by admin | May 25, 2021 | Business Summit, Events, Social Round-up, World
By Vishal Gulati,
Katowice (Poland) : The political phase of the ongoing UN climate negotiations, amid the assembly of nearly 200 nations delegates, including India, was held on Tuesday with ministers and high-level country representatives together with non-party stakeholders shared plans for the transformation of economies in line with the 2015 Paris goals.
Climate experts told IANS the facilitative dialogue, also called Talanoa Dialogue, illustrated the huge progress already underway across all sectors and together with the landmark 1.5 degrees Celsius Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report with urgency and also scaled up ambition.
The high-level Talanoa roundtables, part of the UN Conference of the Parties (COP24), constitute the final part of a year-long global review that governments, business and civil society have fed into following the questions: “Where are we? Where do we want to go? How do we get there?” with the goal to increase countries climate ambition, a climate expert said.
Mahindra Group Chief Sustainable Officer Anirban Ghosh said: “The Talanoa Dialogue provides opportunities to have these bold discussions without any inhibitions, we are all in this together and we must all help each other to do more.”
“Climate champions like India and China realise that reducing emissions will help their countries, not only in reducing rising temperature but also in terms of air pollution,” he said.
Though the champions must also realise that they need to spearhead other countries in taking bold actions too. Processes like the Talanoa Dialogue infuse trust in the process, which is an essential element of any progress, and found wanting in the negotiations right now, Ghosh added.
Jennifer Morgan, Greenpeace International Executive Director said the leaders must now rise to the challenge and negotiate a decision on ambition here.
“Our world is on fire and the question that must be answered at this COP is: Will decision makers take responsibility and act? Youth and activists around the world are rising up, warning that they have had enough of inaction,” she said.
US-based World Resources Institute Senior Associate Eliza Northrop said: “The Talanoa Dialogue has been a breath of fresh air — creating an inclusive and participatory process to agree on a shared vision for a low carbon prosperous future and what we need to do to get there.”
“The many stories shared by countries, business, regions and cities emphasize the opportunities available for us to go further, faster and together. What countries need to do now is to send an unequivocal signal that they have listened to the 1.5 Celsius report and will enhance their Nationally Determined Contributions by 2020.”
So what is the Talanoa Dialogue?
In the Paris Agreement provisions foresee a “global stocktake” every five years, starting in 2023, to prepare a new round of ever-increasing national climate commitments called Nationally Determined Contributions.
The Talanoa Dialogue which was launched at the last COP in Bonn is meant to serve as an initial stocktaking exercise to inspire progress among countries and encourage them to increase their climate ambition.
By March 2020, the parties must update their national climate strategies, which currently are not sufficient to reach the two degrees Celsius let alone the 1.5 degree target of the Paris Agreement.
Three crucial days are left starting Wednesday to ensure that the ongoing for COP-24 talks respond to the urgency highlighted by the IPCC report that says temperatures could rise 1.5 degrees as early as 2030 – with devastating impact.
To do that, in addition to delivering the Paris rulebook, the nations, both developed and developing, need to send a signal they are committed to collectively raise their ambition on climate change and united on a path forward to achieve that goal, say climate negotiators.
It means by December 14 there must be a clear and unambiguous outcome to that effect, a negotiator added.
(Vishal Gulati is in Katowice at the invitation of Climate Trends to cover the 24th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP24. He can be contacted at vishal.g@ians.in)
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Paris : At least 278 people have been detained in the French capital ahead of anti-government protests called by the so-called “Yellow Vest” movement in opposition to a rise in fuel tax, the police said on Saturday.
France was bracing for the renewed demonstrations with nearly 90,000 security personnel on the streets. Some 8,000 officers and 12 armoured vehicles were deployed in Paris alone, where shops were boarded up and sites like the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre Museum closed.
A police spokeswoman said that the number of arrests could rise over the course of the day.
Most of the arrested were detained for being part of groups likely to carry out acts of violence or for being in possession of objects that could be used for that purpose, the spokeswoman said, adding that they could be released once the relevant verifications were made.
The “yellow vest” movement began three weeks ago in opposition to a rise in fuel tax and planned increases in taxes on polluting forms of transport, but it has since evolved into broader demonstrations against the government of President Emmanuel Macron.
Ministers say the movement has been hijacked by “ultra-violent” protesters.
Last week, thousands wearing high-visibility yellow jackets clashed with the police in Paris as demonstrations escalated into anti-government violence.
The French government later suspended its plans to hike fuel taxes following the huge public backlash.
The French press has billed the unrest as Macron’s “greatest political test” since taking office in May 2017.
Protesters were also demanding higher wages, lower taxes, better pensions, easier university requirements and even the resignation of the President.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Paris : At least 200 people have been arrested after they clashed with the riot police and damaged properties in Paris during a traditional march to mark the International Workers’ Day, police said.
“We have been able to arrest 200 individuals stranded on Buffon street,” Paris Police chief Michel Delpuech told reporters on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported. He adding that 94 of them will face legal proceedings.
The arrest people are members of far-left anarchist groups, called as Black Blocs.
Seven others were detained. Three of them were suspected of throwing projectile at police officers and the rest for carrying prohibited arms, according to the prefect.
TV footages showed masked men set fire on vehicles and threw incendiary objects at a Macdonald’s restaurant, where windows were totally smashed. Flames appeared also at a construction equipment and Renault office. Police used water cannons and tear gas to disperse the crowd.
Around 1,200 hooded and masked protesters had turned up, earlier on Tuesday, on a rally of 14,500 of the so-called radicals, quite apart from the march planned by labour unions, which gathered 20,000 persons, according to the prefect.
“These individuals were motivated by the desire to disrupt the union meeting, to derail the day,” he said.
“When we saw this violence and the attackers’ determination, I immediately gave an order to stop the march,” he added.
Delpuech said “the extremely violent incidents” left one injured police officer and three people suffered minors wounds, adding that 1,500 police officers were deployed in French capital after a call on social media for a “Revolutionary Day”.
Other May Day protests were largely peaceful in French cities where between of 143,500 and 210,000 workers and students took the streets to protest President Emmanuel Macron’s reform drive.
—IANS
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Paris: French railway workers announced the launch of a general strike Saturday evening after airline pilots walked off the job earlier in the day in the latest protests against President Emmanuel Macron’s economic reforms.
According to information gathered by Anadolu Agency correspondents from French trade union representatives and transport sector officials, a week-long strike is set to disrupt the country’s transport system.
A strike by railway workers that began last week and is already causing transport chaos will continue until Monday.
The French Railways Administration (SNCF) said railway transportation would be seriously hampered Sunday and Monday, while it was not clear how many employees would take part.
As railway workers announced another strike for April 13 and 14, there was concern of further transportation chaos, especially with the start of a school holiday.
Railway access between France and its neighbors Germany, Switzerland, Italy and Spain will also be affected.
Negotiations Friday between four labor unions representing SNCF employees and Transport Minister Elisabeth Borne were inconclusive.
– Air France cancels flights
National airline Air France launched a new strike Saturday, its fifth since February.
The company announced the cancelation of 25 percent of its long-distance flights, 35 percent of its short-haul flights and 30 percent of its domestic flights.
Following a decision taken by 11 unions, Air France pilots, cabin crews and ground service employees will also go on strike Tuesday and Wednesday.
The airline is losing an estimated €20 million per day.
—AA
by admin | May 25, 2021 | World
Paris : The Seine river, which runs through Paris, kept rising on Sunday and led to the evacuation of about 1,500 people, police said.
Water level remained at a high level in the Paris region where 240 communes remained on alert of flooding.
About 1,500 citizens were called to leave their homes in Ile-de-France region including the French capital and surrounding zones, Xinhua quoted Michel Delpuech, chief of the Paris police body, as saying.
“The waters will only go away slowly,” Delpuech said, stressing that “everyone knows what he must do.”
“A maximum level, slightly lower than that reached during the flood of June 2016, is expected,” government-run agency vigicrues predicted.
In 2016, torrential rains had triggered heavy flooding, plunging parts of France’s central regions and Paris’ vibrant venues into chaos where the Seine rose to 6.1 meters. Six people had been reported dead due to floods.
A non-stop rainfall caused flooding notably in the Paris region where high water level submerged the river’s walkways and forced the Louvre museum to close the lower level of the Department of Islamic Art to the public till January 29.
The rail operator SNCF also closed the RER C commuter line that runs along the river and is used by tourists to reach the Eiffel Tower, Notre-Dame Cathedral and Versailles.
French weather agency Meteo France placed eight districts on orange alert till Monday afternoon due to persistent high flooding risks.
—IANS
