SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AP) — The Latest on the United Nations climate summit in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
A gaggle of climate activists gathered on the U.N. climate summit’s important venue to protest against fuel fossil corporations and other polluters.
The activists chanted slogans like, “kick polluters out, let people in” and sang and danced on the venue’s entrance.
Speakers on the protests blamed big polluters for destructive weather events, like flooding drought and rising see levels.
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“We stand here today to think about our people, to think about our planet,” one among the speakers said. “We now have to reclaim our rights now.”
Cansin Leylim, an activist from the 350.org climate group, criticized soft drink giant Coca Cola’s sponsorship of the event because it is a serious contributor to plastic pollution.
“The indisputable fact that Coca Cola is sponsoring the climate talks is, frankly, a joke,” she said, adding that fossil fuel lobbyists on the summit have surpassed “the combined delegations of the small island states, the developing countries.”
Protests at COP27 are rare and small and all have taken place contained in the venue’s Blue Zone, which is taken into account a U.N. territory.
A number of dozen activists held a silent protest early Thursday on the U.N. climate conference venue to focus on human rights violations globally, particularly in Egypt, the host country.
The protesters held signs that read, “No climate justice without human rights.”
Most of them wore white T-shirts and had their hands tied or a chunk of fabric of their mouths, to focus on the plight of jailed activists especially in Egypt where many pro-democracy activists have been behind bars for years.
“We’re in solidarity with Egyptian prisoners of conscience right away,” said Dipiti Bhatnagar, an activist with the Friends of the Earth International, a network of environmental organizations. “All human rights of everyone have to be respected with a purpose to achieve the dream of climate justice.”
One other environmental activist from Tanzania, Shamim Navil Nyanda, said human rights must be prioritized on the climate talks.
“We’d like to place human rights first. We’d like to take care of humanity, and together we are able to protect the planet,” she said.
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Seven Asian countries have saved roughly $34 billion this 12 months by utilizing solar energy as a substitute of fossil fuels, a report by three Asia-based climate think tanks said Thursday. The report comes as officials discuss the best way to drastically slash emissions on the U.N. climate talks within the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
The report found that the vast majority of the estimated savings are in China, where solar met 5% of the whole electricity demand and avoided roughly $21 billion in additional coal and gas imports in the primary half of this 12 months.
Japan saw the second-highest impact, with $5.6 billion in avoided fuel costs because of solar energy generation alone. In India, solar energy saved $4.2 billion in fuel costs in the primary half of the 12 months.
“Asian countries must tap into their massive solar potential to rapidly transition away from costly and highly-polluting fossil fuels,” said Isabella Suarez, one among the report’s authors and energy analyst on the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. “While ambitious targets are essential, follow through can be the important thing thing to observe moving forward.”
A report released Thursday says deforestation within the expansive Congo Basin rainforest increased by 5% in 2021.
The Forest Declaration Assessment said only two of the six Congo Basin countries who signed a 2021 commitment on halting and reversing deforestation by 2030 — Congo and Gabon — are on target with the goal. The report comes as officials and negotiators meet within the seaside resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt for U.N. climate talks.
“The Congo Basin Forest is at a crossroads,” said Marion Ferrat, senior the lead creator of the report. “Deforestation has been low in comparison with other tropical regions, but we’re seeing an upward trend.”
“If this trend continues, we risk losing the biggest remaining intact forest within the tropics together with its immense and irreplaceable value for biodiversity, climate, and other people.”
It’s estimated that $100 billion is required to preserve the Amazon Basin every year, said Lawrence Nsoyuni of the Geospatial Technology Group, who urged greater financial pledges.
“If world leaders are serious about their commitments to stop forest loss, they need to step up financial support for the Congo Basin,” he said.
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