he said.
"You know this was orchestrated by the government. That's what this was all about. In order to make a point that we don't want you here and we don't want you articulating concerns that you have," he said. 
Pallone said around 50 "thugs" then waited for him outside his hotel, with the local police refusing to take him through a back entrance but the US embassy-provided security shielding him.
"It was clear that they wanted to assault me," he said.
The US State Department, asked about Pallone's account, said: "We are disappointed that Azerbaijan failed in its responsibility to separate protestors from conference delegates."
"We expect all governments -- especially those hosting major international events –- to take seriously their responsibility to protect those visiting their countries," a spokesperson said.
Pallone said he was told he was unwelcome at a meeting between the US congressional delegation and President Ilham Aliyev, although fellow lawmakers relayed his concerns. 
Senator Ed Markey said he also encountered harassment and needed a bodyguard even inside his hotel, although he said Pallone faced worse.
Markey, a Democrat who is a leading climate advocate in the US Congress, accused energy producer Azerbaijan of intensifying repression and "greenwashing" both its climate and human rights record by holding COP29.
"We can't just allow these authoritarian petrostates to ignore both the human rights and the climate threats that have to be addressed in a comprehensive way," Markey said.
Markey said he met a senior advisor to Aliyev and urged a release of political prisoners as well as "good-faith" negotiations with Armenia, a year after Azerbaijan seized back the breakaway region of Nagorno-Karabakh.
Aliyev set off an uproar last week by using his COP29 platform to attack France, the Netherlands and the European Union, which have all criticized him.
The Council of Europe commissioner for human rights said in a letter published Monday that Azerbaijan has imprisoned activists and journalists merely due to their work and opposition to the authorities.
sct/bjt

Brazil

G20 summit ends with Ukraine blame game

BY MARC BURLEIGH AND CLARE BYRNE

  • "We cannot leave the task of Baku until Belem," Lula said Tuesday, referring to the Amazonian city that will host next year's UN climate talks.
  • Ukraine's allies and Russia on Tuesday traded blame for a dramatic escalation in the war in Europe, which dominated the final day of talks at a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
  • "We cannot leave the task of Baku until Belem," Lula said Tuesday, referring to the Amazonian city that will host next year's UN climate talks.
Ukraine's allies and Russia on Tuesday traded blame for a dramatic escalation in the war in Europe, which dominated the final day of talks at a G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro.
The two-day gathering wrapped up with a plea from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for the world's most powerful leaders to rescue stalled UN climate talks in Azerbaijan, calling it a matter of the planet's "survival."
Joe Biden, attending his last summit as US president before he hands power to Donald Trump -- a noted climate skeptic -- also appealed for urgent action.
"History is watching us," he urged.
But Biden's decision to suddenly reverse key US policy on Ukraine in his last weeks in office took away attention from Brazil's anti-poverty, anti-emissions G20 agenda.
On the eve of the gathering, Biden gave Kyiv the green light to use US missiles to strike deep inside Russia for the first time, in apparent response to Moscow enlisting North Korean soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

'Listen to reason'

The move prompted the Kremlin to announce it was loosening its rules on using nuclear weapons, causing alarm among Kyiv's backers in Washington, European capitals and elsewhere.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who was at the G20, declared that the United States and Russia were "on the brink of direct military conflict." 
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer criticized the "irresponsible rhetoric coming from Russia," sentiments echoed by a spokesperson for the US National Security Council.
French President Emmanuel Macron said he had asked Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping to "use all his influence" with Russian leader Vladimir Putin to try to get him to "listen to reason."
Xi, who has cast himself as a defender of the international order at the advent of a new Trump era, held back-to-back meetings with other leaders in Rio.
At each turn, the Chinese leader, who was received with greater fanfare than a lame-duck Biden, stressed that the world was facing a new period of "turbulence."
China and Brazil this summer unveiled a plan to get Russia and Ukraine back to the negotiating table, but were rebuffed by Kyiv because Moscow was not required to pull back first.
The summit's joint declaration made no mention of Russian aggression, saying only that the leaders welcomed "all relevant and constructive initiatives that support a comprehensive, just, and durable peace" in Ukraine. 

Taxing the uber-rich

President Lula used his summit hosting duties to rally support for a global campaign against hunger and try to spur on the stalled COP29 climate talks in Azerbaijan's capital Baku.
"We cannot leave the task of Baku until Belem," Lula said Tuesday, referring to the Amazonian city that will host next year's UN climate talks.
But a G20 statement on the matter fell short of the shot in the arm sought by climate negotiators gathered in Azerbaijan.
While acknowledging the need for trillions of dollars in climate finance for poorer nations, the leaders failed to explicitly mention the need to transition away from fossil fuels.
Lula said that next year's conference would be the "last chance" to avoid "irreversible" damage wrought by Earth's warming.
Biden, who has been using a valedictory tour of South America to tout his climate legacy, told his G20 counterparts: "I urge us to keep the faith and keep going." 
"This is the single greatest existential threat to humanity."
But in a symbol of the elderly leader's imminent disappearance from the global stage, he missed out on the summit's first group photo, his absence going unnoted by his peers. 
Another photo was taken Tuesday that Biden featured in.
Lula, who handed over the G20 presidency to fellow Global South advocate South Africa, came away with wins on two pet projects.
The left-winger who grew up in poverty, got the leaders of 80 countries, including a reluctant Argentine President Javier Milei, to join an alliance to end world hunger.
And G20 members, at his urging, also agreed to cooperate to get the world's billionaires to pay more in tax, a key demand of anti-poverty campaigners.
cb-rmb/aha

UN

Europe's pivotal role in bid to strike COP29 climate deal

BY JULIEN MIVIELLE

  • The Europeans are negotiating key details, including a timeframe for the new target.
  • The European Union is key to a deal being done at UN climate talks in Baku by Friday -- viewed as a bridge both with China and poorer nations -- after climate sceptic Donald Trump's triumph in the US elections. 
  • The Europeans are negotiating key details, including a timeframe for the new target.
The European Union is key to a deal being done at UN climate talks in Baku by Friday -- viewed as a bridge both with China and poorer nations -- after climate sceptic Donald Trump's triumph in the US elections. 
The bloc's envoys have been quietly negotiating with China at COP29 in Azerbaijan and consolidating "high-ambition" alliances with countries from the global south like Kenya and the Pacific island nation of Palau.
The EU's 27 nations are already the biggest contributors to world climate finance funds to help developing countries cope, with 28.6 billion euros in contributions from public sources and 7.2 billion from private finance last year, according to the European Commission. 
That is around a third of the sums set aside by wealthy nations to help developing countries fight and adapt to climate change.
The EU, which has pledged carbon neutrality by 2050, boasts a gross domestic product (GDP) comparable to that of China and an equivalent ratio of historical greenhouse gas emissions -- 12 percent.
"We will continue to lead, to do our fair share, and even more than our fair share, as we've always done," EU climate commissioner Wopke Hoekstra told reporters in Baku on Monday.
"They have to lead, they have no choice," Diego Pacheco, who heads the Bolivian delegation at the talks, told AFP.
But the EU, which is in the grip of austerity, has been wary of disclosing how much it is willing to pay from next year and wants to delay showing its cards for as long as it can.
Nevertheless, the ODI think tank has found that some European countries are already digging deeper than could be expected given their historical emissions, wealth and population. 
France, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands are leading the pack -- with the United States trailing far behind in last place.
Still some argue that Europe has nothing to be proud of given that it built its prosperity on coal and oil.
"Stop trying to push the mitigation burden on developing countries, show leadership, pave the way for us," Pacheco told a plenary session in Baku.

'We cannot backslide'

"All eyes are on the EU to provide leadership on this subject... given its role as the main contributor" to climate finance, Ignacio Arroniz Velasco of the think tank E3G told AFP. "It is a key dealmaker."
"We are waiting for the EU to take the first step," said Chiara Martinelli of the Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe, while another observer questioned Europe's apparent reluctance to "play" the driving role expected of it.
The COP29 talks aim to scale up funds to support developing countries build solar plants, irrigation systems and flood-resistant cities.
Negotiators in Baku have said a figure in the $200 billion to $400 billion range in annual funding by Western states would be realistic -- double the $100 billion currently being offered.
"Two hundred (billion) is a lot, but it is possible," a European diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
The Europeans are negotiating key details, including a timeframe for the new target. They also want to broaden the definition of the current financial commitment to include private and other donors.
Most of all, they are pushing for the voluntary contributions made by countries like China to be added up in the final count, urging greater transparency on what they are already paying.
Western countries rejoiced last week at what they saw as a sign of goodwill from Beijing when it publicly mentioned its "investments in climate action in other developing countries" for the first time.
"It is an important step, especially at a COP as challenging as this one," a European diplomat said.
Above all, the Europeans do not want to backtrack on last year's pledge at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates for the world to move away from fossil fuels, with Saudi Arabia still digging in its heels.
"We, as a global community, cannot afford to backslide," Hoekstra said on Tuesday.
bl-ico-jmi/ico/clr/ju/fg/giv

Azerbaijan

Russian invasion toll on environment $71 billion, Ukraine says

  • Grynchuk said the Ukrainian government estimated that the war has cost $71 billion in environmental damage and led to the equivalent of some 180 million tons of carbon emissions.
  • Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused $71 billion in environmental damage and led to a surge in greenhouse gas emissions, the Ukrainian government told the COP29 summit in Baku.
  • Grynchuk said the Ukrainian government estimated that the war has cost $71 billion in environmental damage and led to the equivalent of some 180 million tons of carbon emissions.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine has caused $71 billion in environmental damage and led to a surge in greenhouse gas emissions, the Ukrainian government told the COP29 summit in Baku.
"Nature during this war is like a silent victim," said Svitlana Grynchuk, Ukraine's minister of environmental protection and natural resources.
The climate impact, especially through destruction of forests that naturally balance carbon emissions, shows that the consequences of the war are "not just for Ukraine, but for the global community," she told reporters.
Grynchuk said the Ukrainian government estimated that the war has cost $71 billion in environmental damage and led to the equivalent of some 180 million tons of carbon emissions.
The UN Development Programme a year ago had put environmental damage from the war at $56 billion.
In the latest Ukrainian estimation, military activities themselves have caused 51.6 million tons of carbon emissions since Russia's invasion in February 2022, with another 56 million tied to needs to restore infrastructure after the war.
Among other top contributors, fires were blamed for 27.2 million in carbon emission equivalent.
Grynchuk said that the invasion has damaged three million hectares (11,500 square miles) of forest, which she noted was larger than many countries' entire forested area.
Her remarks come as Russia decimates energy facilities in new aerial bombardments across Ukraine, plunging millions into darkness.
Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks as they anticipate a shift in the crucial US support for Kyiv once Donald Trump returns to the White House in two months.
Grynchuk said that Ukraine was cognisant of climate as it rebuilds, with small-scale renewable energy projects seen as more sustainable in the face of the threat from Russia.
"All Ukrainians during a very short period of time have become very energy-efficient," she said.
Ukraine, which aspires to enter the European Union, has committed to a bloc-wide goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
sct/db

Azerbaijan

COP29 negotiators strive for deal after G20 'marching orders'

BY NICK PERRY, BENJAMIN LEGENDRE AND LAURENT THOMET

  • Those key questions were not answered in the G20 statement.
  • Negotiators toiled Tuesday to break a deadlock at UN climate talks after G20 leaders acknowledged the need for trillions of dollars for poorer nations but left key sticking points unresolved.
  • Those key questions were not answered in the G20 statement.
Negotiators toiled Tuesday to break a deadlock at UN climate talks after G20 leaders acknowledged the need for trillions of dollars for poorer nations but left key sticking points unresolved.
With three days left in the COP29 conference, ministers haggling in Azerbaijan had been waiting for the G20 meeting in Rio de Janeiro to issue a declaration that might jump-start the stalled negotiations.
Activists and diplomats gave the text a mixed verdict, saying the statement lacked enough direction on climate finance and failed to explicitly mention the need to transition away from fossil fuels.
The lead negotiator of COP29 hosts Azerbaijan, Yalchin Rafiyev, said the G20 statement sent "positive signals" to the efforts in Baku.
"G20 delegations now have their marching orders for here in Baku," UN climate chief Simon Stiell said in a statement.
"We urgently need all nations to bypass the posturing and move swiftly towards common ground, across all issues," he said.
Brazil is host of next year's  climate talks in the Amazonian gateway of Belem, and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva urged good progress in Baku.
"We cannot leave the task of Baku until Belem," Lula told the G20 summit.

G20 hopes 'too high'?

Rich nations are being urged to significantly raise their pledge of $100 billion a year to help developing countries adapt to climate change and transition to clean energy.
But efforts to finalise the deal in Baku are hampered by disputes over how much the deal should entail, who should pay for it, and what types of financing should be included.
Those key questions were not answered in the G20 statement.
"We were waiting for a boost. Our expectations were maybe too high," a European negotiator told AFP.
The declaration, however, recognises "the need for rapidly and substantially scaling up climate finance from billions to trillions from all sources".
It also states the need to increase international collaboration "with a view to scaling up public and private climate finance and investment for developing countries".
Michai Robertson, a negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, said the G20 paragraph on climate finance "is not saying much".
Adonia Ayebare, the Ugandan chairman of the G77+China grouping of developing nations, told AFP the Rio statement was a "good building block" for the climate talks.
But Ayebare said he was "not comfortable" with the wording saying the money should come from "all sources".
"We have been insisting that this has to be from public sources. Grants, not loans," Ayebare said.
Harsen Nyambe, head of the 55-nation African Union delegation at COP29, said the G20 "had a statement of goodwill".
"But it's up to the countries who are negotiating here at the end of the day to decide what they want to put forward for the globe," he told reporters.

Can't 'backslide'

A new draft deal on climate finance is expected by Wednesday night.
Some developing countries, which are the least responsible for global greenhouse gas emissions, want an annual commitment of $1.3 trillion.
"The reality of the situation is that 1.3 trillion pales in the face of the seven trillion that is spent annually on fossil fuel subsidies," Fiji's deputy prime minister, Biman Prasad, told COP29 delegates.
"The money is there. It is just in exactly the wrong place," he said.
Developed nations, facing their own debt problems and budget deficits, say the private sector must play a key role in climate finance.
The United States and European Union are also pushing for the donor base to be expanded to include countries such as China, which has become the world's second-biggest economy but is still officially listed as a developing nation.
Negotiators say the talks have also been held up by Saudi Arabia's resistance to any reference to last year's pledge at COP28 in the United Arab Emirates for the world to move away from fossil fuels.
"Let me state once again that we as a global community cannot afford to backslide," EU climate envoy Wopke Hoekstra said in a speech, without naming any country.
"We all must build on what we call the UAE consensus. There is simply no success without it," he said.
np-bl-lth-sct/gv

typhoon

Burst dike leaves Filipino farmers under water

BY CECIL MORELLA

  • The Talavera, swollen by heavy rain in the northern mountains of Luzon island where Man-yi crossed, took part of Pascua's shanty and destroyed around 200 hectares (500 acres) of farmland that should have been protected by the dike. 
  • Filipino farmer Ferdinand Pascua faces financial ruin after heavy rain brought by Typhoon Man-yi sent torrents of water down a river near his shanty, bursting through an earthen dike and inundating land he has tilled for a decade.
  • The Talavera, swollen by heavy rain in the northern mountains of Luzon island where Man-yi crossed, took part of Pascua's shanty and destroyed around 200 hectares (500 acres) of farmland that should have been protected by the dike. 
Filipino farmer Ferdinand Pascua faces financial ruin after heavy rain brought by Typhoon Man-yi sent torrents of water down a river near his shanty, bursting through an earthen dike and inundating land he has tilled for a decade.
Man-yi was a super typhoon when it slammed into the Philippines over the weekend -- the sixth major storm to hit the archipelago nation in the past month.
Pascua's farm in Aliaga municipality, three hours drive north of Manila, was not in Man-yi's path, but the nearby Talavera river brought the storm right to his door on Sunday.
"We heard the water's huge roar and the sound of collapsing earth," Pascua, 38, told AFP on Tuesday as he hauled wet clothes across knee-deep mud in his front yard. 
"We were worried and in shock. I took my children to my parents' home and returned to retrieve our stuff." 
The Talavera, swollen by heavy rain in the northern mountains of Luzon island where Man-yi crossed, took part of Pascua's shanty and destroyed around 200 hectares (500 acres) of farmland that should have been protected by the dike. 
While the typhoon is now far away, officials say the flooding will persist for the next three days as brown river water gushes through a 40-metre (130-foot) gap in the remains of the four-metre tall dike and flows through dozens of houses in Santa Monica village. 
"It (typhoon) did not hit us directly. The rain was not heavy. The problem is the rain that fell in Aurora flowed down here," Yolando Santos, the elected village chief, told AFP, referring to the neighouring mountainous province to the east where Man-yi made its second landfall on Sunday.

Deeper into debt

While no one was killed or injured when the dike burst, villagers told AFP they worried that the farms will be permanently silted with sand and unfit for cultivation. 
Many, like Pascua, had borrowed money from local loan sharks to finance the rice and corn crops that were wiped out, and they will now have to go deeper into debt. 
Santos said about 200 hectares of farmland in the villages of Santa Monica and nearby Santa Lucia were flooded.
Corn crops on the other side of the river were also flattened as the waterway doubled in width to 80 metres.
On Tuesday, farmer Eduardo Santos, 53, stood on the edge of the damaged dike about 300 metres from his flooded house and watched the torrent of water go past. 
Santos had borrowed 60,000 pesos ($1,020) at five percent interest a month to plant three hectares of rice and two hectares of corn.
He lost it all and now worries if three of his four children still in school will be forced to drop out.
"Getting back up is such a difficult thing. We do not know how to start all over again," Santos said.
"We have no other option but to borrow money because we do not have funds to prepare the land for planting." 
Pascua said he was worried about how to find more work now that the farmland had been ruined. 
For now, the family could rely on his 39-year-old wife, who works as a babysitter with a Manila family.
"Her pay is low but we are counting on it at this time until I can find a job," Pascua said. 
"Water is a formidable adversary."
cgm/amj/fox

typhoon

Floods strike thousands of houses in northern Philippines

  • Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan river and tributaries, and forcing the release of water from Magat Dam. 
  • Floodwaters reaching more than four metres high swamped thousands of houses in the storm-battered northern Philippines on Tuesday after rivers overflowed following heavy rain and a dam release.
  • Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan river and tributaries, and forcing the release of water from Magat Dam. 
Floodwaters reaching more than four metres high swamped thousands of houses in the storm-battered northern Philippines on Tuesday after rivers overflowed following heavy rain and a dam release.
Typhoon Man-yi drenched swaths of the Philippines over the weekend, swelling the Cagayan river and tributaries, and forcing the release of water from Magat Dam. 
The Cagayan broke its banks, spilling water over already sodden farmland and communities, affecting tens of thousands of people.
Buildings, lamp posts and trees poked through a lake of brown water in Tuguegarao city in Cagayan province where provincial disaster official Ian Valdepenas said floodwaters reached more than four metres (14 feet) in some places. 
"We experienced very heavy rains two days ago, but the flood just started to rise when Magat Dam started releasing huge volumes of water," Valdepenas told AFP. 
"Plus, our land is already saturated because of the consecutive typhoons hitting the area."
Man-yi was the sixth major storm in a month to strike the Philippines, which have left at least 171 people dead and thousands homeless, as well as wiped out crops and livestock.
About 20 big storms and typhoons hit the Southeast Asian nation or its surrounding waters each year, killing scores of people, but it is rare for multiple such weather events to take place in a small window. 

- Roofs of houses -

In the neighbouring province of Isabela, Jun Montereal of the Ilagan city disaster preparedness committee said 30,000 people were still affected by flooding.
But the situation was slowly improving.
"The flood is subsiding now little by little, it's slower because the land is already saturated but we are way past the worst," Montereal told AFP.
"We are really hoping that the weather will continue to be fair so the water can go down. I think the water will completely subside in three days," he said.
"I can now see the roofs of houses that I wasn't able to see before because of the floods."
Carlo Ablan, who helps oversee operations at Magat Dam, said three gates were open as of Tuesday morning to release water from the dam.
"If the weather continues to be good, we are expecting that we will only have one gate open this afternoon," Ablan said. 
Ablan said flooding in Tuguegarao city was not only caused by water from Magat Dam -- other tributaries of the Cagayan river were also likely to blame.  
Valdepenas said authorities in Tuguegarao were waiting for floodwaters to subside more before sending people back to their homes. 
"This might start subsiding within today," he said.
More than a million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi, which struck the Philippines as a super typhoon before significantly weakening as it swept over the mountains of the main island of Luzon.
Man-yi dumped heavy rain, smashed flimsy buildings, knocked out power and claimed at least eight lives.
Climate change is increasing the intensity of storms, leading to heavier rains, flash floods and stronger gusts.
pam/amj/sco

Climate and Environment

Illegal farm fires fuel Indian capital's smog misery

  • The northern state of Punjab -- an agriculture hub often dubbed as "India's wheat bowl" -- recorded 1,251 farm fires on Monday, according to the government-run Punjab Remote Sensing Centre.
  • The illegal burning of farm fields in northern India reached a record high this season, fuelling a toxic smog choking millions including in the capital New Delhi, government monitors said Tuesday.
  • The northern state of Punjab -- an agriculture hub often dubbed as "India's wheat bowl" -- recorded 1,251 farm fires on Monday, according to the government-run Punjab Remote Sensing Centre.
The illegal burning of farm fields in northern India reached a record high this season, fuelling a toxic smog choking millions including in the capital New Delhi, government monitors said Tuesday.
The northern state of Punjab -- an agriculture hub often dubbed as "India's wheat bowl" -- recorded 1,251 farm fires on Monday, according to the government-run Punjab Remote Sensing Centre.
Tens of thousands of farmers around the capital in Punjab and Haryana states burn their crop residue at the start of every winter, clearing fields from recently harvested rice to make way for wheat.
The practice is banned but law enforcement is lax, and it remains the cheapest and quickest way for farmers to prepare their fields for the next growing season.
India is the world's biggest exporter of rice and a major exporter of wheat.
Since September, Punjab has recorded 9,655 farm fires. The previous highest number on a single day was 730, which was recorded on November 8.
On Monday, when the most fires were recorded, levels of PM2.5 pollutants -- dangerous cancer-causing microparticles that enter the bloodstream through the lungs -- surged past 60 times the World Health Organization's recommended daily maximum in New Delhi.
Farmers are a powerful voting bloc and remain defiant about their role in the smog, saying they cannot switch to more expensive methods without substantial government support.
The ash-grey smoke from the fires contributes to the blanket of hazardous smog that settles on New Delhi every winter when cooler air traps pollutants close to the ground.
Various piecemeal government initiatives have failed to measurably address the problem, with the smog blamed for thousands of premature deaths each year and particularly impacting the health of children and the elderly.
City authorities on Tuesday extended an order for all schools to switch to online classes for all students, and added to restrictions on diesel-powered trucks and construction in a bid to ease the smog.
Authorities hope by keeping children at home, traffic will be reduced.
On Tuesday, air quality had slightly improved, with PM2.5 pollutant levels hitting 309 micrograms per cubic metre in New Delhi, according to IQAir pollution monitors, 20 times higher than the WHO daily safe limit.
A report by The New York Times this month, based on samples collected over five years, revealed dangerous fumes also spewing from a power plant incinerating rubbish from the capital's landfill garbage mountains.
abh/pjm/sco

climate

Parts of Great Barrier Reef suffer highest coral mortality on record

  • Leck added the area surveyed was "relatively small" and feared that when the full report was released next year "similar levels of mortality" would be observed.  
  • Parts of the Great Barrer Reef have suffered the highest coral mortality on record, Australian research showed Tuesday, with scientists fearing the rest of it has suffered a similar fate. 
  • Leck added the area surveyed was "relatively small" and feared that when the full report was released next year "similar levels of mortality" would be observed.  
Parts of the Great Barrer Reef have suffered the highest coral mortality on record, Australian research showed Tuesday, with scientists fearing the rest of it has suffered a similar fate. 
The Australian Institute of Marine Science said surveys of 12 reefs found up to 72 percent coral mortality, thanks to a summer of mass bleaching, two cyclones, and flooding.  
In one northern section of the reef, about a third of hard coral had died, the "largest annual decline" in 39 years of government monitoring, the agency said. 
Often dubbed the world's largest living structure, the Great Barrier Reef is a 2,300 kilometre (1,400-mile) expanse of tropical corals that house a stunning array of biodiversity.
But repeated mass bleaching events have threatened to rob the tourist drawcard of its wonder, turning banks of once-vibrant corals into a sickly shade of white. 
Bleaching occurs when water temperatures rise and the coral expels microscopic algae, known as zooxanthellae, to survive.
If high temperatures persist, the coral can eventually turn white and die. 
This year had already been confirmed as the fifth mass bleaching on the reef in the past eight years. 
But this latest survey also found a rapid growing type of coral -- known as acropora -- had suffered the highest rate of death.  
This coral is quick to grow, but one of the first to bleach.  

'Worst fears'

Lead researcher Mike Emslie told public broadcaster ABC the past summer was "one of the most severe events" across the Great Barrier Reef, with heat stress levels surpassing previous events.
"These are serious impacts. These are serious losses," he said.  
WWF-Australia's head of oceans Richard Leck said the initial surveys confirmed his "worst fears". 
"The Great Barrier Reef can bounce back but there are limits to its resilience," he said. 
"It can't get repeatedly hammered like this. We are fast approaching a tipping point." 
Leck added the area surveyed was "relatively small" and feared that when the full report was released next year "similar levels of mortality" would be observed.  
He said that it reinforced Australia's need to commit to stronger emission reduction targets of at least 90 percent below 2005 levels by 2035 and move away from fossil fuels.  
The country is one of the world's largest gas and coal exporters and has only recently set targets to become carbon neutral. 
lec/arb/fox 

UN

S.Africa offers a lesson on how not to shut down a coal plant

BY ZAMA LUTHULI

  • - Mistakes and lessons - The missteps at Komati are lessons for other coal-fired power plants marked for shutdown, Pillay said.
  • The cold corridors of South Africa's once-mighty Komati coal-fired power plant have been quiet since its shutdown in 2022 in what was trumpeted as a pioneering project in the world's transition to green energy.
  • - Mistakes and lessons - The missteps at Komati are lessons for other coal-fired power plants marked for shutdown, Pillay said.
The cold corridors of South Africa's once-mighty Komati coal-fired power plant have been quiet since its shutdown in 2022 in what was trumpeted as a pioneering project in the world's transition to green energy.
Two years later, plans to repurpose the country's oldest coal power plant have amounted to little in a process that offers caution and lessons for countries intending to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels and switch to renewables.
Jobs have been lost and construction for wind and solar energy generation has yet to start, with only a few small green projects under way.
"We cannot construct anything. We cannot remove anything from the site," acting general manager Theven Pillay told AFP at the 63-year-old plant embedded in the coal belt in Mpumalanga province, where the air hangs thick with smog.
Poor planning and delays in paperwork to authorise the full decommissioning of the plant have been the main culprits for the standstill, he said. "We should have done things earlier. So we would consider it is not a success."
Before it turned off the switches in October 2022, the plant fed 121 megawatts into South Africa's chronically undersupplied and erratic electricity grid. 
The transition plan -- which won $497 million in funding from the World Bank -- envisions the generation of 150 megawatts via solar and 70 megawatts from wind, with capacity for 150 megawatts of battery storage.
Workers are to be reskilled and the plant's infrastructure, including its massive cooling towers, repurposed. 
But much of this is still a long way off. "They effectively just shut down the coal plant and left the people to deal with the outcomes," said deputy energy and electricity minister Samantha Graham.

Disgruntled

Coal provides 80 percent of South Africa's power and the country is among the world's top 12 largest greenhouse gas emitters. Coal is also a bedrock of its economy, employing around 90,000 people.
South Africa was the first country in the world to form a Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) with international funders to move off dirty power generation, already receiving $13.6 billion in total in grants and loans, Neil Cole of the JETP presidential committee told AFP.
Komati is the first coal plant scheduled for decommissioning, with five of the remaining 14 ones meant to follow by 2030.
It had directly employed 393 people, the state energy firm Eskom that owns the plant told AFP. Only 162 remain on site as others volunteered for transfer or accepted payouts. 
The plant had been the main provider of employment in the small town, where the quiet streets are pitted with chunks of coal. Today, several houses are vacant as workers from other provinces headed home after losing their jobs. 
"Our jobs ending traumatised us a lot as a community," said Sizwe Shandu, 35, who had been contracted as a boilermaker at the plant since 2008. 
The shutdown had been unexpected and left his family scrambling to make ends meet, he said. With South Africa's unemployment rate topping 32 percent, Shandu now relies on government social grants to buy food and electricity.
Pillay admitted that many people in the town of Komati had a "disgruntled view" of the transition. One of the mistakes was that coal jobs were closed before new jobs were created, he said. People from the town did not always have the skills required for the emerging jobs.
Eskom has said it plans to eventually create 363 permanent jobs and 2,733 temporary jobs at Komati. 
One of the green projects under way combines raising fish alongside vegetable patches supported by solar panels.
Seven people, from a planned 21, have been trained to work on the aquaponics scheme, including Bheki Nkabinde, 37.
"Eskom has helped me big time in terms of getting this opportunity because now I've got an income, I can be able to support my family," he told AFP, as he walked among his spinach, tomatoes, parsley and spring onions.
The facility is also turning invasive plants into pellets that are an alternative fuel to coal and assembling mobile micro power grids fixed to containers. A coal milling workshop has been turned into a welding training room.

Mistakes and lessons

The missteps at Komati are lessons for other coal-fired power plants marked for shutdown, Pillay said. For example, some now plan to start up green energy projects parallel to the phasing out of fumes.
But the country is "not going to be pushed into making a decision around how quickly or how slowly we do the Just Energy Transition based on international expectations", said Graham.
South Africa has seven percent renewable energy in its mix, up from one percent a decade ago, she said. And it will continue mining and exporting coal, with Eskom estimating that there are almost 200 years of supply still in the ground. 
The goal is to have a "good energy mix that's sustainable and stable", Graham said.
Since South Africa's JETP was announced, Indonesia, Vietnam and Senegal have struck similar deals, but there has been little progress towards actually closing coal plants under the mechanism.
Among the criticisms is that it offers largely market-rate lending terms, raising the threat of debt repayment problems for recipients. 
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