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Biden summit brings new hope on climate but hard path ahead
Fatih Birol, executive director of the International Energy Agency, told the summit that climate-warming emissions are on track for the second largest increase in history in 2021 amid the recovery from the COVID pandemic.
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Biden seeks to rally world on climate as summit momentum builds
Just three months into office, Biden will on Thursday and Friday welcome 40 leaders for a virtual Earth Day summit, heralding a US return to the climate frontlines amid mounting worries over the rapid heating of the planet.
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UK vows to slash emissions by more than three-quarters by 2035
Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his latest legally binding target, which is 15 years earlier than once planned, ahead of staging COP26, the UN's annual climate gathering, in Glasgow in November.
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US vows to lead on climate, press world to reduce coal use
Casting climate change as a national security issue, Blinken warned both of major impact around the planet - and risks to the United States if it does not raise its own efforts.
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In world first, New Zealand to make banks report climate impact
Commerce Minister David Clark said the law would make climate reporting mandatory for banks, insurance companies and investment firms.
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Hunger rising in C. America amid climate, virus shocks: UN
The UN's World Food Programme said that levels of hunger had risen nearly four-fold in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, from 2.2 million people affected in 2018 to nearly eight million now.
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Biden at G7 debut vows action on climate, COVID recovery
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, this year's chair of the club of wealthy nations, will convene the virtual talks at 1400 GMT, vowing to free up any surplus coronavirus vaccines for poorer countries at a future date.
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Environmental degradation poses triple threat to humans: UN
A scientific assessment by the UN Environment Programme found that galloping economic growth has come at a devastating cost to the planet and urged governments, businesses and people around the world to act to reverse the damage before it is too late.
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Climate change may have had 'key role' in pandemic: study
The virus, which has killed more than two million people and caused unprecedented global disruption, is thought to have originated in bats in Southeast Asia.
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Two-thirds of world see 'climate emergency': UN survey
Young and old, rich and poor, respondents in 50 nations home to more than half the global population also chose from a score of policy options to tackle the problem, researchers at the UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the University of Oxford reported Wednesday.
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Global population hit by extreme drought set to double
Globally, one in 12 people could face severe water shortages every year by 2100, compared to an average of about one in 33 at the end of the 20th century.
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Earthlife: Govt's failure to tackle climate change a violation of human rights
Earthlife Director Makoma Lekalakala said this will not only aggravate the climate situation but also lock the country into a treacherous carbon-intense future.
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2020 ties 2016 as hottest year on record
The six years since 2015 are the six warmest ever registered, as are 20 of the last 21, evidence of a persistent and deepening trend, the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) reported.
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Dozens of nations miss deadline to boost climate ambition
Almost every country on the planet signed up to the 2015 Paris deal, which calls for capping global warming at 'well below' two degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels, and 1.5C if possible.
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Disaster losses in 2020 jump 25% to $187 billion - Swiss Re
Swiss Re cautioned that climate change was expected to exacerbate such perils, driving more extreme weather events such as wildfires and floods.
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UN chief urges global summit to declare 'climate emergency'
The Climate Ambition Summit, being held online, comes as the United Nations warns current commitments to tackle rises in global temperatures are inadequate.
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John Kerry says US will need to regain 'credibility' in climate talks
President-elect Joe Biden plans immediately to re-enter the 2015 Paris climate accord, which Kerry helped negotiate but from which defeated President Donald Trump withdrew the United States.
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Climate change threatens London's Karl Marx cemetery
Concerned at rampant fungi, freak storms and shifting graves, the cemetery's custodians are now seeking expert help to ensure its survival.
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Arctic endured one of its hottest years in 2020 - study
The sea ice floating in the Arctic Ocean melts in summer and freezes again in winter. The problem is each year it is melting a bit more in the warm weather and refreezing a bit less.
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Last month was the hottest November on record: EU
Satellite images analysed by C3S also showed that Arctic sea ice extent was the second lowest for November in the database, which began in 1979.
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2020 one of three hottest years ever recorded - UN
Greenhouse gases in the atmosphere - the main driver of climate change - hit record highs last year and continued climbing in 2020 despite measures to halt the COVID-19 pandemic.
