December 2018 Environment

• World Bank unveils USD 200 billion in climate action investment for 2021-25
  The World Bank has unveiled 200 billion US Dollars in climate action investment for 2021 to 2025, adding that this amounts to a doubling of its current five-year funding. The move coincides with a UN climate summit in Katowice.
  
  The World Bank said, the move represents a significantly ramped up ambition to tackle climate change and sends an important signal to the wider global community to do the same.
  
  The statement said the breakdown of 200 billion dollars would comprise approximately 100 billion in direct finance from the World Bank.
  
  Around one-third of the remaining funding will come from two World Bank Group agencies with the rest private capital mobilised by the World Bank Group.
  
  World Bank senior director for climate change, John Roome said, if the emissions are not reduced, 100 million more people will be living in poverty by 2030.
  
  
• Climate talks begin in Polish coal city Katowice
  UN Delegates from nearly 200 nations began two weeks of talks to tackle deep political divisions at the most important United Nations meeting on global warming since the landmark 2015 Paris deal to shift away from fossil fuels.
  
  Fijian Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama declared the UN climate summit open yesterday and handed over the presidency of the talks to Michal Kurtyka, Poland's deputy environment minister.
  
  The COP24 climate summit will see nations try to agree on ways of implementing the promises they made in the 2015 Paris treaty to limit temperature rises to avert runaway global warming.
  
  Environment Minister Dr Harsh Vardhan is leading the Indian delegation at the conference. The government has said that the conference is crucial for India and the country is committed to fighting climate change constructively.
  
  The CoP-24 is extremely important for us and also for the world.
  
  In our negotiations, we will try and touch on issues of differentiation, which is our concern, on issues of finance, on issues of adaptation and loss and damages. But we will play a very constructive role in trying to see that the world comes to an agreement at CoP-24 at Katowice.

Published date : 14 Dec 2018 11:50AM