Last Friday, the European Union has submitted its formal promise on greenhouse gases cuts to the United Nations ahead of the climate change talks starting in December.
As the first major economy to agree its position, the EU called on the US and China to follow its lead, in order to ensure a successful outcome of the UN climate summit; an effective, legally binding global climate change agreement with emission reduction commitments from all countries.
“We expect China, the United States and the other G20 countries in particular to follow the European Union and submit their contributions by the end of March,” Miguel Arias Cańete, EU Commissioner for Climate and Energy, told reporters after a meeting of EU environment ministers in Brussels.
According to the US-China climate agreement from last November, the United States has pledged to cut its emissions to 26-28% below 2005 levels by 2025, and China, the biggest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world, announced to cap emissions by 2030 or earlier if possible.
French Energy Minister Segolene Royal commented on the European agreement which had to reached by March 20 at the latest: “A very important step was taken today. This is a decisive, historic stage.”
She also said that Europe was taking up its responsibilities as host of the 2015 Paris climate conference.
The EU’s official contribution is a target of an at least 40 percent cut in emissions by 2030 compared to 1990s levels.
For the complete article, please see Global Call for Climate Action.
Until recently, impressive economic growth, stable leadership and its attractiveness as a foreign investment hub put Ethiopia in a positive spotlight. However, the country still ranks low in human development and is highly dependent on rainfed agriculture, making it particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. Combined with existing tensions and inequalities, climate vulnerability can exacerbate security risks. To mitigate these linkages, Ethiopia’s leadership should support implementation of conflict-sensitive climate change adaptation policies and include climate security in its conflict mitigation strategy.
On 19 November in Dhaka, adelphi partnered with the International Centre for Climate Change and Development (ICCCAD) to hold a roundtable and discussion on climate change and fragility risks in South Asia.
One of the world’s lowest-lying countries invited international experts to discuss the security challenges related to climate change.
Nepal and Afghanistan face a number of serious climate-fragility risks, so adelphi brought together regional government officials and NGO experts for a training in Kathmandu on 9 November 2019.