https://www.scmp.com/rss/511097/feed Reports on and analysis of the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26), which was held in Glasgow, Scotland, between October 31 and November 12, 2021. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com It is a great honour to represent Indonesia at the 27th United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, on November 6-18, 2022. I see COP27 as an important event where world leaders must take advantage of the momentum to not only call for ambition but also to encourage real implementation, including the fulfilment of support from developed and developing countries. Despite what the world has done since COP26 in Glasgow, there has been insufficient progress. COP27 is... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3198502/cop27-how-indonesia-can-use-g20-asean-platforms-take-lead-tackling-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3198502/cop27-how-indonesia-can-use-g20-asean-platforms-take-lead-tackling-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 05 Nov 2022 06:00:12 +0000 The 1993 hit film Groundhog Day revolves around the lead character, played by Bill Murray, being caught in a time loop, repeatedly living the same day. Climate change conference watchers will be forgiven for having the same feeling as the latest big annual summit starts in Egypt on Sunday. Despite landmark report after report highlighting the crisis point the world is at, game-changing progress in global negotiations is unlikely to be made at COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh this month. In recent days,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198236/why-xi-and-biden-hold-key-climate-action-cop27?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3198236/why-xi-and-biden-hold-key-climate-action-cop27?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Nov 2022 11:45:10 +0000 From heatwaves to flash floods, Asia has borne the brunt of “one-in-a-lifetime” weather events in recent years. The continent sees temperatures rising at twice the rate of the global average, making it far more prone to frequent, severe weather events and, consequently, the economic burden of destabilised communities and infrastructure. Recognising the challenges, the Group of Seven last year reaffirmed its commitment to the collective goal by developed countries to jointly mobilise US$100... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3197606/climate-handouts-are-not-enough-asia-must-build-its-own-carbon-credit-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3197606/climate-handouts-are-not-enough-asia-must-build-its-own-carbon-credit-market?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 30 Oct 2022 08:30:10 +0000 Coal is both the cheapest source of energy and the biggest producer of greenhouse gases, which are responsible for climate change. Most developing countries still rely on coal – India is the second largest consumer of coal behind China. Despite India’s net-zero carbon goal and plans to develop renewable energy sources, its demand for coal is at an all-time high. And this demand is set to rise by a further 63 per cent by 2030, according to the country’s coal minister. China, too, is increasing... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3196395/coal-seems-be-making-comeback-despite-glasgow-climate-pact?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3196395/coal-seems-be-making-comeback-despite-glasgow-climate-pact?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 19 Oct 2022 20:30:08 +0000 Dubbed a “necessary evil” move, Germany plans to reactivate its network of 21 coal-powered plants to escape Russian President Vladimir Putin’s energy chokehold. Germany needs warmth for the winter, and the energy shortfall has forced the state to produce this heat at the expense of the planet. France, Italy, Austria and the Netherlands have announced similar plans under the same rationale. The climate will change, the vulnerable must suffer, but what else must rich states facing the energy... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3195730/cop27-rich-nations-must-take-responsibility-and-pay-climate-damage?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3195730/cop27-rich-nations-must-take-responsibility-and-pay-climate-damage?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 16 Oct 2022 10:30:11 +0000 Asia’s ongoing battle with weather extremes manifests climate injustice. For example, Super Typhoon Noru forced nearly 80,000 people to take refuge in emergency shelters. Many of them were among the 7.3 million people who were affected by Typhoon Rai, which battered the country in December 2021. Meanwhile, a deadly flood in Pakistan killed more than 1,400 people and displaced 33 million more from their homes. From March to May this year, India and Pakistan saw one of the hottest springs in... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3194663/developing-world-crying-out-climate-justice-green-finance-promises?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3194663/developing-world-crying-out-climate-justice-green-finance-promises?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 04 Oct 2022 14:00:11 +0000 Flash floods in Pakistan have killed more than 1,100 people, affected 33 million more, swept away 1 million homes and destroyed over 3,500km of roads. One-third of the country is submerged, and the number of people internally displaced from these torrential floods is more than those displaced from the war in Ukraine. Pakistan faced a similar situation back in 2010 as well, and the number of people affected by heavy monsoon rains at the time reached 20 million. However, this year’s monsoon season... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191496/pakistan-floods-latest-sign-climate-injustice-global-south?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3191496/pakistan-floods-latest-sign-climate-injustice-global-south?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 08 Sep 2022 01:15:15 +0000 As host of the Group of 7 leaders’ meeting in the Bavarian Alps, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz underscored the importance of having a “climate club” for countries to come together in tackling climate change. Protesters have been demonstrating in Munich and calling on the G7 economies to take greater action against climate change. According to the World Meteorological Organization, the past seven years have been the warmest on record. Global sea levels have continued to rise amid constant ocean... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183254/amid-heatwaves-and-floods-time-running-out-rich-nations-fulfil?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3183254/amid-heatwaves-and-floods-time-running-out-rich-nations-fulfil?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Jun 2022 19:30:21 +0000 Until mid-2021, the number of proposed coal-fired power plants in Vietnam and Indonesia was second only to those in China and India. Vietnam was also considering increasing coal power capacity by 2030 in a draft development plan released in September. Yet at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in November, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made a surprise pledge to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. All eyes are now on how this pledge to adopt a more extensive... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3176844/after-cop26-pledge-can-vietnam-revive-flagging-wind-solar?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/economics/article/3176844/after-cop26-pledge-can-vietnam-revive-flagging-wind-solar?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 08 May 2022 07:00:25 +0000 The failure of the United Nations to act on the Russian invasion of Ukraine should not surprise anyone. This appears to be merely the latest demonstration of a two-decade-long trend of the growing ineffectiveness of global multilateral institutions in addressing the world’s diplomatic, security and socioeconomic challenges. In its place, two competing forces seem to be at play. First, there has been a rise in the use of informal arrangements, such as the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad).... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3172577/un-failures-over-ukraine-just-latest-sign-multilateralism?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3172577/un-failures-over-ukraine-just-latest-sign-multilateralism?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 01 Apr 2022 17:30:18 +0000 Each new report on the effects of climate change is evermore dire. Until measures to reduce or keep temperatures in check have an impact, there will be more severe weather events, sea levels will rise and humanity, species and ecosystems further threatened. The latest assessment by the United Nations is by far the bleakest, contending that many of the consequences of the failure by governments to dramatically cut carbon emissions blamed for global warming are already irreversible and worse is to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3171592/apathy-not-option-when-climate-change-threatens-all-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3171592/apathy-not-option-when-climate-change-threatens-all-us?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 23 Mar 2022 14:30:19 +0000 The Ukraine war is a tragedy of tragedies, catastrophic for the Ukrainian people, a disaster for the global economy and a real setback for global peace and stability. The fog of war is such that most commentary is about who wins, who loses and who is right or wrong. The inconvenient truth is that perhaps we (humanity and the planet) will all lose, with little upside unless we start de-escalating everything. The war has swept aside concerns about the pandemic, with its intense focus on how to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3170016/war-ukraine-inconvenient-truth-about-why-peace-must-prevail?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3170016/war-ukraine-inconvenient-truth-about-why-peace-must-prevail?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Mar 2022 19:30:21 +0000 There is a shortlist of things to consider when buying a modern electric car over a petrol or diesel, and for me they are: Not to look goofy. Electric vehicles (EVs) used to be weird, ugly vehicles that were tucked away at the back of motor shows as far away from Aston Martin, Maserati and Ferrari as you can get. Tesla changed that with the help of Lotus with its first roadster in 2008, and then the Model S. Other manufacturers realised this and some of the slickest designs from Porsche, Audi... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3163088/theres-solution-chinas-lithium-squeeze-electric-vehicle-battery?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3163088/theres-solution-chinas-lithium-squeeze-electric-vehicle-battery?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 12 Jan 2022 08:10:23 +0000 Britain’s Prince Charles urged people in a New Year message to “take a moment” to recognise those “standing up for freedom and human rights” around the world. The heir to the British throne paid tribute to people in places such as Afghanistan, Syria and Myanmar facing political and religious persecution and insecurity alongside increasingly dire humanitarian situations. “As we start a New Year, we might take a moment to remember the many people around the world who are standing up for freedom... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3161826/prince-charles-pays-tribute-human-rights-defenders-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3161826/prince-charles-pays-tribute-human-rights-defenders-new-year?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 01 Jan 2022 22:36:40 +0000 Global leaders who have pledged to halt deforestation by 2030 must move quickly to strengthen forest protection laws, line up funding, and include indigenous people in conservation efforts to have the best chance of success, environmentalists say. More than 100 leaders last month agreed to halt and reverse deforestation and land degradation by the end of the decade, underpinned by US$19 billion in public and private funds to invest in protecting and restoring forests. The commitment – made at... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3161472/cop26-deforestation-pledge-what-indonesia-brazil-and-world?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/southeast-asia/article/3161472/cop26-deforestation-pledge-what-indonesia-brazil-and-world?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Dec 2021 00:00:35 +0000 Ten of this year’s most destructive weather events cost a combined US$170 billion in damages, according to a new study. Hurricane Ida, a tropical storm that pummelled much of the eastern US with lashing rain in August, killed at least 95 people and cost the economy US$65 billion. A month earlier, floods in Europe caused 240 deaths and an economic loss of US$43 billion, according to research published by British charity Christian Aid. Floods in China’s Henan province in July killed more than 300... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3161132/climate-disasters-cost-world-more-us170-billion-2021-study?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/3161132/climate-disasters-cost-world-more-us170-billion-2021-study?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 27 Dec 2021 04:00:49 +0000 The climate crisis has put the end of oil onto the agenda, but achieving that is a colossal task given the world economy’s deep dependence on petroleum. “In 2021, several developments showed clearly that [the petroleum] industry doesn’t have a future,” said Romain Ioualalen at the activist group Oil Change International. The International Energy Agency warned in May that an immediate halt to new investment in fossil projects is needed if the world is to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3161078/climate-crisis-puts-oil-crosshairs-dependence-persists?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3161078/climate-crisis-puts-oil-crosshairs-dependence-persists?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 26 Dec 2021 05:58:33 +0000 Life is unfair but what can we do about it? The world continues to tolerate the growing injustice of inequalities in income, wealth and, most recently, vaccine distribution. French political economist Thomas Piketty and his colleagues at the World Inequality Lab has just published the World Inequality Report 2022, a gold mine of data and insights. I found at least three nuggets. First, inequality is primarily a political issue. We can all do something about it, but since politics has been... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159998/world-needs-summit-tackle-climate-and-wealth-inequalities?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159998/world-needs-summit-tackle-climate-and-wealth-inequalities?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Dec 2021 17:30:22 +0000 China’s coal power output – around half the global total – is expected to grow by 9 per cent this year, undermining efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said. Global power generation from coal is also expected to jump by 9 per cent this year to an all-time high of 10,350 terawatt-hours, after falling in 2019 and 2020, potentially putting demand for the fossil fuel on course to reach a record high next year, according to the IEA’s Coal 2021 report... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3160121/chinas-rising-coal-power-output-push-global-electricity?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3160121/chinas-rising-coal-power-output-push-global-electricity?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 17 Dec 2021 08:44:23 +0000 The world failed at last month’s United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26). And the biggest failure is one that virtually everybody assembled in Glasgow overlooked. The system in place to address climate change – comprising a constellation of economic, political and social arrangements – is inappropriate to our global goals. Consider an analogy: your neighbourhood is threatened by an approaching wildfire. Managing the crisis requires mobilising various emergency services, as well as help... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159612/meeting-global-climate-targets-requires-systemic-change-can-we-turn?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3159612/meeting-global-climate-targets-requires-systemic-change-can-we-turn?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 14 Dec 2021 07:50:17 +0000 There was hardly any mention of Asia’s oceans or fisheries when the COP26 climate summit concluded in Scotland recently, meaning a huge share of the world’s economic and environmental resources were essentially glossed over. Negotiations at the all-important summit focused on halting deforestation, reducing methane emissions, and mobilising trillions of dollars to finance climate-resilient adaptation strategies. However, global ocean health played only a minor role at Glasgow with only a... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3157397/wake-cop26-asias-troubled-oceans-must-not-be-left-high-and-dry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3157397/wake-cop26-asias-troubled-oceans-must-not-be-left-high-and-dry?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 12 Dec 2021 03:00:20 +0000 Once Upon a Time We Ate Animals: The Future of Food by Roanne van Voorst, translated by Scott Emblen-Jarrett, pub. HarperOne Death toll: 150 million a day. And that’s a conservative estimate. As youanticipate gorging on your Christmas turkey, consider that the above is the figure author and anthropologist Roanne van Voorst puts on the number of “fish, chickens, pigs, cows, goats, sheep” our species slaughters for food. It does not include any of the millions of animals killed in laboratories... https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3159028/why-you-should-turn-vegan-end-factory-farmings-daily?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/books/article/3159028/why-you-should-turn-vegan-end-factory-farmings-daily?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 11 Dec 2021 11:45:21 +0000 The UN climate change conference (COP26) that concluded last month needed to be a game changer in the pace and scale of climate action. However, commitments fell short of those required to keep global warming within 1.5 degrees Celsius and achieve net zero emissions by 2050. It is important to realise the seriousness of these objectives. At a global scale, 2 degrees of global warming represents an existential threat to millions of people, with catastrophic effects on agriculture, health and city... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3158374/how-hong-kong-can-do-its-part-achieve-cop26-climate-change-goals?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3158374/how-hong-kong-can-do-its-part-achieve-cop26-climate-change-goals?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Dec 2021 00:15:16 +0000 The US and European Union held a new round of diplomatic talks on their relations with China on Thursday, the latest sign of a burgeoning transatlantic united front to confront Beijing amid rising geopolitical tensions. In a joint statement issued after the meeting in Washington between Wendy Sherman, the No 2 official in the US State Department, and European External Action Service Secretary General Stefano Sannino, one of the EU’s top diplomats, the two sides expressed alarm at China’s... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3158247/us-eu-diplomats-voice-concern-about-chinas-human-rights-abuses?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3158247/us-eu-diplomats-voice-concern-about-chinas-human-rights-abuses?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 02 Dec 2021 22:37:07 +0000 When Tesla beat expectations in 2017 and delivered 102,000 electric cars to customers, the feat inspired an entrepreneur born in the former Soviet Union to think big: one day, battery packs can power airplanes too, not just cars. Valery Miftakhov, who holds a doctorate in physics from Princeton University, founded the start-up ZeroAvia that same year and developed a system for running electric motors with hydrogen fuel cells. With backing from the UK government, British Airways, private... https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3157498/world-needs-more-elon-musks-turn-zero-emission-planes-and-ships-commercial?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3157498/world-needs-more-elon-musks-turn-zero-emission-planes-and-ships-commercial?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 27 Nov 2021 02:00:22 +0000 China will look at ways to control methane emissions in key industries and will introduce a nationwide action plan to do so, a senior climate official said on Thursday. “[China will] set effective methane emission reduction measures in sectors such as coal mining, agriculture, solid waste, sewage water treatment, petroleum and natural gas,” Lu Xinming, deputy head of the climate change department at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, told reporters. Lu said China would introduce a... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3157391/china-sets-sights-coal-petroleum-and-waste-sectors-bring?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/politics/article/3157391/china-sets-sights-coal-petroleum-and-waste-sectors-bring?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Nov 2021 11:42:15 +0000 When it comes to climate change, there should be no excuses. The ongoing negligence and lack of decisive steps from governments and politicians should be identified or even penalised if proper action is not taken to avert the destruction of our planet. We are not talking about hypothetical delusions, such as the threat of being invaded by aliens, but the actual consequences of our own unrestrained consumerism that are literally set to kill us. Sadly, the neoliberal set at the COP26 climate... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156930/after-cop26-heres-how-us-and-china-can-show-real-leadership-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156930/after-cop26-heres-how-us-and-china-can-show-real-leadership-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 22 Nov 2021 22:45:21 +0000 China’s latest financing initiative for clean coal technology will help the country meet its energy needs while at the same time reduce the carbon intensity of its heavy industries and meet its goal of capping coal consumption by 2025, analysts said. But some argued that it could instead prolong the use of the fossil fuel and keep the industry alive in the mainland. China’s cabinet, the State Council, announced on Wednesday that it will establish a special relending facility worth 200 billion... https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3156837/chinas-clean-coal-financing-tool-balances-energy-needs?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/commodities/article/3156837/chinas-clean-coal-financing-tool-balances-energy-needs?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Nov 2021 07:00:16 +0000 Many high-level climate conferences have been held in the past quarter of a century, from the first UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP1) held in Germany in 1995 to the most recent held in Scotland. COP26 has been described as the last chance for nations to join together in tackling the biggest crisis facing humanity. Unfortunately, only vague commitments and agreements have come out of each conference, with wealthy nations reluctant to commit funding for developing economies to... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3156581/making-buildings-more-energy-efficient-quick-way-hong?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/hong-kong/article/3156581/making-buildings-more-energy-efficient-quick-way-hong?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 21 Nov 2021 00:45:23 +0000 Climate activists have blocked a major bridge in central London during a march in support of nine jailed Insulate Britain campaigners. In full view of a heavy uniformed police presence, up to 250 people who had marched from London’s Royal Courts of Justice took part in a sit-down demonstration, blocking off Lambeth Bridge. Uniformed officers stood at the scene as traffic was diverted, with the Metropolitan Police saying this was “for the safety of all.” The demonstrators made speeches, sang... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3156821/climate-activists-block-central-london-bridge-support-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3156821/climate-activists-block-central-london-bridge-support-jailed?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Nov 2021 19:40:46 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3156893/work-begins-now-after-cop26-era-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3156893/work-begins-now-after-cop26-era-accountability?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 20 Nov 2021 12:00:00 +0000 Extraordinary times and extraordinary challenges perhaps inevitably allow the normal challenges that we wrestle with in normal times to escape attention. So the parallel imperatives of curbing the global Covid-19 death toll, funding unprecedented investment in health systems, as well as vaccine research and distribution, have created extraordinary challenges. Combined with the need to aid economic recovery from the pandemic recession and begin meaningful funding for the green adjustments needed... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156546/pandemic-and-climate-change-mean-extraordinary-debt-levels-are?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156546/pandemic-and-climate-change-mean-extraordinary-debt-levels-are?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Nov 2021 19:30:13 +0000 Life is extremely complicated and will only become more so. The just-completed Glasgow Conference of Parties (COP26) has generated many agreements but climate activist Greta Thunberg said: “There is a still a very, very long way to go.” Yet some agreement is better than nothing, even if the hard work is only just beginning. Leaders have to go home and start delivering their promises. That the United States and China (the two largest carbon emitters) agreed to work together on the 1.5 degree... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3156532/move-masses-climate-action-we-need-really-good-story?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3156532/move-masses-climate-action-we-need-really-good-story?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Nov 2021 06:30:22 +0000 The COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference was the most successful climate summit since the 2015 Paris Climate Conference and reached a maximum consensus among nations, according to a senior adviser to the Chinese COP26 delegation. “Especially, it completed the negotiations on the Paris Rulebook and achieved good progress,” said Wang Yi, a climate specialist with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, referring to the guidelines for how countries should implement the Paris Agreement. Wang said... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156557/cop26-chinese-climate-adviser-rates-glasgow-summit-success?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156557/cop26-chinese-climate-adviser-rates-glasgow-summit-success?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 Nov 2021 00:00:21 +0000 A top US climate official on Thursday played down the weakening of commitments to reduce coal usage at the recent COP26 conference, stressing that the fossil fuel’s inclusion in the summit’s resulting document was a victory in itself. Jonathan Pershing, the US administration’s deputy special climate envoy, also said that too much had been made of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s absence from the conference, in contrast with US President Joe Biden’s assertion that the no-show signalled that Beijing... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3156602/cop26s-compromise-coal-still-victory-us-climate-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3156602/cop26s-compromise-coal-still-victory-us-climate-official-says?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Nov 2021 23:28:33 +0000 “Blah, blah, blah.” That was how young climate activist Greta Thunberg characterised this year’s UN climate change conference (COP26) in Glasgow even before it began. She was right, in a way. Talk is cheap whenever international agreements lack effective mechanisms to verify and enforce commitments. Gatherings like COP26 tend to lack credibility, even when they are presented as a “last chance” to prevent the end of the world as we know it. Nonetheless, such meetings help raise awareness about... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156472/cop26-cheap-talk-weak-necessary-first-step-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156472/cop26-cheap-talk-weak-necessary-first-step-climate-change?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Nov 2021 17:30:28 +0000 Americans may soon get a better glimpse into a future of green transport by visiting a United States national park, while in Jordan, in the Middle East, some tourists used to being pulled by horses and mules, are climbing into electric vehicles instead. US Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg recently signed a joint pledge to test some of the newest and most innovative travel technologies on public lands in the US and improve visitors’ tourism... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3156515/yellowstone-leads-way-us-national-parks-test-green?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/travel-leisure/article/3156515/yellowstone-leads-way-us-national-parks-test-green?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Nov 2021 13:15:16 +0000 https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3156481/video-cop26-obama-calls-out-china-russia-dangerous-lack-urgency-about?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/article/3156481/video-cop26-obama-calls-out-china-russia-dangerous-lack-urgency-about?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Nov 2021 05:25:07 +0000 For much of the past few decades, China’s growth has been powered by fossil fuels, particularly coal. While the economic gains have been vast and rapid, the toll on the environment has been huge. In the third of a four-part series, Echo Xie looks at the prospects for a new energy mix in China. As the curtain came down on the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow on Saturday, there was still one big unanswered question. Negotiators from about 200 countries accepted a new... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3156478/china-and-future-coal-big-burning-global-climate-question?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3156478/china-and-future-coal-big-burning-global-climate-question?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 18 Nov 2021 05:05:01 +0000 One of the more important agreements made in Glasgow at the COP26 summit on climate change was on a global system for trading carbon. Under the auspices of the United Nations, the system will provide for the allocation of carbon credits linked to projects and activities that reduce greenhouse gases – for example, renewable energy plants or the cultivation of forestry land. These credits will be set against a country’s emission-reduction targets and/or sold to raise finance, providing an offset... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3156240/get-net-zero-we-need-effective-global-carbon-credit-market?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/world/article/3156240/get-net-zero-we-need-effective-global-carbon-credit-market?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 17 Nov 2021 06:30:22 +0000 A surge in electric vehicle (EV) sales to meet net-zero climate targets requires an immediate scale-up of EV battery production and relevant infrastructure, adding to pressure on governments and industry leaders to get on top of raw material, innovation and sustainability challenges, analysts say. The global stock of electric cars increased by over 40 per cent year-on-year in 2020, hitting 10 million units, against a decline of more than 15 per cent for the overall car market in the aftermath of... https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3156143/urgent-need-ev-battery-industry-expand-and-be-more?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3156143/urgent-need-ev-battery-industry-expand-and-be-more?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Nov 2021 02:00:30 +0000 If fine oratory is a valuable art form, it is nonetheless becoming a lost one. Beware the mere glitter of charisma alone. In a politician, it is often no more than wrapping paper around a thin gift box of costume jewellery, but true orators can move mountains and nations. It might even prove a propellant of winds for reform in otherwise seemingly hopeless political storms. This takes us to former US president Barack Obama’s remarkable keynote address on climate change last week in Glasgow. In... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156078/case-drafting-obama-help-heal-us-china-relations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156078/case-drafting-obama-help-heal-us-china-relations?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Nov 2021 17:30:21 +0000 United States Climate Envoy John Kerry said on Monday that the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow had opened a new phase of “accountability” in the world’s battle against climate change. Nearly 200 nations on Saturday signed a deal to try to halt runaway global warming after two weeks of painful negotiations but fell short of what scientists say is needed to contain dangerous rises. Speaking at an environmental conference in Paris, Kerry said he was “a little bit shocked” at negative media reports... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3156164/cop26-opens-era-accountability-says-us-climate-envoy-john-kerry?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/europe/article/3156164/cop26-opens-era-accountability-says-us-climate-envoy-john-kerry?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Nov 2021 16:54:01 +0000 Hello and welcome to a new week after China’s Singles’ Day online shopping spree and the anniversary of the day the world marked the 1918 end of World War I. Held on China’s unofficial anti-Valentine’s Day on November 11 – because 11/11 looks like bare branches, symbolising the unattached – sales grew less than in previous years, partly because of the slow economic recovery. I’m Holly Chik, a reporter on the China desk of the South China Morning Post who follows science development. I’m on... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3156049/china-update-historical-resolutions-and-future-planet-among-our?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3156049/china-update-historical-resolutions-and-future-planet-among-our?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 15 Nov 2021 03:00:28 +0000 You could be forgiven for thinking that US-China peace has broken out as Presidents Xi Jinping and Joe Biden prepare for their first meeting since Biden took office at the start of the year. After so many rotten eggs over the past few years, the return to civility is sudden, surprising and very welcome. Last I checked, officials were still smarting over the Anchorage meeting in March between Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and declaring a “stalemate”... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3155968/xi-biden-meeting-us-china-mood-music-has-changed-and-good-reason?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3155968/xi-biden-meeting-us-china-mood-music-has-changed-and-good-reason?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 19:30:23 +0000 The conclusion of the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow left many disappointed after a pledge on phasing out the use of coal was watered down following an intervention by China and India. The agreement, issued on Saturday, did not achieve its most ambitious object, of making all signatories commit to a target of limiting the increase in global temperatures to 1.5 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels. The last-minute intervention by India and China also saw a pledge to “phase out” the... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156029/cop26-summit-chinas-climate-commitments-spotlight-after-coal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy/article/3156029/cop26-summit-chinas-climate-commitments-spotlight-after-coal?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 19:00:21 +0000 It is too soon to say whether the COP26 summit in Glasgow, Scotland, will be remembered more for its achievements or its disappointments. That may become clearer next year with governments’ responses to a call at the summit agreement for parties to return with stronger plans to curb carbon emissions and much more financing to help poor nations cope with the costs of damage due to climate change. One thing certain to be remembered is the defusing of a threat of decoupling on climate between the... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156031/deal-climate-and-leaders-summit-bode-well-china-us-ties?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3156031/deal-climate-and-leaders-summit-bode-well-china-us-ties?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 16:15:19 +0000 In the recently concluded UN climate change summit, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 even as his nation was reeling from a power crisis induced by coal shortages. India recorded a power supply shortage of 1.2 billion units in October – the highest in more than five years – amid a crunch in coal stocks for thermal plants. The western state of Gujarat alone recorded a power shortage of 215 million units, the highest for any month in more than a... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3155831/why-indias-private-sector-key-modis-green-energy-pledge?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/asia/article/3155831/why-indias-private-sector-key-modis-green-energy-pledge?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 06:30:25 +0000 Climate activists and environmentalists are calling for investors to be more environmentally aware and stop funding companies that are involved in forest clearing in Indonesia, amid Jakarta’s apparent backtracking on a pledge made at COP26 to stop deforestation in Southeast Asia’s biggest economy. Indonesia, which aims for net zero carbon emissions by 2060, has a turbulent history when it comes to protecting its forests, but recent comments from the environment and forestry minister, Siti... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3155919/indonesia-wavers-deforestation-pledge-young-climate?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/health-environment/article/3155919/indonesia-wavers-deforestation-pledge-young-climate?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 03:15:15 +0000 China is one of more than 100 nations that pledged at the COP26 climate talks this month to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation by 2030. But that has not stopped criticism of the country’s role in global deforestation. China’s commercial supply chains lean heavily on so-called forest-risk commodities, or agribusiness materials such as palm oil, soy beans and beef cattle, which involve forest destruction, Rod Taylor, global director of the forests programme at the World Resources... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3155704/china-signs-combat-forest-destruction-critics-say-its-not-enough?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/science/article/3155704/china-signs-combat-forest-destruction-critics-say-its-not-enough?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 14 Nov 2021 02:00:15 +0000