The world has to adapt to the climate change it will not avoid
“Barren” does not begin to describe Abu Ayman’s small patch of land in southern Iraq. The sun pounds down, sometimes pushing the temperature above 50°C (122°F). Dry earth and withered weeds crackle underfoot. It used to be a palm plantation, but no trees remain—just rows of untopped trunks. Of uneven height and listing at odd angles, they look like ruined columns from some grand old temple, razed by long-forgotten calamity. Except that the calamity is still unfolding, and Abu Ayman has certainly not forgotten. Twenty years ago, he says, the canopy of palm fronds above was so thick that no direct sunlight reached the baking soil on which he is standing. Farming dates and other fruit earned him a good living, he adds as he snaps a salt-bleached twig off a desiccated shrub. Water from a canal fed by the Shatt al-Arab waterway, which glistens in the glare just a kilometre away, was adequate for his needs.
India targets net-zero carbon emissions by 2070, says Modi
India’s economy will become carbon neutral by the year 2070, the country’s prime minster has announced at the COP26 climate crisis summit in Glasgow. The target date is two decades beyond what scientists say is needed to avert catastrophic climate impacts. India is the last of the world’s major carbon polluters to announce a net-zero target, with China saying it would reach that goal in 2060, and the United States and the European Union aiming for 2050.
COP26: What climate summit means for one woman in Bangladesh
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Why China's climate policy matters to us all
China's carbon emissions are vast and growing, dwarfing those of other countries. Experts agree that without big reductions in China's emissions, the world cannot win the fight against climate change. In 2020, China's President Xi Jinping said his country would aim for its emissions to reach their highest point before 2030 and for carbon neutrality before 2060. His statement has now been confirmed as China's official position ahead of the COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow. But China has not said exactly how these goals will be achieved.
Deliver on promises, developing world tells rich at climate talks
A crucial U.N. conference heard calls on its first day for the world's major economies to keep their promises of financial help to address the climate crisis, while big polluters India and Brazil made new commitments to cut emissions. World leaders, environmental experts and activists all pleaded for decisive action to halt the global warming which threatens the future of the planet at the start of the two-week COP26 summit in the Scottish city of Glasgow on Monday. The task facing negotiators was made even more daunting by the failure of the Group of 20 major industrial nations to agree ambitious new commitments at the weekend.