With the global temperature rising Russia stands to pay a higher cost than most other nations, and the telltale signs are all too visible now.

15 million homes in Russia at risk due to ice melt

After Greta Thunberg, it is now Queen Elizabeth II of England who is tired of world leaders only talking about climate change and not acting on it. The Queen says she finds it "irritating".<o:p></o:p>

A little before world leaders are set to gather in Glasgow for COP26, the Queen has said she is sick of leaders who only "talk" but "don't do" enough about climate change.

<o:p>Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/trending/prince-charles-says-his-aston-martin-car-runs-on-cheese-waste-and-wine-twitter-laughs-420134">Prince Charles says his Aston Martin car runs on cheese waste and wine; Twitter laughs</a></o:p>

"Extraordinary isn't it. I've been hearing all about COP... still don't know who is coming. No idea," she, reportedly, told Elin Jones, the parliament’s presiding officer. "We only know about people who are not coming ... It's really irritating when they talk, but they don't do."<o:p></o:p>

The Queen made these comments during a private conversation with the Duchess of Cornwall and Elin Jones, the parliament's presiding officer. <o:p></o:p>

Responding to these apparent comments made by the queen the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told local media house that comments made in private conversations, should stay private. "I don’t think her comments were for broadcast."

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/another-controversy-royal-sources-suggest-meghan-harry-will-not-christen-their-daughter-in-the-uk-420165">Another controversy? Royal sources suggest Meghan, Harry will not christen their daughter in the UK</a>

<o:p></o:p>

However, he also added that like the Queen "we all share the desire to see progress made and we know there will be hundreds of leaders coming to Glasgow for COP."<o:p></o:p>

The Buckingham Palace has, however, declined to comment on the controversy surrounding the Queen’s wordings of the private conversation.<o:p></o:p>

Her reported comments have come a little after her son, Prince Charles, and grandson, Prince William, have also been calling for stronger actions against climate change.<o:p></o:p>

Meanwhile, world leaders are gearing up to meet for COP26 in Glasgow on October 31, 2021. <o:p></o:p>

China’s President Xi Jinping will not be attending this year’s climate summit in person, the office of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced. Russian leader Vladimir Putin is yet to confirm his presence. However, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed his presence as his government is facing increased pressure over lacking actions against climate change.<o:p></o:p>

After Greta Thunberg, it is now Queen Elizabeth II of England who is tired of world leaders only talking about climate change and not acting on it. The Queen says she finds it "irritating".

After Greta Thunberg, it is now Queen Elizabeth II of England who is tired of world leaders only talking about climate change and not acting on it. The Queen says she finds it "irritating". A little before world leaders are set to gather in Glasgow for COP26, the Queen has said she is sick of leaders who only "talk" but "don't do" enough about climate change. Also read | Prince Charles says his Aston Martin car runs on cheese waste and wine; Twitter laughs "Extraordinary isn't it. I've been hearing all about COP... still don't know who is coming. No idea," she, reportedly, told Elin Jones, the parliament’s presiding officer. "We only know about people who are not coming ... It's really irritating when they talk, but they don't do." The Queen made these comments during a private conversation with the Duchess of Cornwall and Elin Jones, the parliament's presiding officer. Responding to these apparent comments made by the queen the Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told local media house that comments made in private conversations, should stay private. "I don’t think her comments were for broadcast." Also read | Another controversy? Royal sources suggest Meghan, Harry will not christen their daughter in the UK However, he also added that like the Queen "we all share the desire to see progress made and we know there will be hundreds of leaders coming to Glasgow for COP." The Buckingham Palace has, however, declined to comment on the controversy surrounding the Queen’s wordings of the private conversation. Her reported comments have come a little after her son, Prince Charles, and grandson, Prince William, have also been calling for stronger actions against climate change. Meanwhile, world leaders are gearing up to meet for COP26 in Glasgow on October 31, 2021. China’s President Xi Jinping will not be attending this year’s climate summit in person, the office of UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced. Russian leader Vladimir Putin is yet to confirm his presence. However, the Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has confirmed his presence as his government is facing increased pressure over lacking actions against climate change.

COP26: Queen finds world leaders 'irritating' because they only 'talk' and don't 'act'

In the 1990s, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the drainage of the the famous Chebayesh marsh. He wanted to attack the rebels hiding in the reeds. Years after his fall, the wetland was re-flooded. Locals returned too. But now its being threatened by series of factors including climate change. This report tells you more.

Iraq's Chebayesh marsh battles pollution, drought

10 European nations want nuclear power to be recognized as 'green energy'. Is this a knee-jerk reaction to the natural gas shortage or is nuclear energy the perfect long-term solution to climate change? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: Can nuclear power solve climate change?

Some of the world's smallest countries could "disappear" without action at an upcoming UN summit to contain&nbsp;climate&nbsp;change, the secretary general of the Commonwealth warned in a Wednesday interview.

"The threat to the 42 small states in existential," Baroness Patricia Scotland told AFP. "People say that as if it does not mean what it says -- namely these small states will disappear."

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-can-nuclear-power-solve-climate-change-420544/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

The Dominica-born lawyer and former British government minister, who leads the Commonwealth association of former countries of the British empire, was speaking during a visit to Rome that included talks with Pope Francis.

She said some of the Commonwealth's smallest members, like the low-lying Pacific islands of Tuvalu and Nauru, were "looking for new places to go" because "the sea level rises are so dangerous now".

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She also decried the devastating impact of more frequent hurricanes, including in her native country.&nbsp;

"Dominica usually looks like a Garden of Eden," she said. But after 2017's Hurricane Maria "even the bark of trees had been stripped, there was not one green leaf left. It was like Armageddon".&nbsp;

UN&nbsp;climate&nbsp;talks in the Scottish city of Glasgow from October 31 to November 12 are aimed at securing a global deal on decarbonising world economies and charting humanity's path away from catastrophic global warming.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/alaskas-famous-fish-salmon-getting-smaller-due-to-climate-change-study-417842" hreflang="en">Alaska's famous fish, Salmon, getting smaller due to climate change: Study</a>

Scotland insisted that humanity had "no choice" but to act, noting that poor nations exposed to&nbsp;climate&nbsp;change&nbsp;also need extensive debt and vaccine relief. &nbsp;

"We are all in the same storm, but we're definitely not all in the same boat," she said.

The Commonwealth brings together 54 countries and 2.6 billion people, and the baroness is its first female leader.

Her term was supposed to end in 2020, but a summit to decide whether to reappoint her or replace her has been postponed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic.&nbsp;

"I certainly have so much work still to do that I would very much expect to still be in my position, but it is a matter for member states to decide," she said.

Some of the world's smallest countries could "disappear" without action at an upcoming UN summit to contain climate change, the secretary general of the Commonwealth warned in a Wednesday interview.

Some of the world's smallest countries could "disappear" without action at an upcoming UN summit to contain climate change, the secretary general of the Commonwealth warned in a Wednesday interview. "The threat to the 42 small states in existential," Baroness Patricia Scotland told AFP. "People say that as if it does not mean what it says -- namely these small states will disappear." The Dominica-born lawyer and former British government minister, who leads the Commonwealth association of former countries of the British empire, was speaking during a visit to Rome that included talks with Pope Francis. She said some of the Commonwealth's smallest members, like the low-lying Pacific islands of Tuvalu and Nauru, were "looking for new places to go" because "the sea level rises are so dangerous now". Also read | In a bid to combat climate impact, cut carbon footprint, Germany unveils synthetic kerosene plant She also decried the devastating impact of more frequent hurricanes, including in her native country. "Dominica usually looks like a Garden of Eden," she said. But after 2017's Hurricane Maria "even the bark of trees had been stripped, there was not one green leaf left. It was like Armageddon". UN climate talks in the Scottish city of Glasgow from October 31 to November 12 are aimed at securing a global deal on decarbonising world economies and charting humanity's path away from catastrophic global warming. Also read | Alaska's famous fish, Salmon, getting smaller due to climate change: Study Scotland insisted that humanity had "no choice" but to act, noting that poor nations exposed to climate change also need extensive debt and vaccine relief. "We are all in the same storm, but we're definitely not all in the same boat," she said. The Commonwealth brings together 54 countries and 2.6 billion people, and the baroness is its first female leader. Her term was supposed to end in 2020, but a summit to decide whether to reappoint her or replace her has been postponed twice due to the coronavirus pandemic. "I certainly have so much work still to do that I would very much expect to still be in my position, but it is a matter for member states to decide," she said.

Climate change could sink small states, says Commonwealth chief

Madagascar prays for rain as U.N. warns of 'climate change famine'

President Joe Biden has framed this moment as the country’s best chance to save the planet.

“The nation and the world are in peril,” he said weeks ago in the New York City borough of Queens, where 11 people drowned in their basement apartments after floodwaters from Hurricane Ida devastated communities from Louisiana to New York. “And that’s not hyperbole. That is a fact. They’ve been warning us the extreme weather would get more extreme over the decade, and we’re living in it real time now.”

Biden’s plan to try to fortify the United States against extreme weather — and cut the carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the Earth and fueling disasters — is embedded in two pieces of legislation pending on Capitol Hill. The future of both bills remains in question, with tension between moderate and progressive Democrats over the size and scope of many details.

Together, they contain what would be the most significant climate action ever taken by the United States. Because Democrats could lose control of Congress after 2022 and Republicans have shown little interest in climate legislation, it could be years before another opportunity arises — a delay that scientists say the planet cannot afford.

The climate provisions are designed to quickly transform energy and transportation, the country’s two largest sources of greenhouse gases, from systems that now mostly burn gas, oil and coal to sectors that run increasingly on clean energy from the sun, wind and nuclear power.

The impact will touch a broad cross section of American life, from the kinds of cars that Americans drive, to the types of crops grown by farmers, to the way homes are heated and buildings are constructed. One measure could shutter virtually all of the nation’s remaining coal plants, forcing sweeping change in communities dependent on mining but also, one study estimated, preventing as many as 50,000 premature deaths from pollution by 2030. And other measures would provide billions to replant in national forests, repair trails for hikers and clear brush to reduce the risk of wildfire.

“Each time you let these opportunities slip through your fingers, you’re passing a much harder problem on to the next generation,” said Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology and mother of four. “It’s a very hard thing to swallow that we are relegating children born today and not yet born to a future of dangerous climate impacts.”

The United States has contributed more to global warming than any other nation, and the action it takes will be felt well beyond its borders. Falling short would hamstring Biden next month, when he is expected to attend a major United Nations climate summit in Scotland to try to persuade other world leaders to take stronger climate action.

“The whole world is watching,” said Rachel Kyte, dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a climate adviser for the U.N. secretary-general. “If these bills don’t come to pass,” she said, “then the U.S. will be coming to Glasgow with some fine words” but “not much else. It won’t be enough.”

As part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, nearly 200 nations agreed to try to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, compared with temperatures before industrialization. That’s the threshold beyond which scientists say the dangers of global warming — such as deadly heat waves, water shortages, crop failures and ecosystem collapse — grow immensely.

But the world is way off track to meet that goal. As countries continue to pump carbon emissions into the atmosphere, the Earth has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius. Nations must cut in half emissions by the end of the decade to avoid the most catastrophic effects of warming and start that change immediately, scientists say.

Biden has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030, but his ambitions are constrained by razor-thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and the fate of the twin bills.

The first piece of legislation, a $3.5 trillion budget package proposed by House Democrats, with no Republican backing, has been a focal point of debate because it is filled with social programs including free community college, paid family and medical leave and expanded Medicare.

But it also contains hundreds of billions in tax credits for companies that build wind and solar power or retrofit polluting facilities to capture and bury their carbon dioxide emissions before they enter the atmosphere. And it expands tax incentives for Americans to buy electric vehicles, giving consumers as much as $12,500. It would also penalize oil and gas companies if they leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

The most potent climate measure in that legislation is a $150 billion Clean Electricity Performance Program, which would reward utilities that generate an increasing amount of electricity from wind, solar, nuclear or other clean energy sources and penalize those that do not. The policy aims for the United States to get 80% of its electricity from sources that don’t generate carbon dioxide by 2030, up from 40% today.

“If that came to pass, it would easily be the biggest thing Congress has ever done on climate,” said John Larsen, a director at the Rhodium Group, an energy research and consulting firm. In a recent study, Larsen found that the biggest climate provisions would only get the United States halfway to Biden’s emission pledge. But, he said, “getting halfway there in just one bill would be huge.”

It could transform states like Florida, Mississippi and Alabama that are still dominated by fossil fuel power plants.

“A policy like this would really have an outsized impact in the Southeast,” said Maggie Shober of the nonprofit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “We’re generally lagging behind on clean energy.”

The second big bill in Congress, a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, has bipartisan support. It would provide the largest single infusion of money to prepare communities for extreme weather fueled by climate change that is already underway. It includes $47 billion over five years in resilience funding to improve the nation’s flood defenses, limit damage from wildfires, develop new sources of drinking water in areas plagued by drought and relocate some communities away from high-risk areas.

The bill comes after a record hot summer in the United States in which cascading disasters affected nearly every corner of the country: Overflowing rivers in Tennessee, a hurricane that dumped record amounts of rainfall and left a swath of destruction from Louisiana to New York; a heat wave that killed hundreds in the Pacific Northwest; and wildfires that blazed across the Sierra Nevada range, pumping so much smoke into the air that it was hazy in Boston.

The infrastructure bill would shift America’s approach to dealing with climate threats that can no longer be avoided. Instead of frantically reacting after disaster strikes, the country would better prepared to reduce damage.

“We’ve been telling lawmakers for a long time that climate change could further strain fresh water supplies in the West, and that we need to plan ahead before it’s a crisis,” said Dan Keppen, executive director of Family Farm Alliance, which represents farmers, ranchers and irrigation districts across 17 Western states.

This summer, as the worst drought in memory baked the American West, Keppen saw those dire warnings unfold. An irrigation district in Oregon had to shut off water in the summer before crops were ready for harvest at local vineyards and orchards. Ranchers in California had to ship their cattle away because there was no forage left.

Keppen said the infrastructure bill, which contains $8.3 billion in funding for water projects, could make a big difference by upgrading water storage and funding conservation measures. “If we had done this 20 years ago, I think we would be much better prepared for this year’s drought,” he said. “The one silver lining of this year’s drought is it really drew attention to the problem.”

The infrastructure bill also includes billions to make buildings more energy efficient. About 30% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from energy to heat, cool and power buildings.

“Too often, for so many of us, climate change feels like there’s not a damn thing we can do about it to stop it,” said Donnel Baird, who runs BlocPower, which aims to convert gas and oil heating systems to green electricity, particularly in low-income communities. “But no, we can actually green all of America’s buildings.”

Still, there is no guarantee that even the infrastructure bill will pass. Many House Democrats have said they will not vote for the legislation unless it passes in parallel with the reconciliation bill that aims to address the root causes of global warming.

Environmentalists fear that if Democrats in Congress can’t reach an agreement on the legislation this year, it could be the last chance for major climate action in a long time as the party could lose control of Congress in the midterms next fall. While many Republicans approve of funding for climate resilience, they have shown far less support for federal action to slash emissions.

How hot the world ultimately gets will depend on many factors — including how other big polluting countries like China and India handle their emissions. Even so, scientists say, the chance to constrain global warming to about 1.5 degrees or at least below 2 degrees is growing dim.

“Even if the window for 1.5 degrees slams shut, it’s still going to be worth doing everything we can to limit as much additional warming as possible,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences at Princeton. “Every fraction of degree of warming leads to additional damages and risks.”

Delay is not an option, Oppenheimer said. “We’ve been doing that for 40 years, and now we’re finding out firsthand what that means,” he said.

President Joe Biden has framed this moment as the country’s best chance to save the planet. “The nation and the world are in peril,” he said weeks ago in the New York City borough of Queens, where 11 people drowned in their basement apartments after floodwaters from Hurricane Ida devastated communities from Louisiana to New York.

President Joe Biden has framed this moment as the country’s best chance to save the planet. “The nation and the world are in peril,” he said weeks ago in the New York City borough of Queens, where 11 people drowned in their basement apartments after floodwaters from Hurricane Ida devastated communities from Louisiana to New York. “And that’s not hyperbole. That is a fact. They’ve been warning us the extreme weather would get more extreme over the decade, and we’re living in it real time now.” Biden’s plan to try to fortify the United States against extreme weather — and cut the carbon dioxide emissions that are heating the Earth and fueling disasters — is embedded in two pieces of legislation pending on Capitol Hill. The future of both bills remains in question, with tension between moderate and progressive Democrats over the size and scope of many details. Together, they contain what would be the most significant climate action ever taken by the United States. Because Democrats could lose control of Congress after 2022 and Republicans have shown little interest in climate legislation, it could be years before another opportunity arises — a delay that scientists say the planet cannot afford. The climate provisions are designed to quickly transform energy and transportation, the country’s two largest sources of greenhouse gases, from systems that now mostly burn gas, oil and coal to sectors that run increasingly on clean energy from the sun, wind and nuclear power. The impact will touch a broad cross section of American life, from the kinds of cars that Americans drive, to the types of crops grown by farmers, to the way homes are heated and buildings are constructed. One measure could shutter virtually all of the nation’s remaining coal plants, forcing sweeping change in communities dependent on mining but also, one study estimated, preventing as many as 50,000 premature deaths from pollution by 2030. And other measures would provide billions to replant in national forests, repair trails for hikers and clear brush to reduce the risk of wildfire. “Each time you let these opportunities slip through your fingers, you’re passing a much harder problem on to the next generation,” said Kim Cobb, a climate scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology and mother of four. “It’s a very hard thing to swallow that we are relegating children born today and not yet born to a future of dangerous climate impacts.” The United States has contributed more to global warming than any other nation, and the action it takes will be felt well beyond its borders. Falling short would hamstring Biden next month, when he is expected to attend a major United Nations climate summit in Scotland to try to persuade other world leaders to take stronger climate action. “The whole world is watching,” said Rachel Kyte, dean of the Fletcher School at Tufts University and a climate adviser for the U.N. secretary-general. “If these bills don’t come to pass,” she said, “then the U.S. will be coming to Glasgow with some fine words” but “not much else. It won’t be enough.” As part of the 2015 Paris climate agreement, nearly 200 nations agreed to try to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, compared with temperatures before industrialization. That’s the threshold beyond which scientists say the dangers of global warming — such as deadly heat waves, water shortages, crop failures and ecosystem collapse — grow immensely. But the world is way off track to meet that goal. As countries continue to pump carbon emissions into the atmosphere, the Earth has already warmed about 1.1 degrees Celsius. Nations must cut in half emissions by the end of the decade to avoid the most catastrophic effects of warming and start that change immediately, scientists say. Biden has pledged to reduce U.S. emissions at least 50% below 2005 levels by 2030, but his ambitions are constrained by razor-thin Democratic majorities in the House and Senate and the fate of the twin bills. The first piece of legislation, a $3.5 trillion budget package proposed by House Democrats, with no Republican backing, has been a focal point of debate because it is filled with social programs including free community college, paid family and medical leave and expanded Medicare. But it also contains hundreds of billions in tax credits for companies that build wind and solar power or retrofit polluting facilities to capture and bury their carbon dioxide emissions before they enter the atmosphere. And it expands tax incentives for Americans to buy electric vehicles, giving consumers as much as $12,500. It would also penalize oil and gas companies if they leak methane, a potent greenhouse gas. The most potent climate measure in that legislation is a $150 billion Clean Electricity Performance Program, which would reward utilities that generate an increasing amount of electricity from wind, solar, nuclear or other clean energy sources and penalize those that do not. The policy aims for the United States to get 80% of its electricity from sources that don’t generate carbon dioxide by 2030, up from 40% today. “If that came to pass, it would easily be the biggest thing Congress has ever done on climate,” said John Larsen, a director at the Rhodium Group, an energy research and consulting firm. In a recent study, Larsen found that the biggest climate provisions would only get the United States halfway to Biden’s emission pledge. But, he said, “getting halfway there in just one bill would be huge.” It could transform states like Florida, Mississippi and Alabama that are still dominated by fossil fuel power plants. “A policy like this would really have an outsized impact in the Southeast,” said Maggie Shober of the nonprofit Southern Alliance for Clean Energy. “We’re generally lagging behind on clean energy.” The second big bill in Congress, a $1 trillion infrastructure plan, has bipartisan support. It would provide the largest single infusion of money to prepare communities for extreme weather fueled by climate change that is already underway. It includes $47 billion over five years in resilience funding to improve the nation’s flood defenses, limit damage from wildfires, develop new sources of drinking water in areas plagued by drought and relocate some communities away from high-risk areas. The bill comes after a record hot summer in the United States in which cascading disasters affected nearly every corner of the country: Overflowing rivers in Tennessee, a hurricane that dumped record amounts of rainfall and left a swath of destruction from Louisiana to New York; a heat wave that killed hundreds in the Pacific Northwest; and wildfires that blazed across the Sierra Nevada range, pumping so much smoke into the air that it was hazy in Boston. The infrastructure bill would shift America’s approach to dealing with climate threats that can no longer be avoided. Instead of frantically reacting after disaster strikes, the country would better prepared to reduce damage. “We’ve been telling lawmakers for a long time that climate change could further strain fresh water supplies in the West, and that we need to plan ahead before it’s a crisis,” said Dan Keppen, executive director of Family Farm Alliance, which represents farmers, ranchers and irrigation districts across 17 Western states. This summer, as the worst drought in memory baked the American West, Keppen saw those dire warnings unfold. An irrigation district in Oregon had to shut off water in the summer before crops were ready for harvest at local vineyards and orchards. Ranchers in California had to ship their cattle away because there was no forage left. Keppen said the infrastructure bill, which contains $8.3 billion in funding for water projects, could make a big difference by upgrading water storage and funding conservation measures. “If we had done this 20 years ago, I think we would be much better prepared for this year’s drought,” he said. “The one silver lining of this year’s drought is it really drew attention to the problem.” The infrastructure bill also includes billions to make buildings more energy efficient. About 30% of the country’s greenhouse gas emissions comes from energy to heat, cool and power buildings. “Too often, for so many of us, climate change feels like there’s not a damn thing we can do about it to stop it,” said Donnel Baird, who runs BlocPower, which aims to convert gas and oil heating systems to green electricity, particularly in low-income communities. “But no, we can actually green all of America’s buildings.” Still, there is no guarantee that even the infrastructure bill will pass. Many House Democrats have said they will not vote for the legislation unless it passes in parallel with the reconciliation bill that aims to address the root causes of global warming. Environmentalists fear that if Democrats in Congress can’t reach an agreement on the legislation this year, it could be the last chance for major climate action in a long time as the party could lose control of Congress in the midterms next fall. While many Republicans approve of funding for climate resilience, they have shown far less support for federal action to slash emissions. How hot the world ultimately gets will depend on many factors — including how other big polluting countries like China and India handle their emissions. Even so, scientists say, the chance to constrain global warming to about 1.5 degrees or at least below 2 degrees is growing dim. “Even if the window for 1.5 degrees slams shut, it’s still going to be worth doing everything we can to limit as much additional warming as possible,” said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences at Princeton. “Every fraction of degree of warming leads to additional damages and risks.” Delay is not an option, Oppenheimer said. “We’ve been doing that for 40 years, and now we’re finding out firsthand what that means,” he said.

Major climate action at stake in fight over twin bills pending in Congress

Bangladesh has been urged to build a stronger health system to deal with an increase in climate-sensitive diseases. The impact of changing weather patterns due to climate change on public health is a crucial concern for vulnerable countries.

A recent World Bank study, titled 'Climate Afflictions Report' finds that changes in climatic conditions have caused an increase in cases of respiratory, waterborne, and mosquito-borne diseases in Bangladesh.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/pakistan-hospitals-run-out-of-beds-on-dengue-surge-419622">Pakistan hospitals run out of beds on dengue surge</a>

The study predicts that as climate change continues, Bangladesh will witness more physical health issues. According to it, the most vulnerable will be children and the elderly, as well as those living in large cities such as Dhaka and Chittagong.

According to Mercy Tembon, the World Bank's country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan: "Bangladesh has remarkably tackled climate change challenges, despite being among the most vulnerable countries. It has built resilience against natural disasters and introduced homegrown solutions to improve agricultural productivity.

"With more evidence showing a pronounced impact of climate change on physical and mental health, Bangladesh needs to build on its success in adaptations to ensure a stronger health system that averts outbreaks of emerging climate-sensitive diseases."

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/eco-anxiety-fear-of-environmental-damage-affecting-mental-health-of-people-418987">‘Eco-anxiety’: Fear of environmental damage affecting mental health of people</a>

Data shows that, over the past 40 years, Bangladesh's temperature has risen by 0.5 degrees Celsius, with the summer getting hotter and longer, the winter getting warmer, and the monsoon season extending from February to October.

According to the report, Bangladesh's temperature will rise by 1.4 degrees Celsius by 2050.

The report claims that erratic weather conditions were key to the outbreak of dengue in Dhaka city in 2019. At the time, 77 per cent of the country's total number of dengue-related deaths occurred there.

The city recorded more than three times the average amount of rainfall in February and high temperatures and humidity between March and July of that year.

Also read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/cop26-must-address-unprecedented-climate-crisis-pope-francis-warns-418150">COP26 must address 'unprecedented' climate crisis, Pope Francis warns</a>

Compared to the monsoon, the likelihood of contracting an infectious disease is about 20 percentage points lower in the dry season, said the report.

With rising temperatures and humidity, the risk of respiratory illness increases as well.

As per the World Bank report, for every degree Celsius climb in temperature, people are more likely to suffer from respiratory illnesses by 5.7 percentage points, while every per cent rise in humidity amounts to 1.5 percentage points more chances of catching a respiratory infection.

Watch | Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina addresses UNGA; climate change, equitable vaccine distribution top focus

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/bangladesh-pm-sheikh-hasina-addresses-unga-climate-change-equitable-vaccine-distribution-top-focus-415741/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"Going forward, by ensuring stronger data collection, Bangladesh can better track the evolution of climate-sensitive diseases," said Iffat Mahmud, World Bank senior operations officer and co-author of the report.

"Particularly by recording accurate weather data at local levels and linking it with health data, it will be possible to predict potential disease outbreaks and to establish a climate-based dengue early warning system," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)

Bangladesh has been urged to build a stronger health system to deal with an increase in climate-sensitive diseases. The impact of changing weather patterns due to climate change on public health is a crucial concern for vulnerable countries.

Bangladesh has been urged to build a stronger health system to deal with an increase in climate-sensitive diseases. The impact of changing weather patterns due to climate change on public health is a crucial concern for vulnerable countries. A recent World Bank study, titled 'Climate Afflictions Report' finds that changes in climatic conditions have caused an increase in cases of respiratory, waterborne, and mosquito-borne diseases in Bangladesh. Also read | Pakistan hospitals run out of beds on dengue surge The study predicts that as climate change continues, Bangladesh will witness more physical health issues. According to it, the most vulnerable will be children and the elderly, as well as those living in large cities such as Dhaka and Chittagong. According to Mercy Tembon, the World Bank's country director for Bangladesh and Bhutan: "Bangladesh has remarkably tackled climate change challenges, despite being among the most vulnerable countries. It has built resilience against natural disasters and introduced homegrown solutions to improve agricultural productivity. "With more evidence showing a pronounced impact of climate change on physical and mental health, Bangladesh needs to build on its success in adaptations to ensure a stronger health system that averts outbreaks of emerging climate-sensitive diseases." Also read | ‘Eco-anxiety’: Fear of environmental damage affecting mental health of people Data shows that, over the past 40 years, Bangladesh's temperature has risen by 0.5 degrees Celsius, with the summer getting hotter and longer, the winter getting warmer, and the monsoon season extending from February to October. According to the report, Bangladesh's temperature will rise by 1.4 degrees Celsius by 2050. The report claims that erratic weather conditions were key to the outbreak of dengue in Dhaka city in 2019. At the time, 77 per cent of the country's total number of dengue-related deaths occurred there. The city recorded more than three times the average amount of rainfall in February and high temperatures and humidity between March and July of that year. Also read | COP26 must address 'unprecedented' climate crisis, Pope Francis warns Compared to the monsoon, the likelihood of contracting an infectious disease is about 20 percentage points lower in the dry season, said the report. With rising temperatures and humidity, the risk of respiratory illness increases as well. As per the World Bank report, for every degree Celsius climb in temperature, people are more likely to suffer from respiratory illnesses by 5.7 percentage points, while every per cent rise in humidity amounts to 1.5 percentage points more chances of catching a respiratory infection. Watch | Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina addresses UNGA; climate change, equitable vaccine distribution top focus "Going forward, by ensuring stronger data collection, Bangladesh can better track the evolution of climate-sensitive diseases," said Iffat Mahmud, World Bank senior operations officer and co-author of the report. "Particularly by recording accurate weather data at local levels and linking it with health data, it will be possible to predict potential disease outbreaks and to establish a climate-based dengue early warning system," he said. (With inputs from agencies)

World Bank report urges Bangladesh to build stronger health system for tackling climate-sensitive diseases

According to India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 63 of the 135 coal-fired power plants in the country have just two days or less of coal supplies left.

CEA reportedly said 17&nbsp;of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants have&nbsp;"zero coal stocks".&nbsp;

India is the second-largest importer and consumer of coal. India's power ministry had recently issued a directive to increase coal production "in the light of the increasing power demand".&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/electricity-crisis-chinese-switch-to-flashlights-generators-to-meet-emission-targets-ease-coal-shortages-416787">Also Read:&nbsp;China switches to flashlights, generators to meet emission targets &amp; ease coal shortages</a>

The ministry said compared to August last year, the energy consumption in August this year had increased by 15 per cent while the share of thermal &amp; lignite based generation had increased by 21 per cent.

Coal is also responsible for causing global pollution with China being the top coal consumer. China has been hit by a power crisis even as the Chinese government recently ordered railway companies and local authorities to ramp up coal supplies quickly.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-run-up-to-cop26-summit-glasgow-records-hottest-summer-410318">Also Read:&nbsp;In run up to Cop26 summit, Glasgow records hottest summer</a>

The Communist nation is under increased pressure to stop its coal-fired power projects. In order to address the criticism, President Xi last month had pledged not to build new coal-fired power projects abroad during his address to the UN General Assembly.

China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter and relies heavily on coal to meet its domestic energy needs. It is also under increased pressure from international organisations&nbsp;who have set their focus on China's coal energy needs at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow later this month.

President Xi has however not confirmed his participation at COP26 in Glasgow. Reports say&nbsp;China's top economic planning body has been asked to devise a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions amid growing pollution concerns worldwide.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/climate-change-summit-cop26s-president-alok-sharma-flew-to-30-countries-in-7-months-403428">Also Read:&nbsp;Cop26 summit president flew to 30 countries in 7 months</a>

British PM Boris Johnson had sent an invitation to President Xi to attend the meeting. In fact, British cabinet minister and president Alok Sharma of COP26 had said that the "ball is very much in their court" referring to China's participation at the conference.

Alok Sharma had visited Beijing earlier and held talks with Chinese officials while emphasising that the Chinese government wanted to make "COP26 as a success".

The COP26 conference will begin in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31.

(With inputs from Agencies)

According to India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 63 of the 135 coal-fired power plants in the country have just two days or less of coal supplies left. CEA reportedly said 17 of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants have "zero coal stocks".

According to India's Central Electricity Authority (CEA), 63 of the 135 coal-fired power plants in the country have just two days or less of coal supplies left. CEA reportedly said 17 of the country's 135 coal-fired power plants have "zero coal stocks". India is the second-largest importer and consumer of coal. India's power ministry had recently issued a directive to increase coal production "in the light of the increasing power demand". Also Read: China switches to flashlights, generators to meet emission targets & ease coal shortages The ministry said compared to August last year, the energy consumption in August this year had increased by 15 per cent while the share of thermal & lignite based generation had increased by 21 per cent. Coal is also responsible for causing global pollution with China being the top coal consumer. China has been hit by a power crisis even as the Chinese government recently ordered railway companies and local authorities to ramp up coal supplies quickly. Also Read: In run up to Cop26 summit, Glasgow records hottest summer The Communist nation is under increased pressure to stop its coal-fired power projects. In order to address the criticism, President Xi last month had pledged not to build new coal-fired power projects abroad during his address to the UN General Assembly. China is the world's biggest greenhouse gas emitter and relies heavily on coal to meet its domestic energy needs. It is also under increased pressure from international organisations who have set their focus on China's coal energy needs at the COP26 United Nations Climate Change Conference to be held in Glasgow later this month. President Xi has however not confirmed his participation at COP26 in Glasgow. Reports say China's top economic planning body has been asked to devise a plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions amid growing pollution concerns worldwide. Also Read: Cop26 summit president flew to 30 countries in 7 months British PM Boris Johnson had sent an invitation to President Xi to attend the meeting. In fact, British cabinet minister and president Alok Sharma of COP26 had said that the "ball is very much in their court" referring to China's participation at the conference. Alok Sharma had visited Beijing earlier and held talks with Chinese officials while emphasising that the Chinese government wanted to make "COP26 as a success". The COP26 conference will begin in Glasgow, Scotland from October 31. (With inputs from Agencies)

India stares at coal crisis as COP26 eyes China's coal-fired power projects

Indonesian officials and researchers are working to preserve a small pocket of forest on the heavily populated island of Java as the habitat of the Javan gibbon, which they say is endangered by climate change and human encroachment.

Indonesia races to preserve Java gibbon's home that aids in vegetation growth

UN wants to declare access to a safe environment a human right, but US, UK are opposing the move. Joe Biden had made tall promises on climate, Boris Johnson wanted to help countries at the forefront of the climate crisis. What happened? Palki Sharma tells you.

Gravitas: UN proposes to make safe environment a human right

Pope Francis has said that the Earth will become uninhabitable if there is no concrete action taken on climate change. He further asserted the complexity of the ecological crisis.

Pope Francis talks about climate change, pollution and development

Global warming helped wipe out 14 percent of the world’s coral reefs between 2009 and 2018, the largest-ever survey of coral health has found, warning that more of the vibrant underwater ecosystems were likely to die if oceans warm further. Watch this report for more details.

Global warming kills 14% of Coral reefs

At this exhibition organized by Extinction Rebellion, a group of environmental activists, artists are looking for new ways to communicate on the eco-climatic crisis, one month before the start of the COP26 Climate talks in Glasgow, Scotland.

Using art to communicate the climate crisis

One of the most popular fish among seafood lovers, Salmon, is getting smaller in size as per experts and that might be a result of climate change.<o:p></o:p>

A new study has reported that climate change can take a dangerous toll on valuable fishery, indigenous people and wildlife.<o:p></o:p>

Scientists of University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF) observed that four out of five Alaska’s wild salmon species have gotten smaller in size in the last few years.<o:p></o:p>

<o:p>Have a look |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/fridays-for-future-greta-thunberg-comes-in-support-of-young-climate-activists-in-milan-ahead-of-cop-26-417347">'Fridays for future': Greta Thunberg comes in support of young climate activists in Milan, ahead of COP 26</a></o:p>

One of the most affected ones is the King Salmon, which is technically called the Chinook salmon and is Alaska’s official state fish. The King Salmon has gotten at least eight per cent smaller than its size before 1990, the study revealed.

This report is not based on just the recent trends. Scientists have been compiled data from the 12.5 million samples collected in the last six decades.<o:p></o:p>

Scientists also interviewed several locals from Alaska to get their first-hand experiences of this. The claim of the size of salmon getting smaller has been confirmed by the interviewed Alaskans, co-author Peter Westley of UAF’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences said.

<o:p><a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/loggerhead-turtles-on-international-union-for-conservation-of-nature-red-list-417758">WATCH |</a></o:p>

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/loggerhead-turtles-on-international-union-for-conservation-of-nature-red-list-417758/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

"People are walking into their smokehouses and not having to duck anymore," he said. "The fish are just smaller."<o:p></o:p>

Climate change has been making the temperatures hotter with every passing day which is affecting the fish. In addition to this, the increased competition in different species of salmon might also be leading to fish shrinkage, experts said.<o:p></o:p>

It is not just seafood consumers, but also some wildlife animals who are getting affected by it. Alaska’s bears and a few other wildlife animals also consume salmon. So, if the size keeps getting smaller, the nutrient count for these wildlife animals can have a negative impact on the wildlife animals consuming the red-fleshed fish, UAF’s Krista Oke, the study’s lead author, explained.<o:p></o:p>

"It is impacting things that eat eggs, but it also impacts the salmon population itself," Oke said.<o:p></o:p>

One of the most popular fish among seafood lovers, Salmon, is getting smaller in size as per experts and that might be a result of climate change. A new study has reported that climate change can take a dangerous toll on valuable fishery, indigenous people and wildlife.

One of the most popular fish among seafood lovers, Salmon, is getting smaller in size as per experts and that might be a result of climate change. A new study has reported that climate change can take a dangerous toll on valuable fishery, indigenous people and wildlife. Scientists of University of Alaska at Fairbanks (UAF) observed that four out of five Alaska’s wild salmon species have gotten smaller in size in the last few years. Have a look | 'Fridays for future': Greta Thunberg comes in support of young climate activists in Milan, ahead of COP 26 One of the most affected ones is the King Salmon, which is technically called the Chinook salmon and is Alaska’s official state fish. The King Salmon has gotten at least eight per cent smaller than its size before 1990, the study revealed. This report is not based on just the recent trends. Scientists have been compiled data from the 12.5 million samples collected in the last six decades. Scientists also interviewed several locals from Alaska to get their first-hand experiences of this. The claim of the size of salmon getting smaller has been confirmed by the interviewed Alaskans, co-author Peter Westley of UAF’s College of Fisheries and Ocean Sciences said. WATCH | "People are walking into their smokehouses and not having to duck anymore," he said. "The fish are just smaller." Climate change has been making the temperatures hotter with every passing day which is affecting the fish. In addition to this, the increased competition in different species of salmon might also be leading to fish shrinkage, experts said. It is not just seafood consumers, but also some wildlife animals who are getting affected by it. Alaska’s bears and a few other wildlife animals also consume salmon. So, if the size keeps getting smaller, the nutrient count for these wildlife animals can have a negative impact on the wildlife animals consuming the red-fleshed fish, UAF’s Krista Oke, the study’s lead author, explained. "It is impacting things that eat eggs, but it also impacts the salmon population itself," Oke said.

Alaska's famous fish, Salmon, getting smaller due to climate change: Study

Climate change has taken centrestage these days. After natural disasters hit the world badly in 2020, an exhibition has been organised by climate activists in Milan and Italy to spark conversation about the climate crisis.

Exhibition uses art as means to spark conversation on climate change

According to a study, warming ocean waters have&nbsp;led to a drop in Earth's brightness.

Our planet now reflects about half a watt less light per square metre than it did 20 years ago,&nbsp;with most of the drop occurring in the last three years of Earthshine data.

As part of the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers used decades of Earthshine measurements to come up with their conclusion.&nbsp;Earthshine is the light reflected from the Earth that illuminates the surface of the moon.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/you-have-every-right-to-be-angry-boris-johnson-tells-climate-activists-417389">'You have every right to be angry', Boris Johnson tells climate activists</a>

Researchers estimate that the decrease in reflected light is the equivalent of a 0.5 per cent decrease in the Earth's reflectance.

According to the researchers, Earth reflects about 30 per cent of the sunlight it receives.

Philip Goode, a researcher at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the lead author of the study, says that&nbsp;"The albedo drop was such a surprise to us when we analysed the last three years of data after 17 years of nearly flat albedo,".

In his statement, Goode is referring to the Earthshine data gathered by the Big Bear Solar Observatory in Southern California from 1998 to 2017.

The researchers said the dimming trend became apparent when the latest data was added to the previous years.

They noted&nbsp;that solar brightness and the planet's reflectivity are two features that affect the amount of net sunlight reaching the Earth.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/since-1950s-coral-cover-reduced-by-half-in-world-finds-report-414010">Since 1950s, coral cover reduced by half in world, finds report</a>

Observations by the researchers did not correlate with the periodic changes in the Sun's brightness, meaning something on Earth is responsible for changes in Earth's reflectiveness.

According to NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project, there has also been a reduction in bright, reflective low-lying clouds over the eastern Pacific Ocean in recent years.

That is the same area where increases in sea surface temperatures have been recorded because of the reversal of a climatic condition with likely connections to global climate change, according to the researchers.

According to them, the dimming of the Earth is also evident in how much more solar energy is being captured by Earth's climate system.

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/global-warming-effects-frances-highest-peak-mont-blanc-shrinks-417053/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

According to the researchers, this additional solar energy can contribute to global warming once it reaches Earth's atmosphere and oceans.

"It's actually quite concerning," said Edward Schwieterman, a planetary scientist at the University of California at Riverside who was not involved in the study.

Many scientists had hoped that a warmer Earth might lead to more clouds and higher albedo, which would then help to moderate warming and balance the climate system, he said.

"But this shows the opposite is true,"&nbsp;Schwieterman added.

(With inputs from agencies)

According to a study, warming ocean waters have led to a drop in Earth's brightness. Our planet now reflects about half a watt less light per square metre than it did 20 years ago, with most of the drop occurring in the last three years of Earthshine data.

According to a study, warming ocean waters have led to a drop in Earth's brightness. Our planet now reflects about half a watt less light per square metre than it did 20 years ago, with most of the drop occurring in the last three years of Earthshine data. As part of the study, published in the journal Geophysical Research Letters, researchers used decades of Earthshine measurements to come up with their conclusion. Earthshine is the light reflected from the Earth that illuminates the surface of the moon. Also read | 'You have every right to be angry', Boris Johnson tells climate activists Researchers estimate that the decrease in reflected light is the equivalent of a 0.5 per cent decrease in the Earth's reflectance. According to the researchers, Earth reflects about 30 per cent of the sunlight it receives. Philip Goode, a researcher at the New Jersey Institute of Technology and the lead author of the study, says that "The albedo drop was such a surprise to us when we analysed the last three years of data after 17 years of nearly flat albedo,". In his statement, Goode is referring to the Earthshine data gathered by the Big Bear Solar Observatory in Southern California from 1998 to 2017. The researchers said the dimming trend became apparent when the latest data was added to the previous years. They noted that solar brightness and the planet's reflectivity are two features that affect the amount of net sunlight reaching the Earth. Also read | Since 1950s, coral cover reduced by half in world, finds report Observations by the researchers did not correlate with the periodic changes in the Sun's brightness, meaning something on Earth is responsible for changes in Earth's reflectiveness. According to NASA's Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES) project, there has also been a reduction in bright, reflective low-lying clouds over the eastern Pacific Ocean in recent years. That is the same area where increases in sea surface temperatures have been recorded because of the reversal of a climatic condition with likely connections to global climate change, according to the researchers. According to them, the dimming of the Earth is also evident in how much more solar energy is being captured by Earth's climate system. According to the researchers, this additional solar energy can contribute to global warming once it reaches Earth's atmosphere and oceans. "It's actually quite concerning," said Edward Schwieterman, a planetary scientist at the University of California at Riverside who was not involved in the study. Many scientists had hoped that a warmer Earth might lead to more clouds and higher albedo, which would then help to moderate warming and balance the climate system, he said. "But this shows the opposite is true," Schwieterman added. (With inputs from agencies)

Study shows Earth's brightness is dropping because of climate change

As young climate activists took to streets to protest against the worsening climate crisis, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed with them and said “you have every right to be angry”.<o:p></o:p>

Johnson believes the young people around the world are paying the price for the reckless actions of previous generations and it is high time people change their habits.

<o:p>Have a look |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/photos/fridays-for-future-greta-thunberg-comes-in-support-of-young-climate-activists-in-milan-ahead-of-cop-26-417347">'Fridays for future': Greta Thunberg comes in support of young climate activists in Milan, ahead of COP 26</a></o:p>

"Young people around the world are already paying the price for the reckless actions of their elders," said Johnson. "Hundreds of millions of you are facing rising seas, failing crops, burning forests, and evermore ferocious storms, daily challenges that lead to lost opportunity. And your future is literally being stolen before your eyes."<o:p></o:p>

His statement comes a little after hundreds of young activists took to streets along with Greta Thunberg to raise their voices against climate crisis. They also interrupted Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s speech.<o:p></o:p>

The protests got a bit heated as some protestors clashed with the local police and some violent blows were reportedly exchanged.<o:p></o:p>

Talking about the protests, Johnson said he observed the rallies and feels the young people have right to be angry over this issue.<o:p></o:p>

"I saw the protesters earlier on. And frankly, you have every right to be angry with those who aren't doing enough to stop it."<o:p></o:p>

However, he also said he has hopes with the upcoming COP26 meeting which is scheduled to start in November in Glasgow. He labelled it as "the beginning of the end of climate change."<o:p></o:p>

As young climate activists took to streets to protest against the worsening climate crisis, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed with them and said “you have every right to be angry”.

As young climate activists took to streets to protest against the worsening climate crisis, the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed with them and said “you have every right to be angry”. Johnson believes the young people around the world are paying the price for the reckless actions of previous generations and it is high time people change their habits. Have a look | 'Fridays for future': Greta Thunberg comes in support of young climate activists in Milan, ahead of COP 26 "Young people around the world are already paying the price for the reckless actions of their elders," said Johnson. "Hundreds of millions of you are facing rising seas, failing crops, burning forests, and evermore ferocious storms, daily challenges that lead to lost opportunity. And your future is literally being stolen before your eyes." His statement comes a little after hundreds of young activists took to streets along with Greta Thunberg to raise their voices against climate crisis. They also interrupted Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi’s speech. The protests got a bit heated as some protestors clashed with the local police and some violent blows were reportedly exchanged. Talking about the protests, Johnson said he observed the rallies and feels the young people have right to be angry over this issue. "I saw the protesters earlier on. And frankly, you have every right to be angry with those who aren't doing enough to stop it." However, he also said he has hopes with the upcoming COP26 meeting which is scheduled to start in November in Glasgow. He labelled it as "the beginning of the end of climate change."

'You have every right to be angry', Boris Johnson tells climate activists

Climate activist Greta Thunberg had some strong but sceptical words as she denounced long unending climate negotiations over decades 'blah, blah, blah'. She was speaking at climate talks in Italy.

"Thirty years of blah, blah, blah," Thunberg told the opening session of a Youth4Climate event on Tuesday.

Thousands of young activists have gathered in Milan this week from about 190 countries. They are due to engage with policymakers to hammer out prosposals for solutions to climate issues.

"So-called leaders have cherry picked young people to meetings like this to pretend they are listening to us, but they are not listening," Thunberg said.

"There is no planet B ... Change is not only possible but necessary, but not if we go on like we have until today."

In August, United Nations released a report that has exacerbated fears that climate change is worsening. The report has said that the situation was dangerously close to spiralling out of control.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/global-climate-strike-thousands-rally-across-the-world-demanding-urgent-action-415842">Global climate strike: Thousands rally across the world demanding urgent action</a>

The youth activists, who fought to get climate change to the top of the global agenda years after leaders at the 1992 Rio Summit in Brazil pledged to tackle environmental problems, are being challenged to help come up with the solutions ahead of the COP26 United Nations summit in November.

Their proposals will be vetted by climate and energy ministers gathering at the same venue for their pre-COP26 meeting, and some will find their way to the Glasgow summit.

The meetings come as soaring energy prices on world markets stoke fears of a popular backlash against climate reform.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-run-up-to-cop26-summit-glasgow-records-hottest-summer-410318">In run up to Cop26 summit, Glasgow records hottest summer</a>

The UN COP26 conference aims to secure more ambitious climate action from the nearly 200 countries who signed the 2015 Paris Agreement and agreed to try to limit human-caused global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

"Young people need to start getting involved in the actual negotiations," said Rose Kobusinge, a youth delegate from Uganda. "We want 1.5 (degrees) and we won’t go beyond that."

(With inputs from agencies)

Climate activist Greta Thunberg had some strong but sceptical words as she denounced long unending climate negotiations over decades 'blah, blah, blah'. She was speaking at climate talks in Italy.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg had some strong but sceptical words as she denounced long unending climate negotiations over decades 'blah, blah, blah'. She was speaking at climate talks in Italy. "Thirty years of blah, blah, blah," Thunberg told the opening session of a Youth4Climate event on Tuesday. Thousands of young activists have gathered in Milan this week from about 190 countries. They are due to engage with policymakers to hammer out prosposals for solutions to climate issues. "So-called leaders have cherry picked young people to meetings like this to pretend they are listening to us, but they are not listening," Thunberg said. "There is no planet B ... Change is not only possible but necessary, but not if we go on like we have until today." In August, United Nations released a report that has exacerbated fears that climate change is worsening. The report has said that the situation was dangerously close to spiralling out of control. Also Read | Global climate strike: Thousands rally across the world demanding urgent action The youth activists, who fought to get climate change to the top of the global agenda years after leaders at the 1992 Rio Summit in Brazil pledged to tackle environmental problems, are being challenged to help come up with the solutions ahead of the COP26 United Nations summit in November. Their proposals will be vetted by climate and energy ministers gathering at the same venue for their pre-COP26 meeting, and some will find their way to the Glasgow summit. The meetings come as soaring energy prices on world markets stoke fears of a popular backlash against climate reform. Also Read | In run up to Cop26 summit, Glasgow records hottest summer The UN COP26 conference aims to secure more ambitious climate action from the nearly 200 countries who signed the 2015 Paris Agreement and agreed to try to limit human-caused global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. "Young people need to start getting involved in the actual negotiations," said Rose Kobusinge, a youth delegate from Uganda. "We want 1.5 (degrees) and we won’t go beyond that." (With inputs from agencies)

Thirty years of 'blah blah blah': Greta Thunberg slams climate talks bureaucracy

Climate Change is the buzz-word these days, and it seems as if no conversation is complete without bringing it up, even if dropped casually, understood or misunderstood. I shall not delve into that debate. However, what is important is that it has caught people’s attention and concern-Are we heading towards a doomsday?&nbsp; 
Unfortunately, it seems so. As the recent IPCC Climate Change Report has sounded “RED CODE” that every part of the earth is experiencing climate change.

Mahatma Gandhi had said that “The Earth has enough resources for our need but not for our greed”. This is so true. Humans, perceiving themselves as superior beings, have always wanted to conquer and control every part of the universe, including the environment and nature. This path of unsustainable development has come with a price, which we are paying today, and unfortunately there seems to be a path of no return for generations to come.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/thirty-years-of-blah-blah-blah-greta-thunberg-slams-climate-talks-bureaucracy-416816">Thirty years of 'blah blah blah': Greta Thunberg slams climate talks bureaucracy</a>

As we are racing to contain global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius to save our planet, it is the most marginalized children and their families who are getting impacted by environment degradation, protracted disaster and climate events, for no fault of theirs. They may be contributing the least to climate change, but face the maximum impact of stress and shocks, so much so that at times their own survival and existence becomes a question mark.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/india-using-scientific-solutions-to-tackle-climate-change-impact-on-agriculture-pm-modi-416536">India using scientific solutions to tackle climate change impact on agriculture: PM Modi</a>

The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its report “Children’s Rights and Environment Violations of their Rights” has stated that environmental harm can have irreversible, lifelong and even transgenerational consequences. The children are said to be particularly vulnerable, due to their evolving physical and mental development, and status within society. The report also says that over half a billion children live in areas with extremely high risk of flooding, 115 million are at high or extremely high risk from tropical cyclones, and almost 160 million are exposed to high or extremely high drought severity.

Some theories even suggest that COVID-19 may be just the starting point. The humanity may actually be facing more pandemics as we continue to reduce forest cover and biodiversity creating an ecological imbalance and exposing ourselves to diseases and threats.

Also Read | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/the-world-should-follow-indias-path-on-climate-change-first-solar-ceo-tells-pm-modi-415330">The world should follow India's path on climate change: First Solar CEO tells PM Modi</a>

India is a young country where 40% of its total population are children below 18 years. This means that any impact related to environment, disaster, and climate is going to greatly affect almost half of India’s population with many on the fringes, in terms of their basic needs to health and nutrition, learning, and protection. The devastating consequences could range from increase in vector and bacterial borne diseases, hunger, loss of learning and livelihood, to exploitative situations such as child labour, trafficking, and child marriage to mention but a few.

As in any humanitarian crisis, it is the women and girls who are impacted the most, differently than men and boys, and also have unique needs, which are ignored most of the time. They are the first to adjust and compromise on their needs, and the last to receive any access to information, services or benefits, especially in a country like ours where gender disparity exists in every helm of the life, is deeply entrenched in patriarchy and harmful social and cultural norms. Climate change may actually further widen the existing gender

Inequalities, with the women and girls seeing lesser food on their plates, unable to continue schooling due to less resources at home, or have no access to safer transport and mobility in events of frequent floods or landslides. Here, most women are engaged in informal sector, including ancillary and home-based work, and their livelihoods will be greatly impacted by protracted disasters and climate events. Women largely invest their earnings on their children, and any loss in their income will have a direct bearing on the overall well-being. Women will also be forced to opt for jobs which provide them with meager income, less safety and security, and expose them more to exploitative situations.

This situation may seem to be accentuated. However, everything may not be lost. The call of the hour is for collective actions by the government, civil society organizations and citizens. As protracted disasters and climate events are localized, a universal child benefit programme which can be adapted to the given situation would greatly help children to overcome shocks and stress. Localized resilience and climate change adaptation programmes, specifically looking at children’s needs should be included in the Local Governance plans, both rural and urban, and should be developed in consultation with affected communities including the children and women. India is one of the countries with a large number of social protection programmes and this is an opportunity to review and make them climate proof keeping children in the core, thereby benefitting large number of children and their families. As women and girls are affected differently during disasters and climate events and have their own unique needs, all the programmes of the government aimed at mitigating climate change should be gender transformative and child sensitive.

Addressing climate change is everyone’s responsibility. Therefore, the government should meaningfully involve and engage the Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, schools, Resident Welfare Associations, self-help groups, youth groups, corporates, civil society organizations and others to create a mass movement where children, youth, and communities take concrete localized action towards net zero carbon emission.

For instance, schools adopting green measures including switching to clean energy, recycling waste and grey water should be awarded. Waste management, recycling of waste water, rain water harvesting, using clean energy, and maintaining minimum tree cover should be made mandatory to all resident welfare associations. Self-help groups should be provided with cheaper loans and appropriate technology for green entrepreneurships, creating green assets such as afforestation of wasteland, conservation of local forests, better watershed management, upkeep of traditional water systems, grain banks and conserving local biodiversity.

Livelihood options such as eco-tourism should be promoted not only to further the local economy, but also to promote sustainable tourism and conserve nature. It is our responsibility to imbibe a sustainable lifestyle which is not only environment friendly but also does not harm the mother earth.

As Chief Seattle quoted in one of his famous speeches “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man does not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.”

(Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Climate Change is the buzz-word these days, and it seems as if no conversation is complete without bringing it up, even if dropped casually, understood or misunderstood.

Climate Change is the buzz-word these days, and it seems as if no conversation is complete without bringing it up, even if dropped casually, understood or misunderstood. I shall not delve into that debate. However, what is important is that it has caught people’s attention and concern-Are we heading towards a doomsday? Unfortunately, it seems so. As the recent IPCC Climate Change Report has sounded “RED CODE” that every part of the earth is experiencing climate change. Mahatma Gandhi had said that “The Earth has enough resources for our need but not for our greed”. This is so true. Humans, perceiving themselves as superior beings, have always wanted to conquer and control every part of the universe, including the environment and nature. This path of unsustainable development has come with a price, which we are paying today, and unfortunately there seems to be a path of no return for generations to come. Also Read | Thirty years of 'blah blah blah': Greta Thunberg slams climate talks bureaucracy As we are racing to contain global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius to save our planet, it is the most marginalized children and their families who are getting impacted by environment degradation, protracted disaster and climate events, for no fault of theirs. They may be contributing the least to climate change, but face the maximum impact of stress and shocks, so much so that at times their own survival and existence becomes a question mark. Also Read | India using scientific solutions to tackle climate change impact on agriculture: PM Modi The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child in its report “Children’s Rights and Environment Violations of their Rights” has stated that environmental harm can have irreversible, lifelong and even transgenerational consequences. The children are said to be particularly vulnerable, due to their evolving physical and mental development, and status within society. The report also says that over half a billion children live in areas with extremely high risk of flooding, 115 million are at high or extremely high risk from tropical cyclones, and almost 160 million are exposed to high or extremely high drought severity. Some theories even suggest that COVID-19 may be just the starting point. The humanity may actually be facing more pandemics as we continue to reduce forest cover and biodiversity creating an ecological imbalance and exposing ourselves to diseases and threats. Also Read | The world should follow India's path on climate change: First Solar CEO tells PM Modi India is a young country where 40% of its total population are children below 18 years. This means that any impact related to environment, disaster, and climate is going to greatly affect almost half of India’s population with many on the fringes, in terms of their basic needs to health and nutrition, learning, and protection. The devastating consequences could range from increase in vector and bacterial borne diseases, hunger, loss of learning and livelihood, to exploitative situations such as child labour, trafficking, and child marriage to mention but a few. As in any humanitarian crisis, it is the women and girls who are impacted the most, differently than men and boys, and also have unique needs, which are ignored most of the time. They are the first to adjust and compromise on their needs, and the last to receive any access to information, services or benefits, especially in a country like ours where gender disparity exists in every helm of the life, is deeply entrenched in patriarchy and harmful social and cultural norms. Climate change may actually further widen the existing gender Inequalities, with the women and girls seeing lesser food on their plates, unable to continue schooling due to less resources at home, or have no access to safer transport and mobility in events of frequent floods or landslides. Here, most women are engaged in informal sector, including ancillary and home-based work, and their livelihoods will be greatly impacted by protracted disasters and climate events. Women largely invest their earnings on their children, and any loss in their income will have a direct bearing on the overall well-being. Women will also be forced to opt for jobs which provide them with meager income, less safety and security, and expose them more to exploitative situations. This situation may seem to be accentuated. However, everything may not be lost. The call of the hour is for collective actions by the government, civil society organizations and citizens. As protracted disasters and climate events are localized, a universal child benefit programme which can be adapted to the given situation would greatly help children to overcome shocks and stress. Localized resilience and climate change adaptation programmes, specifically looking at children’s needs should be included in the Local Governance plans, both rural and urban, and should be developed in consultation with affected communities including the children and women. India is one of the countries with a large number of social protection programmes and this is an opportunity to review and make them climate proof keeping children in the core, thereby benefitting large number of children and their families. As women and girls are affected differently during disasters and climate events and have their own unique needs, all the programmes of the government aimed at mitigating climate change should be gender transformative and child sensitive. Addressing climate change is everyone’s responsibility. Therefore, the government should meaningfully involve and engage the Panchayati Raj Institutions, Urban Local Bodies, schools, Resident Welfare Associations, self-help groups, youth groups, corporates, civil society organizations and others to create a mass movement where children, youth, and communities take concrete localized action towards net zero carbon emission. For instance, schools adopting green measures including switching to clean energy, recycling waste and grey water should be awarded. Waste management, recycling of waste water, rain water harvesting, using clean energy, and maintaining minimum tree cover should be made mandatory to all resident welfare associations. Self-help groups should be provided with cheaper loans and appropriate technology for green entrepreneurships, creating green assets such as afforestation of wasteland, conservation of local forests, better watershed management, upkeep of traditional water systems, grain banks and conserving local biodiversity. Livelihood options such as eco-tourism should be promoted not only to further the local economy, but also to promote sustainable tourism and conserve nature. It is our responsibility to imbibe a sustainable lifestyle which is not only environment friendly but also does not harm the mother earth. As Chief Seattle quoted in one of his famous speeches “All things are connected. Whatever befalls the earth befalls the sons of the earth. Man does not weave the web of life; he is merely a strand of it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.” (Disclaimer: The views of the writer do not represent the views of WION or ZMCL. Nor does WION or ZMCL endorse the views of the writer.)

Opinion | Climate Change: Everyone’s business for the present and the future generation

In order to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched 35 crop varieties with special traits, saying that science and technology are being used on priority for solutions to tackle the climate change impact on agriculture.

These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health.

Stating that climate change is adversely impacting agriculture, Modi said, “Due to climate change, new types of pests, new diseases, epidemics are coming. Due to this, there is a big threat to the health of humans and livestock and crops are also being affected.”

“Intensive research on these aspects is necessary continuously. When science, government and society work together, it gets even better results. This nexus of farmers and scientists will further strengthen the nation to face new challenges,” PM Modi said while addressing the nation via video conferencing.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/india-news/indian-farmers-stage-nationwide-protests-against-reforms-416365">Indian farmers stage nationwide protests against reforms</a>

The prime minister also interacted with farmers from different states to take stock of how government schemes have benefited them.

During the interaction, the farmers also shared how they adopted new farm and processing techniques even in different terrains.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/why-international-politics-over-indian-farmers-is-a-dangerous-trend-348199">Why international politics over Indian farmers is a dangerous trend</a>

These special varieties of seeds have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India.

It has produced the crop varieties, the body stated, with specific features to meet the twin concerns of climate change and malnutrition.

The 35 such crop varieties with ‘drought-tolerant’ characteristics include chickpea, wilt- and early-maturing soybean, disease-resistant rice varieties, and biofortified wheat, pearl millet, maize, and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean, and faba.

(With inputs from agencies)

In order to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched 35 crop varieties with special traits, saying that science and technology are being used on priority for solutions to tackle the climate change impact on agriculture.

In order to address the twin challenges of climate change and malnutrition, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday launched 35 crop varieties with special traits, saying that science and technology are being used on priority for solutions to tackle the climate change impact on agriculture. These special traits crop varieties also include those that address the anti-nutritional factors found in some crops that adversely affect human and animal health. Stating that climate change is adversely impacting agriculture, Modi said, “Due to climate change, new types of pests, new diseases, epidemics are coming. Due to this, there is a big threat to the health of humans and livestock and crops are also being affected.” “Intensive research on these aspects is necessary continuously. When science, government and society work together, it gets even better results. This nexus of farmers and scientists will further strengthen the nation to face new challenges,” PM Modi said while addressing the nation via video conferencing. Also read | Indian farmers stage nationwide protests against reforms The prime minister also interacted with farmers from different states to take stock of how government schemes have benefited them. During the interaction, the farmers also shared how they adopted new farm and processing techniques even in different terrains. Also read | Why international politics over Indian farmers is a dangerous trend These special varieties of seeds have been developed by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), an autonomous body responsible for co-ordinating agricultural education and research in India. It has produced the crop varieties, the body stated, with specific features to meet the twin concerns of climate change and malnutrition. The 35 such crop varieties with ‘drought-tolerant’ characteristics include chickpea, wilt- and early-maturing soybean, disease-resistant rice varieties, and biofortified wheat, pearl millet, maize, and chickpea, quinoa, buckwheat, winged bean, and faba. (With inputs from agencies)

India using scientific solutions to tackle climate change impact on agriculture: PM Modi

Young people around the world took to the streets on Friday to demand urgent action to avert disastrous climate change, in their largest protest since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Watch this report for more details.

Protest weeks ahead of UN climate summit

Weeks before the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK, thousands of people across 99 countries took to the streets in a coordinated global strike, demanding urgent action to tackle the environmental crisis.

The strike&nbsp;on Friday was the first worldwide climate action since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It takes place five weeks before the COP26 summit, which aims to secure more ambitious climate action from world leaders to drastically cut the greenhouse gas emissions heating the plane

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg&nbsp;led the protests in Germany, just two days before the country’s general election.

Addressing a crowd of over 100,000 people in Berlin, 18-year-old asked them to keep the pressure on the political leaders even after the elections ends.&nbsp;

“The concentration of CO2 in the sky hasn't been this high for at least 3 million years,” Thunberg told a crowd of thousands of protesters in Berlin.

“It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough,” she was quoted as saying.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/women-must-play-a-greater-role-at-the-cop26-summit-say-rights-groups-415781">Women must play a greater role at the Cop26 summit, say rights groups</a>

The agitations were planned in over 1,800 locations by youth movement Fridays for Future, with small-scale demonstrations in the Philippines and Bangladesh, and spreading throughout the day in European cities including Warsaw, Turin and Berlin.

<img alt="Supporters of ‘Fridays for Future'’ stage sit-in protest at the Central Secretariat Building, in New Delhi on Friday." data-entity-type="file" data-entity-uuid="292a9827-595e-40bf-888c-d7236c398bda" src="//cdn.wionews.com/sites/default/files/inline-images/proest.jpg" />

In India, the demonstrations concentrated in the national capital Delhi and eastern Kolkata state, where scores of people staged a sit-in protest, raising awareness about the determinantal impacts of air pollution.

In Mexico protesters assembled in front of the National Palace in Mexico City to demand that the state oil company Pemex present a plan to decarbonise, while in Bangladesh, activists demanded the scrapping of planned new coal and gas power stations.

Also read |&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/south-koreas-daily-covid-19-cases-top-3000-for-first-time-after-holiday-415806">South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases top 3,000 for first time after holiday</a>

“Everyone is talking about making promises, but nobody keeps their promise. We want more action," Reuters quoted Farzana Faruk Jhumu, 22, a youth climate activist in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

“We want the work, not just the promises,” she added.

Earlier this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the world’s carbon emissions must fall by half by 2030 to keep global heating below 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels, the limit countries agreed to adhere to in the 2015 Paris climate summit.

Last week, the United Nations said that countries' commitments would see global emissions increase to be 16% higher in 2030 than they were in 2010 —far off the 45% reduction by 2030 needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

(With inputs from agencies)

Weeks before the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK, thousands of people across 99 countries took to the streets in a coordinated global strike, demanding urgent action to tackle the environmental crisis.

Weeks before the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, UK, thousands of people across 99 countries took to the streets in a coordinated global strike, demanding urgent action to tackle the environmental crisis. The strike on Friday was the first worldwide climate action since the COVID-19 pandemic hit. It takes place five weeks before the COP26 summit, which aims to secure more ambitious climate action from world leaders to drastically cut the greenhouse gas emissions heating the plane Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg led the protests in Germany, just two days before the country’s general election. Addressing a crowd of over 100,000 people in Berlin, 18-year-old asked them to keep the pressure on the political leaders even after the elections ends. “The concentration of CO2 in the sky hasn't been this high for at least 3 million years,” Thunberg told a crowd of thousands of protesters in Berlin. “It is clearer than ever that no political party is doing close to enough,” she was quoted as saying. Also read | Women must play a greater role at the Cop26 summit, say rights groups The agitations were planned in over 1,800 locations by youth movement Fridays for Future, with small-scale demonstrations in the Philippines and Bangladesh, and spreading throughout the day in European cities including Warsaw, Turin and Berlin. In India, the demonstrations concentrated in the national capital Delhi and eastern Kolkata state, where scores of people staged a sit-in protest, raising awareness about the determinantal impacts of air pollution. In Mexico protesters assembled in front of the National Palace in Mexico City to demand that the state oil company Pemex present a plan to decarbonise, while in Bangladesh, activists demanded the scrapping of planned new coal and gas power stations. Also read | South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases top 3,000 for first time after holiday “Everyone is talking about making promises, but nobody keeps their promise. We want more action," Reuters quoted Farzana Faruk Jhumu, 22, a youth climate activist in Dhaka, Bangladesh. “We want the work, not just the promises,” she added. Earlier this year, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change said the world’s carbon emissions must fall by half by 2030 to keep global heating below 1.5 degrees Celsius above the pre-industrial levels, the limit countries agreed to adhere to in the 2015 Paris climate summit. Last week, the United Nations said that countries' commitments would see global emissions increase to be 16% higher in 2030 than they were in 2010 —far off the 45% reduction by 2030 needed to limit warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. (With inputs from agencies)

Global climate strike: Thousands rally across the world demanding urgent action

At the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina talked about Afghanistan situation, climate change and equitable vaccine distribution. &nbsp;&nbsp;

This instance was also one of the rare ones as it showed the growing presence of women in positions of world leadership when three Bangladeshi women were at the centre of the forum. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Watch:

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Bangladesh PM was introduced and invited to the podium by Ambassador Rabab Fatima, permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN, who was chairing the session. &nbsp;&nbsp;

While the third woman, Mosammat Shahanara Monica, a foreign ministry official, currently counsellor at Bangladesh Permanent Mission at UN, conveyed the message of the PM to the English-speaking world. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/nepal-foreign-minister-holds-bilateral-talks-with-kuwaiti-counterpart-others-on-sidelines-of-unga-2021-415793" hreflang="en">Nepal foreign minister holds bilateral talks with Kuwaiti counterpart, others on sidelines of UNGA 2021</a>

In the speech, Hasina shared thoughts over sustainable recovery from COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine equity, nuclear disarmament, Afghanistan situation, addressing climate challenges and solution to the Rohingya crisis. &nbsp;

At the General Assembly Hall, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriai Alam were also present. &nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/south-asia/nobel-peace-prize-winner-malala-yousafzai-asks-world-to-secure-afghan-womens-rights-415775" hreflang="en">Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai asks world to secure Afghan women's rights</a>

Talking about Afghanistan, the PM said, “We envision a peaceful, stable, and prosperous south Asia. We firmly believe it is upon the people of Afghanistan to rebuild their country and decide the course of their future themselves. Bangladesh stands ready to continue to work with the people of Afghanistan and the international community for its socio-economic development.” &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

At the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina talked about Afghanistan situation, climate change and equitable vaccine distribution.

At the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina talked about Afghanistan situation, climate change and equitable vaccine distribution. This instance was also one of the rare ones as it showed the growing presence of women in positions of world leadership when three Bangladeshi women were at the centre of the forum. Watch: × Bangladesh PM was introduced and invited to the podium by Ambassador Rabab Fatima, permanent representative of Bangladesh to the UN, who was chairing the session. While the third woman, Mosammat Shahanara Monica, a foreign ministry official, currently counsellor at Bangladesh Permanent Mission at UN, conveyed the message of the PM to the English-speaking world. Also Read: Nepal foreign minister holds bilateral talks with Kuwaiti counterpart, others on sidelines of UNGA 2021 In the speech, Hasina shared thoughts over sustainable recovery from COVID-19 pandemic, vaccine equity, nuclear disarmament, Afghanistan situation, addressing climate challenges and solution to the Rohingya crisis. At the General Assembly Hall, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen and State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriai Alam were also present. Also Read: Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai asks world to secure Afghan women's rights Talking about Afghanistan, the PM said, “We envision a peaceful, stable, and prosperous south Asia. We firmly believe it is upon the people of Afghanistan to rebuild their country and decide the course of their future themselves. Bangladesh stands ready to continue to work with the people of Afghanistan and the international community for its socio-economic development.” (With inputs from agencies)

Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina addresses UNGA, talks Afghanistan, climate change, vaccine distribution

India, Australia, Japan and the United States preparing to participate in the first in-person Quad leaders' summit in Washington on Friday (September 24), however, furious China has criticised the grouping.

India, Australia, Japan and the United States preparing to participate in the first in-person Quad leaders' summit in Washington on Friday (September 24), however, furious China has criticised the grouping. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his counterparts Scott Morrison of Australia and Yoshihide Suga of Japan arrived in the American capital at the invitation of US President Joe Biden to discuss the Coronavirus pandemic, climate change, economic cooperation and other global issues. Although China is not officially on the agenda, but political analysts have suggested that leaders might address Beijing's aggressive behaviour in the South China Sea, free Indo-Pacific freedom of navigation, etc. ALSO READ | COVID-19, climate change on agenda as PM Narendra Modi prepares to attend Quad On being asked for China's reaction on the Quad summit, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told the media that the quadrilateral grouping should not target any third country and its interests. "China always believes that any regional cooperation mechanism should not target a third party or harm its interests. Seeking exclusive closed cliques against a third country runs against the trend of the times and aspiration of countries in the region. It will find no support," he said. On China's claims in the South China Sea, Zhao said: "China is a builder of world peace, contributor of global development and upholder of world order". "The growth of China means the growth for peace and stability in the world and China's contribution to peace, stability and development in Asia Pacific is therefore all to see." "Relevant countries should do more that is conducive to solidarity and cooperation with the four countries in the region," he added. ALSO READ | US Vice President Kamala Harris referred to Pakistan's role in terrorism during meeting with PM Modi: Shringla × Earlier in March, President Biden hosted the first-ever summit of the Quad leaders in the virtual format that vowed to strive for an Indo-Pacific region that is free, open, inclusive, anchored by democratic values, and unconstrained by coercion, sending a subtle message to China. Beijing claims almost all of the 1.3 million square miles of the South China Sea as its sovereign territory. China has been building military bases on artificial islands in the region also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. (With inputs from agencies)

Furious China slams Quad ahead of grouping's first in-person summit in US

Coronavirus pandemic, climate change, economic cooperation and Afghanistan are on agenda as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to participate in the first in-person Quad leaders' summit in Washington on Friday (September 24), hosted by US President Joe Biden.&nbsp;

The Quad consists of four countries: the United States, Australia, India, and Japan; and their respective leaders Joe Biden, Scott Morrison, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga will discuss issues pertaining to security, economy, health and other global matters.&nbsp;

ALSO READ | <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/us-vice-president-kamala-harris-referred-to-pakistans-role-in-terrorism-during-meeting-with-pm-modi-shringla-415387">US Vice President Kamala Harris referred to Pakistan's role in terrorism during meeting with PM Modi: Shringla</a>

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What's on the agenda?

During the crucial meeting, it is expected that the leaders will review the Quad Covid vaccine initiative and will review progress made since their first virtual summit on March 12, 2021, and discuss regional issues of shared interest.&nbsp;

The leaders are expected to exchange views on contemporary global issues such as critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and infrastructure, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, climate change and education.&nbsp;

Although China is not officially on the agenda, the leaders might address the free and open Indo-Pacific trade and freedom of navigation.&nbsp;

For the US, the Quad meeting marks another step to reviving an American focus on diplomatic efforts, following its dramatic exit from the 20-year Afghanistan war.&nbsp;

A US official has said that hosting the Quad fundamentally is a demonstration of the priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations designed to focus on 21st-century challenges.&nbsp;

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Ahead of the&nbsp;Quad summit, PM Modi met his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.

The Indian prime minister also held meetings with five global CEOs for potential investment in India.

Biden is scheduled to host PM Modi at the White House on September 24. This is going to be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President on January 20.

PM Modi's US visit will conclude on September 25 with an address at the United Nations General Assembly focusing on the pressing global challenges including the Covid&nbsp; pandemic, the need to combat terrorism, climate change, and other important issues.

(With inputs from agencies)

Coronavirus pandemic, climate change, economic cooperation and Afghanistan are on agenda as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to participate in the first in-person Quad leaders' summit in Washington on Friday (September 24), hosted by US President Joe Biden.

Coronavirus pandemic, climate change, economic cooperation and Afghanistan are on agenda as Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to participate in the first in-person Quad leaders' summit in Washington on Friday (September 24), hosted by US President Joe Biden. The Quad consists of four countries: the United States, Australia, India, and Japan; and their respective leaders Joe Biden, Scott Morrison, Narendra Modi and Yoshihide Suga will discuss issues pertaining to security, economy, health and other global matters. ALSO READ | US Vice President Kamala Harris referred to Pakistan's role in terrorism during meeting with PM Modi: Shringla What's on the agenda? During the crucial meeting, it is expected that the leaders will review the Quad Covid vaccine initiative and will review progress made since their first virtual summit on March 12, 2021, and discuss regional issues of shared interest. The leaders are expected to exchange views on contemporary global issues such as critical and emerging technologies, connectivity and infrastructure, cyber security, maritime security, humanitarian assistance, disaster relief, climate change and education. Although China is not officially on the agenda, the leaders might address the free and open Indo-Pacific trade and freedom of navigation. For the US, the Quad meeting marks another step to reviving an American focus on diplomatic efforts, following its dramatic exit from the 20-year Afghanistan war. A US official has said that hosting the Quad fundamentally is a demonstration of the priority of engaging in the Indo-Pacific, including through new multilateral configurations designed to focus on 21st-century challenges. × Ahead of the Quad summit, PM Modi met his Australian counterpart Scott Morrison, US Vice President Kamala Harris and Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga. The Indian prime minister also held meetings with five global CEOs for potential investment in India. Biden is scheduled to host PM Modi at the White House on September 24. This is going to be the first in-person meeting between the two leaders after Biden took over as the US President on January 20. PM Modi's US visit will conclude on September 25 with an address at the United Nations General Assembly focusing on the pressing global challenges including the Covid pandemic, the need to combat terrorism, climate change, and other important issues. (With inputs from agencies)

COVID-19, climate change on agenda as PM Narendra Modi prepares to attend Quad

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks to tell world leaders that humanity has to 'grow up' and tackle climate change.

Watch:&nbsp;

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The UK leader wants to say that humans need to stop trashing the planet like a teenager on a bender. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In six weeks, Johnson will host a major UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Johnson is looking to use the UNGA forum to press governments for tougher emissions-cutting targets.

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/one-third-kids-under-two-years-of-age-in-developing-countries-are-nourished-says-unicef-415019" hreflang="en">One third kids under two years of age in developing countries are nourished, says UNICEF</a>

He also wants to help poor countries clean up their economies by providing more money. &nbsp;&nbsp;

In the advance extracts of the speech, which has been released by the British government, Johnson looks to say it's now or never if the world is to meet its goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/put-uk-on-covid-high-alert-as-over-100000-kids-go-absent-from-school-warn-headteachers-415010" hreflang="en">Put UK on Covid 'high alert' as over 100,000 kids go absent from school, warn headteachers</a>

"I'll be saying to the UN General assembly tonight: This is it, folks. This is the moment when humanity comes to an inflection point, and we either take the steps necessary to avert a catastrophic increase in temperatures over the next hundred years, or we fail,” Johnson said in Washington on Wednesday. &nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies) &nbsp;&nbsp;

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks to tell world leaders that humanity has to 'grow up' and tackle climate change.

In a speech to the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), British Prime Minister Boris Johnson looks to tell world leaders that humanity has to 'grow up' and tackle climate change. Watch: × The UK leader wants to say that humans need to stop trashing the planet like a teenager on a bender. In six weeks, Johnson will host a major UN climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Johnson is looking to use the UNGA forum to press governments for tougher emissions-cutting targets. Also Read: One third kids under two years of age in developing countries are nourished, says UNICEF He also wants to help poor countries clean up their economies by providing more money. In the advance extracts of the speech, which has been released by the British government, Johnson looks to say it's now or never if the world is to meet its goal of limiting the global temperature rise to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. Also Read: Put UK on Covid 'high alert' as over 100,000 kids go absent from school, warn headteachers "I'll be saying to the UN General assembly tonight: This is it, folks. This is the moment when humanity comes to an inflection point, and we either take the steps necessary to avert a catastrophic increase in temperatures over the next hundred years, or we fail,” Johnson said in Washington on Wednesday. (With inputs from agencies)

Humanity has to 'grow up', tackle climate change, UK PM wants to tell leaders at UNGA 2021

They promised they would “hunt” the elites. They questioned the need for a Holocaust memorial in Berlin and described Muslim immigrants as “headscarf girls” and “knife men.”

Four years ago the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, arrived in the German Parliament like a wrecking ball, the first far-right party to win a place at the heart of Germany’s democracy since World War II. It was a political earthquake in a country that had once seen Hitler’s Nazi party rise from the fringes to win power in free elections.

As another election looms on Sunday, the worst fears of many Germans have not come true: Support for the party has dipped. But neither have the hopes that the AfD would disappear from the political scene as suddenly as it appeared. If Germany’s fate in this election will not be settled by the far right, political analysts say, Germany’s future will partly be shaped by it.

“The AfD is here to stay,” said Matthias Quent, professor of sociology at Magdeburg University of Applied Sciences and an expert on the far right. “There was the widespread and naïve hope that this was a short-lived protest phenomenon. The reality is that the far right has become entrenched in the German political landscape.”

The AfD is polling at roughly 11%, just below its 2017 result of 12.6%, and is all but guaranteed to retain its presence in Parliament. (Parties with less than 5% of the vote do not get any seats.) But with all other parties refusing to include the AfD in talks about forming the next governing coalition, it is effectively barred from power.

“The AfD is isolated,” said Uwe Jun, a professor of political science at Trier University.

Yet with Germany’s two main parties having slipped well below the 30% mark, the AfD remains a disruptive force, one that complicates efforts to build a governing coalition with a majority of votes and parliamentary seats. Tino Chrupalla, one of the AfD’s two lead candidates in the election, believes that, eventually, the firewall other parties have erected against his party will crumble — most likely starting in one of the states in the former communist East that is currently its power base.

“It’s not sustainable,” he said. “I’m confident that sooner or later there is no way without the AfD,” he told reporters this past week. “It will certainly start on the state level.”

Founded eight years ago as a nationalist free-market protest party against the Greek bailout and the euro, the AfD has sharply shifted to the right.

The party seized on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome over 1 million migrants to Germany in 2015 and 2016, actively fanning fears of Islamization and migrant crime. Its noisy nationalism and anti-immigrant stance were what first catapulted it into Parliament and instantly turned it into Germany’s main opposition party.

But the party has struggled to expand its early gains during the past 18 months, as the pandemic and, more recently, climate change have shot to the top of the list of voters’ concerns — while its core issue of immigration has barely featured in this year’s election campaign.

The AfD has tried to jump on the chaos in Afghanistan to fan fears of a new migrant crisis. “Cologne, Kassel or Konstanz can’t cope with more Kabul,” one of the party’s campaign posters asserted. “Save the world? Sure. But Germany first!” another read.

At a recent election rally north of Frankfurt, Chrupalla demanded that lawmakers “abolish” the constitutional right to asylum. He also told the public broadcaster Deutsche Welle that Germany should be prepared to protect its borders, “if need be with armed force.”

None of this rhetoric has shifted the race, particularly because voters seem to have more fundamental concerns about the party’s aura of extremism. Some AfD leaders have marched with extremists in the streets, while among the party’s supporters are an eclectic array of conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazi sympathizers.

The AfD has not been linked directly to political violence, but its verbal transgressions have contributed to a normalization of violent language and coincided with a series of deadly far-right terrorist attacks.

In June 2019, a regional politician who had defended Merkel’s refugee policy was shot dead on his front porch by a well-known neo-Nazi. The killer later told the court that he had attended a high-profile AfD protest a year earlier.

Since then, a far-right extremist has attacked a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle during a Yom Kippur service, leaving two dead and only narrowly failing to commit a massacre. Another extremist shot dead nine mostly young people with immigrant roots in the western city of Hanau.

The AfD’s earlier rise in the polls stalled almost instantly after the Hanau attack.

“After these three attacks, the wider German public and media realized for the first time that the rhetoric of the AfD leads to real violence,” said Hajo Funke of the Free University in Berlin, who has written extensively about the party and tracks its evolution.

“It was a turning point,” he said. “They have come to personify the notion that words lead to deeds.”

Shortly after the Hanau attack, Thomas Haldenwang, the chief of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, placed elements of the AfD under surveillance for far-right extremism — even as the party’s lawmakers continued to work in Parliament.

“We know from German history that far-right extremism didn’t just destroy human lives, it destroyed democracy,” Haldenwang warned after announcing his decision in March last year. “Far-right extremism and far-right terrorism are currently the biggest danger for democracy in Germany.”

Today, the agency has classified about a third of all AfD members as extremist, including Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, the party’s other lead candidate. A court is reviewing whether the entire party can soon be placed under formal observation.

“The AfD is irrelevant in power-political terms,” said Funke. “But it is dangerous.”

Chrupalla, a decorator who occasionally takes the stage in his overalls, and Weidel, a suit-wearing former Goldman Sachs analyst and gay mother of two, have sought to counter that impression. As if to hammer home the point, the party’s main election slogan this year is: “Germany — but normal.”

A look through the party’s 207-page election program shows what “normal” means: The AfD demands Germany’s exit from the European Union. It calls for the abolition of any mandates to fight the coronavirus. It wants to return to the traditional German definition of citizenship based on blood ancestry. And it is the only party in Parliament that denies man-made climate change.

That the AfD’s polling numbers have barely budged for the past 18 months suggests that its supporters are not protest voters but Germans who subscribe to its ideas and ideology.

“The AfD has brought out into the open a small but very radical electorate that many thought we don’t have in this country,” said Quent, the sociologist. “Four years ago people were asking: ‘Where does this come from?’ In reality it was always there. It just needed a trigger.”

Quent and other experts estimate the nationwide ceiling of support for the party at around 14%. But in parts of the former communist East, where the AfD has become a broad-based political force entrenched at the local level, it is often twice that — enough to make it the region’s second-strongest political force.

Among the under 60-year-olds, Quent said, it has become No. 1.

“It’s only a question of time until AfD is the strongest party in the East,” Quent said.

That is why Chrupalla, whose constituency is in the eastern state of Saxony, the one state where the AfD already came first in 2017, predicts it will eventually become too big to bypass.

“In the East we are a people’s party, we are well-established at the local, city, regional and state level,” Chrupalla said. “In the East the middle class votes for the AfD. In the West, they vote for the Greens.”

They promised they would “hunt” the elites. They questioned the need for a Holocaust memorial in Berlin and described Muslim immigrants as “headscarf girls” and “knife men.

They promised they would “hunt” the elites. They questioned the need for a Holocaust memorial in Berlin and described Muslim immigrants as “headscarf girls” and “knife men.” Four years ago the Alternative for Germany, or AfD, arrived in the German Parliament like a wrecking ball, the first far-right party to win a place at the heart of Germany’s democracy since World War II. It was a political earthquake in a country that had once seen Hitler’s Nazi party rise from the fringes to win power in free elections. As another election looms on Sunday, the worst fears of many Germans have not come true: Support for the party has dipped. But neither have the hopes that the AfD would disappear from the political scene as suddenly as it appeared. If Germany’s fate in this election will not be settled by the far right, political analysts say, Germany’s future will partly be shaped by it. “The AfD is here to stay,” said Matthias Quent, professor of sociology at Magdeburg University of Applied Sciences and an expert on the far right. “There was the widespread and naïve hope that this was a short-lived protest phenomenon. The reality is that the far right has become entrenched in the German political landscape.” The AfD is polling at roughly 11%, just below its 2017 result of 12.6%, and is all but guaranteed to retain its presence in Parliament. (Parties with less than 5% of the vote do not get any seats.) But with all other parties refusing to include the AfD in talks about forming the next governing coalition, it is effectively barred from power. “The AfD is isolated,” said Uwe Jun, a professor of political science at Trier University. Yet with Germany’s two main parties having slipped well below the 30% mark, the AfD remains a disruptive force, one that complicates efforts to build a governing coalition with a majority of votes and parliamentary seats. Tino Chrupalla, one of the AfD’s two lead candidates in the election, believes that, eventually, the firewall other parties have erected against his party will crumble — most likely starting in one of the states in the former communist East that is currently its power base. “It’s not sustainable,” he said. “I’m confident that sooner or later there is no way without the AfD,” he told reporters this past week. “It will certainly start on the state level.” Founded eight years ago as a nationalist free-market protest party against the Greek bailout and the euro, the AfD has sharply shifted to the right. The party seized on Chancellor Angela Merkel’s decision to welcome over 1 million migrants to Germany in 2015 and 2016, actively fanning fears of Islamization and migrant crime. Its noisy nationalism and anti-immigrant stance were what first catapulted it into Parliament and instantly turned it into Germany’s main opposition party. But the party has struggled to expand its early gains during the past 18 months, as the pandemic and, more recently, climate change have shot to the top of the list of voters’ concerns — while its core issue of immigration has barely featured in this year’s election campaign. The AfD has tried to jump on the chaos in Afghanistan to fan fears of a new migrant crisis. “Cologne, Kassel or Konstanz can’t cope with more Kabul,” one of the party’s campaign posters asserted. “Save the world? Sure. But Germany first!” another read. At a recent election rally north of Frankfurt, Chrupalla demanded that lawmakers “abolish” the constitutional right to asylum. He also told the public broadcaster Deutsche Welle that Germany should be prepared to protect its borders, “if need be with armed force.” None of this rhetoric has shifted the race, particularly because voters seem to have more fundamental concerns about the party’s aura of extremism. Some AfD leaders have marched with extremists in the streets, while among the party’s supporters are an eclectic array of conspiracy theorists and neo-Nazi sympathizers. The AfD has not been linked directly to political violence, but its verbal transgressions have contributed to a normalization of violent language and coincided with a series of deadly far-right terrorist attacks. In June 2019, a regional politician who had defended Merkel’s refugee policy was shot dead on his front porch by a well-known neo-Nazi. The killer later told the court that he had attended a high-profile AfD protest a year earlier. Since then, a far-right extremist has attacked a synagogue in the eastern city of Halle during a Yom Kippur service, leaving two dead and only narrowly failing to commit a massacre. Another extremist shot dead nine mostly young people with immigrant roots in the western city of Hanau. The AfD’s earlier rise in the polls stalled almost instantly after the Hanau attack. “After these three attacks, the wider German public and media realized for the first time that the rhetoric of the AfD leads to real violence,” said Hajo Funke of the Free University in Berlin, who has written extensively about the party and tracks its evolution. “It was a turning point,” he said. “They have come to personify the notion that words lead to deeds.” Shortly after the Hanau attack, Thomas Haldenwang, the chief of the Office for the Protection of the Constitution, Germany’s domestic intelligence agency, placed elements of the AfD under surveillance for far-right extremism — even as the party’s lawmakers continued to work in Parliament. “We know from German history that far-right extremism didn’t just destroy human lives, it destroyed democracy,” Haldenwang warned after announcing his decision in March last year. “Far-right extremism and far-right terrorism are currently the biggest danger for democracy in Germany.” Today, the agency has classified about a third of all AfD members as extremist, including Chrupalla and Alice Weidel, the party’s other lead candidate. A court is reviewing whether the entire party can soon be placed under formal observation. “The AfD is irrelevant in power-political terms,” said Funke. “But it is dangerous.” Chrupalla, a decorator who occasionally takes the stage in his overalls, and Weidel, a suit-wearing former Goldman Sachs analyst and gay mother of two, have sought to counter that impression. As if to hammer home the point, the party’s main election slogan this year is: “Germany — but normal.” A look through the party’s 207-page election program shows what “normal” means: The AfD demands Germany’s exit from the European Union. It calls for the abolition of any mandates to fight the coronavirus. It wants to return to the traditional German definition of citizenship based on blood ancestry. And it is the only party in Parliament that denies man-made climate change. That the AfD’s polling numbers have barely budged for the past 18 months suggests that its supporters are not protest voters but Germans who subscribe to its ideas and ideology. “The AfD has brought out into the open a small but very radical electorate that many thought we don’t have in this country,” said Quent, the sociologist. “Four years ago people were asking: ‘Where does this come from?’ In reality it was always there. It just needed a trigger.” Quent and other experts estimate the nationwide ceiling of support for the party at around 14%. But in parts of the former communist East, where the AfD has become a broad-based political force entrenched at the local level, it is often twice that — enough to make it the region’s second-strongest political force. Among the under 60-year-olds, Quent said, it has become No. 1. “It’s only a question of time until AfD is the strongest party in the East,” Quent said. That is why Chrupalla, whose constituency is in the eastern state of Saxony, the one state where the AfD already came first in 2017, predicts it will eventually become too big to bypass. “In the East we are a people’s party, we are well-established at the local, city, regional and state level,” Chrupalla said. “In the East the middle class votes for the AfD. In the West, they vote for the Greens.”

Germany’s far-right is nowhere in the election. But it’s ‘here to stay.’

Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar, who has been a fierce advocate of climate conservation, has been invited to speak at the Climate Week in New York. 
 
Announcing the development, Divya Sharma, India Executive Director, Climate Group, said, "We are pleased to host Bhumi Pednekar at Climate Week NYC 2021 which is a critical moment to influence climate action across the world." 
She added, "Along with being a talented artist, Bhumi has been a strong advocate for environment-friendly choices and green solutions. In line with this year`s theme of 'Getting It Done,' young voices like Bhumi`s will truly inspire others to do more at Climate Week NYC." 
 
Bhumi will be speaking on September 23 during Climate Week NYC. The actor will talk about how India will play a vital role in the global response to the climate emergency, and how the Indian industry will play a critical role in this journey forward. 
 
Now in its thirteenth year, Climate Week NYC is the largest climate week on earth. Run by Climate Group in partnership with the United Nations, COP26 and the City of New York, Climate Week NYC is where the world gathers to showcase leading action and discuss how to do more. 
 
Climate Group is an international non-profit, publicly launched in 2004, with offices in London, New Delhi and New York with the mission to see a world of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. 
 
Coming back to Bhumi, she spearheads the hugely lauded social media initiative `Climate Warrior` that aims at raising awareness towards protecting nature. 
 
The actor has always been an environmentally conscious citizen who has taken up climate conservation as a cause for life and through 'Climate Warrior', she is constantly aiming to mobilise the citizens of India to actively participate in protecting the environment. 
 
Meanwhile, on the film front, Bhumi has a couple of projects in her kitty including 'Raksha Bandhan', 'Badhaai Do' and 'Takht'.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar, who has been a fierce advocate of climate conservation, has been invited to speak at the Climate Week in New York. Announcing the development, Divya Sharma, India Executive Director, Climate Group, said, "We are pleased to host Bhumi Pednekar at Climate Week NYC 2021 which is a critical moment to influence climate action across the world.

Bollywood actor Bhumi Pednekar, who has been a fierce advocate of climate conservation, has been invited to speak at the Climate Week in New York. Announcing the development, Divya Sharma, India Executive Director, Climate Group, said, "We are pleased to host Bhumi Pednekar at Climate Week NYC 2021 which is a critical moment to influence climate action across the world." She added, "Along with being a talented artist, Bhumi has been a strong advocate for environment-friendly choices and green solutions. In line with this year`s theme of 'Getting It Done,' young voices like Bhumi`s will truly inspire others to do more at Climate Week NYC." Bhumi will be speaking on September 23 during Climate Week NYC. The actor will talk about how India will play a vital role in the global response to the climate emergency, and how the Indian industry will play a critical role in this journey forward. Now in its thirteenth year, Climate Week NYC is the largest climate week on earth. Run by Climate Group in partnership with the United Nations, COP26 and the City of New York, Climate Week NYC is where the world gathers to showcase leading action and discuss how to do more. Climate Group is an international non-profit, publicly launched in 2004, with offices in London, New Delhi and New York with the mission to see a world of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Coming back to Bhumi, she spearheads the hugely lauded social media initiative `Climate Warrior` that aims at raising awareness towards protecting nature. The actor has always been an environmentally conscious citizen who has taken up climate conservation as a cause for life and through 'Climate Warrior', she is constantly aiming to mobilise the citizens of India to actively participate in protecting the environment. Meanwhile, on the film front, Bhumi has a couple of projects in her kitty including 'Raksha Bandhan', 'Badhaai Do' and 'Takht'.

Bhumi Pednekar to speak at Climate Week in New York

According to reports, Chinese President Xi Jinping is yet to confirm his participation in the climate change summit <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/in-run-up-to-cop26-summit-glasgow-records-hottest-summer-410318">COP26</a> in Glasgow.

UK PM Boris Johnson had said earlier that forcing wealthy nations to honour the UN's climate fund pledge will "be a stretch" as the world seeks to address the issue.

China is the world's biggest polluter and the success of the COP26 meeting hinges on China's participation and agreement over climate proposal.

Watch:

<div class="videoWrapper trancodeVideo"><iframe allowfullscreen="" autoplay="1" class="includeVideo" frameborder="0" height="350" src="https://www.wionews.com/videos/glasgow-climate-summit-at-risk-of-failure-states-un-chief-413810/embed" style="width:100%;max-width:560px;" width="560"></iframe></div>

British cabinet minister and the summit's president Alok Sharma speaking to a British television channel informed that he was in China recently and had a detailed discussion on cutting emissions and "phasing down the use of coal" in the country.

"The ball is very much in their court," Alok Sharma added while referring to China as he informed that every major economy has committed to "ambitious plans" to cut <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/climate-change-summit-cop26s-president-alok-sharma-flew-to-30-countries-in-7-months-403428">emissions</a>. The high profile COP26 conference will begin on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland.

The United Nations had warned recently that the world remains behind in its goal to cut emissions. According to a report by Clean Air Fund, fossil fuel projects get more funding than clean air initiatives even as the UN and WHO have repeatedly said <a href="https://www.wionews.com/science/air-pollution-leads-to-increased-mental-illness-and-decreases-intelligence-study-408854">air pollution</a> is one of the biggest environmental problems in the world.

The report said China had received huge funding from the government as part of its "war against pollution" after the country's air quality index hit dangerous levels in 2013.

Reports say nearly 60 per cent of China's economy is fuelled by coal and despite pledges&nbsp;the country reportedly ordered 38.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power into operation last year.

Chinse authorities&nbsp;had said earlier that they were "playing a national game of chess" to balance the country's gigantic&nbsp;economy&nbsp;with climate change goals.

(With inputs from Agencies)

According to reports, Chinese President Xi Jinping is yet to confirm his participation in the climate change summit COP26 in Glasgow. UK PM Boris Johnson had said earlier that forcing wealthy nations to honour the UN's climate fund pledge will "be a stretch" as the world seeks to address the issue.

According to reports, Chinese President Xi Jinping is yet to confirm his participation in the climate change summit COP26 in Glasgow. UK PM Boris Johnson had said earlier that forcing wealthy nations to honour the UN's climate fund pledge will "be a stretch" as the world seeks to address the issue. China is the world's biggest polluter and the success of the COP26 meeting hinges on China's participation and agreement over climate proposal. Watch: British cabinet minister and the summit's president Alok Sharma speaking to a British television channel informed that he was in China recently and had a detailed discussion on cutting emissions and "phasing down the use of coal" in the country. "The ball is very much in their court," Alok Sharma added while referring to China as he informed that every major economy has committed to "ambitious plans" to cut emissions. The high profile COP26 conference will begin on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland. The United Nations had warned recently that the world remains behind in its goal to cut emissions. According to a report by Clean Air Fund, fossil fuel projects get more funding than clean air initiatives even as the UN and WHO have repeatedly said air pollution is one of the biggest environmental problems in the world. The report said China had received huge funding from the government as part of its "war against pollution" after the country's air quality index hit dangerous levels in 2013. Reports say nearly 60 per cent of China's economy is fuelled by coal and despite pledges the country reportedly ordered 38.4 gigawatts of new coal-fired power into operation last year. Chinse authorities had said earlier that they were "playing a national game of chess" to balance the country's gigantic economy with climate change goals. (With inputs from Agencies)

President Xi yet to confirm attendance in Cop26 climate conference

Climate change is real. The sooner world realises, the better. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Lately, climate change has led to a spate of natural horrors around the world. &nbsp;

From hurricanes to wildfires, there seems to be no pause in the occurrence of the natural calamities in some regions of the world. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Several hurricanes like Olaf, Ida, Elsa, Iota, etc have recently battered the world, while Larry, Nicholas, etc are on the job at the time of publishing of this article. &nbsp;&nbsp;

One can understand the situation by this fact that Nicholas is the 14th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.

Watch:&nbsp;Can carbon capture help solve global warming?

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Life-threatening flash floods caused by these storms have led to the death of numerous people while several homes have also been lost. Long power outages, disruption in numerous other services are common at this time. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Describing the uncomfortable situation what comes during a storm, Texas Governor Greg Abbott &nbsp;said, "Listen to local weather alerts and heed local advisories about the right and safe thing to do, and you'll make it through this storm just like you've had many other storms." He gave this advice recently to people, who are going to witness the wrath of the Hurricane Nicholas. &nbsp;

As if this was not enough, several wildfires in Greece, Spain, US, Australia, etc have also forced many people to flee their homes or breathe their last. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Also Read:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/to-reduce-greenhouse-gas-emissions-scientists-look-to-potty-train-cows-413102" hreflang="en">To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists look to ‘potty-train’ cows</a>

Now, the scientists are also looking to name heatwaves as is the case in hurricanes as it has become a common phenomenon, which needs attention and understanding. &nbsp;

Not just for humans, these calamities have also taken a huge toll on wildlife. Several animals have either lost lives or habitat or move towards extinction. &nbsp;&nbsp;

But what is this actually. Is it a bomb ticking towards a huge explosion? Or Is it just a false alarm? &nbsp;

It is high time to ascertain it as it may be too late soon. &nbsp;&nbsp;

Although numerous companies are looking to explore other planets or come up with space travel for leisure, it also seems to be utmost important to save earth before it bids the final goodbye. &nbsp;&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)&nbsp;

Climate change is real. The sooner world realises, the better. Lately, climate change has led to a spate of natural horrors around the world. From hurricanes to wildfires, there seems to be no pause in the occurrence of the natural calamities in some regions of the world.

Climate change is real. The sooner world realises, the better. Lately, climate change has led to a spate of natural horrors around the world. From hurricanes to wildfires, there seems to be no pause in the occurrence of the natural calamities in some regions of the world. Several hurricanes like Olaf, Ida, Elsa, Iota, etc have recently battered the world, while Larry, Nicholas, etc are on the job at the time of publishing of this article. One can understand the situation by this fact that Nicholas is the 14th named storm of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season. Watch: Can carbon capture help solve global warming? × Life-threatening flash floods caused by these storms have led to the death of numerous people while several homes have also been lost. Long power outages, disruption in numerous other services are common at this time. Describing the uncomfortable situation what comes during a storm, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said, "Listen to local weather alerts and heed local advisories about the right and safe thing to do, and you'll make it through this storm just like you've had many other storms." He gave this advice recently to people, who are going to witness the wrath of the Hurricane Nicholas. As if this was not enough, several wildfires in Greece, Spain, US, Australia, etc have also forced many people to flee their homes or breathe their last. Also Read: To reduce greenhouse gas emissions, scientists look to ‘potty-train’ cows Now, the scientists are also looking to name heatwaves as is the case in hurricanes as it has become a common phenomenon, which needs attention and understanding. Not just for humans, these calamities have also taken a huge toll on wildlife. Several animals have either lost lives or habitat or move towards extinction. But what is this actually. Is it a bomb ticking towards a huge explosion? Or Is it just a false alarm? It is high time to ascertain it as it may be too late soon. Although numerous companies are looking to explore other planets or come up with space travel for leisure, it also seems to be utmost important to save earth before it bids the final goodbye. (With inputs from agencies)

Is it a wakeup call? Wildfires, hurricanes become a regular misery

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