Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Alok Sharma urges to ditch coal to avert 'catastrophe'

WORLD LEADERS must agree to make coal a thing of the past at November's summit or there will be a climate catastrophe due to global warming, Britain's climate tsar has said.

Britain, which is hosting the UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, known as COP26, has said leaders should go far beyond "hot air" to mitigate the effects of climate change for both rich and poor countries.


COP26 president Alok Sharma, a British minister in charge of preparations for the Glasgow summit, on Friday (14) said that in order to meet the global climate goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, the world would need to ditch coal altogether.

"If we do not act now, the science tells us these effects will become more frequent and more brutal; that we will witness a scale of global catastrophe the likes of which the world has not seen," Sharma said.

"Glasgow must be the COP that consigns coal to history,"

The world's biggest coal producers are China, India, Indonesia, Australia, the US, Russia and the EU. China is also the world's biggest consumer, using more than half of the world's coal produced, according to the International Energy Agency.

President Xi Jinping has said he expects carbon emissions to continue rising until 2030.

'Decisive decade'

Sharma, a 53-year-old former business minister, said he asked his daughters what he should say to the world.

"Their response was simple: 'please, tell them to pick the planet,'" Sharma said.

"Since the Paris Agreement was signed. The world has not done nearly enough. "Now, to keep 1.5 degrees within reach, to keep 1.5 alive, we must halve global emissions by 2030. So this is the decisive decade."

Climate activists say the world's richest countries, the biggest polluters and most of the capitalist system are going far too slowly to stop the most devastating effects of climate change, despite grand public pronouncements.

Sharma said all countries should set net-zero mid-century targets. with concrete 2030 emission reduction plans.

"So we are calling on countries to commit to all new cars being zero emission by 2040 or earlier," he said, adding that sustainable finance would be a key focus of the summit.

Sharma said rich countries should respond to debt distress and support the International Monetary Fund's Special Drawing Rights process to support sustainable recoveries.

More For You

Former police officer arrested in Rotherham investigation

Investigators believe the earlier offences happened between 1995 and 2002 (Photo for representation: iStock)

Former police officer arrested in Rotherham investigation

A FORMER police officer has been arrested in connection with the ongoing investigation into child sexual abuse in Rotherham, authorities revealed on Tuesday (1).

The former constable, who is in his 50s, was taken into custody on Monday (31). He is suspected of raping a teenage girl in the South Yorkshire town in 2004, according to officials.

Keep ReadingShow less
Modi Xi

Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping during their meeting in October 2024.

75 years of India-China relations: Modi, Xi call for stronger ties

INDIAN prime minister Narendra Modi and Chinese president Xi Jinping exchanged messages on Tuesday to mark the 75th anniversary of India-China diplomatic relations.

Modi stated that the development of bilateral ties contributes to global stability and a multipolar world, while Xi called for a "dragon-elephant tango" to strengthen cooperation between the two countries, China's state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Keep ReadingShow less
Sri Lanka forms committee to address UK sanctions
Anura Kumara Dissanayake

Sri Lanka forms committee to address UK sanctions

THE Sri Lanka government on Wednesday (2) formed a committee to recommend measures regarding the UK's decision to impose sanctions on three former military commanders who led the campaign that crushed the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 2009.

Health minister Nalinda Jayatissa told reporters that foreign minister Vijitha Herath, justice minister Harshana Nanayakkara and deputy minister of defence Aruna Jayasekara would comprise the committee that would consult experts for the purpose.

Keep ReadingShow less
Gujarat-blast-ANI

The blast caused the factory’s concrete roof to collapse, scattering debris and body parts across the area, officials confirmed. (Photo: ANI)

ANI

Death toll rises to 21 in Gujarat firework factory explosion

AN EXPLOSION at an illegal firecracker factory in Gujarat's Deesa town killed 21 people and injured several others on Tuesday, officials said.

The blast caused the factory’s concrete roof to collapse, scattering debris and body parts across the area, officials confirmed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Child benefit payments set to rise for UK families

Child benefit, normally paid every four weeks directly into bank accounts, has undergone significant changes in recent months (Photo: Getty Images)

Child benefit payments set to rise for UK families

MILLIONS of British families are set to receive a financial boost as child benefit payments increase from April 7, according to HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).

From next week, parents will receive £26.05 per week for the eldest or only child, amounting to £1,354.60 annually - up from the current rate of £25.60. For each additional child, payments will rise to £17.25 weekly, totalling £897 per year - an increase from the present £16.95 rate. This represents a 1.7 per cent increase across all payment categories.

Keep ReadingShow less