Katowice, Poland | AFP | UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sought to rescue deeply troubled climate talks in Poland on Wednesday, warning the battle against global warming is a “matter of life and death today.” The two-week talks are tasked with breathing life into the 2015 Paris Agreement, which vows to …
Read More »Tanzania picks Egyptian firms for controversial dam scheme
Nairobi, Kenya | AFP | Tanzania on Wednesday awarded a $3-billion (2.64-billion-euro) contract to two Egyptian firms to build a hydro-electric dam in a renowned nature reserve. The 2,100-megawatt scheme will straddle the Rufiji River in the Selous Game Reserve, a 50,000-square-kilometre (19,000-square-mile) protected area which was designated a UNESCO …
Read More »Sports world must join climate change crusade, says IOC
Katowice, Poland | AFP | The world of sports must join the effort to tame global warming, and the International Olympic Committee intends to lead the way, it said on Tuesday at UN climate talks in Katowice, Poland. At the 195-nation negotiations, the IOC and UN launched an initiative aimed …
Read More »In Mauritius, sugar cane means money, renewable energy
La Baraque, Mauritius | AFP | Far out into the Indian Ocean where it is forced to be self-reliant, the island nation of Mauritius is weaning itself off fossil fuels by turning to its main cash-crop sugar cane, for electricity. The leftover, crushed sugar cane stalks and tips — dry …
Read More »Hong Kong ex-official Patrick Ho convicted in US over bribery scheme
New York, United States | AFP | Hong Kong’s former home affairs secretary Patrick Ho Chi Ping was convicted by a New York court Wednesday over a multimillion dollar bribery scheme in Africa on behalf of a top Chinese energy company. Ho, 69, was convicted by a jury of seven …
Read More »The Terminator insists US will help battle climate change
Katowice, Poland | AFP | Governments must protect citizens from the killer effects of climate change, movie tough guy-turned-statesman Arnold Schwarzenegger told AFP, insisting the United States was committed to a greener future despite Donald Trump reneging on the Paris agreement. In an interview on the sidelines of a UN …
Read More »Nations pressed to tackle ‘urgent threats’ at UN climate talks
Katowice, Poland | AFP | With the direst environmental warnings yet still ringing in their ears, nations gathered in Poland Sunday for a UN summit aimed at heading off the “urgent threat” of runaway climate change. The UN talks come at a crucial juncture in mankind’s response to planetary warming. …
Read More »At-risk nations to make case at UN climate summit
Katowice, Poland | AFP | Nations most threatened by rising sea levels and devastating droughts will use a UN summit in Poland on Monday to urge richer countries to pay their fair share in the climate change fight. The presidents of at-risk states such as Honduras, Nigeria and Bangladesh are expected …
Read More »Qatar to quit OPEC in 2019: energy minister
Doha, Qatar | AFP | Qatar is to leave OPEC next month in order for the Gulf state to focus on gas production, Energy Minister Saad al-Kaabi announced on Monday. “Qatar has decided to withdraw its membership from OPEC effective January 2019,” Kaabi said at a Doha press conference. He …
Read More »Global warming outpaces efforts to slow it: UN
Paris, France | AFP | Humanity is falling further behind in the race against climate change, with the gap between greenhouse gas emissions and levels needed to achieve the Paris climate treaty temperature goals continuing to widen, the UN said Tuesday. With only a single degree Celsius of warming so …
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