China and the European Union redoubled their commitment to a strong climate pact on Monday in a Brussels summit, as the Asian giant readied its widely-anticipated pledge for submission. Heads of the world’s number one and three emitters of greenhouse gas emissions signed a joint agreement on climate change and heralded a “new starting point” after 40 years of relations.
It sees a deepening of Sino-European ties as new chiefs seek to overcome former diplomatic hostilities, with Chinese investment earmarked for a European infrastructure fund and greater collaboration on issues from migration to the Greece crisis.
“This year is critical in terms of global climate change governance,” said Chinese premier Li Keqiang, who travelled to the Belgian capital for the first time. “We are willing to work together with the EU side to jointly tackle the challenge posed by climate change that observes principles of common but differentiated responsibility, equity and respective capabilities to implement climate change solutions,” he told reporters in a press conference.
China would submit its “intended nationally determined contribution” before the end of June confirming months of speculation, Keqiang said. Accounting for over a quarter of emissions, it is a significant player in crafting a global warming agreement.
As we step into 2020, time has come to implement the Paris Agreement and raise climate ambition, but the geopolitical tide seems to be against it. The best way forward at this crucial juncture might be to forge a ‘climate coalition of the willing’ – recognising and streamlining actions of all actors at all levels.
For the first time in the survey’s 10-year outlook, the top five global risks in terms of likelihood are all environmental. They are: extreme weather events, failure of climate change mitigation and adaptation, major natural disasters, major biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse, and human-made environmental damage and disasters.
Millions of people across Sub-Saharan Africa could face grave hunger in the first half of 2020 because of armed conflict, political instability and climate change-linked disasters, a report says.
The report published by the UN World Food Programme (WFP) this month says that the countries affected will require life-saving food assistance and investment to prevent humanitarian catastrophes.
Australia is currently experiencing one of its worst bushfire seasons, with swathes of the southern and eastern coastal regions having been ablaze for weeks. As the fires have spread, there has been extensive media coverage both nationally and internationally documenting – and debating – their impacts. This Carbon Brief overview summarises how the fires – and the political response to them – have been covered by the media.