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Cop27 Guardian Best Dressed Competition!
So obviously Cop27 is a critical event for the future of the planet and we’re discussing a lot of important and incredibly depressing issues. However, there is still room for some fun, I think. My colleague Nina Lakhani has noticed how many people at Cop wear impressive clothes, dress colorfully and beautifully every day at the convention center. He says: “One of the best things about attending Cop is the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, many of whom come wearing bright and beautiful traditional clothing. The Guardian team, who it’s fair to say wouldn’t win best-dressed competitions, want your help to honor the best-dressed Cop27 attendees, so if you’re here, send in photos. If possible, please include the representative’s name, country/indigenous community and role in Cop27.” We have a pair below, taken by Nina. Harjeet Singh, Head of Global Policy Strategy at the Climate Action Network, from India. Photo: Nina Lakhani/The Guardian Goodness Dickson Anieno, 29, the founder of the Eco Clean Active initiative in Abuja Nigeria Civil society Photo: Nina Lakhani/The Guardian During the police weeks, scientists publish a huge series of depressing climate studies in the hope of focusing the minds of the negotiators. Today’s State of the Climate in Asia 2021 report from the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) found that economic losses from drought, floods and landslides have soared in Asia. In 2021 alone, weather and water-related hazards caused a total of US$35.6 billion in damage, affecting nearly 50 million people. These impacts of climate change exact an ever-increasing human, economic and environmental toll, exacerbating food insecurity and poverty and impeding sustainable development. Relatively, for today, future climate scenarios would likely cause extreme water stress. High mountainous Asia, including the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau, contains the largest volume of ice outside the polar region, with an area of about 100,000 km2 of glacier cover. The rate of glacier retreat is accelerating and many glaciers have experienced severe mass loss as a result of extremely hot and dry conditions in 2021. These so-called water towers of the world are vital to providing fresh water for the most densely populated part of the planet and thus the retreat of glacier has significant implications for future generations. “Climate indicators and extremes have shown this report, and the expected increase in rainfall across much of Asia in the future shows how vital it is to strengthen early warning systems,” said WMO Secretary-General Professor Petteri Taalas. “The United Nations’ Early Warnings for All program will help protect people from more frequent and intense extreme weather events – and there are big gaps to fill in Asia.” Nepalese villagers, who say declining rainfall levels and limited irrigation opportunities have reduced the ability to cultivate land, limiting crop yields and affecting the availability of staple foods. Photo: Rebecca Conway/Getty Images Updated at 09:30 GMT Update on Lula – we hear that instead of speaking today, he may speak at the conference on Wednesday. We’ll keep you updated. Lula Da Silva Photo: Andressa Anholete/Getty Images
Former No 10 councilor launches campaign for green growth
Those of us from the UK may remember the ‘anti-growth coalition’ comments made by Liz Truss during her short and chaotic tenure as Prime Minister. Well, a former No 10 adviser who worked under Boris Johnson and left in May this year has launched a campaign to tackle just that. Truss appeared to believe that tackling growth problems involved cutting taxes for the richest, borrowing a ton of money to do it, removing daylight from the British countryside and banning solar power. Sam Richards, who today launches his new Britain Remade campaign, takes a slightly different approach. The typical British family is now £6.8k worse off than a German family, £13.5k worse off than an American family and, if we continue on our current course, set to be poorer than a Polish family in the early 2030s . We believe that Britain’s economic decline is not inevitable, but the result of political choices. All too often, politicians choose to prioritize vocal well-organized special interests over the majority of voters. If we want to reduce our dependence on foreign gas and lower bills, we need to address the bottlenecks in our planning system that prevent new energy supply from being built. It is, to give one example, completely baffling that the government appears set to maintain an effective ban on onshore wind farms at the same time as it pours billions into curbing household and business energy bills this winter. Too often policy mistakes, like the ongoing ban on onshore wind, happen because politicians listen to a vocal minority of voters who oppose construction. In fact, polling we’ve commissioned shows there is majority support for new wind and solar projects. 1/ Since leaving Number 10, I have been building a new campaign focused on tackling Britain’s biggest problem: economic growth (or at least, the lack of it.) Introducing @BritainRemade — Sam Richards (@samrichardswebb) November 14, 2022 And the old government group SpAd has come together to voice these concerns – Alok Sharma’s former adviser Eamonn Ives is backing the campaign. He said: “I would encourage anyone and everyone to watch their work. Such an important effort, led by some of the smartest people I know!” Updated at 09.19 GMT My colleague Fiona Harvey had a great chat with Labour’s Ed Miliband at the weekend. Labour’s shadow climate and environment secretary outlined his plans for an international renewable energy coalition, expressed his thoughts on the King Charles police ban and praised Cop26 chairman Alok Sharma, but said our government let down by being trash for the climate and undermining it. Read her full interview below – well worth a look.
UN climate chief urges countries to ‘build bridges’ and set climate targets
Patrick Greenfield Good morning from Sharm el-Sheikh and welcome to our coverage of the second week of Cop27. Here’s what to look out for on the water and gender day of the climate summit:
Countries are taking informal stock of this morning’s Cop27 plenary so far, with UN climate chief Simon Stiell urging countries to use their remaining time in Egypt to “build the bridge needed” to make progress on 1.5C, adaptation, finance and loss and damage.
As Week 2 of #COP27 begins, let me remind negotiators that people and the planet rely on this process to succeed. The leaders called for action. Let’s use the time left in Egypt to build the bridges needed to make progress on 1.5, on adaptation, on economics, and on loss and damage. — Simon Stiell (@simonstiell) November 14, 2022
If you want to go into detail about the level of agreement so far, Carbon Brief’s senior policy editor Simon Evans went through drafts of the negotiations and highlighted the progress (or lack thereof). Note that something is [in brackets] in the UN negotiations means it is still under negotiation.
Water and the effects of the climate crisis on water scarcity will come under scrutiny on Monday, the Guardian’s environment editor Fiona Harvey reports. He’s written a fantastic curtain call on what to look out for this week. World leaders meet at the G20 in Bali, Indonesia in the next two days, where the climate crisis will be discussed by the major powers. Xi and Biden are scheduled to speak, with climate talks between the world’s biggest economies still suspended after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan, which China says violated its sovereignty. Thanks for watching.
Updated at 08:51 GMT Thanks for watching. Good morning and welcome to the Guardian Cop27 liveblog. I’m Helena Horton, environment journalist here at the Guardian, and I’ll be running the blog until my colleague Bibi Van Der Zee takes over this afternoon. We’re halfway there (unless it goes over!) and today seems to be full. It’s also water day, and those of us who have lived through the drought this year will know what a critical issue this is. Today there will be a strong focus on gender and we will hear from Indigenous women later. Stay tuned and send me any tips/thoughts to [email protected] Updated at 08:51 GMT
