The Netherlands' international representative for climate affairs on Tuesday told EFE in an interview that everyone should join forces in the fight against global warming.

Marcel Beukeboom, who was appointed Climate Envoy of the Dutch ministry of economic affairs and climate policy in October 2017, stressed that it was crucial to act as soon as possible and without looking for culprits when it came to countering climate change, instead working with the worst global emitters of greenhouse gases to find ways of reducing their emissions.

"You can't just say: 'okay, this is what we agreed in the Paris Agreements, so now we know what to do, we have ambition and we implement ambitious policies,'" Beukeboom said.

"We also know we can only get there if we do it together, especially with the biggest emitters globally, and those are the ones, as you know, that is not always the most ambitious when it comes to the implementation of policies," he added. "It's not an easy job."

Beukeboom said he believed the current disagreements over how to reduce the future increase in global temperatures to just two degrees Celsius gave forth a very complicated image, "but we have to deal with it, because we cannot consider that having clear objectives is enough, we have to work together."

One of the Dutch expert's main goals when it comes to the European Union is to convince member states to adopt a higher target regarding the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions.

"It always starts with the Paris Agreement," he said. "That is what is an overarching goal. We know what science tells us and we have to strive towards limiting global warming to 2 or 1.5 degrees, and from that, we derive policies."&nbsp;

"The Paris Agreement is what we call a hybrid agreement, it has an overarching goal, the 2 or 1.5 degrees. All the countries had submitted their own plans that have to be updated every five years," he added. "Next year, all members of the United Nations have to do that, including the EU and its member states. I think that is a big priority."&nbsp;

Beukeboom frequently travels to Asia, a region in which he has several counterparts and the part of the planet that has suffered some of the worst visible effects of climate change in recent years.

He said that China was one of the most important players to be counted on in the fight against global warming due to its size, while another Asian giant, India, was starting to lead the way, especially when it came to solar energy and other related issues such as poverty, security and intelligent agriculture.

Beukeboom acknowledged that often, progress was hindered by the positions of some African countries which are the main victims of the effects of climate change such as long droughts but are the least responsible for global warming as they have historically had lower emissions due to a comparatively reduced industrialization process.

He said that in those instances, he tries not to use the word "guilt," but rather "responsibility" and "aid."&nbsp;

"We need to find how to solve the situation together. It doesn't help to look for culprits and make accusations, we need to move forward," he added.

"The moment you make it more concrete, it becomes more tangible for ordinary people as well," Beukeboom explained. "And then we talk about a whole range: energy use, transportation, what can you do? Do you have to change to an electric vehicle, for example? Do we have to change our diet and consume less meat?"

The Netherlands' international representative for climate affairs on Tuesday told EFE in an interview that everyone should join forces in the fight against global warming.

The Netherlands' international representative for climate affairs on Tuesday told EFE in an interview that everyone should join forces in the fight against global warming. Marcel Beukeboom, who was appointed Climate Envoy of the Dutch ministry of economic affairs and climate policy in October 2017, stressed that it was crucial to act as soon as possible and without looking for culprits when it came to countering climate change, instead working with the worst global emitters of greenhouse gases to find ways of reducing their emissions. "You can't just say: 'okay, this is what we agreed in the Paris Agreements, so now we know what to do, we have ambition and we implement ambitious policies,'" Beukeboom said. "We also know we can only get there if we do it together, especially with the biggest emitters globally, and those are the ones, as you know, that is not always the most ambitious when it comes to the implementation of policies," he added. "It's not an easy job." Beukeboom said he believed the current disagreements over how to reduce the future increase in global temperatures to just two degrees Celsius gave forth a very complicated image, "but we have to deal with it, because we cannot consider that having clear objectives is enough, we have to work together." One of the Dutch expert's main goals when it comes to the European Union is to convince member states to adopt a higher target regarding the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. "It always starts with the Paris Agreement," he said. "That is what is an overarching goal. We know what science tells us and we have to strive towards limiting global warming to 2 or 1.5 degrees, and from that, we derive policies." "The Paris Agreement is what we call a hybrid agreement, it has an overarching goal, the 2 or 1.5 degrees. All the countries had submitted their own plans that have to be updated every five years," he added. "Next year, all members of the United Nations have to do that, including the EU and its member states. I think that is a big priority." Beukeboom frequently travels to Asia, a region in which he has several counterparts and the part of the planet that has suffered some of the worst visible effects of climate change in recent years. He said that China was one of the most important players to be counted on in the fight against global warming due to its size, while another Asian giant, India, was starting to lead the way, especially when it came to solar energy and other related issues such as poverty, security and intelligent agriculture. Beukeboom acknowledged that often, progress was hindered by the positions of some African countries which are the main victims of the effects of climate change such as long droughts but are the least responsible for global warming as they have historically had lower emissions due to a comparatively reduced industrialization process. He said that in those instances, he tries not to use the word "guilt," but rather "responsibility" and "aid." "We need to find how to solve the situation together. It doesn't help to look for culprits and make accusations, we need to move forward," he added. "The moment you make it more concrete, it becomes more tangible for ordinary people as well," Beukeboom explained. "And then we talk about a whole range: energy use, transportation, what can you do? Do you have to change to an electric vehicle, for example? Do we have to change our diet and consume less meat?"

We need to join forces to fight against global warming: Dutch climate envoy

After extended hours of negotiations, the COP 24 held in Katowice, Poland, finally sent out a sigh of ‘temporary’ relief.&nbsp;

The rule book for implementing the Paris Agreement is an important milestone in the ‘global’ quest to address climate change in accordance with the principle of equity and common, but with differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities.&nbsp;

Dodging the skepticism rooted in the hard negotiations and slow progress in the run-up to COP 24, an agreement, even if with rued nods from many parties, is a positive step.&nbsp;

However, the unfolding of the negotiations warrants that developing countries invest in greater scrutiny of the implementation as well as subsequent discussions at COPs.&nbsp;

For over a decade now, the meaning of ‘global’ quest is being, subtly, pushed towards, what may be called, Third World’s burden irrespective of respective capabilities and responsibilities.

Many influential thought leaders from the developed world, while revealing their helplessness with, and discounting the withdrawal of the USA from the Paris Agreement by citing the commitments from the various state governments and cities, urge the developing countries, particularly China and India, to take on greater commitments without taking into account their own roles and responsibilities.

This convolution of differentiation was obvious at least in four instances during proceedings of the COP24: First, the unwillingness of industrialised countries to include providing credible and verifiable information on financial flows in the Global Stock Take process was in clear defiance of the objective of the Paris Agreement.

The Paris Agreement aims to ensure financial flows consistent with the requirements of the climate resilient low-carbon development pathways.&nbsp;

After doing away with the distinction between Annex I and non-Annex I countries, providing climate finance to developing countries is the most significant substantive parameter of ensuring equity.&nbsp;

The diplomatic keenness of France to protect the Paris Agreement, by announcing annual replenishment to GCF, when the finance agenda was to become a point of deadlock explains the centrality of finance to successful climate negotiations, as well as ‘global’ climate action.

Second, the opposition to the use of accumulated credits from the market mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol in the new market mechanism under the Paris Agreement by many developed countries is equivalent of arguing for quantified emission reduction targets for developing countries, post-facto, when the relevant global agreement did not require them to have any.&nbsp;

The argument that the new rules are stricter, leading to the issues of environmental integrity, is not merely a technical point. It is symptomatic of political cunningness of trickery by rules.

Doubts over environmental integrity of certain Clean Development Projects (CDM) had been discussed in great detail during the reform debates and many proposals were made, including the use of a discount rate. These options are valid for the new market mechanism as well.

Discarding a celebrated market mechanism’s legacy in its next avatar and putting developing countries in a disadvantageous position must be understood as the reflection of the core political design of industrialised countries.

Third, the opposition by developed countries to the flexibilities given to developing countries in complying with the reporting requirements, along with the demands for greater details, leaves the process of Global Stock Take far from being congenially resolved.&nbsp;

The proposal to divide the rule-book into multiple agreements, which was rightly opposed by developing countries, was a clever attempt by developed countries at keeping the developing country parties under undue pressure of ‘global’ (read Northern) scrutiny.&nbsp;

Finally, as has been much debated, the unwillingness of some of the developed countries to ‘welcome’ the 1.5 degrees report from the IPCC – despite having asked for this assessment – is a clear indication of their unwillingness to adopt stricter mitigation measures today, even though this may result in significantly larger impacts in the world and on those that have greater vulnerabilities and lower adaptive capacities.&nbsp;

We are once again proving that we are not able to deal with the science truly, in face of political compulsions. To sum up, as noted by India in her formal reservation statement, implementation of the principle of equity and differentiation is constantly being undermined.&nbsp;

Having done away with the top-down distinction between industrialised and developing countries, now the attempt is to erase it, if not reverse it, through the details of implementation of the Paris Agreement.&nbsp;

Both the governments as well as the researchers in developing countries, therefore, need to be extra vigilant in tracking climate policy globally and nationally. 
 
(This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the <a href="https://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-cop-24-developed-nations-unwilling-to-adopt-stricter-mitigation-measures-2697234">original article</a>)

(Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

After extended hours of negotiations, the COP 24 held in Katowice, Poland, finally sent out a sigh of ‘temporary’ relief. The rule book for implementing the Paris Agreement is an important milestone in the ‘global’ quest to address climate change in accordance with the principle of equity and common, but with differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities.

After extended hours of negotiations, the COP 24 held in Katowice, Poland, finally sent out a sigh of ‘temporary’ relief. The rule book for implementing the Paris Agreement is an important milestone in the ‘global’ quest to address climate change in accordance with the principle of equity and common, but with differentiated responsibility and respective capabilities. Dodging the skepticism rooted in the hard negotiations and slow progress in the run-up to COP 24, an agreement, even if with rued nods from many parties, is a positive step. However, the unfolding of the negotiations warrants that developing countries invest in greater scrutiny of the implementation as well as subsequent discussions at COPs. For over a decade now, the meaning of ‘global’ quest is being, subtly, pushed towards, what may be called, Third World’s burden irrespective of respective capabilities and responsibilities. Many influential thought leaders from the developed world, while revealing their helplessness with, and discounting the withdrawal of the USA from the Paris Agreement by citing the commitments from the various state governments and cities, urge the developing countries, particularly China and India, to take on greater commitments without taking into account their own roles and responsibilities. This convolution of differentiation was obvious at least in four instances during proceedings of the COP24: First, the unwillingness of industrialised countries to include providing credible and verifiable information on financial flows in the Global Stock Take process was in clear defiance of the objective of the Paris Agreement. The Paris Agreement aims to ensure financial flows consistent with the requirements of the climate resilient low-carbon development pathways. After doing away with the distinction between Annex I and non-Annex I countries, providing climate finance to developing countries is the most significant substantive parameter of ensuring equity. The diplomatic keenness of France to protect the Paris Agreement, by announcing annual replenishment to GCF, when the finance agenda was to become a point of deadlock explains the centrality of finance to successful climate negotiations, as well as ‘global’ climate action. Second, the opposition to the use of accumulated credits from the market mechanisms under the Kyoto Protocol in the new market mechanism under the Paris Agreement by many developed countries is equivalent of arguing for quantified emission reduction targets for developing countries, post-facto, when the relevant global agreement did not require them to have any. The argument that the new rules are stricter, leading to the issues of environmental integrity, is not merely a technical point. It is symptomatic of political cunningness of trickery by rules. Doubts over environmental integrity of certain Clean Development Projects (CDM) had been discussed in great detail during the reform debates and many proposals were made, including the use of a discount rate. These options are valid for the new market mechanism as well. Discarding a celebrated market mechanism’s legacy in its next avatar and putting developing countries in a disadvantageous position must be understood as the reflection of the core political design of industrialised countries. Third, the opposition by developed countries to the flexibilities given to developing countries in complying with the reporting requirements, along with the demands for greater details, leaves the process of Global Stock Take far from being congenially resolved. The proposal to divide the rule-book into multiple agreements, which was rightly opposed by developing countries, was a clever attempt by developed countries at keeping the developing country parties under undue pressure of ‘global’ (read Northern) scrutiny. Finally, as has been much debated, the unwillingness of some of the developed countries to ‘welcome’ the 1.5 degrees report from the IPCC – despite having asked for this assessment – is a clear indication of their unwillingness to adopt stricter mitigation measures today, even though this may result in significantly larger impacts in the world and on those that have greater vulnerabilities and lower adaptive capacities. We are once again proving that we are not able to deal with the science truly, in face of political compulsions. To sum up, as noted by India in her formal reservation statement, implementation of the principle of equity and differentiation is constantly being undermined. Having done away with the top-down distinction between industrialised and developing countries, now the attempt is to erase it, if not reverse it, through the details of implementation of the Paris Agreement. Both the governments as well as the researchers in developing countries, therefore, need to be extra vigilant in tracking climate policy globally and nationally. (This article was originally published on The DNA. Read the original article) (Disclaimer: The opinions expressed above are the personal views of the author and do not reflect the views of ZMCL)

COP 24: Developed nations unwilling to adopt stricter mitigation measures to address climate change

&nbsp;The United Nations' climate talks went into overtime early Saturday morning as negotiators from nearly 200 nations grappled with disagreements over parts of a package of rules to implement a landmark agreement to combat global warming.

Countries are on a self-imposed deadline to produce a "rulebook" to flesh out details of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius and which comes into force in 2020.

Talks in Katowice, Poland, underway since December 2, have been clouded by political divisions.&nbsp;

Before the talks started, many expected that the deal would fall short of the detailed plan scientists have said is needed to limit global warming to well below a 2 degree-Celsius rise this century.

Many exhausted ministers were seen going to their hotels around 2200 GMT to catch a few hours' sleep before resuming plenary talks scheduled for early Saturday morning, which could be subject to delays.

European climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, on leaving the Spodek conference venue told Reuters that talks had been held up all day due to the issue of emissions counting cited in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement regarding market-based mechanisms to combat climate change.

Under the article, countries should agree to rules to ensure they do not double count emissions reductions. This is when one country is allowed to pay another to lower emissions but count those lower emissions towards their own emissions cut targets.

A way to avoid this is to create an accounting rule which would ensure that emissions reductions generated in one place cannot be counted both by the party generating the cuts and the country using those reductions towards its own target under the Paris Agreement.

A senior negotiator told Reuters Brazil was still obstructive on this issue and did not want clear rules to prevent double counting, which is unacceptable to many nations.

"This threatens the success of the negotiations and could undermine the environmental integrity of the Paris Agreement," said Nathaniel Keohane, senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, a US-based non-profit climate advocacy.

Fear of Failure

UN&nbsp;secretary-general Antonio Guterres said on Friday that work needed to be finished "with the highest possible level of ambition."

"It's essential for me that Katowice is not a failure. The worst thing that could happen to us is that. There would be the idea of chaos, the idea that to a certain extent we would be reproducing in Katowice what happened in Copenhagen."

Climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009 were widely regarded as a failure as they ended with a bare-minimum agreement. It took six more years to clinch a deal in Paris.

The Katowice draft text is still subject to change but requires developed countries to deliver an increase on a promise of $100 billion a year of climate finance to help poorer countries adapt to climate change by 2020 and rules on how to report and monitor each nation's greenhouse gas emissions.

There has been compromising in some areas, such as tweaking the language to recognise the importance of a report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on limiting global warming to 1.5C, which caused rifts last week.

But greater clarity has been sought on what countries will do after leaving Poland and how they will strengthen their commitments and targets under the pact.

"We do not want to see the Paris Agreement watered down," said former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed.

The United Nations' climate talks went into overtime early Saturday morning as negotiators from nearly 200 nations grappled with disagreements over parts of a package of rules to implement a landmark agreement to combat global warming.

The United Nations' climate talks went into overtime early Saturday morning as negotiators from nearly 200 nations grappled with disagreements over parts of a package of rules to implement a landmark agreement to combat global warming. Countries are on a self-imposed deadline to produce a "rulebook" to flesh out details of the 2015 Paris Agreement, which aims to limit the global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius and which comes into force in 2020. Talks in Katowice, Poland, underway since December 2, have been clouded by political divisions. Before the talks started, many expected that the deal would fall short of the detailed plan scientists have said is needed to limit global warming to well below a 2 degree-Celsius rise this century. Many exhausted ministers were seen going to their hotels around 2200 GMT to catch a few hours' sleep before resuming plenary talks scheduled for early Saturday morning, which could be subject to delays. European climate Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete, on leaving the Spodek conference venue told Reuters that talks had been held up all day due to the issue of emissions counting cited in Article 6 of the Paris Agreement regarding market-based mechanisms to combat climate change. Under the article, countries should agree to rules to ensure they do not double count emissions reductions. This is when one country is allowed to pay another to lower emissions but count those lower emissions towards their own emissions cut targets. A way to avoid this is to create an accounting rule which would ensure that emissions reductions generated in one place cannot be counted both by the party generating the cuts and the country using those reductions towards its own target under the Paris Agreement. A senior negotiator told Reuters Brazil was still obstructive on this issue and did not want clear rules to prevent double counting, which is unacceptable to many nations. "This threatens the success of the negotiations and could undermine the environmental integrity of the Paris Agreement," said Nathaniel Keohane, senior vice president at the Environmental Defense Fund, a US-based non-profit climate advocacy. Fear of Failure UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said on Friday that work needed to be finished "with the highest possible level of ambition." "It's essential for me that Katowice is not a failure. The worst thing that could happen to us is that. There would be the idea of chaos, the idea that to a certain extent we would be reproducing in Katowice what happened in Copenhagen." Climate talks in Copenhagen in 2009 were widely regarded as a failure as they ended with a bare-minimum agreement. It took six more years to clinch a deal in Paris. The Katowice draft text is still subject to change but requires developed countries to deliver an increase on a promise of $100 billion a year of climate finance to help poorer countries adapt to climate change by 2020 and rules on how to report and monitor each nation's greenhouse gas emissions. There has been compromising in some areas, such as tweaking the language to recognise the importance of a report by the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) on limiting global warming to 1.5C, which caused rifts last week. But greater clarity has been sought on what countries will do after leaving Poland and how they will strengthen their commitments and targets under the pact. "We do not want to see the Paris Agreement watered down," said former Maldives President Mohamed Nasheed.

UN climate talks go into overtime as negotiators grapple with text

After the starkest warnings yet of the catastrophic threat posed by <a href="http://www.wionews.com/opinions/limiting-global-warming-to-15-will-require-a-social-transformation-170375">climate change</a>, nations gathered in Poland on Sunday to chart a way for mankind to avert runaway global warming.&nbsp;

The COP24 climate summit comes at a crucial juncture in the battle to rein in the effects of our heating planet.&nbsp;

The smaller, poorer nations that will bare the devastating brunt of climate change are pushing for richer states to make good on the promises they made in the 2015 Paris agreement.

Three years ago countries committed to limit global temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and to the safer cap of 1.5C if at all possible.&nbsp;

But with only a single degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has already seen a crescendo of deadly wildfires, heatwaves and hurricanes made more destructive by rising seas.

UN General Assembly president Maria Espinosa told AFP that mankind was "in danger of disappearing" if climate change was allowed to progress at its current rate.

"We need to act urgently, and with audacity. Be ambitious, but also responsible for the future generations," she added.

In a rare intervention, presidents of previous UN climate summits issued a joint statement as the talks got under way, calling on states to take "decisive action... to tackle these urgent threats".&nbsp;

"The impacts of climate change are increasingly hard to ignore," said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. "We require deep transformations of our economies and societies."

At the COP24 climate talks, nations must agree to a rulebook palatable to all 183 states who have ratified the Paris deal.&nbsp;

The road to a final rulebook is far from smooth: the dust is still settling from US President Donald Trump's decision to ditch the Paris accord.

G20 leaders on Saturday wrapped up their summit by declaring the Paris Agreement "irreversible".&nbsp;

But it said the United States "reiterates its decision to withdraw" from the landmark accord.

The UN negotiations got off to a chaotic start in the Polish mining city of Katowice Sunday, with the opening session delayed nearly three hours by a series of last-ditch submissions.

A string of major climate reports have cast doubt over the entire process, suggesting the Paris goals fall well short of what is needed.

Data doesn't lie 
Just last week, the UN's environment programme said the voluntary national contributions agreed in Paris would have to triple if the world was to cap global warming below 2C.

For 1.5C, they must increase fivefold.&nbsp;

While the data are clear, a global political consensus over how to tackle climate change remains elusive.&nbsp;

"Katowice may show us if there will be any domino effect" following the US withdrawal, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a main architect of the Paris deal.

Brazil's strongman president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, for one, has promised to follow the American lead during his campaign.

Many countries are already dealing with the droughts, higher seas and catastrophic storms climate change is exacerbating.&nbsp;

"A failure to act now risks pushing us beyond a point of no return with catastrophic consequences for life as we know it," said Amjad Abdulla, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, of the UN talks.

A key issue up for debate is how the fight against climate change is funded, with developed and developing nations still world's apart in their demands.

Poorer nations argue that rich countries, which are responsible for the vast majority of historic carbon emissions, must help others to fund climate action.&nbsp;

"Developed nations led by the US will want to ignore their historic responsibilities and will say the world has changed," said Meena Ramam, from the Third World Network advocacy group.&nbsp;

"The question really is: how do you ensure that ambitious actions are done in an equitable way?"

After the starkest warnings yet of the catastrophic threat posed by climate change, nations gathered in Poland on Sunday to chart a way for mankind to avert runaway global warming.

After the starkest warnings yet of the catastrophic threat posed by climate change, nations gathered in Poland on Sunday to chart a way for mankind to avert runaway global warming. The COP24 climate summit comes at a crucial juncture in the battle to rein in the effects of our heating planet. The smaller, poorer nations that will bare the devastating brunt of climate change are pushing for richer states to make good on the promises they made in the 2015 Paris agreement. Three years ago countries committed to limit global temperature rises to well below two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), and to the safer cap of 1.5C if at all possible. But with only a single degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has already seen a crescendo of deadly wildfires, heatwaves and hurricanes made more destructive by rising seas. UN General Assembly president Maria Espinosa told AFP that mankind was "in danger of disappearing" if climate change was allowed to progress at its current rate. "We need to act urgently, and with audacity. Be ambitious, but also responsible for the future generations," she added. In a rare intervention, presidents of previous UN climate summits issued a joint statement as the talks got under way, calling on states to take "decisive action... to tackle these urgent threats". "The impacts of climate change are increasingly hard to ignore," said the statement, a copy of which was obtained by AFP. "We require deep transformations of our economies and societies." At the COP24 climate talks, nations must agree to a rulebook palatable to all 183 states who have ratified the Paris deal. The road to a final rulebook is far from smooth: the dust is still settling from US President Donald Trump's decision to ditch the Paris accord. G20 leaders on Saturday wrapped up their summit by declaring the Paris Agreement "irreversible". But it said the United States "reiterates its decision to withdraw" from the landmark accord. The UN negotiations got off to a chaotic start in the Polish mining city of Katowice Sunday, with the opening session delayed nearly three hours by a series of last-ditch submissions. A string of major climate reports have cast doubt over the entire process, suggesting the Paris goals fall well short of what is needed. Data doesn't lie Just last week, the UN's environment programme said the voluntary national contributions agreed in Paris would have to triple if the world was to cap global warming below 2C. For 1.5C, they must increase fivefold. While the data are clear, a global political consensus over how to tackle climate change remains elusive. "Katowice may show us if there will be any domino effect" following the US withdrawal, said Laurence Tubiana, CEO of the European Climate Foundation and a main architect of the Paris deal. Brazil's strongman president-elect Jair Bolsonaro, for one, has promised to follow the American lead during his campaign. Many countries are already dealing with the droughts, higher seas and catastrophic storms climate change is exacerbating. "A failure to act now risks pushing us beyond a point of no return with catastrophic consequences for life as we know it," said Amjad Abdulla, chief negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, of the UN talks. A key issue up for debate is how the fight against climate change is funded, with developed and developing nations still world's apart in their demands. Poorer nations argue that rich countries, which are responsible for the vast majority of historic carbon emissions, must help others to fund climate action. "Developed nations led by the US will want to ignore their historic responsibilities and will say the world has changed," said Meena Ramam, from the Third World Network advocacy group. "The question really is: how do you ensure that ambitious actions are done in an equitable way?"

Act now or risk disaster, world told at UN climate summit

The 2015 Paris Agreement is the first pact under which all nations commit to taking actions to curb global warming, caused mainly by emissions from burning coal, oil and gas.&nbsp;

Key facts about the agreement:

&nbsp;The climate club&nbsp;

A total of 196 governments, including the Palestinian Authority, have endorsed the landmark deal and 183 have officially ratified it as of December 1.

International agreements can be signed, but only become binding through ratification.

The accord which becomes operational in 2020 &nbsp;entered into force in November 2016 when it crossed the threshold of 55 ratifying parties representing at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

The world's top carbon polluters, in descending order, are China, the United States, the European Union, and India.

The biggest polluter not to have ratified the deal is Russia, which ranks 5th. Turkey and Iran have also failed to ratify.

Exit strategy&nbsp;

The agreement allows parties to quit, but notice can be given only three years after entry into force. Withdrawal would take effect a year later.&nbsp;

In June 2017, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would pull out. Under treaty rules, that cannot formally take place until November 4, the day after the next US presidential election.&nbsp;

A country can also withdraw from the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under whose authority the deal was negotiated. Withdrawal takes effect a year after notification, which can be given at any time.

The goal

Nations have agreed to hold global warming to 'well below'&nbsp;two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels and to strive for a lower limit of 1.5C, if possible.

A major report from the UN's science advisory body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), concluded in October that the 1.5C cap is technically feasible but would require a rapid and wholesale transformation of the global economy.

Even the two-degree ceiling is a huge challenge, according to the IPCC, which calculated that emissions must drop 40-to-70 per cent by 2050 (compared to 2010 levels) to hit that target.&nbsp;

Signatories have undertaken to ensure that global emissions peak "as soon as possible". They rose in 2017, and are on track to go up again this year.&nbsp;

Voluntary national pledges annexed to the treaty would see the planet warm by at least 3C, a recipe for catastrophic floods, heatwaves, drought and storm surges made worse by sea level rise, say scientists.

&nbsp;Tracking progress&nbsp;

Starting in 2020, countries will take stock every five years of their collective progress in curbing global warming, with an eye toward boosting national efforts to cut emissions.

Most current pledges extend to 2030, with a few including the plan submitted by the United States under Barack Obama running to 2025.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

But faced with the inadequacy of those pledges and dire warnings from climate scientists that emissions must peak and sharply decline as soon as possible, nations are under pressure to enhance their carbon-cutting commitments sooner.&nbsp;

&nbsp;Financing

Rich countries are required to provide funding to help developing nations make the costly shift to clean energy and to shore up defences against climate impacts.

The treaty mandates climate aid of $100 billion (88 billion euros) per year starting in 2020.&nbsp;

<a href="http://www.wionews.com/world/global-warming-outpaces-efforts-to-slow-it-un-179838">A running tally published last week by the UN </a>showed that climate finance is roughly on track to hit that total, but disagreements remain over the sources of funding and how much will be earmarked for adapting to climate change.

Importantly, one of the Paris Agreement's long-term goals is to make all finance flows consistent with low-carbon and climate-ready economic development, which will be measured in trillions, not billions.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The 2015 Paris Agreement is the first pact under which all nations commit to taking actions to curb global warming, caused mainly by emissions from burning coal, oil and gas.

The 2015 Paris Agreement is the first pact under which all nations commit to taking actions to curb global warming, caused mainly by emissions from burning coal, oil and gas. Key facts about the agreement: The climate club A total of 196 governments, including the Palestinian Authority, have endorsed the landmark deal and 183 have officially ratified it as of December 1. International agreements can be signed, but only become binding through ratification. The accord which becomes operational in 2020 entered into force in November 2016 when it crossed the threshold of 55 ratifying parties representing at least 55 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The world's top carbon polluters, in descending order, are China, the United States, the European Union, and India. The biggest polluter not to have ratified the deal is Russia, which ranks 5th. Turkey and Iran have also failed to ratify. Exit strategy The agreement allows parties to quit, but notice can be given only three years after entry into force. Withdrawal would take effect a year later. In June 2017, US President Donald Trump announced that the United States would pull out. Under treaty rules, that cannot formally take place until November 4, the day after the next US presidential election. A country can also withdraw from the 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) under whose authority the deal was negotiated. Withdrawal takes effect a year after notification, which can be given at any time. The goal Nations have agreed to hold global warming to 'well below' two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels and to strive for a lower limit of 1.5C, if possible. A major report from the UN's science advisory body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), concluded in October that the 1.5C cap is technically feasible but would require a rapid and wholesale transformation of the global economy. Even the two-degree ceiling is a huge challenge, according to the IPCC, which calculated that emissions must drop 40-to-70 per cent by 2050 (compared to 2010 levels) to hit that target. Signatories have undertaken to ensure that global emissions peak "as soon as possible". They rose in 2017, and are on track to go up again this year. Voluntary national pledges annexed to the treaty would see the planet warm by at least 3C, a recipe for catastrophic floods, heatwaves, drought and storm surges made worse by sea level rise, say scientists. Tracking progress Starting in 2020, countries will take stock every five years of their collective progress in curbing global warming, with an eye toward boosting national efforts to cut emissions. Most current pledges extend to 2030, with a few including the plan submitted by the United States under Barack Obama running to 2025. But faced with the inadequacy of those pledges and dire warnings from climate scientists that emissions must peak and sharply decline as soon as possible, nations are under pressure to enhance their carbon-cutting commitments sooner. Financing Rich countries are required to provide funding to help developing nations make the costly shift to clean energy and to shore up defences against climate impacts. The treaty mandates climate aid of $100 billion (88 billion euros) per year starting in 2020. A running tally published last week by the UN showed that climate finance is roughly on track to hit that total, but disagreements remain over the sources of funding and how much will be earmarked for adapting to climate change. Importantly, one of the Paris Agreement's long-term goals is to make all finance flows consistent with low-carbon and climate-ready economic development, which will be measured in trillions, not billions.

The Paris climate treaty: A snapshot

Diplomats gathering in South Korea Monday will find themselves in the awkward position of vetting and validating a major UN scientific report that underscores the failure of their governments to take stronger action on climate.

The UN special report on global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels began as a request from the 195 nations that inked the Paris Agreement in 2015.

That landmark pact called for capping the rise in global temperature to "well-below" 2C, and invited countries to submit voluntary national plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

To the surprise of many -- especially scientists, who had based nearly a decade of research on the assumption that 2C was the politically acceptable guardrail for a climate-safe world -- the treaty also called for a good-faith effort to cap warming at the lower threshold.

At the same time, countries asked the UN's climate science authority, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to detail what a 1.5C world would look like, and how hard it might be to prevent a further rise in temperature.

Three years and many drafts later, the answer has come in the form of a 400-page report -- grounded in an assessment of 6,000 peer-reviewed studies -- that delivers a stark, double-barrelled message: 1.5C is enough to unleash climate mayhem, and the pathways to avoiding an even hotter world require a swift and complete transformation not just of the global economy, but of society too.

With only one degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has seen a climate-enhanced crescendo of deadly heatwaves, wild fires and floods, along with superstorms swollen by rising seas.

- Line-by-line vetting - 
"I don't know how you can possibly read this and find it anything other than wildly alarming," said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based research and advocacy group, referring to the draft Summary for Policy Makers.

Government representatives -- often the same ones in the trenches at UN climate negotiations -- will spend the entire week going through the 22-page executive summary, line-by-line.

With scientists at their elbow, they will check it against the underlying report and, if the past is any guide, attempt to blunt conclusions deemed inconvenient by their governments. &nbsp;&nbsp;

"Some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have threatened to be obstructionist," said one of the report's authors.&nbsp;

China is said to have reservations on the chapters outlining policy options, concerned that some of the measures outlined may be too ambitious.

But the joker in the pack is the United States, several delates and observers noted.

"This is the first report coming up for approval since the Trump administration took office," said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, and an IPCC author on a another report-in-progress.&nbsp;

"That's a real wild card."

US a 'wild card'

There are few clues as to what the United States might say or do in Incheon, which has left a lot of people nervous.

"The US could, as they have in the past, support the science," said one contributing author.&nbsp;

"Or they could become obstructionist -- maybe Fox News will decide to shine a spotlight on the meeting."

A State Department spokesperson confirmed to AFP that veteran climate diplomat Trigg Talley will head the US delegation, a development one veteran IPCC author described as "reassuring."

"Never in the history of the IPCC has there been a report that is so politically charged," said Henri Waisman, a senior researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, and one of the report's 86 authors.

Governments looking for a straightforward answer to the question of whether the 1.5C target can be reached are likely to be disappointed, he added.

"The report isn't going to simply say 'yes' or 'no'," he told AFP.

"Our goal was to put as much information as possible into the hands of policy makers so they can step up to their responsibilities."

Many scientists say the goal is feasible on paper, but would require political will and economic transformations that are not on the near-term horizon.

"In my view, 1.5C stabilisation is extremely difficult if not impossible at this point, while 2C stabilisation is an uphill challenge but doable," Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told AFP.

Diplomats gathering in South Korea Monday will find themselves in the awkward position of vetting and validating a major UN scientific report that underscores the failure of their governments to take stronger action on climate.

Diplomats gathering in South Korea Monday will find themselves in the awkward position of vetting and validating a major UN scientific report that underscores the failure of their governments to take stronger action on climate. The UN special report on global warming of 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above preindustrial levels began as a request from the 195 nations that inked the Paris Agreement in 2015. That landmark pact called for capping the rise in global temperature to "well-below" 2C, and invited countries to submit voluntary national plans for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. To the surprise of many -- especially scientists, who had based nearly a decade of research on the assumption that 2C was the politically acceptable guardrail for a climate-safe world -- the treaty also called for a good-faith effort to cap warming at the lower threshold. At the same time, countries asked the UN's climate science authority, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), to detail what a 1.5C world would look like, and how hard it might be to prevent a further rise in temperature. Three years and many drafts later, the answer has come in the form of a 400-page report -- grounded in an assessment of 6,000 peer-reviewed studies -- that delivers a stark, double-barrelled message: 1.5C is enough to unleash climate mayhem, and the pathways to avoiding an even hotter world require a swift and complete transformation not just of the global economy, but of society too. With only one degree Celsius of warming so far, the world has seen a climate-enhanced crescendo of deadly heatwaves, wild fires and floods, along with superstorms swollen by rising seas. - Line-by-line vetting - "I don't know how you can possibly read this and find it anything other than wildly alarming," said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based research and advocacy group, referring to the draft Summary for Policy Makers. Government representatives -- often the same ones in the trenches at UN climate negotiations -- will spend the entire week going through the 22-page executive summary, line-by-line. With scientists at their elbow, they will check it against the underlying report and, if the past is any guide, attempt to blunt conclusions deemed inconvenient by their governments. "Some countries, such as Saudi Arabia, have threatened to be obstructionist," said one of the report's authors. China is said to have reservations on the chapters outlining policy options, concerned that some of the measures outlined may be too ambitious. But the joker in the pack is the United States, several delates and observers noted. "This is the first report coming up for approval since the Trump administration took office," said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University, and an IPCC author on a another report-in-progress. "That's a real wild card." US a 'wild card' There are few clues as to what the United States might say or do in Incheon, which has left a lot of people nervous. "The US could, as they have in the past, support the science," said one contributing author. "Or they could become obstructionist -- maybe Fox News will decide to shine a spotlight on the meeting." A State Department spokesperson confirmed to AFP that veteran climate diplomat Trigg Talley will head the US delegation, a development one veteran IPCC author described as "reassuring." "Never in the history of the IPCC has there been a report that is so politically charged," said Henri Waisman, a senior researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, and one of the report's 86 authors. Governments looking for a straightforward answer to the question of whether the 1.5C target can be reached are likely to be disappointed, he added. "The report isn't going to simply say 'yes' or 'no'," he told AFP. "Our goal was to put as much information as possible into the hands of policy makers so they can step up to their responsibilities." Many scientists say the goal is feasible on paper, but would require political will and economic transformations that are not on the near-term horizon. "In my view, 1.5C stabilisation is extremely difficult if not impossible at this point, while 2C stabilisation is an uphill challenge but doable," Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University, told AFP.

UN report spotlights government inaction on climate

The world's nations will gather at a UN conference in South Korea on Monday to review and approve a 20-page bombshell -- distilled from more than 6,000 scientific studies -- laying out narrowing options for staving off climate catastrophe.

When the 195 countries who signed off on the Paris Agreement in 2015 requested a report from UN-led scientists on the feasibility of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the gesture seemed to many unnecessary.

The treaty, after all, enjoined the world to block the rise in Earth's surface temperature at "well below" 2C (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to preindustrial levels, adding a safety buffer to the two degree threshold long seen as the guardrail for a climate-safe world.&nbsp;

Since then, however, a crescendo of deadly heatwaves, floods, wildfires and superstorms engorged by rising seas -- with less than 1C warming so far -- has convinced scientists that the danger cursor needed to be reset.

"There is increasing and very robust evidence of truly severe and catastrophic risks even at the lower bounds of these temperature targets," said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based research and advocacy group.

The promise of "pursuing efforts" to limit warming to 1.5C -- added to the Paris treaty at the last minute, in part to assuage poor nations who felt short-changed on other fronts -- caught scientists off-guard.

"There wasn't very much literature on 1.5C warming three years ago," said Jim Skea, a professor of at Imperial College London's Centre for Environmental Policy, and a co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the UN science body charged with writing the "Special Report" on 1.5C. &nbsp;

But is it feasible?

Of hundreds of climate models in 2015 projecting a low-carbon future, only two or three aimed for a 1.5C global warming cap.

The 20-page Summary Policy Makers -- which will be collectively scrutinised, line-by-line, by hundreds of diplomats through Friday -- contains several benchmark findings, according to a draft obtained by AFP.

At current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, for example, the Earth's surface will heat up beyond the 1.5C threshold by 2040, the report concludes with "high confidence".

To have a fighting chance of staying under the 1.5C cap, the global economy must, by 2050, become "carbon neutral", meaning no additional CO2 can be allowed to leach into the atmosphere.

In addition, the report suggests that carbon dioxide emissions from human activity will need to peak in 2020 and curve sharply downward from there.&nbsp;

So far, we are still moving in the wrong direction: after remaining stable for three years -- raising hopes the peak had come -- emissions rose in 2017 to historic levels. &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;

For many scientists, these targets are technically feasible but politically or socially unrealistic, along with the broader 1.5C goal.

"The feasibility is probably going to remain an open question, even after the report comes out," said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University.

A main focus of the underlying, 400-page report -- written by a team of 86 authors, supported by another 150 scientists -- is the difference a half-degree Celsius can make in terms of impacts.&nbsp;

"When we're talking about 1.5C it's not just to protect a few dozen small island nations," said Henri Waisman, a senior researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, and a coordinating author of the report.

"It's to avoid dramatic impacts that become exponentially more dramatic when we go from 1.5C to 2C."

Tipping points

What used to be once-a-century heatwaves in southern and central Europe, for example, are projected to occur four out of 10 summers in a 1.5C world, and six out of ten in a 2C world.

Many tropical fisheries are likely to collapse somewhere between the 1.5C and 2C benchmark, as fish seek cooler waters; staple food crops will decline in yield and nutrition an extra 10 to 15 per cent; coral reefs that may have a chance of surviving if air temperatures remain below 1.5C will very likely perish with an additional half-degree of warming.

Most worrying of all, perhaps, are temperature "tipping points" that could push methane-laden permafrost and the icesheets of Greenland and West Antarctica -- which hold enough frozen water to lift global oceans by a dozen metres (nearly 40 feet) -- beyond the point of no return. &nbsp;

Some experts, however, worry that focusing on the contrast between a 1.5C and 2C world obscures the fact we are currently on a trajectory that will crash through both these thresholds.

"I don't think 2C is safe, and I would never want to argue it," said Frumhoff. "By many measures, 1.5C is not enough."

"But while we might call 2C an upper bound, let's not pretend that we're on a 2C path -- we are way above that," he told AFP.

Even taking into account voluntary national pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, submitted in annex to the Paris treaty, the Earth is on track to heat up by an unliveable 3.5C or more by century's end.

"If we want to save ourselves from the disasters that are looming, we only have unrealistic options left," said Kaisa Kosonen, Greenpeace IPPC campaign lead.

"We have to try to make the impossible possible."

The world's nations will gather at a UN conference in South Korea on Monday to review and approve a 20-page bombshell -- distilled from more than 6,000 scientific studies -- laying out narrowing options for staving off climate catastrophe.

The world's nations will gather at a UN conference in South Korea on Monday to review and approve a 20-page bombshell -- distilled from more than 6,000 scientific studies -- laying out narrowing options for staving off climate catastrophe. When the 195 countries who signed off on the Paris Agreement in 2015 requested a report from UN-led scientists on the feasibility of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius, the gesture seemed to many unnecessary. The treaty, after all, enjoined the world to block the rise in Earth's surface temperature at "well below" 2C (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) compared to preindustrial levels, adding a safety buffer to the two degree threshold long seen as the guardrail for a climate-safe world. Since then, however, a crescendo of deadly heatwaves, floods, wildfires and superstorms engorged by rising seas -- with less than 1C warming so far -- has convinced scientists that the danger cursor needed to be reset. "There is increasing and very robust evidence of truly severe and catastrophic risks even at the lower bounds of these temperature targets," said Peter Frumhoff, director of science and policy at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a Washington-based research and advocacy group. The promise of "pursuing efforts" to limit warming to 1.5C -- added to the Paris treaty at the last minute, in part to assuage poor nations who felt short-changed on other fronts -- caught scientists off-guard. "There wasn't very much literature on 1.5C warming three years ago," said Jim Skea, a professor of at Imperial College London's Centre for Environmental Policy, and a co-chair of the Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the UN science body charged with writing the "Special Report" on 1.5C. But is it feasible? Of hundreds of climate models in 2015 projecting a low-carbon future, only two or three aimed for a 1.5C global warming cap. The 20-page Summary Policy Makers -- which will be collectively scrutinised, line-by-line, by hundreds of diplomats through Friday -- contains several benchmark findings, according to a draft obtained by AFP. At current levels of greenhouse gas emissions, for example, the Earth's surface will heat up beyond the 1.5C threshold by 2040, the report concludes with "high confidence". To have a fighting chance of staying under the 1.5C cap, the global economy must, by 2050, become "carbon neutral", meaning no additional CO2 can be allowed to leach into the atmosphere. In addition, the report suggests that carbon dioxide emissions from human activity will need to peak in 2020 and curve sharply downward from there. So far, we are still moving in the wrong direction: after remaining stable for three years -- raising hopes the peak had come -- emissions rose in 2017 to historic levels. For many scientists, these targets are technically feasible but politically or socially unrealistic, along with the broader 1.5C goal. "The feasibility is probably going to remain an open question, even after the report comes out," said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University. A main focus of the underlying, 400-page report -- written by a team of 86 authors, supported by another 150 scientists -- is the difference a half-degree Celsius can make in terms of impacts. "When we're talking about 1.5C it's not just to protect a few dozen small island nations," said Henri Waisman, a senior researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, and a coordinating author of the report. "It's to avoid dramatic impacts that become exponentially more dramatic when we go from 1.5C to 2C." Tipping points What used to be once-a-century heatwaves in southern and central Europe, for example, are projected to occur four out of 10 summers in a 1.5C world, and six out of ten in a 2C world. Many tropical fisheries are likely to collapse somewhere between the 1.5C and 2C benchmark, as fish seek cooler waters; staple food crops will decline in yield and nutrition an extra 10 to 15 per cent; coral reefs that may have a chance of surviving if air temperatures remain below 1.5C will very likely perish with an additional half-degree of warming. Most worrying of all, perhaps, are temperature "tipping points" that could push methane-laden permafrost and the icesheets of Greenland and West Antarctica -- which hold enough frozen water to lift global oceans by a dozen metres (nearly 40 feet) -- beyond the point of no return. Some experts, however, worry that focusing on the contrast between a 1.5C and 2C world obscures the fact we are currently on a trajectory that will crash through both these thresholds. "I don't think 2C is safe, and I would never want to argue it," said Frumhoff. "By many measures, 1.5C is not enough." "But while we might call 2C an upper bound, let's not pretend that we're on a 2C path -- we are way above that," he told AFP. Even taking into account voluntary national pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions, submitted in annex to the Paris treaty, the Earth is on track to heat up by an unliveable 3.5C or more by century's end. "If we want to save ourselves from the disasters that are looming, we only have unrealistic options left," said Kaisa Kosonen, Greenpeace IPPC campaign lead. "We have to try to make the impossible possible."

UN report confronts nations with tough choices on climate

The then US President Barack Obama used his African-American card to win over Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the last phase of negotiations at the Paris summit in late 2015, where India was the last holdout as its officials were the toughest negotiators, says a book on his presidency.

"When we got to Paris, the main holdout was India," Obama's then top foreign policy and national security aide for eight years Ben Rhodes writes in his book 'The World at It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House'.&nbsp 
The book will hit stands today.

Rhodes was Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications.&nbsp

Giving a blow-by-blow account of the last phase of US-India talks on climate change, Rhodes writes that at one point of time in Paris Obama himself entered into a personal conversation with two Indian officials to convince them of the need for India to be part of the deal. But he failed to cut ice with the two Indian negotiators, says the book.&nbsp

Then he spends nearly an hour with Modi in Paris. Nothing appeared to work till the time Obama played the African-American card, according to the book.

"For nearly an hour, Modi kept underscoring the fact that he had three hundred million people with no electricity, and coal was the cheapest way to grow the Indian economy he cared about the environment, but he had to worry about a lot of people mired in poverty. Obama went through arguments about a solar initiative we were building, the market shifts that would lower the price of clean energy," writes Rhodes in his book.

"But he still hadn't addressed a lingering sense of unfairness, the fact that nations like the United States had developed with coal, and were now demanding that India avoid doing the same thing. 'Look', Obama finally said, 'I get that it's unfair. I'm African-American'.&nbsp

"Modi smiled knowingly and looked down at his hands. He looked genuinely pained," he writes.

"I know what it's like to be in a system that's unfair," he went on.&nbsp

"I know what it's like to start behind and to be asked to do more, to act like the injustice didn't happen. But I can't let that shape my choices, and neither should you. I'd never heard him talk to another leader in quite that way. Modi seemed to appreciate it. He looked up and nodded," writes the former top White House official, while describing how Obama used his African-American card to convince Modi.

But before it, Rhodes writes, Obama tried and could not succeed in convincing the Indian negotiators.&nbsp

"We were scheduled to meet with India's prime minister, Narendra Modi. Obama and a group of us waited outside the meeting room, when the Indian delegation showed up in advance of Modi. By all accounts, the Indian negotiators had been the most difficult," he writes.

"Obama asked to talk to them, and for the next twenty minutes, he stood in a hallway having an animated argument with two Indian men. I stood off to the side, glancing at my BlackBerry, while he went on about solar power," says Rhodes. This was something unprecedented and not part of the protocol. He adds.&nbsp

"One guy from our climate team came over to me. 'I can't believe he's doing this,' he whispered. 'These guys are impossible'. 'Are you kidding?' I said.&nbsp

'It's an argument about science. He loves this'. Modi came around the corner with a look of concern on his face, wondering what his negotiators were arguing with Obama about," writes Rhodes.

"We moved into the meeting room, and a dynamic became clear. Modi's team, which represented the institutional perspective of the Indian government, did not want to do what is necessary to reach an agreement," he says.&nbsp

"Modi, who had ambitions to be a transformative leader of India, and a person of global stature, was torn. This is one reason why we had done the deal with China if India was alone, it was going to be hard for Modi to stay out," Rhodes writes in the book. &nbsp

Rhodes was Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications.

The then US President Barack Obama used his African-American card to win over Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the last phase of negotiations at the Paris summit in late 2015, where India was the last holdout as its officials were the toughest negotiators, says a book on his presidency. "When we got to Paris, the main holdout was India," Obama's then top foreign policy and national security aide for eight years Ben Rhodes writes in his book 'The World at It Is: A Memoir of the Obama White House'. The book will hit stands today. Rhodes was Obama's Deputy National Security Advisor for Strategic Communications. Giving a blow-by-blow account of the last phase of US-India talks on climate change, Rhodes writes that at one point of time in Paris Obama himself entered into a personal conversation with two Indian officials to convince them of the need for India to be part of the deal. But he failed to cut ice with the two Indian negotiators, says the book. Then he spends nearly an hour with Modi in Paris. Nothing appeared to work till the time Obama played the African-American card, according to the book. "For nearly an hour, Modi kept underscoring the fact that he had three hundred million people with no electricity, and coal was the cheapest way to grow the Indian economy he cared about the environment, but he had to worry about a lot of people mired in poverty. Obama went through arguments about a solar initiative we were building, the market shifts that would lower the price of clean energy," writes Rhodes in his book. "But he still hadn't addressed a lingering sense of unfairness, the fact that nations like the United States had developed with coal, and were now demanding that India avoid doing the same thing. 'Look', Obama finally said, 'I get that it's unfair. I'm African-American'. "Modi smiled knowingly and looked down at his hands. He looked genuinely pained," he writes. "I know what it's like to be in a system that's unfair," he went on. "I know what it's like to start behind and to be asked to do more, to act like the injustice didn't happen. But I can't let that shape my choices, and neither should you. I'd never heard him talk to another leader in quite that way. Modi seemed to appreciate it. He looked up and nodded," writes the former top White House official, while describing how Obama used his African-American card to convince Modi. But before it, Rhodes writes, Obama tried and could not succeed in convincing the Indian negotiators. "We were scheduled to meet with India's prime minister, Narendra Modi. Obama and a group of us waited outside the meeting room, when the Indian delegation showed up in advance of Modi. By all accounts, the Indian negotiators had been the most difficult," he writes. "Obama asked to talk to them, and for the next twenty minutes, he stood in a hallway having an animated argument with two Indian men. I stood off to the side, glancing at my BlackBerry, while he went on about solar power," says Rhodes. This was something unprecedented and not part of the protocol. He adds. "One guy from our climate team came over to me. 'I can't believe he's doing this,' he whispered. 'These guys are impossible'. 'Are you kidding?' I said. 'It's an argument about science. He loves this'. Modi came around the corner with a look of concern on his face, wondering what his negotiators were arguing with Obama about," writes Rhodes. "We moved into the meeting room, and a dynamic became clear. Modi's team, which represented the institutional perspective of the Indian government, did not want to do what is necessary to reach an agreement," he says. "Modi, who had ambitions to be a transformative leader of India, and a person of global stature, was torn. This is one reason why we had done the deal with China if India was alone, it was going to be hard for Modi to stay out," Rhodes writes in the book.

How Obama used 'African-American card' to win over Modi on Paris climate accord

By Amitabh Pashupati Revi

Our battle cry is against climate change, the Seychelles President Danny Faure told WION on World Environment Day, and that India inspires with its leadership.

“The Paris agreement is the root for humanity. I think over time those who have questioned that will come back," President Faure told WION on US President Donald Trump pulling out of the climate change agreement, rising sea waters, and the threat to his 115-island archipelago.

Speaking to WION at the State House in the capital Victoria, President Faure said, "We signed the Paris agreement and we still believe that that's the root for humanity not for our country individually that's the root for humanity. It is our responsibility now to show them the responsibility for generations to come and not to vacillate — not to change positions as we go forward."

Asked how worried he is about rising sea levels because of global warming, President Faure said, “Our battle cry is to get all the people around the world to understand what is happening. It is no longer a question that you are comfortable in your own country and you believe that you can continue to make progress while others should regress.”

Faure added, “It’s very clear. It is climate change. It is a fact. It is reality. We from small countries say that. I am happy that a country like India has embarked on a very ambitious program on renewable energy. You have taken the lead with France on building the solar alliance, giving other countries the opportunity to participate. These are the things that will continue to inspire others and this is a type of leadership."

'The Paris agreement is the root for humanity. I think over time those who have questioned that will come back,' Faure said

By Amitabh Pashupati Revi Our battle cry is against climate change, the Seychelles President Danny Faure told WION on World Environment Day, and that India inspires with its leadership. “The Paris agreement is the root for humanity. I think over time those who have questioned that will come back," President Faure told WION on US President Donald Trump pulling out of the climate change agreement, rising sea waters, and the threat to his 115-island archipelago. Speaking to WION at the State House in the capital Victoria, President Faure said, "We signed the Paris agreement and we still believe that that's the root for humanity not for our country individually that's the root for humanity. It is our responsibility now to show them the responsibility for generations to come and not to vacillate — not to change positions as we go forward." Asked how worried he is about rising sea levels because of global warming, President Faure said, “Our battle cry is to get all the people around the world to understand what is happening. It is no longer a question that you are comfortable in your own country and you believe that you can continue to make progress while others should regress.” Faure added, “It’s very clear. It is climate change. It is a fact. It is reality. We from small countries say that. I am happy that a country like India has embarked on a very ambitious program on renewable energy. You have taken the lead with France on building the solar alliance, giving other countries the opportunity to participate. These are the things that will continue to inspire others and this is a type of leadership."

Our battle cry is against climate change, Seychelles President Danny Faure tells WION on World Environment Day

In a tweet last year, US president Donald Trump had said in the East, it could be the coldest New Year’s Eve on record, perhaps we could use a little bit of that "good old Global Warming that our country", but not other countries, was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against.

Trump's tweet had caused global outrage with several scientists and environmentalists hitting back at the President asserting that global warming couldn't be taken lightly.

Now, a Finnish NGO, Melting Ice, has decided put Trump's face on ice, literally.

The initiative known as "Project Trumpmore" will reportedly itch Trump's face in a 115-foot iceberg in the Arctic in an attempt to show that global warming actually exists.

Melting Ice is looking for a place to put Trump's mammoth structure in place, inspired by Mount Rushmore national memorial which has 60-foot granite faces of US presidents - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln.&nbsp;

Last year, Trump had announced the US would be pulling out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, an initiative of the United Nations, saying it would undermine the US economy with several experts criticising the US president's move.

In a televised address, Trump had said: "The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States, it undermines our economy, hamstrings our workers and "effectively decapitates our coal industry."

The Finnish NGO is reportedly looking funding, once they are able to get it, the organization&nbsp;says&nbsp;Mongolian and Finnish ice sculptors will carve the statue which would be broadcast live on the web.

Now, a Finnish NGO, Melting Ice, has decided put Trump's face on ice, literally.

In a tweet last year, US president Donald Trump had said in the East, it could be the coldest New Year’s Eve on record, perhaps we could use a little bit of that "good old Global Warming that our country", but not other countries, was going to pay trillions of dollars to protect against. Trump's tweet had caused global outrage with several scientists and environmentalists hitting back at the President asserting that global warming couldn't be taken lightly. Now, a Finnish NGO, Melting Ice, has decided put Trump's face on ice, literally. The initiative known as "Project Trumpmore" will reportedly itch Trump's face in a 115-foot iceberg in the Arctic in an attempt to show that global warming actually exists. Melting Ice is looking for a place to put Trump's mammoth structure in place, inspired by Mount Rushmore national memorial which has 60-foot granite faces of US presidents - George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln. Last year, Trump had announced the US would be pulling out of the 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change, an initiative of the United Nations, saying it would undermine the US economy with several experts criticising the US president's move. In a televised address, Trump had said: "The bottom line is that the Paris accord is very unfair at the highest level to the United States, it undermines our economy, hamstrings our workers and "effectively decapitates our coal industry." The Finnish NGO is reportedly looking funding, once they are able to get it, the organization says Mongolian and Finnish ice sculptors will carve the statue which would be broadcast live on the web.

Project Trumpmore: Now, Trump's 115-foot face to be carved in the Arctic

It was a successful win for India and other developing countries at the Bonn climate change talk, having the request for discussion of &#39;pre-2020 actions&#39; agreed upon by the officials.&nbsp;

The key demands addressed by India will be included in the draft decision which will be presented towards the end of the two-week meetings, reports said.&nbsp;

India, including a group of 20 other developing countries - as a part of &#39;pre-2020 actions&#39; - had demanded that in reference to the agreement that was settled at the UN Climate Change Conference in Fiji, have requested all the countries to formalize&nbsp;information on steps they were going&nbsp;take&nbsp;to fulfil their &lsquo;pre-2020&rsquo; obligations and to ratify the 2012 Doha Amendments by May 1 next year or earlier, in order to give a legal structure to the &#39;pre-2020&#39; commitments.

They have also demanded to include the pre-2020 climate actions in the formal agenda of negotiations, since the commencement of the summit on November 6. However, the developed world has been trying not to take the motion.&nbsp;

According to reports, developed countries had been told not to split from the pre-2020 commitments from the post-2020 climate actions as a section of the 2015 Paris Agreement. &nbsp;

It was agreed that the next two climate talks, in 2018 and 2019, will include separate &lsquo;stock-taking&rsquo; talks on the &lsquo;pre-2020 actions&rsquo; being taken by different countries.&nbsp;

This stock-take would not only comprise of the attempts that countries&nbsp;inculcating in order to reduce the omission if greenhouse gas but also the level of support developed nations gave in terms of financial and technology obligations to developing countries in order to eradicate climate issues.&nbsp;

Environment Secretary C K Mishra said that 2018 will be a significant year and would help conclude the Paris Agreement rulebook and possibly also be the &#39;last opportunity to close the emissions gap by developed countries.&#39;

The conference, which took place on November 6, is expected to undertake several decisions required to boost the Paris Agreement, including proper progress on the agreement to execute directions to keep global warming levels under1.5 degrees Celsius and also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.&nbsp;

Right from the first day of the conference a negotiating group of more than 20 countries had demanded that 'pre-2020 actions' be included in the official agenda of discussions.

It was a successful win for India and other developing countries at the Bonn climate change talk, having the request for discussion of 'pre-2020 actions' agreed upon by the officials. The key demands addressed by India will be included in the draft decision which will be presented towards the end of the two-week meetings, reports said. India, including a group of 20 other developing countries - as a part of 'pre-2020 actions' - had demanded that in reference to the agreement that was settled at the UN Climate Change Conference in Fiji, have requested all the countries to formalize information on steps they were going take to fulfil their ‘pre-2020’ obligations and to ratify the 2012 Doha Amendments by May 1 next year or earlier, in order to give a legal structure to the 'pre-2020' commitments. They have also demanded to include the pre-2020 climate actions in the formal agenda of negotiations, since the commencement of the summit on November 6. However, the developed world has been trying not to take the motion. According to reports, developed countries had been told not to split from the pre-2020 commitments from the post-2020 climate actions as a section of the 2015 Paris Agreement. It was agreed that the next two climate talks, in 2018 and 2019, will include separate ‘stock-taking’ talks on the ‘pre-2020 actions’ being taken by different countries. This stock-take would not only comprise of the attempts that countries inculcating in order to reduce the omission if greenhouse gas but also the level of support developed nations gave in terms of financial and technology obligations to developing countries in order to eradicate climate issues. Environment Secretary C K Mishra said that 2018 will be a significant year and would help conclude the Paris Agreement rulebook and possibly also be the 'last opportunity to close the emissions gap by developed countries.' The conference, which took place on November 6, is expected to undertake several decisions required to boost the Paris Agreement, including proper progress on the agreement to execute directions to keep global warming levels under1.5 degrees Celsius and also reduce emissions of greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels.

Successful talk for India at the Bonn Climate Summit

The world must sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions and suck billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air if today&#39;s youth are to be spared climate cataclysm, a top scientist has warned.

&quot;This reality is being ignored by governments around the world,&quot; said James Hansen, who famously announced to the US Congress 30 years ago that global warming was underway.

&quot;To say that we are &#39;moving in the right direction&#39; just isn&#39;t good enough anymore,&quot; he said in an interview.

Head of NASA&#39;s Goddard Institute for Space Studies until 2013, Hansen and his 18-year-old granddaughter&nbsp;who is suing the US government for contributing to the problem&nbsp;delivered that message this week at UN climate negotiations in Bonn.

Thousands of diplomats at the 12-day, 196-nation talks are haggling over the fine print of a &quot;user&#39;s manual&quot; for a treaty that will go into effect in 2020.

Inked in the French capital in 2015, the Paris Agreement calls for capping global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).&nbsp;

With the planet out of kilter after only one degree of warming&nbsp;enough to amplify deadly heatwaves, superstorms, and droughts-the treaty also vows to explore the feasibility of holding the line at 1.5 C.&nbsp;

&quot;That is a good impulse because if we go to 2 C, it is guaranteed that we will lose our shorelines and coastal cities,&quot; said Hansen.&nbsp;

&quot;The only question is how fast.&quot;

Earth&#39;s surface temperature, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, and sea levels have all changed in lock-step over hundreds of millions of years, he pointed out.

In 2016, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide the main greenhouse gas&nbsp;tipped over 403 parts per million (ppm), 40 per cent above the pre-industrial average and the highest level in at least 800,000 years, the UN&#39;s weather agency reported this week.&nbsp;

&#39;Proven prescient&#39;&nbsp;

Even under optimistic scenarios, that number is projected to rise for decades.&nbsp;

What&#39;s the limit for a climate-safe world?

The UN&#39;s science advisory body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has said we can &quot;likely&quot; stay under the 2 C threshold if CO2 levels don&#39;t exceed 450 ppm by 2100.

For Hansen, that&#39;s a recipe for disaster.

Meltwater from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could add metres to sea levels by 2100, he has calculated.

&quot;The last time in Earth&#39;s history that CO2 concentrations were at 450 ppm, sea level was 25 metres (80 feet) higher,&quot; he noted.

When writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben decided a decade ago to launch a campaign to fight global warming, he asked the world&#39;s best known climate scientist what he should call it.

&quot;He had in mind the name &#39;450.org&#39;,&quot; Hansen recalled.&nbsp;

By coincidence, Hansen was about to publish a major study that concluded the ceiling for CO2 levels should be 350 ppm, at most.&nbsp;

Thus was born 350.org, probably the largest grassroots climate action organisation in the world.

&quot;Hansen does make a compelling case that many climate change impacts are occurring sooner and with greater magnitude than we expected,&quot; said Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University.

&quot;Jim&#39;s past predictions have proven prescient and we do indeed ignore him at our peril.&quot;

&quot;Hansen&#39;s contributions to the basic science of climate change are fundamental to our current understanding -- no one has contributed more,&quot; said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University.

&nbsp;Climate negligence&nbsp;

Even if humanity succeeds in bending down the curve of greenhouse emissions far sooner than currently seems imaginable, it would not be fast enough to bring CO2 levels back to 350 ppm by century&#39;s end, according to Hansen.&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;

&quot;You would have to extract 150 billion tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere,&quot; more than 10 times the amount we emit each year, he said.

The technology to do that does not currently exist.At 76, Hansen is thinking a lot about and what kind of world young people will be inheriting.&nbsp;

So is his granddaughter, Sophie Kivlehan, a first year university student in the United States.&nbsp;

Along with 20 of her peers, Kivlehan has sued the US federal government for what might best be called climate negligence.&nbsp;

&quot;When the US Constitution says &#39;We the People,&#39; that means young people too,&quot; she said in an interview.&nbsp;

&quot;We have constitutional rights, and those rights are being violated.&quot;

The case is currently wending its way through the federal court system, and could one day wind up before the Supreme Court, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs told AFP.

Government attempts to have the case thrown out have failed.

Despite his grim predictions, Hansen has not thrown his hands up in despair. He continues, for example, to campaign for a direct tax on fossil fuels as the only realistic way to achieve the necessary cuts.

The world must sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions and suck billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air if today's youth are to be spared climate cataclysm, the scientist warned

The world must sharply curb greenhouse gas emissions and suck billions of tonnes of carbon dioxide from the air if today's youth are to be spared climate cataclysm, a top scientist has warned. "This reality is being ignored by governments around the world," said James Hansen, who famously announced to the US Congress 30 years ago that global warming was underway. "To say that we are 'moving in the right direction' just isn't good enough anymore," he said in an interview. Head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies until 2013, Hansen and his 18-year-old granddaughter who is suing the US government for contributing to the problem delivered that message this week at UN climate negotiations in Bonn. Thousands of diplomats at the 12-day, 196-nation talks are haggling over the fine print of a "user's manual" for a treaty that will go into effect in 2020. Inked in the French capital in 2015, the Paris Agreement calls for capping global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). With the planet out of kilter after only one degree of warming enough to amplify deadly heatwaves, superstorms, and droughts-the treaty also vows to explore the feasibility of holding the line at 1.5 C. "That is a good impulse because if we go to 2 C, it is guaranteed that we will lose our shorelines and coastal cities," said Hansen. "The only question is how fast." Earth's surface temperature, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere, and sea levels have all changed in lock-step over hundreds of millions of years, he pointed out. In 2016, the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide the main greenhouse gas tipped over 403 parts per million (ppm), 40 per cent above the pre-industrial average and the highest level in at least 800,000 years, the UN's weather agency reported this week. 'Proven prescient' Even under optimistic scenarios, that number is projected to rise for decades. What's the limit for a climate-safe world? The UN's science advisory body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), has said we can "likely" stay under the 2 C threshold if CO2 levels don't exceed 450 ppm by 2100. For Hansen, that's a recipe for disaster. Meltwater from the Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets could add metres to sea levels by 2100, he has calculated. "The last time in Earth's history that CO2 concentrations were at 450 ppm, sea level was 25 metres (80 feet) higher," he noted. When writer and environmentalist Bill McKibben decided a decade ago to launch a campaign to fight global warming, he asked the world's best known climate scientist what he should call it. "He had in mind the name '450.org'," Hansen recalled. By coincidence, Hansen was about to publish a major study that concluded the ceiling for CO2 levels should be 350 ppm, at most. Thus was born 350.org, probably the largest grassroots climate action organisation in the world. "Hansen does make a compelling case that many climate change impacts are occurring sooner and with greater magnitude than we expected," said Michael Mann, director of the Earth System Science Center at Pennsylvania State University. "Jim's past predictions have proven prescient and we do indeed ignore him at our peril." "Hansen's contributions to the basic science of climate change are fundamental to our current understanding -- no one has contributed more," said Michael Oppenheimer, a professor of geosciences and international affairs at Princeton University. Climate negligence Even if humanity succeeds in bending down the curve of greenhouse emissions far sooner than currently seems imaginable, it would not be fast enough to bring CO2 levels back to 350 ppm by century's end, according to Hansen. "You would have to extract 150 billion tonnes of carbon from the atmosphere," more than 10 times the amount we emit each year, he said. The technology to do that does not currently exist.At 76, Hansen is thinking a lot about and what kind of world young people will be inheriting. So is his granddaughter, Sophie Kivlehan, a first year university student in the United States. Along with 20 of her peers, Kivlehan has sued the US federal government for what might best be called climate negligence. "When the US Constitution says 'We the People,' that means young people too," she said in an interview. "We have constitutional rights, and those rights are being violated." The case is currently wending its way through the federal court system, and could one day wind up before the Supreme Court, one of the lawyers representing the plaintiffs told AFP. Government attempts to have the case thrown out have failed. Despite his grim predictions, Hansen has not thrown his hands up in despair. He continues, for example, to campaign for a direct tax on fossil fuels as the only realistic way to achieve the necessary cuts.

Climate target too low and progress too slow: Top Scientist

Syria told the UN climate talks in Bonn on Tuesday that it would join the Paris Agreement, leaving the United States as the only nation in the world opting to stay outside the landmark treaty.

&quot;We are going to join the Paris Agreement,&quot; the Syrian delegate, speaking in Arabic, said during a plenary session at the 196-nation talks, according to Safa Al Jayoussi of the IndyAct NGO, who was monitoring the session.&nbsp;

The United States ratified the 2015 pact but US President Donald Trump announced earlier this year that he would pull out, saying the pact did not serve US interests.

&quot;It is our understanding that the government of Syria announced today their intent to join the Paris Agreement,&quot; Nick Nuttall, the spokesman for the UN climate body, told AFP.

Nuttall identified the Syrian delegate as Wadah Katmawi, the deputy minister of the ministry of local administration and environment.

Syria must submit their &quot;instruments of ratification&quot; at the UN headquarters in New York before their adherence becomes official, he added.

According to the Syrian parliament website, a bill was passed on October 22 to ratify the Paris accord, &quot;in accordance with the Syrian Constitution which stipulates the protection of the environment&quot;.

Other parties at the 12-day negotiations, tasked with elaborating and implementing the agreement, welcomed the news.

&quot;Syria joining the Paris Agreement will be a good thing,&quot; South Africa&#39;s chief negotiator Maesela Kekana told AFP.

&quot;That&#39;s great,&quot; said Chai Qimin, a climate negotiator from China&#39;s National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation.&nbsp;

&quot;They were the last party to the UN Convention to sign the Paris Agreement,&quot; he said, referring to 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the bedrock treaty for UN climate talks.

&quot;That leaves only the one who announced their withdrawal,&quot; he added, in an oblique reference to the United States.

US mocks Syria&nbsp;

War-torn Syria would be the 197th country to sign on to the climate pact, which vows to hold global warming to &quot;well below&quot; two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

The United States mocked Syria&#39;s arrival in the climate change agreement Tuesday, side-stepping the charge that it has isolated itself by being the world&#39;s sole hold-out.

State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert fiercely dismissed suggestions that this means that Trump&#39;s &quot;America First&quot; policy has in practice meant &quot;America Alone.&quot;

&quot;I find it ironic that the government of Syria, OK, would say that it wants to be involved and that it cares so much about climate and things like CO2 gas,&quot; she told reporters.

&quot;If the government of Syria cared so much about what was put in the air, then it wouldn&#39;t be gassing its own people,&quot; she said, referring to the Damascus regime&#39;s brutal civil war tactics.

Nauert said that the department&#39;s undersecretary for political affairs, Tom Shannon, would lead a US delegation to the Bonn talks next week but that Trump&#39;s decision would stand.

&quot;We intend to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as soon as we&#39;re eligible to do so,&quot; she said.

&nbsp;&#39;Splendid isolation&#39;&nbsp;

Openly isolated on the climate issue at G-7 and G-20 meetings earlier this year, the United States said it intended to withdraw &quot;unless the president can identify terms that are more favourable to American businesses, workers, and taxpayers.&quot;

The Trump administration has not said what those terms might be.

&quot;This means Trump is in splendid isolation -- no one wants to be in his company,&quot; said Alden Meyer, a veteran climate analyst at the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists.

&quot;With Syria on board, now the entire world is resolutely committed to advancing climate action -&ndash; all save one country,&quot; said Paula Caballero, director for climate change at the World Resources Institute.

&quot;This should make the Trump administration pause and reflect on their ill-advised announcement about withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.&quot;

Signed in the French capital in December 2015, the treaty entered into force on November 4, 2016.

According to the terms, no country can formally submit their intent to withdraw until three years after the date of entry into force.&nbsp;

It will then take one year to fully withdraw, meaning the earliest the United States could officially withdraw is the day after the 2020 election.

&quot;When even Syria -- with all its problems -- can see the sense of a global climate agreement, it really shows how ideologically wedded to climate denialism the US Republican Party has become,&quot; said Mohamed Adow, International Climate Lead for Christian Aid. 
&nbsp;

Syria told the UN climate talks in Bonn on Tuesday that it would join the Paris Agreement, leaving the United States as the only nation in the world opting to stay outside the landmark treaty

Syria told the UN climate talks in Bonn on Tuesday that it would join the Paris Agreement, leaving the United States as the only nation in the world opting to stay outside the landmark treaty. "We are going to join the Paris Agreement," the Syrian delegate, speaking in Arabic, said during a plenary session at the 196-nation talks, according to Safa Al Jayoussi of the IndyAct NGO, who was monitoring the session. The United States ratified the 2015 pact but US President Donald Trump announced earlier this year that he would pull out, saying the pact did not serve US interests. "It is our understanding that the government of Syria announced today their intent to join the Paris Agreement," Nick Nuttall, the spokesman for the UN climate body, told AFP. Nuttall identified the Syrian delegate as Wadah Katmawi, the deputy minister of the ministry of local administration and environment. Syria must submit their "instruments of ratification" at the UN headquarters in New York before their adherence becomes official, he added. According to the Syrian parliament website, a bill was passed on October 22 to ratify the Paris accord, "in accordance with the Syrian Constitution which stipulates the protection of the environment". Other parties at the 12-day negotiations, tasked with elaborating and implementing the agreement, welcomed the news. "Syria joining the Paris Agreement will be a good thing," South Africa's chief negotiator Maesela Kekana told AFP. "That's great," said Chai Qimin, a climate negotiator from China's National Center for Climate Change Strategy and International Cooperation. "They were the last party to the UN Convention to sign the Paris Agreement," he said, referring to 1992 UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the bedrock treaty for UN climate talks. "That leaves only the one who announced their withdrawal," he added, in an oblique reference to the United States. US mocks Syria War-torn Syria would be the 197th country to sign on to the climate pact, which vows to hold global warming to "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). The United States mocked Syria's arrival in the climate change agreement Tuesday, side-stepping the charge that it has isolated itself by being the world's sole hold-out. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert fiercely dismissed suggestions that this means that Trump's "America First" policy has in practice meant "America Alone." "I find it ironic that the government of Syria, OK, would say that it wants to be involved and that it cares so much about climate and things like CO2 gas," she told reporters. "If the government of Syria cared so much about what was put in the air, then it wouldn't be gassing its own people," she said, referring to the Damascus regime's brutal civil war tactics. Nauert said that the department's undersecretary for political affairs, Tom Shannon, would lead a US delegation to the Bonn talks next week but that Trump's decision would stand. "We intend to withdraw from the Paris Agreement as soon as we're eligible to do so," she said. 'Splendid isolation' Openly isolated on the climate issue at G-7 and G-20 meetings earlier this year, the United States said it intended to withdraw "unless the president can identify terms that are more favourable to American businesses, workers, and taxpayers." The Trump administration has not said what those terms might be. "This means Trump is in splendid isolation -- no one wants to be in his company," said Alden Meyer, a veteran climate analyst at the Washington-based Union of Concerned Scientists. "With Syria on board, now the entire world is resolutely committed to advancing climate action -– all save one country," said Paula Caballero, director for climate change at the World Resources Institute. "This should make the Trump administration pause and reflect on their ill-advised announcement about withdrawing from the Paris Agreement." Signed in the French capital in December 2015, the treaty entered into force on November 4, 2016. According to the terms, no country can formally submit their intent to withdraw until three years after the date of entry into force. It will then take one year to fully withdraw, meaning the earliest the United States could officially withdraw is the day after the 2020 election. "When even Syria -- with all its problems -- can see the sense of a global climate agreement, it really shows how ideologically wedded to climate denialism the US Republican Party has become," said Mohamed Adow, International Climate Lead for Christian Aid.

Syria to join Paris climate pact, isolating the US

&nbsp;France and India will seek to show a united front to tackle climate change when their leaders meet on Saturday with President Emmanuel Macron likely to underline his country&#39;s stability in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Modi&#39;s arrival in Paris comes after US&nbsp;President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and at a time when uncertainty in the European Union prevails following Britain&#39;s decision to leave the 28-nation bloc.

&quot;Climate will obviously be one of the first topics discussed. It&#39;s a personal commitment from Modi so it&#39;s crucial that this engagement is reiterated in the current context,&quot; said a senior French diplomat.

Modi, whose country is the world&#39;s third-biggest emissions generator, said in Russia on Friday that he would continue to back the deal. Macron&#39;s call on Thursday for the accord&#39;s remaining 194 countries to fill the void left by the US&nbsp;may see the two sides push for greater cooperation.

&quot;Trump&#39;s decision is very bad news, but we have to move on with world&#39;s key actors, starting with India,&quot; said the diplomat. &quot;We need to show that we are stable, not unpredictable and have convictions that we aren&#39;t afraid to stick to.&quot;

Prior to the visit Modi had already hailed Macron&#39;s victory over the far-right as an opportunity to reinforce ties between the two countries almost 20 years after agreeing in 1998 a strategic partnership.

&quot;Within a lot of uncertainty and instability where we don&#39;t know in which direction the world&#39;s great powers are going, it&#39;s important to show that the relationship between France and India is stable,&quot; said the diplomat.

Ties between the two countries have grown in recent years most notably in the defence sector with New Delhi ordering 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets to modernise its ageing warplane fleet.

The two are also in talks over nuclear power and renewable energy deals, although the Paris visit is not aimed at sealing contracts.

France&#39;s foreign ministry says more than 1,000 French firms operate in India in sectors ranging from defence to new technologies employing some 300,000 people.

&quot;The Indians had a vision of Europe over the last couple of years that was a bit cataclysmic partly because of the crises we went through, Brexit and the far-right wave.

&quot;Brexit especially traumatized them and there was a real worry that Europe would explode so Macron&#39;s victory has provided a boost,&quot; the diplomat said.

(Reuters)

&nbsp;

Indian PM Modi's ?Paris visit ?comes after Trump pulled out?of the 2015 Paris climate agreement

France and India will seek to show a united front to tackle climate change when their leaders meet on Saturday with President Emmanuel Macron likely to underline his country's stability in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Modi's arrival in Paris comes after US President Donald Trump announced his decision to withdraw from the 2015 Paris climate agreement and at a time when uncertainty in the European Union prevails following Britain's decision to leave the 28-nation bloc. "Climate will obviously be one of the first topics discussed. It's a personal commitment from Modi so it's crucial that this engagement is reiterated in the current context," said a senior French diplomat. Modi, whose country is the world's third-biggest emissions generator, said in Russia on Friday that he would continue to back the deal. Macron's call on Thursday for the accord's remaining 194 countries to fill the void left by the US may see the two sides push for greater cooperation. "Trump's decision is very bad news, but we have to move on with world's key actors, starting with India," said the diplomat. "We need to show that we are stable, not unpredictable and have convictions that we aren't afraid to stick to." Prior to the visit Modi had already hailed Macron's victory over the far-right as an opportunity to reinforce ties between the two countries almost 20 years after agreeing in 1998 a strategic partnership. "Within a lot of uncertainty and instability where we don't know in which direction the world's great powers are going, it's important to show that the relationship between France and India is stable," said the diplomat. Ties between the two countries have grown in recent years most notably in the defence sector with New Delhi ordering 36 French-made Rafale fighter jets to modernise its ageing warplane fleet. The two are also in talks over nuclear power and renewable energy deals, although the Paris visit is not aimed at sealing contracts. France's foreign ministry says more than 1,000 French firms operate in India in sectors ranging from defence to new technologies employing some 300,000 people. "The Indians had a vision of Europe over the last couple of years that was a bit cataclysmic partly because of the crises we went through, Brexit and the far-right wave. "Brexit especially traumatized them and there was a real worry that Europe would explode so Macron's victory has provided a boost," the diplomat said. (Reuters)

France to push stability in India talks amid Trump climate turmoil

Arctic sea ice is likely to vanish during summers even if all the nations that have signed the Paris Agreement accord meet their targets, a study has said.

Almost 200 nations that signed the Paris climate accord have pledged to limit average global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit); they aspire to keep the rise to less than 1.5C (2.7F).

James Screen and Daniel Williamson of Exeter University in Britain wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change that Arctic sea ice would melt during summertime even if the rise is limited to 2C.

They said there was a 39&nbsp;per cent chance of Arctic sea ice melting if the rise in average global temperature was limited to just 2 degrees Celsius.

Ice was virtually certain to survive, however, with just 1.5C of warming.

In March 2017, the extent of Arctic sea ice is rivalling 2016 and 2015 as the smallest for the time of year since satellite records began in the late 1970s. The ice reaches a winter maximum in March and a summer minimum in September.

&quot;In less than 40 years, we have almost halved the summer sea ice cover,&quot; said Tor Eldevik a professor at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research at the University of Bergen in Norway, who was not involved in the study.

He predicted that sea ice would vanish in the Arctic Ocean in about another 40 years, on current trends.

Scientists define an ice-free Arctic Ocean as one with less than 1 million square kilometres (386,000 square miles) of ice because they say some sea ice will linger in bays, such as off northern Greenland, even after the ocean is ice-free.

US President Donald Trump said during his 2016 election campaign that he would &quot;cancel&quot; the Paris Agreement and instead promote the domestic fossil fuel industry. He has since said he has an &quot;open mind&quot; on the subject.

(WION with inputs from Reuters)

&nbsp;

A Nature Climate Change report said there was a 39% chance of the ice melting

Arctic sea ice is likely to vanish during summers even if all the nations that have signed the Paris Agreement accord meet their targets, a study has said. Almost 200 nations that signed the Paris climate accord have pledged to limit average global temperature rise to less than 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit); they aspire to keep the rise to less than 1.5C (2.7F). James Screen and Daniel Williamson of Exeter University in Britain wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change that Arctic sea ice would melt during summertime even if the rise is limited to 2C. They said there was a 39 per cent chance of Arctic sea ice melting if the rise in average global temperature was limited to just 2 degrees Celsius. Ice was virtually certain to survive, however, with just 1.5C of warming. In March 2017, the extent of Arctic sea ice is rivalling 2016 and 2015 as the smallest for the time of year since satellite records began in the late 1970s. The ice reaches a winter maximum in March and a summer minimum in September. "In less than 40 years, we have almost halved the summer sea ice cover," said Tor Eldevik a professor at the Bjerknes Centre for Climate Research at the University of Bergen in Norway, who was not involved in the study. He predicted that sea ice would vanish in the Arctic Ocean in about another 40 years, on current trends. Scientists define an ice-free Arctic Ocean as one with less than 1 million square kilometres (386,000 square miles) of ice because they say some sea ice will linger in bays, such as off northern Greenland, even after the ocean is ice-free. US President Donald Trump said during his 2016 election campaign that he would "cancel" the Paris Agreement and instead promote the domestic fossil fuel industry. He has since said he has an "open mind" on the subject. (WION with inputs from Reuters)

Arctic sea ice likely to vanish in summers even if Paris accord target met: Study

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WION takes up a&nbsp;fight against global warming with its upcoming initiative, World Is One Degree. Join the fight!

Watch more on the impact of climate change on WION:

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/with-rising-urbanisation-garbage-adding-stink-in-indias-tourist-paradise-world-is-1-degree-1402">How Goa, India&#39;s smallest state fights with the&nbsp;garbage problem.</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/going-the-electric-vehicle-way-to-reduce-carbon-emission-world-is-1-degree-1413">Going the electric way to reduce carbon emission</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/delhis-e-rickshaws-clean-green-but-not-tremendously-safe-1412">Clean and green e-rickshaws hit Delhi roads</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/the-arctic-ice-melt-1408">The Arctic Ice Melt</a>

- The&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/world-unites-to-fight-climate-change-world-is-1-degree-1411">World Unites To Fight Climate Change</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/sundarbans-islands-shrinking-due-to-rising-sea-level-world-is-1-degree-1410">Sundarbans islands shrinking due to rising sea levels</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/great-barrier-reef-dying-world-is-1-degree-1406">Is the Great Barrier Reef dying?</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/delhis-floating-islands-1383">Delhi&#39;s Floating Island</a>

-&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/shrinking-habitats-lead-to-human-animal-conflict-world-is-1-degree-1401">Shrinking habitats lead to human-animal conflict&nbsp;</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/sustainable-tourism-in-south-asia-1416">Sustainable tourism in South Asia</a>

- <a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/the-threat-of-climate-change-donald-trumps-reactions-1419">The threat of climate change: Donald Trump&#39;s reaction</a>

-&nbsp;<a href="http://www.wionews.com/videos/drought-in-bolivia-worsens-1438">Drought in Bolivia worsens&nbsp;</a>

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Al Gore highlights the world's top 24 CO2-emitting countries

Live - 24 Hours of Reality World is One Degree × WION takes up a fight against global warming with its upcoming initiative, World Is One Degree. Join the fight! Watch more on the impact of climate change on WION: - How Goa, India's smallest state fights with the garbage problem. - Going the electric way to reduce carbon emission - Clean and green e-rickshaws hit Delhi roads - The Arctic Ice Melt - The World Unites To Fight Climate Change - Sundarbans islands shrinking due to rising sea levels - Is the Great Barrier Reef dying? - Delhi's Floating Island - Shrinking habitats lead to human-animal conflict - Sustainable tourism in South Asia - The threat of climate change: Donald Trump's reaction - Drought in Bolivia worsens

WION goes around the world exploring solutions to climate change

Nearly 200 nations agreed around midnight on Friday to work out the rules for a landmark 2015 global deal to tackle climate change within two years in a new sign of international support for a pact opposed by US&nbsp;President-elect Donald Trump.

At the end of two-week talks on global warming in Marrakesh, which were extended an extra day, many nations appealed to Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, to reconsider his threat to tear up the Paris Agreement for cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Showing determination to keep the Paris Agreement on track, the conference agreed to work out a rule book at the latest by December 2018.

A rule book is needed because the Paris Agreement left many details vague, such as how countries will report and monitor their national pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions.

Two years may sounds like a long time, but it took four to work out detailed rules for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement&#39;s predecessor, which obliged only developed countries to cut their emissions. Paris requires commitments by all.

The final text also urged rich nations to keep building towards a goal of providing $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020.

Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar told a news conference that Marrakesh had been the start of turning promises made in Paris into action.

&quot;We will continue on the path,&quot; he said, urging Trump to join other nations in acting to limit emissions.

Fiji&#39;s Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who will host next year&#39;s climate meeting in Germany, invited Trump to drop his scepticism about climate change and visit the South Pacific nation to see the effects of stronger storms and rising seas.

Trump plans to favour fossil fuels over renewable energies and has threatened to halt any U.S. taxpayer funds for U.N. climate programmes.

On Thursday, governments reaffirmed their commitment to &quot;full implementation&quot; of the Paris accord which seeks to phase out greenhouse gas emissions this century and to limit a global average rise in temperature to &quot;well below&quot; 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit).

&quot;Not one country has said that if President Trump pulls the United States out of Paris, they will follow him,&quot; said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Environmental groups said the outcome in Marrakesh was a step in the right direction, but many issues needed to be resolved over the next two years, including funds for developing nations.

&quot;Rich countries have been trying to wriggle out of their pledges to help poorer countries meet the costs of coping with impacts and greening their economies,&quot; said Harjeet Singh at ActionAid.

Also on Friday, a group of 48 developing countries most at risk from climate change said they would strive to make their energy production 100 percent renewable &quot;as rapidly as possible&quot;, as part of efforts to limit global warming.

(Reuters)

Many nations appealed to Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, to reconsider his threat to tear up the Paris Agreement

Nearly 200 nations agreed around midnight on Friday to work out the rules for a landmark 2015 global deal to tackle climate change within two years in a new sign of international support for a pact opposed by US President-elect Donald Trump. At the end of two-week talks on global warming in Marrakesh, which were extended an extra day, many nations appealed to Trump, who has called climate change a hoax, to reconsider his threat to tear up the Paris Agreement for cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Showing determination to keep the Paris Agreement on track, the conference agreed to work out a rule book at the latest by December 2018. A rule book is needed because the Paris Agreement left many details vague, such as how countries will report and monitor their national pledges to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Two years may sounds like a long time, but it took four to work out detailed rules for the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, the Paris Agreement's predecessor, which obliged only developed countries to cut their emissions. Paris requires commitments by all. The final text also urged rich nations to keep building towards a goal of providing $100 billion a year in climate finance for developing countries by 2020. Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar told a news conference that Marrakesh had been the start of turning promises made in Paris into action. "We will continue on the path," he said, urging Trump to join other nations in acting to limit emissions. Fiji's Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama, who will host next year's climate meeting in Germany, invited Trump to drop his scepticism about climate change and visit the South Pacific nation to see the effects of stronger storms and rising seas. Trump plans to favour fossil fuels over renewable energies and has threatened to halt any U.S. taxpayer funds for U.N. climate programmes. On Thursday, governments reaffirmed their commitment to "full implementation" of the Paris accord which seeks to phase out greenhouse gas emissions this century and to limit a global average rise in temperature to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit). "Not one country has said that if President Trump pulls the United States out of Paris, they will follow him," said Alden Meyer of the Union of Concerned Scientists. Environmental groups said the outcome in Marrakesh was a step in the right direction, but many issues needed to be resolved over the next two years, including funds for developing nations. "Rich countries have been trying to wriggle out of their pledges to help poorer countries meet the costs of coping with impacts and greening their economies," said Harjeet Singh at ActionAid. Also on Friday, a group of 48 developing countries most at risk from climate change said they would strive to make their energy production 100 percent renewable "as rapidly as possible", as part of efforts to limit global warming. (Reuters)

Under Trump shadow, climate talks set 2018 as deadline to agree rules

Joining more than 100 other countries to combat climate change, Britain ratified the Paris Agreement on Thursday, promising to deliver on its commitments to create a safer, more prosperous future.&nbsp;

UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson signed the Agreement in Morocco as the countries met for the latest round of United Nations climate talks. There focus is on the implementation of the treaty by the end of the year.&nbsp;

The Paris Agreement had come into force on November 4 when more than 55 countries ratified the deal to control global greenhouse gas emissions and limit global temperature rises to &quot;well below&quot; 2 degrees Celsius.&nbsp;

But individual member states of the European Union had to get parliamentary approval for the ratification in their own countries. &quot;The Paris Agreement has completed the 21 day sitting period before parliament and the Instrument of Ratification has been signed by the foreign secretary,&quot; the foreign ministry said in statement.

After US President-elect Donald Trump threatened to &quot;cancel&quot; the hard-fought deal to limit global warming, the countries said this ratification and the comments by China, France and others should be viewed as a &quot;warning that any reneging on the agreement would make the US a global environmental pariah&quot;.

Speaking at the UN climate conference in Marrakesh, US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined the perils that await the world if leaders drag their feet on cutting planet-warming greenhouse gases. &quot;At some point even the strongest sceptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening,&quot; Kerry told delegates on Wednesday.

Chief adviser on climate at WWF-UK, Stephen Cornelius said, &quot;It has never been more important for the world to stand together on climate change and the UK joining the Paris Agreement is a welcome signal.&quot;

ClientEarth said: &quot;The UK&rsquo;s ratification of the Paris Agreement is a welcome sign that the world is forging ahead with climate action.

(WION with inputs from agencies)

Britain's foreign secretary signed the deal to limit global greenhouse gas emissions in Morocco after UK Parliament's clearance

Joining more than 100 other countries to combat climate change, Britain ratified the Paris Agreement on Thursday, promising to deliver on its commitments to create a safer, more prosperous future. UK foreign secretary Boris Johnson signed the Agreement in Morocco as the countries met for the latest round of United Nations climate talks. There focus is on the implementation of the treaty by the end of the year. The Paris Agreement had come into force on November 4 when more than 55 countries ratified the deal to control global greenhouse gas emissions and limit global temperature rises to "well below" 2 degrees Celsius. But individual member states of the European Union had to get parliamentary approval for the ratification in their own countries. "The Paris Agreement has completed the 21 day sitting period before parliament and the Instrument of Ratification has been signed by the foreign secretary," the foreign ministry said in statement. After US President-elect Donald Trump threatened to "cancel" the hard-fought deal to limit global warming, the countries said this ratification and the comments by China, France and others should be viewed as a "warning that any reneging on the agreement would make the US a global environmental pariah". Speaking at the UN climate conference in Marrakesh, US Secretary of State John Kerry underlined the perils that await the world if leaders drag their feet on cutting planet-warming greenhouse gases. "At some point even the strongest sceptic has to acknowledge that something disturbing is happening," Kerry told delegates on Wednesday. Chief adviser on climate at WWF-UK, Stephen Cornelius said, "It has never been more important for the world to stand together on climate change and the UK joining the Paris Agreement is a welcome signal." ClientEarth said: "The UK’s ratification of the Paris Agreement is a welcome sign that the world is forging ahead with climate action. (WION with inputs from agencies)

Britain ratifies Paris Agreement to combat climate change

The global accord to combat climate change agreed in Paris last year officially entered into force Friday, putting pressure on nearly 200 countries to start executing plans to slash their greenhouse gas emissions.

&quot;This is a moment to celebrate,&quot; said United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa. &quot;It is also a moment to look ahead with sobre assessment and renewed will over the task ahead.&quot;

The Paris Agreement seeks to wean the world economy off fossil fuels in the second half of the century, limiting the rise in average world temperatures to &quot;well below&quot; 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times.

It takes effect as greenhouse gas emissions are projected by 2030 to exceed by 12 billion to 14 billion tonnes what is needed to keep global warming to the internationally agreed target, the United Nations said this week.

Representatives from nearly 200 countries on Monday will convene in Marrakesh, Morocco for two weeks to discuss the nuts and bolts of the Paris accord and the policies, technology and finance needed to ensure the Paris goals are achieved.

&quot;The timetable is pressing because globally greenhouse gas emissions which drive climate change and its impacts are not yet falling &ndash; a fact which the Marrakesh meeting must have at the front of its concerns and collective resolve,&quot; said Espinosa.

World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the milestone also serves as a reminder to rich countries that pledged to help developing countries combat climate change.

&quot;Donor countries made a strong commitment in Paris. And now we must turn those commitments into action,&quot; he said.

(Reuters)

The enforcement of the deal will put pressure on nearly 200 countries to start executing plans to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions

The global accord to combat climate change agreed in Paris last year officially entered into force Friday, putting pressure on nearly 200 countries to start executing plans to slash their greenhouse gas emissions. "This is a moment to celebrate," said United Nations climate chief Patricia Espinosa. "It is also a moment to look ahead with sobre assessment and renewed will over the task ahead." The Paris Agreement seeks to wean the world economy off fossil fuels in the second half of the century, limiting the rise in average world temperatures to "well below" 2.0 degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above preindustrial times. It takes effect as greenhouse gas emissions are projected by 2030 to exceed by 12 billion to 14 billion tonnes what is needed to keep global warming to the internationally agreed target, the United Nations said this week. Representatives from nearly 200 countries on Monday will convene in Marrakesh, Morocco for two weeks to discuss the nuts and bolts of the Paris accord and the policies, technology and finance needed to ensure the Paris goals are achieved. "The timetable is pressing because globally greenhouse gas emissions which drive climate change and its impacts are not yet falling – a fact which the Marrakesh meeting must have at the front of its concerns and collective resolve," said Espinosa. World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said the milestone also serves as a reminder to rich countries that pledged to help developing countries combat climate change. "Donor countries made a strong commitment in Paris. And now we must turn those commitments into action," he said. (Reuters)

Paris climate deal comes into force

India, the world&#39;s third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, formally &nbsp;deposited its Instrument of Ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change today at the United Nations.&nbsp;

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&quot;India has deposited its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement with the United Nations,&quot; the UN&nbsp;said in a statement.&nbsp;

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India Deposits Instrument of Ratification of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParisAgreement?src=hash">#ParisAgreement</a> - 
62 States Deposited Accounting for 51.89% GHG<a href="https://t.co/8iK3BzpWqJ">https://t.co/8iK3BzpWqJ</a> <a href="https://t.co/ME7wB8iPpy">pic.twitter.com/ME7wB8iPpy</a>
&mdash; UN Climate Action (@UNFCCC) <a href="https://twitter.com/UNFCCC/status/782588746407546880">October 2, 2016</a></blockquote>
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Anil Madhav Dave, Indian minister of state (Independent Charge) for environment, forest and climate change government of India, also confirmed the development on microblogging site, Twitter.&nbsp;

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India deposits instrument of ratification <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ParisAgreement?src=hash">#ParisAgreement</a> on the International Day of Non-Violence <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GandhiJayanti?src=hash">#GandhiJayanti</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MEAIndia">@MEAIndia</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/UN">@UN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/UNFCCC">@UNFCCC</a> <a href="https://t.co/GKfS9T7n4B">pic.twitter.com/GKfS9T7n4B</a>
&mdash; India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) <a href="https://twitter.com/IndiaUNNewYork/status/782605596889579520">October 2, 2016</a></blockquote>
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With India`s move, a total of 62 countries accounting for almost 52 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions have now ratified the agreement to commit to take action against planet&#39;s rising temperatures, international news agency AFP observes.

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Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that the agreement would be signed on the occassion of the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. As the agreement was ratified, he explained how the Paris accord was in sync with Gandhian ideology. Mahatma Gandhi is hailed as&nbsp;the preeminent leader of Indian independence movement.&nbsp;

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Care &amp; concern towards nature is integral to the Indian ethos. India is committed to doing everything possible to mitigate climate change. <a href="https://t.co/cKLlIu2J7S">https://t.co/cKLlIu2J7S</a>
&mdash; Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) <a href="https://twitter.com/narendramodi/status/782622679538860032">October 2, 2016</a></blockquote>
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The climate change agreement aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to &quot;well-below two degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial times.&nbsp;

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The accord, &nbsp;agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris last December, needs ratification from 55 countries that account for at least 55 per cent of the planet`s greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp;

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Last month, the agreement received a boost at world&#39;s two top emitters, US and China signed the agreement.&nbsp;

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Meanwhile, United Nation Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated India for formally joining the Paris Agreement.

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&quot;The Secretary-General warmly congratulates India for ratifying and formally joining the Paris Agreement today.India`s leadership builds on the continued strong political momentum from Paris for urgent global action on climate change,&quot; said a statement by the spokesman of the Secretary-General.

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US President Barack Obama also hailed India&#39;s submission of instrument of ratification.&nbsp;

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It&#39;s also important to note that European Union (EU) is expected to complete the joint ratification of the climate pact by its 28 member states next week, Reuters observes adding that this will be a major milestone as it would take approvals past the 55 per cent mark and put the deal into effect ahead of the next round of climate talks in November, in Morocco.

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(WION with inputs from agencies) &nbsp; 
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The deal aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions by shifting away from fossil fuels to limit global warming to 'well below' 2 degrees Celcius

India, the world's third-largest emitter of greenhouse gases, formally deposited its Instrument of Ratification of the Paris Agreement on Climate Change today at the United Nations. "India has deposited its instrument of ratification of the Paris Agreement with the United Nations," the UN said in a statement. India Deposits Instrument of Ratification of #ParisAgreement - 62 States Deposited Accounting for 51.89% GHGhttps://t.co/8iK3BzpWqJ pic.twitter.com/ME7wB8iPpy — UN Climate Action (@UNFCCC) October 2, 2016 × Anil Madhav Dave, Indian minister of state (Independent Charge) for environment, forest and climate change government of India, also confirmed the development on microblogging site, Twitter. India deposits instrument of ratification #ParisAgreement on the International Day of Non-Violence #GandhiJayanti @MEAIndia @UN @UNFCCC pic.twitter.com/GKfS9T7n4B — India at UN, NY (@IndiaUNNewYork) October 2, 2016 × With India`s move, a total of 62 countries accounting for almost 52 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions have now ratified the agreement to commit to take action against planet's rising temperatures, international news agency AFP observes. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had earlier said that the agreement would be signed on the occassion of the birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi on October 2. As the agreement was ratified, he explained how the Paris accord was in sync with Gandhian ideology. Mahatma Gandhi is hailed as the preeminent leader of Indian independence movement. Care & concern towards nature is integral to the Indian ethos. India is committed to doing everything possible to mitigate climate change. https://t.co/cKLlIu2J7S — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) October 2, 2016 × The climate change agreement aims to slash greenhouse gas emissions and limit global warming to "well-below two degree Celsius compared to pre-industrial times. The accord, agreed by nearly 200 countries in Paris last December, needs ratification from 55 countries that account for at least 55 per cent of the planet`s greenhouse gas emissions. Last month, the agreement received a boost at world's two top emitters, US and China signed the agreement. Meanwhile, United Nation Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon congratulated India for formally joining the Paris Agreement. "The Secretary-General warmly congratulates India for ratifying and formally joining the Paris Agreement today.India`s leadership builds on the continued strong political momentum from Paris for urgent global action on climate change," said a statement by the spokesman of the Secretary-General. US President Barack Obama also hailed India's submission of instrument of ratification. It's also important to note that European Union (EU) is expected to complete the joint ratification of the climate pact by its 28 member states next week, Reuters observes adding that this will be a major milestone as it would take approvals past the 55 per cent mark and put the deal into effect ahead of the next round of climate talks in November, in Morocco. (WION with inputs from agencies)

India ratifies Paris Climate Change Agreement at UN

Global warming is on track to breach a 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) threshold by 2050 unless governments double their efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, seven of the world&#39;s top scientists warned&nbsp;on Thursday.

&nbsp;

&quot;Climate change is happening now, and much faster than anticipated,&quot; Sir Robert Watson, former head of the UN&#39;s Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the body charged with distilling climate science for policy makers, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.&nbsp;

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Due to climate change, devastating weather-related events&nbsp;including floods, drought, more intense storms, heat waves and wildfires, have doubled in number since 1990, a report put together by the seven scientists states says, the international news agency reports.&nbsp;

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&quot;Without additional efforts by all major emitters (of greenhouse gases), the 2C target could be reached even sooner,&quot; Watson said during a teleconference.&nbsp;

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&ldquo;The INDC&rsquo;s (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions is a term used under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions) are totally inadequate to meet the 2-degree Celsius goal,&rdquo; he was quoted as saying in the media reports.&nbsp;

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&ldquo;Governments must double and redouble their pledges,&rdquo; he said, adding that it&rsquo;s almost certain that the average global temperature will surpass the aspirational 1.5 degree goal as soon as 2030.

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The report, prepared on behalf the Universal Ecological Fund, an Argentine-based NGO and was co-authored by scientists from Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, the United Kingdom and the US, also says that pledges made under the Paris climate agreement are inadequate.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Inked by 195 nations in December, the Paris Agreement set an even more ambitious target, vowing to cap warming at &quot;well under&quot; 2C, and even 1.5C if possible. &nbsp;The deal may enter into force by the end of year.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

&quot;I think the 1.5 degree pathway is clearly not achievable. We&#39;ll pass it probably in the early 2030s,&quot; Watson observed&nbsp;adding there is a dire need to cut down the greenhouse gas emissions.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

The co-authors of the report include Carlo Carraro, scientific director of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei in Italy, and vice-chair of one of three IPCC working groups, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, deputy director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna and lead author the IPCC working group III.

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2015 was the hottest year on record, and 2016 is shaping up to be even warmer, US and European government scientists have forecast, according to AFP.

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Global warming is projected to cause more heatwaves, droughts, downpours and rising sea levels, Reuters observes.&nbsp;

&nbsp;

Average world temperatures this year are set for record highs, about 1C above pre-industrial times.

&nbsp;

(WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters)&nbsp;

&nbsp;

(Reuters)&nbsp;

Global?warming?is projected to cause more heatwaves, droughts, downpours and rising sea levels

Global warming is on track to breach a 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) threshold by 2050 unless governments double their efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions, seven of the world's top scientists warned on Thursday. "Climate change is happening now, and much faster than anticipated," Sir Robert Watson, former head of the UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC), the body charged with distilling climate science for policy makers, was quoted as saying by AFP news agency. Due to climate change, devastating weather-related events including floods, drought, more intense storms, heat waves and wildfires, have doubled in number since 1990, a report put together by the seven scientists states says, the international news agency reports. "Without additional efforts by all major emitters (of greenhouse gases), the 2C target could be reached even sooner," Watson said during a teleconference. “The INDC’s (Intended Nationally Determined Contributions is a term used under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions) are totally inadequate to meet the 2-degree Celsius goal,” he was quoted as saying in the media reports. “Governments must double and redouble their pledges,” he said, adding that it’s almost certain that the average global temperature will surpass the aspirational 1.5 degree goal as soon as 2030. The report, prepared on behalf the Universal Ecological Fund, an Argentine-based NGO and was co-authored by scientists from Austria, Argentina, Brazil, Italy, the United Kingdom and the US, also says that pledges made under the Paris climate agreement are inadequate. Inked by 195 nations in December, the Paris Agreement set an even more ambitious target, vowing to cap warming at "well under" 2C, and even 1.5C if possible. The deal may enter into force by the end of year. "I think the 1.5 degree pathway is clearly not achievable. We'll pass it probably in the early 2030s," Watson observed adding there is a dire need to cut down the greenhouse gas emissions. The co-authors of the report include Carlo Carraro, scientific director of the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei in Italy, and vice-chair of one of three IPCC working groups, Nebojsa Nakicenovic, deputy director of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Vienna and lead author the IPCC working group III. 2015 was the hottest year on record, and 2016 is shaping up to be even warmer, US and European government scientists have forecast, according to AFP. Global warming is projected to cause more heatwaves, droughts, downpours and rising sea levels, Reuters observes. Average world temperatures this year are set for record highs, about 1C above pre-industrial times. (WION with inputs from AFP, Reuters) (Reuters)

Global warming set to breach 2C limit by 2050, scientists warn

President Francois Hollande today signed a bill formally ratifying the Paris climate agreement reached last December by nearly 200 countries to limit global warming. 
 
Hungary is the only other European country to have already ratified the accord and aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius. 
 
Hollande urged other European nations to ratify the accord by year-end, saying 17 states that have done so already were not the largest carbon emitters, but were the worst affected by natural disasters attributed to rising temperatures. 
 
Led by France in December, some 195 countries reached the agreement, which was then signed by 175 nations in New York in April. 
 
The agreement will become binding when 55 countries, representing 55 per cent of emissions of greenhouse gases, ratify it. 
 
China and the United States, the world&#39;s top producers of greenhouse gas emissions, have pledged to formally adopt the agreement by the end of the year, raising the prospect of its being enforced much faster than anticipated. 
(Reuters)

175 countries signed the agreement on April 22, but only 17 countries ratified it

President Francois Hollande today signed a bill formally ratifying the Paris climate agreement reached last December by nearly 200 countries to limit global warming. Hungary is the only other European country to have already ratified the accord and aims to keep global temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius. Hollande urged other European nations to ratify the accord by year-end, saying 17 states that have done so already were not the largest carbon emitters, but were the worst affected by natural disasters attributed to rising temperatures. Led by France in December, some 195 countries reached the agreement, which was then signed by 175 nations in New York in April. The agreement will become binding when 55 countries, representing 55 per cent of emissions of greenhouse gases, ratify it. China and the United States, the world's top producers of greenhouse gas emissions, have pledged to formally adopt the agreement by the end of the year, raising the prospect of its being enforced much faster than anticipated. (Reuters)

France ratifies Paris Agreement on climate change

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