In a dingy New York meeting room on Wednesday, rich government after rich government got up to let down the over 30 million East Africans in need of aid after the region’s worst drought in 40 years.
The United Nations asked for $7 billion to help mop up the climate disaster but it got just $2.4 billion – much of which was a re-announcement of old commitments. Oxfam called it “dismally inadequate”.
Coincidentally, the next day, Pakistan’s climate minister Sherry Rehman told a press briefing that pledges made at a similar event for Pakistan’s flood victims “have still not been realised”.
“UN flash appeals are no longer capitalised as they used to be”, she said, calling for the climate victims fund she had fought for at Cop27 to be set up as fast as possible.
This week’s news:
- Japan joins anti-plastic coalition ahead of Paris treaty talks, leaving US isolated
- Governments fall short in UN’s East Africa drought appeal
- UN advises against offsets for carbon removal technologies
- World Bank body delays vote on controversial loan to Brazilian dairy firm
- UK sued over plan to import more polluting Australian beef
- Restrictions on energy firm’s borrowing complicates South Africa’s energy transition
- Verra boss steps down after criticism of its carbon credits
- Lula set to improve Brazil’s climate target
- G7 calls on all countries to reach net zero by 2050
- Rich nations “understanding” of South African delay to coal plant closures
…and a job opportunity
From the impacts of climate disaster to their cause. The oil and gas industry is looking for a plastic life-raft to save its about-to-start-sinking business.
Next week, we will be reporting from Paris as talks on setting up a new plastics treaty get underway.
The oil and gas industry suffered a blow today, as Japan announced it was joining the “high-ambition coalition against plastic pollution”, which wants to reduce plastic production and not just promote recycling.
That leaves the US as the lone G7 member outside of the coalition. Their negotiators are in regular contact with the American Chemistry Council, whose board includes Total and Shell.
They told us that reductions in plastic production are the “wrong approach”. So far, the US government seems to be with them on that. Will that change in Paris next week?