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UN climate summit hangs on money for 'loss and damage'

The first draft of COP27 text is published, and to quote The Guardian “this early draft of a potential cover decision for the Cop27 UN climate summit in Egypt, now entering its final days, is that it is a monster.” In this draft it would keep a target to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius but it has left many contentious issues unresolved ahead of a final deadline.

UN climate talks were deadlocked Thursday over calls to create a special fund to cover the losses suffered by vulnerable nations hit by natural disasters, raising the risk that negotiations could collapse. A 130-nation group known as G77+China issued a proposal to create the fund at the COP27 and agree on the nitty-gritty details at the next UN talks in Dubai in 2023.

Egypt's COP-27 president urged negotiators to speed up the pace on overcoming their differences, while poor nations slammed the draft for failing to address their need for funds to cope with damage already being wrought by climate-driven storms, droughts, and floods.

UN climate summit hangs on money for 'loss and damage'
UN climate talks were deadlocked Thursday over calls to create a special fund to cover the losses suffered by vulnerable nations hit by natural disasters, raising the risk that negotiations could collapse. A 130-nation group known as G77+China issued a proposal to create the fund at the COP27 and agree on the nitty-gritty details at the next UN talks in Dubai in 2023.

Getting rid of fossil fuels at a climate summit is harder than you’d think
Despite vast amounts of evidence from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, there has never been a formal agreement at climate talks that the world should reduce fossil fuel use. The most significant step in that direction came in last year’s Glasgow pact, which reached a pained consensus supporting a “phase down of unabated coal power”.

Australia told to end new fossil fuel subsidies if it wants Pacific support to host climate summit
Vanuatu’s climate change minister says Pacific support for Australian bid should be conditional. Australia must stop subsidising new fossil fuel developments if it is to win a key Pacific nation’s support for its plan to co-host a major UN climate summit in 2026.

Global heating to drive stronger La Niña and El Niño events by 2030, researchers say
Stronger La Niña and El Niño events due to global heating will be detectable in the eastern Pacific Ocean by 2030, decades earlier than previously expected, new modeling suggests.

Australian government pledges to recycle all plastics by 2040
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek says despite the collapse of a major soft plastics recycling scheme, the federal government has set a target to recycle or reuse 100 percent of plastic waste by 2040 and end plastic pollution.

Laing O’Rourke charges up electric cranes
Construction group Laing O’Rourke will spend $12 million bringing electric cranes to Australia next year as it tries to reduce dependence on diesel-powered machinery and slash carbon emissions.

New laws needed to stop building houses in flood, bushfire zones: federal minister
New laws are urgently needed to stop houses being built in high-risk floodplains or bushfire zones, says federal Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt, as he warns current planning systems are not fit for purpose in the face of escalating natural disasters driven by climate change.

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