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Carbon Brief handpicks and explains the most important climate and energy stories from China over the past fortnight. Subscribe for free here.
Key developments
No new EU support for local solar manufacturers
AFFORDABILITY VS SECURITY: Despite calls from the EU solar industry to instigate “emergency measures to combat a surge in cheap imports from China”, the European Commission said that the use of trade measures must be “weighed against” the bloc’s need for affordable solar panels to achieve its low-carbon transition, according to the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post (SCMP). EU financial services commissioner Mairead McGuinness “offered no new support”, Reuters reported, instead pointing to existing EU measures and the newly-agreed Net Zero Industry Act, which “aims to fast-track permits for local manufacturing and to give products made in the EU, such as panels, an advantage in future clean tech tenders”.
CONFLICTING VIEWS: Reuters also underscored that that industry voices were “divided over the solution” – while solar manufacturers “crushed by cheaper imports and oversupply” were calling for more protection, other “green energy” industry representatives “noted that solar panel prices have climbed in the US” in response to duties on solar panels from south-east Asian nations, creating an “inflationary impact”. In its reporting, Politico added that “at a December meeting of EU ministers on solar manufacturing, five out of seven countries appeared resistant to any trade defence measures”, adding that the opinion was not universal, according to an anonymous source.
CHINA’S CRITICISM: Articles and commentaries criticising western reactions to China’s solar exports and extolling the benefits of China’s clean-energy exports have recently appeared in Chinese media. One China Daily article said that Chinese EVs are “popular in overseas markets”, while an editorial in the state-run newspaper argued that “emergency support measures” for Europe’s solar panel manufacturing industry would “create a ‘lose-lose situation’ and…leave the realisation of the bloc’s climate goals in question”. China Energy News reported that “European manufacturers do not have a clear technological advantage [over China]”, making Chinese manufacturing important to maintaining supply.
Renewables energy capacity could surpass coal in 2024
SET TO OVERTAKE: According to a forecast by the China Electricity Council, China’s installed wind and solar capacity will “overtake” coal for the first time this year, making up around 40% of installed power generation capacity against 37% of coal, Reuters reported. By 2024, China will build about 1,300 gigawatts (GW) of wind and solar capacity, exceeding its official target of 1,200GW by 2030, it added. The body “did not give a forecasted breakdown for actual power generation, which is still dominated by coal [at] nearly 60% of electricity consumed last year”, the outlet noted.
SOLAR STAR: China installed 217GW of new solar capacity in 2023, the country’s national energy administration (NEA) announced, “blowing away” the previous record of 88GW in 2022 and exceeding – in one year – the total amount of solar capacity built in any other nation, Bloomberg reported. According to the NEA, China also “almost quadrupled” its new energy storage capacity such as batteries to 31GW, SCMP reported. The paper – citing an analysis by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air’s Lauri Myllyvirta for Carbon Brief – said the “boom” in storage came as China made a “major pivot” in its macroeconomic strategy, with the country’s previous key economic drivers, such as the real estate sector, losing steam.
FOSSIL FALL: Profits fell 25% year-on-year in China’s coal mining sector, driven by falling coal prices, but climbed 72% for power firms, reported China Energy Net. Meanwhile, China discovered 107m tonnes of crude oil in Henan province, “equivalent” to more than half of the nation’s production in 2023, which comes at a time when authorities are making efforts to “enhance energy security and rely less on oil imports”, SCMP reported. China Electricity News published a comment by Li Chuangjun, director of the new energy and renewable energy department of the NEA. Li wrote that, in the year ahead, renewable energy will “continue to develop at a high speed”, although this would be in accordance with “promoting stability alongside progress and establishing before breaking”.
Xi urges greater ‘green’ growth
GREEN UNDERTONES: In a meeting of China’s central committee – consisting of the country’s most senior officials – at the end of January, President Xi Jinping called for continued emphasis on “green” development, saying that “green” is the “underlying colour of high-quality development”, BJX News reported. China must “unswervingly take the road of prioritising the environment”, the energy news outlet quoted him as saying. Shanghai-based newspaper the Paper added that Xi also called for China to “accelerate green science and technology innovation…strengthen the green manufacturing industry, develop the green services industry, grow the [new] energy industry [and] develop green and low-carbon industries”.
EYES ON SHENZHEN: China’s state news agency Xinhua News recently published a special feature naming Xi as a “leader in cultural heritage and innovation”, adding that “under his leadership, China’s ecological environmental protection has undergone historic, transformative and comprehensive changes, with bluer skies, greener mountains and clearer water”. Examples of Xi’s leadership mentioned in the article included innovations in the city of Shenzhen – “from electric cars to new drones, from low-carbon pilots to smart cities”. Shenzhen, for its part, has recently announced that it will “double down on efforts to shore up” its advanced manufacturing industry, planning to see industrial output exceed 1.5tn yuan ($209bn) in new [low-carbon] energy and other strategic emerging industries in 2024, according to SCMP.
Carbon emissions trading regulations published
FULL TEXT: China has released the full text of new regulations to govern its mandatory national carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS), China Daily announced. The regulations “focus on the allocation of responsibilities, designating the state council’s ecological and environmental department to oversee and manage carbon emissions trading” and “specify details including the products eligible for trading, trading methods and the distribution of carbon emissions quotas”, the state-run newspaper explained.
INSTITUTIONAL GUARANTEE: Securities Times said that the new regulations grant the ministry of ecology and environment (MEE) “greater authority to regulate non-compliance in activities such as carbon market compliance, data reporting and verification”. An article by Zhu Xue, professor at Renmin University, and posted on the official MEE website, argued that the law “ensures that carbon emission trading activities have a legal basis” and “also provides an important institutional guarantee [from the Chinese government]…to actively and steadily progress towards carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”.
GREEN CERTIFICATES: China also issued a directive to strengthen the integration of “green electricity certificates (GECs) and energy-saving and carbon reduction policies” to “vigorously promote” the consumption of non-fossil energy, reported BJX News. The policy proposes “incorporating…traded volumes of GECs into evaluation of provincial governments’ energy-saving targets”, it said. Securities Times said that China will define “functional boundaries and articulation between the GECs, the ETS and the voluntary greenhouse gas emission reduction mechanism [CCERs]”. In a LinkedIn article, Shanghai-based David Fishman, senior manager at consultancy the Lantau Group, said that the directive could lead to China “making renewable energy consumption [or purchase of equivalent GECs] mandatory” for energy-intensive companies for the first time. To date, only grid firms and power retailers have had mandatory quotas – effectively renewable portfolio standards – he said.
Spotlight
China’s environment minister outlines goals for 2024
On 23 January, China’s ecology and environment minister Huang Runqiu outlined his department’s achievements in 2023 and priorities for 2024, in a 20,000 character-long (or approximately 14,000 word-long) speech. In this issue, Carbon Brief translates some of his key talking points.
The speech was delivered at the ministry of ecology and environment (MEE) annual “work conference” – a meeting that looks at progress to date and priorities for the year ahead.
Huang’s speech reflects on remarks made by President Xi Jinping at a major conference in July 2023, where he underscored the importance of “building a beautiful China”. It also outlines eight priorities that Huang’s department will pursue this year.
China’s approach to environmental protection in 2024
On building an ‘ecological civilisation’: “2023 was…a milestone year in the field of ecological environment…[President Xi Jinping] delivered an important speech…which provides an action plan and scientific guidance for us to continue to promote the construction of ecological civilisation in a new era.”
On challenges to China’s emissions-cutting efforts: “China’s industrial structure is still characterised by high energy consumption and high carbon emissions, coal consumption remains high, freight remains mainly powered by heavy goods vehicles [and] this year the economy will continue to rebound. Therefore, the pressure on emissions reduction efforts is not insignificant.”
On loss of ecosystems and pollution incidents: “The overall quality of the ecosystem remains low and important ecological spaces continue to be crowded out. Prolonged periods of heavily-polluted weather occur occasionally, and ecological and environmental incidents are still frequent and high-risk. There are nearly 10,000 tailing ponds across the country, and historical stockpiles of solid waste total tens of billions of tonnes.”
On the need for more regulation: “There are shortcomings in ecological and environmental science and technology support, insufficient use of market-oriented methods of environmental management [and] lags in construction of ecological and environmental infrastructure…In some places, ecological and environmental supervision is either superficial or has not been established.”
On timelines for near-term progress: “By 2027, green and low-carbon development will be promoted in depth, total emissions of major pollutants will be continuously reduced, the quality of the ecological environment will be increased…and China’s ecological security will be effectively guaranteed.” [The 2027 deadline is also a key target in recent opinions issued by China’s leadership to meet environmental protection goals under the ‘beautiful China initiative’.]
On developing ‘green’ steel: “[In 2023] a total of 420m tonnes of crude steel production capacity saw a whole-process ultra-low emission transformation.”
On China’s national carbon market: “The MEE promoted the successful conclusion of the second compliance cycle of the national carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS), which included 2,257 key emissions units in the power industry, covering more than 5bn tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually.”
On ‘politicisation’ of climate cooperation: “Global ecological and environmental issues are increasingly politicised, with some western countries playing the climate card to introduce carbon tariffs and other policies.”
Key tasks for 2024
On promoting pilot zones for a ‘beautiful China’: “China will implement the opinions on comprehensively promoting the construction of a beautiful China…and construct beautiful China pioneer [pilot] zones.”
On maintaining the fight against pollution: “The MEE will implement the action plan for continuous improvement of air quality…and promote the ultra-low emission transformation of the iron and steel, cement and coking industries.”
On promoting ‘green, low-carbon and high-quality’ development: “The MEE will…support high-quality development policies and measures for economic recovery and strengthen the environmental assessment services for major investment projects…prepare guidance on strengthening construction of the ETS, gradually expanding the coverage of industries…finalise a national greenhouse gas emissions factor database…study the EU’s carbon border adjustment mechanism…[and] promote implementation of the methane emission control action plan.”
On increasing supervision of ecological protection and restoration: “China will fully implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework [and] further promote China’s biodiversity conservation strategy and action plan (2023-30).”
On ensuring nuclear and radiation safety: “The MEE will continue to improve nuclear safety supervision systems and…strengthen capacity for forward-looking research and judgement.”
On strengthening ecological environment inspection, law enforcement and risk prevention: “The MEE will implement the third round of central ecological environmental protection inspections.”
On promoting ecological environment innovation: “The MEE will issue guidance on strengthening scientific and technological innovation in the field of ecology and environment to promote the construction of a beautiful China.”
On environmental governance and COP29: “The MEE will continue deepening reform of vertical [policy] management systems…and accelerate construction of a credit system to supervise environmental protection…[The MEE will] cooperate on environment and climate change with key countries…to promote positive outcomes at COP29.”
Watch, read, listen
GREEN INDUSTRY: The Institute for Global Decarbonisation Progress published an analysis of recently published “steady growth action plans” that outline China’s aims for developing 10 key sectors, identifying the “green and low-carbon initiatives” in each of them.
SOLAR HISTORY: BJX News summarised the history of China’s supportive subsidies for the solar industry, tracking government policy from 2008 to the present day.
COLLATERAL: In an article for the Conversation, Oxford University’s Prof Nikita Sud said China’s investment in clean-energy in Indonesia is “reinforcing entrenched inequalities and hierarchies”, as development of a new solar panel factory could displace the location’s 7,500 residents.
GRASSROOTS ADAPTATION: China Dialogue covered a study which found that “climate change risks are being…adapted to at the grassroots level in southern China” and urges policymakers to “identify vulnerable populations” and understand their needs.
New science
Increasing occurrence of sudden turns from drought to flood over China
Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres
The number of “sudden turn from drought to flood” (STDF) events in China increased by 2.8 events per decade over 1961-2020, according to new research. The authors investigated the long-term trends and variability of STDFs in China over 1961-2020. They found that STDFs are prevalent in north and north-east China and the Yangtze River delta. “The probability of a drought being followed by a severe flood is approaching 35% in northern and north-eastern China,” they added. The increase has mainly occurred in late spring and early summer, and is mainly due to “increasing flood frequency and volatility of precipitation”, the paper found.
Faking for fortune: Emissions trading schemes and corporate greenwashing in China
Energy Economics
A new study has found that China’s national carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) currently acts as a “catalyst for corporate greenwashing” because it intensifies financial pressures on said companies. The study also found that “greenwashing behaviour” induced by the ETS is more apparent where “market competition is higher, firms are smaller, R&D investment is lower or intensity of environmental regulation is lower”.
Researchers looked at 80 countries involved in China’s “belt and road initiative” (BRI) between 2006 and 2018 to evaluate their changing trends of energy poverty. The study found that although countries in sub-Saharan Africa, south Asia and west Asia still face severe energy poverty, it has nevertheless steadily declined during this period. China’s foreign direct investment – and its wider effects – can “alleviate local energy poverty by enhancing energy accessibility, improving energy infrastructure and increasing energy supply levels”, the authors said.
China Briefing is compiled by Anika Patel and edited by Wanyuan Song and Simon Evans. Please send tips and feedback to china@carbonbrief.org
The post China Briefing 8 February: Xi’s ‘green’ call; Renewables to top coal; No new EU solar support appeared first on Carbon Brief.
China Briefing 8 February: Xi’s ‘green’ call; Renewables to top coal; No new EU solar support
The head of the United Nations has called on all countries to deliver plans for phasing out their production and consumption of fossil fuels, as rising oil prices and climate shocks threaten energy and human security.
In his farewell speech to the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in New York on Tuesday, outgoing UN Secretary-General António Guterres for the first time urged “every government to adopt a national plan to transition away from fossil fuels” aligned with limiting warming to 1.5C. The plans, he said, should include “clear timelines and protection for affected workers and communities”.
“We know fossil fuel interests won’t step aside on their own. For decades, Big Oil has treated the atmosphere as an open sewer – and cashed in on the consequences,” Guterres told diplomats in his speech opening the leaders’ segment of the assembly, also calling out the industry’s windfall profits after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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COP31 electrification pledge leaves out clean power commitment
Campaigners and experts say the goal’s effectiveness in reducing emissions may be limited unless countries agree to meet it using only clean energy -
Climate change and energy transition rise up national security agenda
Leaders highlighted the national security risks posed by global warming and fossil fuel dependency at New York Climate Week
At last year’s COP30 climate summit in Belém, a group of about 80 governments led a failed push to develop a global roadmap to transition away from fossil fuels. Brazil instead proposed to draft a voluntary report that will be presented this year ahead of COP31 after countries and organisations submitted their views to the process.
Governments first agreed to transition away from fossil fuels in energy systems at COP28 in Dubai in 2023, but have since failed to agree at UN climate talks on how to move forward with that commitment, as efforts to do so have been effectively blocked by large fossil fuel-producing countries.
France, Netherlands issue plans
A few countries have moved forward with their own transition plans. France launched the first one at an international conference on the issue in April and the Netherlands followed suit this month. Not being major fossil fuel producers, both European nations aim to end their coal, oil and gas consumption by 2050, although the Dutch plan was criticised for not setting specific phase-out dates for the dirty fuels.
Adão Soares Barbosa, climate ambassador from Timor-Leste and chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) group in the UN climate negotiations, told a press briefing on Tuesday that last year’s discussions on shifting away from fossil fuels need to continue at COP31, adding that developed countries should lead the way with transition plans and curb their use of fossil fuels.
“We are expecting that we can make a request to major-emitting countries to limit emissions from this sector,” he said. “For LDCs, we’ll also try to reduce fossil fuel use, but it will depend on national circumstances.”
Samoa’s lead negotiator Anna Rasmussen said small island states have outlined their energy transition plans in their nationally determined contributions (NDCs) – countries’ plans for meeting the Paris Agreement goals – but added “we’re still waiting” for climate finance to help implement those plans.
Despite the global push to clean up the energy mix, countries leading climate talks are themselves also expanding fossil fuel production. COP31 co-presidents Australia and Türkiye have both recently given the green light to mine and drill more coal, oil and gas, and still depend on fossil fuels for 60% and 56% of their electricity production respectively.
Fossil fuel expansion threatens COP31 hosts’ credibility, experts warn
COP30 host nation Brazil has also persisted with its plans to explore potential new oil reserves near the mouth of the Amazon River – a region known as the Equatorial Margin.
These are moving ahead despite President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva announcing last year at the Belém climate summit that the country would develop its own fossil fuel phase-out plan. This is still under development with little information about its progress and may be hampered by elections next month.
“We have achieved our self sufficiency in oil and will continue to explore the potential of new reserves, such as those in the Equatorial Margin,” Lula said in his speech to the UNGA on Tuesday. “But we will not abandon the environmental agenda,” he insisted. “We will move forward with the roadmap for the decarbonisation of the Brazilian economy.”
Transition far cheaper than status quo
Speaking at the main Climate Week NYC venue, Mads Christensen, executive director of Greenpeace International, said given the fast-shifting cost dynamics for both fossil fuels and renewables, countries should revise their existing energy plans because they are now out of date.
Gas power generation now costs around 150 euros per megawatt compared with around 50 euros for solar with battery storage – making the latter two-thirds cheaper.
“If these plans were updated, I think we would have a much faster transition because it simply makes good financial sense,” he said.
Tzeporah Berman, founder and chair of the Fossil Fuel Treaty Initiative, told Climate Home News that the Santa Marta process for transitioning away from fossil fuels (TAFF), launched at April’s conference, could help countries discuss, design and develop their national roadmaps, as well as mobilise the international cooperation required to actually deliver them.
“Many countries want not only national roadmaps but a global roadmap off the highway to hell,” she added. “A global plan is necessary to ensure the rules aren’t rigged against those who want to do the right thing and so all countries can make credible commitments.”
The second TAFF conference will be held in the Pacific island nation of Tuvalu next spring, co-chaired by Ireland. In New York, Tuvalu’s climate minister Maina Vakafua Talia called for stepped-up efforts to tackle the fossil fuel use that is threatening his country’s “demise” by driving global warming.
“The world is running out of time, and so I ask every government to come to… Tuvalu with solutions – real solutions, not false solutions – for us to ensure that we have a pathway and a way forward,” he urged.
The post UN chief urges countries to adopt fossil fuel transition plans with timelines appeared first on Climate Home News.
UN chief urges countries to adopt fossil fuel transition plans with timelines
COP31’s flagship initiative to accelerate the electrification of the world’s economy has been criticised for failing to include a commitment to produce the power from clean energy.
Governments that sign the voluntary pledge at this year’s UN climate summit will commit to increasing electricity’s share of total energy consumption to 35% globally by 2035 in line “with pathways consistent with keeping 1.5C alive”, the text unveiled by the Turkish presidency on Tuesday says.
While the document says that the electrification goal is “complementary to efforts to expand renewable energy and improve energy efficiency”, governments are not explicitly asked to commit to producing the extra power with clean sources and driving down greenhouse gas emissions.
The text instead says the “use of clean electricity” will vary according to national circumstances. Fossil fuels are not mentioned by name, although the pledge cites the COP28 Global Stocktake decision, which called for “transitioning away from fossil fuels” in energy systems.
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Climate change and energy transition rise up national security agenda
Leaders highlighted the national security risks posed by global warming and fossil fuel dependency at New York Climate Week -
Fossil fuel expansion threatens COP31 hosts’ credibility, experts warn
Türkiye and Australia are pushing coal, oil and gas at home with no national timeline for their own fossil fuel phase-out
COP31 president Murat Kurum said earlier this month that the push to make electrification more “widespread” – through measures like the rollout of electric vehicles and heat pumps – will “automatically” lead to a reduction in the use of fossil fuels.
But many campaigners disagree, criticising the proposed pledge for failing to give an explicit signal on the fossil fuel transition.
Lack of clarity on energy sources
“Let’s not let electrification become the Trojan horse of our times, used to hide new fossil fuel consumption rather than promote renewable energy,” Claire Smith from civil society umbrella group Beyond Fossil Fuels said in reaction to the pledge’s publication.
She added that the commitment will only help address the climate crisis if electrification is powered by a flexible energy system where solar and wind are complemented by enhanced grids and storage.
The pledge’s text says that the electricity goal should be supported by “diverse and sustainable energy sources”, but it stops short of explaining what these sources are.
Alden Meyer, an international climate policy expert and senior associate at think-tank E3G, said the details of the pledge matter to how effective it will be in helping bring planet-heating emissions down.
“It has to be clean, and we haven’t got enough clarity on a guarantee that it will be a decarbonisation move,” he told Climate Home News.
China’s industrial engine starts to break its fossil fuel habit
According to an annual electricity review from energy think-tank Ember, in 2025 renewables edged ahead of coal power for the first time in 100 years. Continued growth in solar and wind pushed the share of renewables above a third of global electricity generation to just under 34%, compared with coal at 33%, it said.
Janet Milongo, energy Transition lead at CAN International, said success cannot be measured simply by how much of the world’s final energy consumption becomes electric.
“We must ask what generates that electricity, who has access to it, who owns the infrastructure, and whether it is helping communities transition away from fossil fuels,” she added.
Electrification alone can’t meet climate goals
Analysis published by the IEA on Tuesday, alongside the pledge, found that it would already be cost-effective to raise electricity’s share of global energy use from 23% today to around 33% with existing technologies, putting the COP31 goal “within striking distance”. Based on current policies, however, the share reaches only about 30% by 2035.
Hitting the 35% target would cut fossil fuel importers’ import bills by around $400 billion a year by 2035, the IEA said. At the higher prices caused by the conflict in the Middle East, that saving rises to more than $500 billion.
Speaking at New York Climate Week on Tuesday, IEA executive director Fatih Birol said the agency’s figures show that in 2026, about 80% of all new power plants built will run on renewables, with a few percentage points coming from nuclear power and the rest from fossils fuels. “So therefore, electrification itself will lead reduction of the [greenhouse gas] emissions,” he added.
However, the IEA warned in its new report that electrification “by itself is not enough” to meet the world’s climate targets. It noted that, if “low-emission” sources of power continue to simply grow in line with current policy scenarios, that would be only just enough to cover the extra demand from electrification, driving a modest decline in emissions.
Matt Webb, associate director of global clean power diplomacy at E3G, said the pledge is a “welcome signal of leadership” and can help COP31 be a “critical moment” for countries to double down on the energy commitments made at COP28.
But to secure the full benefits of electrification, he added, it is essential that we “urgently clean up” by speeding up the rollout of renewables and developing credible national plans to transition away from fossil fuels.
The post COP31 electrification pledge leaves out clean power commitment appeared first on Climate Home News.
COP31 electrification pledge leaves out clean power commitment
People around the world have donated almost $90 million to a government-led campaign to help Nepal recover from its recent devastating Himalayan flood, according to a Nepali climate negotiator, even as the UN chief slammed the tiny amount of money in a new fund to deal with such disasters.
Individuals and companies from Nepal and abroad have chipped in from $5 to “many millions” of dollars to the Prime Minister’s Disaster Relief Fund, Manjeet Dhakal, an advisor to the poorest countries at UN climate talks, told an event on Monday focused on early warning systems.
The prompt and substantial response from the public contrasts with the slower, more limited support that is potentially on offer from the UN’s new Fund for Responding to Loss and Damage (FRLD), set up by governments to compensate developing countries for climate disasters.
Comment: Human security relies on adapting to the world’s new climate reality
Over three weeks have passed since Nepal’s finance and environment ministers asked the FRLD board to take an urgent decision to allocate funding to help Nepal protect people and restore essential services in the wake of the disaster, which caused around 1,450 deaths and left more than 5,000 people missing.
“Time is of the essence,” the ministers wrote in an appeal to the FRLD on August 31, which was swiftly followed by a letter from a group of developing-country board members urging the FRLD board’s co-chairs to organise an extraordinary meeting to come up with a response.
Loss and damage fund hesitates
Yet, despite informal online meetings, the co-chairs have yet to convene a meeting with the power to allocate funds. The board’s next scheduled meeting begins on December 15.
Dhakal said on Monday that the request has “received some positive response, but still there is some discussion ongoing about how to respond to that”.
“If they can’t respond in a timely manner, then is [the fund] fit for purpose in terms of disasters that the world would be facing in the coming years? The scale and intensity of these disasters is increasing,” he said.
With just $820 million pledged to it by rich countries and not all of that yet delivered, the FRLD has earmarked just $350 million to spend in its initial phase and without further contributions could run out of money next year.
Because of these limited funds, and a huge number of requests for funding totalling nearly $3 billion, the FRLD has said it will only give out a maximum of $20 million to each project for now. It has yet to approve funding for any projects.
Dhakal recently told The Nation magazine that this amount was just a “symbolic gesture”. Nepal’s government has estimated the costs of recovery and reconstruction at $4.8 billion, with homes, roads, bridges, hospitals and hydropower stations in the affected area needing to be repaired and rebuilt.
“Ridiculously small” funding
In a speech to the UN General Assembly on Tuesday, the body’s outgoing Secretary-General António Guterres criticised the “ridiculously small” level of funds made available by wealthy governments to the FRLD. Developed countries should “make the loss and damage fund work at scale”, he said.
The Portuguese diplomat told world leaders that when he travelled to Nepal three years ago, he had “sounded the alarm on accelerating glacier melt, warning that the rooftops of the world are caving in”.
“Some dismissed it all as overstating dangers, but as tragic events have shown, impacts are arriving sooner, hitting harder, and spreading further than many anticipated,” he said.
A recent study by scientists with the World Weather Attribution group found that climate change contributed to the rock-ice avalanche which sparked a huge flash flood along a river valley on the Nepal-Tibet border.
Speaking at a separate event in New York on Monday, leading climate scientist Johan Rockström highlighted those findings on the role of global warming in the Himalayan disaster.
“This will be potentially the first poster-child case of a loss and damage invoice, because here we have a proven case of a catastrophe which would not have occurred if it hadn’t been for human-caused climate change,” he said.
The post As loss and damage fund stalls, Nepal crowdfunds flood relief appeared first on Climate Home News.
As loss and damage fund stalls, Nepal crowdfunds flood relief
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