China floods: The families torn

apart by 'huge, furious waves'

China's floods have claimed more than 60 lives so far
Ten-year-old Miao Chunyou screamed for her mum as she disappeared into a brown
torrent that had engulfed western Beijing.
The strong currents ripped Miao from her father's grip as floods,
triggered by incessant rains, chased the family of three to the roof of
a neighbour's house.
Her mother, clinging to a tree branch, watched helplessly. That was
the last time she saw Miao. More than 10 days have passed but the
couple has heard no news about their daughter.
"It was like a scene from a movie, with huge, furious waves," Miao's
mother tells the BBC. She only shared her last name, Chang.
China is no stranger to floods, but July saw a trio of typhoons from the
Pacific Ocean over three weeks, which exacerbated seasonal monsoon
rains. Two of the three made landfall in the country, including super
typhoon Doksuri, which churned slowly over large areas of north-
west China for several days, inundating Beijing and surrounding
provinces such as Hebei. That week, the Chinese capital
experienced the most rainfall in 140 years.
Sixty-two people have so far been confirmed dead in the deluge - 33
from Beijing and 29 from neighbouring Hebei province.
 Alarming photos show floods in China, Philippines
Miao was swallowed by water "as high as two adults, one standing
on the other", her mother says. "Villagers in their 70s or 80s said
they had never seen floods this big in their lives."
She says that it had been raining heavily until July 30, when the
downpour eased. The family believed the worst had passed, but
stayed home, worried that going outside could expose them to
mudslides.
But the following morning "the rain came down heavily", Ms Chang
said. As water rapidly filled the house, she and her husband tried to
pump it out. But within half hour, flood water and mud smashed
through the front wall.
Mr Chang is a migrant worker and spends much of the year in
Beijing, where he sells spices. His wife and daughter were visiting
him from Henan when the rains began. The three had mostly been
apart during years of zero-Covid rules, and this was had been a
much-awaited reunion. They had planned to visit Tiananmen square
the day they lost Miao to the flood.
Ms Chang and her husband adopted Miao as a baby. They have two
older sons, 27-year-old twins, who were back home in Henan
province in central China when the flood hit. Distraught at what
 happened to their sister, one of them is unable to even speak, Ms
Chang says.
China's flood control system allows for water to be diverted from
major cities like Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin to surrounding areas.
During the floods, Hebei's Party Secretary Ni Yuefeng proudly
declared that his province would act as a "moat" to protect Beijing,
stirring anger among his constituents, who said the speed with
which the flood waters hit caught them by surprise.
 The Chinese town engulfed by a flood to save Beijing
Wan, who wished to reveal only his last name, lives in Beijing but
was alerted to a distress message on WeChat on 2 August. The
mountain village of Tangjiazhuang in Hebei province, where his
family lives, was hit by a landslide two days earlier.
It had cut off the village of 2,000 mostly elderly people. Some
families had gathered there for the cool highland weather because
parts of China had sweltered in heat waves before the typhoons
brought deadly rains.
Mr Wan says he rushed to Tangjiazhuang with his wife to rescue
their relatives. But they were stopped at a neighbouring village by
neck-deep water. Undeterred, they took an alternate route that
involved a an uphill three-hour hike. The terrain caused him to slip
and twist his ankle.
"When we finally got there, all we saw was an ocean, with nothing
left," Mr Wan's wife recalls.
Severe damage to road networks is apparent in aerial views
Rescuers reached Tangjiazhuang on 3 August, three days after the
landslide, and a day after the Wan couple found the village where
their family had been in ruins. Local authorities counted 10 people
dead and 18 others missing. Mr Wan, citing anecdotal reports, says
the death toll is likely higher than official tallies.
Mr Wan says seven of his relatives are either dead or missing,
including his two nephews, aged seven and four. He reads out their
names: "Wan Hanying, my second uncle, Li Shulan, my second aunt,
Wan Hechun, my third uncle, Jing Zhizhen, my third aunt, Wan
Gongle, my sister, her children, Li Jiaqi and Li Jiaxin."
China's state-run media, which has released death tolls outside
Beijing over several days, has focused on the rescue efforts, with
headlines such as: "There is a sense of security called the People's
Liberation Army" and "Shandong rescue team work in floods,
starving, with hands shaking uncontrollably from the cold".
But that did not stop those on social media form noticing that
President Xi Jinping did not visit any of the sites where disaster
struck, unlike his predecessors. He did call for an "all-out" flood
rescue effort, a message that was carried prominently on state
media.
Instead on 31 July, as parts of north-east China were submerged,
and Miao was swept away, Mr Xi attended a ceremony in Beijing to
promote generals in the Central Military Commission.
A little girl in waterlogged street in Tianjin
Mr Xi could be asserting his status as a princeling, or someone born
to a Communist Party official, says Dr Ming Xia, a professor of
political science and global affairs at the City University of New
York.
"He draws more legitimacy from the revolutionary tradition and does
not urgently seek to derive some legitimacy from public opinion, as
his predecessors Hu Jintao and Wen Jiabao, who were born into
ordinary families, did."
As the floods receded, people have begun piecing their lives back
together, shovelling mud out of their homes, and washing clothes
and appliances that have turned brown. But scientists say climate
change will spawn stronger, more frequent typhoons like Doksuri.
For Mr Wan, it is all too much. "The mountain still has fissures and
future dangers are certain," he says. "We definitely won't live there
anymore."

The Chinese town engulfed by a

flood to save Beijing
As the flooding emergency in western Beijing turned deadlier at the beginning of this
week, taking out bridges, washing away dozens of cars at a time, and wreaking havoc on
the city, the decision was made to divert the raging waters.
The effect was almost immediate. The pressure came off in the
capital, but the water had to go somewhere.
By Tuesday, it was hitting Zhuozhou in neighbouring Hebei Province
with a force the locals didn't expect.
The town was soon cut off from the outside as its buildings became
islands. Soon the electricity and drinking water were gone.
They were in trouble.
Boats were the obvious choice for emergency teams to reach
people. But with the initial rescue effort focused on Beijing with its
much larger population, officials there said they were desperately
short of watercraft for the task at hand.
By Wednesday, the relief effort arrived.
Fire brigade rescue teams were there in large numbers at a staging
post on dry land, and boats were lined up along a road which had
become a river. Inflatable craft were being launched and, using
outboard motors, driven into the inundated centre of town.
Columns of heavy diggers were also driving into the safe part of
town, but they weren't being used to move rock and soil. They were
there to rescue people, who carrying only a few belongings, clung to
the powerful trucks. Even the shovels at the front were packed with
dazed residents.
Some residents say they have lost everything after the floodwater
submerged their homes
As locals arrived to register at the shelters, the elderly were being
helped by neighbours and family members. They looked shocked but
relieved to be safe.
"We brought nothing with us," said one woman, smiling while she
held her baby. Then - looking down to her child - she added: "We
needed to just get out and keep this baby safe".
Next to her, an older woman nodded and said, "All the buildings
around us were flooded, some up to the second floor".
Some people said they'd lost almost everything when they left their
submerged homes. And yet they were relieved and extremely
grateful that China's firefighters had reached them. It hasn't been an
easy task. Several rescue workers died in Beijing trying to help
others.
At the registration point, a woman with a megaphone directed newly
arriving people to where they could get assistance. She was proud
of the work they were doing but had been very worried herself as the
water rose to her chest in her own house before she could get out.
It was the speed and the volume of the water which she couldn't
believe. "We didn't expect it to be this bad," she said. "We didn't
expect there to be so much water and, as we waited, it went up and
up. We were really scared."
There has been some resentment in Hebei Province that they had to
take the brunt of this potentially deadly flood to control the crisis in
Beijing.
Using connected dams, reservoirs and waterways, the flood was
pushed away from the capital and into parts of Hebei where fewer
people live.
Stranded locals registering themselves at relief shelters
Zhuozhou residents complained on social media that they were not
given enough notice to escape when the decision was made to put
them directly in harm's way.
Anger has only increased after Hebei's Party Secretary Ni Yuefeng
proudly declared that his province would act as a "moat" to protect
Beijing.
On social media people were venting.
"Is he Party Secretary of Hebei Province or Beijing? I'm confused,"
wrote one person.
Another was more cutting, writing "Those in power only care about
their superiors. Congratulations! He'll be promoted. But the obedient
70 million residents of Hebei will be sacrificed".
The problem is that the flood relief system is simply designed this
way, according to Wang Weiluo, a Chinese engineer who now lives
overseas after criticising China's construction of the Three Gorges
Dam.
"China's flood control network has a pecking order of protection
giving priority to big important cities like Beijing, Tianjin and
Shanghai, with the lowest order of importance being rural areas.
Under China's system, at the bottom are the ordinary people in the
city and those in the countryside whose interests are not
respected," he said.
But if the water had not been diverted into Hebei, what other option
did the government have?
Mr Wang suggested that, below the Yongding River, there are a
series of golf courses where the flood waters could have been
released.
"To discharge the water there first would cause the least economic
loss and have the least impact on human lives. But those who
benefit from the country's flood relief priorities are those who play
golf there".
Other experts have, however, defended the Chinese government's
strategy to redirect the water to safeguard "more important areas".
"Water retention and distribution zones are an important part of the
flood prevention system but home to a lot of people," Cheng Xiaotao,
deputy chief engineer at China Institute of Water Resources and
Hydropower Research told state-run media.
"Those people are also citizens of China, sharing the right to prosper
and nobody is suggesting they should be sacrificed. Also, according
to law, the state will compensate those affected."
On the road from Zhuozhou back to Beijing, there is a bridge across
a river flat which is surrounded on either side by a sea of debris -
there are fridges, industrial drums and enough timber to build quite a
few houses, along with basketballs and the soft padded flooring of
the type children play on in pre-schools. Traditional Chinese
instruments are piled up next to large truck tires and life preservers.
The most striking thing is the sheer volume of the material to have
been pushed along by the flood and delivered to a single location in
one go: so striking that crowds were gathering to photograph the
scene as if this was some unmissable, freak act of nature.
The sudden impact of the floods has led to calls for better early
warning systems in China.
Northern China's summer has, so far, consisted of months of
extreme heat, followed by powerful flash flooding in areas not
accustomed to it.
This week's emergency led to 21 dead according to the government
and, in Hebei Province alone, more than a million people had to be
moved to safety. The economic cost of these, ever more frequent,
natural disasters is incalculable.
In the long run, Chinese scientists are pointing their fingers squarely
at climate change as the culprit.
They want more done, more quickly, to stave off a much worse crisis
in the future.

Amazon deal lacks concrete

measures, say climate activists
The eight countries that share the Amazon basin have fallen short of an agreed goal to
end deforestation.
Delegates from the countries are meeting in the Brazilian city of
Belém for a two-day summit on the issue.
A joint declaration on Tuesday created an alliance to combat
deforestation, but left each country to pursue its own conservation
goals.
Climate activists said the deal lacked concrete measures at a time
"when the planet is melting".
"Temperature records are broken every day, it's not possible that
under those circumstances, the eight presidents of the Amazon
nations can't include a line in the declaration stating, in bold letters,
that deforestation needs to be zero, that it won't be tolerated any
more," Márcio Astrini of the Climate Observatory group said.
Around 60% of the Amazon, the largest rainforest in the world, lies in
Brazil. The other countries represented at the gathering are Bolivia,
Colombia, Ecuador, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela.
Preserving the Amazon is a central part of efforts to tackle climate
change and ahead of the summit, its host, Brazilian President Luiz
Inácio Lula da Silva, had called for a common goal of ending
deforestation by 2030.
Brazil has already adopted the policy but hopes for it to be adopted
jointly by all the eight nations gathered in Belém were dashed on
Tuesday.
Mr Astrini said the declaration lacked "something more forceful".
Haug Larsen of the Rainforest Foundation Norway also bemoaned
the fact that a commitment to zero deforestation, the "guiding star
for the agreement", had not been achieved.
But he welcomed an agreement by the eight nations to work
together to combat illegal activities in the Amazon, which he said
had been allowed to "rage freely", particularly in the border areas.
He said concrete plans had been made to co-ordinate air space
surveillance and exchange information to combat illegal mining and
logging.
If properly implemented, the agreement would be "a giant leap in the
right direction", he concluded.
 Brazil's President Lula said in his opening speech that action had
"never been so urgent".
"The challenges of our era, and the opportunities arising from them,
demand we act in unison".
Deforestation in Brazil has fallen dramatically since Lula won the
presidency from predecessor Jair Bolsonaro, who favoured
development over conservation, but thousands of square kilometres
continue to be lost each year.

The joint statement, named the Belém declaration, said the new
alliance would aim to "prevent the Amazon from reaching a point of
no return".
It also included commitments to enhance co-operation on issues like
water management, health, sustainable development and common
negotiating positions at global climate summits.
 Amazon deforestation falls to lowest level since 2017
 Carbon credits scrutinised as key Amazon summit begins
 Listen: Can Lula save the Amazon?

But there have been differences in opinion in some areas.

Colombia's President, Gustavo Petro, for example, wants other
countries to match his pledge to ban new oil exploration, while
Brazil is considering exploring new areas at the mouth of the
Amazon river.
Despite the differences, the gathering has undoubtedly given this
region a voice when it comes to combatting climate change, and is
being viewed as a precursor to the 2025 UN Climate Change
conference, which will also be held in Belém.
The summit opened on the same day that the European
Union's climate change panel confirmed that July had been the hottest
month on record globally.
The billions of trees that make up the Amazon hold vast amounts of
carbon, accumulated over centuries, and every year their leaves
continue to absorb carbon dioxide that would otherwise remain in
the atmosphere and contribute to the rise in global temperatures.
The world has already warmed by about 1.1C since the industrial era
began and temperatures will keep rising unless governments around
the world make steep cuts to emissions.

Cerberus heatwave: Hot weather

sweeps across southern Europe
A heatwave is sweeping across parts of southern Europe, with potential record-breaking
temperatures in the coming days.
Temperatures are expected to surpass 40C (104F) in parts of Spain,
France, Greece, Croatia and Turkey.
In Italy, temperatures could reach as high as 48.8C (119.8F). A red
alert warning has been issued for 10 cities, including Rome, Bologna
and Florence.
On Tuesday, a man in his forties died after collapsing in northern
Italy.
Italian media reported that the 44-year-old worker was painting
zebra crossing lines in the town of Lodi, near Milan, before he
collapsed from the heat. He was taken to hospital where he later
died.
Several visitors to the country have collapsed from heatstroke,
including a British man outside the Colosseum in Rome.
People have been advised to drink at least two litres of water a day
and to avoid coffee and alcohol, which are dehydrating.
Two Australian tourists on the streets of Rome told the BBC they
were "really surprised" by the heat.
"It does spoil our plans as tourists a bit," Melbourne friends Maria
and Gloria said. "We are trying to not go out in the middle of the
day."
Italian tourists Andrea Romano and Michele La Penna told the BBC
their hometown of Potenza, in the Apennine mountains, has "more
humane temperatures" than Rome.
"We need to start doing something about climate change. We need
to be more responsible. The damage is already done. We need to do
something about it. But not only the government… It all starts from
people. Each of us needs to do something: use less plastic, don't use
the AC, use electric cars," said Andrea.
The Cerberus heatwave - named by the Italian Meteorological
Society after the three-headed monster that features in Dante's
Inferno - is expected to bring more extreme conditions in the next
few days.
Spain has been sweltering for days in temperatures of up to 45C
(113F) and overnight temperatures in much of the country did not
drop below 25C (77F).
The Andalusian regional government has started a telephone
assistance service for people affected by the heat which has
received 54,000 calls since it opened in early June.
A satellite image recorded by the EU's Copernicus Sentinel mission
revealed that the land surface temperature in the Extremadura
region had hit 60C (140F) on Tuesday.
The UK's national weather service, the Met Office, says
temperatures will peak on Friday. BBC Weather says large swathes
of southern Europe could see temperatures in the low to mid 40s -
and possibly higher.
But as Cerberus dies out, Italian weather forecasters are warning
that the next heatwave - dubbed Charon after the ferryman who
delivered souls into the underworld in Greek mythology - will push
temperatures back up towards 43C (109F) in Rome and a possible
47C (116F) on the island of Sardinia.
A record-smashing summer around the world
It isn't just Europe that is hot.
This summer has seen temperature records smashed in parts of
Canada and the US as well as across a swathe of Asia including in
India and China.
Sea temperatures in the Atlantic have hit record highs while
Antarctic sea ice is at the lowest extent ever recorded.
And it is going to get hotter.
A weather pattern called El Niño is developing in the tropical
Pacific. It tends to drive up temperatures by around 0.2C on average.
That may not sound much but add in the roughly 1.1C that climate
change has pushed average temperatures up by worldwide and we
are nudging perilously close to the 1.5C threshold the world has
agreed to try and keep global temperatures below.
Let's set things in a historic context to give us some perspective.
The first week of July is reckoned to have been the hottest week
since records began.
But scientists can use the bubbles of air trapped in ancient
Antarctic ice to estimate temperatures going back more than a
million years.
That data suggests that that last week was the hottest week for
some 125,000 years.
It was a geological period known as the Eemian when there were
hippopotamuses in the Thames and sea levels were reckoned to be
some 5m (16.4ft) higher.

A new study says 61,672 people died in Europe as a result of the heat last year.
ISGlobal Institute in Barcelona - which researches global health -
said Italy had the most deaths that could be attributable to the heat,
with 18,010, while Spain had 11,324 and Germany 8,173.
The fear is that the heat could cause many more deaths this
summer.
Cities in Spain with the highest risk of deaths caused by the heat
are Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Sevilla, Málaga, Murcia, Palma de
Mallorca and Bilbao, according to ISGlobal's research.
A heatwave is a period of hot weather where temperatures are
higher than is expected for the time of year.
Experts say periods of exceptionally hot weather are becoming more
frequent and climate change means it is now normal to experience
record-breaking temperatures.
At present there is no indication the heat in southern Europe will
reach the UK any time soon - with the UK remaining in cooler,
Atlantic air throughout next week, according to BBC Weather's
Darren Bett.
The UK is experiencing a July that has been slightly wetter than
normal, with temperatures that feel rather low. But this is mostly in
contrast to the weather in the UK in June, which was the warmest
on record by a considerable margin - something which, according to
the Met Office, bore the "fingerprint of climate change".

'Very difficult' to hit climate goals

- UN chief
 2 November 2021 COP26

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has said it will be "very difficult" for COP26 to
secure deals to limit global temperature increases to 1.5C.
Mr Guterres told BBC Scotland it was possible to keep the target
alive, but said he is very worried that political divisions could
prevent progress.
World leaders have gathered in Glasgow for the annual UN climate
conference.
But Mr Guterres said there was a "serious problem of trust" between
developed and developing countries.
He urged wealthy countries to make good their commitments to provide
$100bn per year in funding for climate change mitigation and adaption in
the developing world.
 Live: Latest updates from COP26 in Glasgow
 What the COP26 climate summit could mean for us all

The main aim of the Glasgow talks is to try to hit the target set
in the Paris Agreement in 2015, of limiting global temperature rises to
1.5C compared to pre-industrial times.
Some 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions
by 2030, but Mr Guterres told BBC Scotland that a lack of trust
between nations was the "most serious problem" the negotiations
face.
He said: "I still think it is possible to take decisions to keep 1.5
alive, but I am very worried with the geopolitical divides, with the
issues of cooperation namely between developed countries and
emerging economies. There is still a long way to go to come to a
reasonable compromise.
"I hope that in Glasgow we can solve several serious problems, for
instance over the establishment of carbon markets. But the central
question is to come to a set of national contributions which
guarantees 1.5, it will be very difficult to reach it in Glasgow, which
means the next day we must start again.
"I don't think we can wait five years for the next set set of national
contributions - from now on it must be a permanent exercise, we
must have every year a commitment to improve."
The UN Secretary General said he did not think the potential for a
new coal mine in Cumbria or new oil and gas developments
elsewhere in the UK "undermine entirely" the UK's leadership on
climate change.
He said that while it was not for him to decide the future of the
proposed Cambo oil field to the west of Shetland, "we don't need
more oil and gas".
On Monday, he told delegates at the conference that "addiction to
fossil fuels is pushing humanity to the brink", saying: "We face a
stark choice - either we stop it, or it stops us. We are digging our
own graves."
Mr Guterres also expressed "enormous gratitude" to Glasgow and
the Scottish people for "wonderful hospitality".

Ocean heat record broken, with

grim implications for the planet
4 August

The oceans have hit their hottest ever recorded temperature as they soak up warmth
from climate change, with dire implications for our planet's health.
The average daily global sea surface temperature beat a 2016
record this week, according to the EU's climate change service
Copernicus.
It reached 20.96C (69.73F) - far above the average for this time of
year.
Oceans are a vital climate regulator. They soak up heat, produce
half Earth's oxygen and drive weather patterns.
Warmer waters have less ability to absorb carbon dioxide, meaning
more of that planet-warming gas will stay in the atmosphere. And it
can also accelerate the melting of glaciers that flow into the ocean,
leading to more sea level rise.
Hotter oceans and heatwaves disturb marine species like fish and
whales as they move in search of cooler waters, upsetting the food
chain. Experts warn that fish stocks could be affected.
Some predatory animals including sharks can become aggressive as
they get confused in hotter temperatures.
"The water feels like a bath when you jump in," says Dr Kathryn
Lesneski, who is monitoring a marine heatwave in the Gulf of Mexico
for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. "There is
widespread coral bleaching at shallow reefs in Florida and many
corals have already died."
"We are putting oceans under more stress than we have done at any
point in history," says Dr Matt Frost, from the Plymouth Marine Lab
in the UK, referring to the fact pollution and overfishing also change
the oceans.
Scientists are worried about the timing of this broken record.
Dr Samantha Burgess, from the Copernicus Climate Change Service,
says March should be when the oceans globally are warmest, not
August.
"The fact that we've seen the record now makes me nervous about
how much warmer the ocean may get between now and next
March," she says.
"It is sobering to see this change happening so quickly," says Prof
Mike Burrows, who is monitoring impacts on Scottish sea shores
with the Scottish Association for Marine Science.
Scientists are investigating why the oceans are so hot right now but
say that climate change is making the seas warmer as they absorb
most of the heating from greenhouse gas emissions.
"The more we burn fossil fuels, the more excess heat will be taken
out by the oceans, which means the longer it will take to stabilize
them and get them back to where they were," explains Dr Burgess.
The new average temperature record beats one set in 2016 when
the naturally occurring climate fluctuation El Niño was in full swing
and at its most powerful.
El Niño happens when warm water rises to the surface off the west
coast of South America, pushing up global temperatures.
Another El Niño has now started but scientists say it is still weak -
meaning ocean temperatures are expected to rise further above
average in the coming months.

The broken temperature record follows a series of marine

heatwaves this year including in the UK, the North Atlantic, the
Mediterranean and the Gulf of Mexico.
"The marine heatwaves that we're seeing are happening in unusual
locations where we haven't expected them," says Prof Burgess.
In June, temperatures in UK waters were 3C to 5C higher than
average, according to the Met Office and the European Space
Agency.
In Florida, sea surface temperatures hit 38.44C (101F) last week -
comparable to a hot tub.
Normally temperatures should be between 23C and 31C, according
to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Marine heatwaves doubled in frequency between 1982 and 2016,
and have become more intense and longer since the 1980s, according
to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
While air temperatures have seen some dramatic increases in recent
years, the oceans take longer to heat up, even though they have
absorbed 90% of the Earth's warming from greenhouse gas
emissions.
But there are signs now that ocean temperatures may be catching
up. One theory is a lot of the heat has been stored in ocean depths,
which is now coming to the surface, possibly linked to El Niño, says
Dr Karina von Schuckmann at Mercator Ocean International.
While scientists have known that the sea surface would continue to
warm up because of greenhouse gas emissions, they are still
investigating exactly why temperatures have surged so far above
previous years.

Climate Change Committee says

UK no longer a world leader
28 June

Government backing for new oil and coal, airport expansion plans and slow progress on
heat pumps show that the UK has lost its leadership on climate issues, a government
watchdog warns.
The Climate Change Committee (CCC) described government efforts
to scale up climate action as "worryingly slow".
It was "markedly" less confident than a year ago that the UK would
reach its targets for cutting carbon emissions.
The government said it was committed to its climate targets.
Committee chairman Lord Deben, a former Conservative
environment minister, was particularly critical of the government's
policy on new coal and oil projects.
The decision to approve the UK's first new deep coal mine in 30
years in Cumbria last December was "total nonsense", he told the
BBC.
Lord Deben was also damning about plans for a major new oilfield
off the coast of Scotland. Approval for Rosebank, which could
produce an estimated 300 million barrels of oil in its lifetime, is
expected soon.
"How can we ask countries in Africa not to develop oil?" Lord Deben
said. "How can we ask other nations not to expand the fossil fuel
production if we start doing it ourselves?"
The UK has set legally binding targets to cut greenhouse gas
emissions to net zero by 2050, meaning the country will no longer
contribute any additional greenhouse gases to the atmosphere.
At the COP26 UN climate conference in Glasgow in 2021 then prime
minister Boris Johnson vowed to cut emissions by 68% on 1990
levels by the end of the decade.
The CCC report warned "continued delays in policy development and
implementation" meant reaching them was "increasingly
challenging".
The Committee highlighted a "lack of urgency" across government
and a "worrying hesitancy" by ministers to lead on the climate issue.
'No magic button'
Minister of State for Energy Security and Net Zero Graham Stuart
said in response to the report that the government had met all its
carbon targets to date and was confident of doing so in the future.
Responding to criticism for continued support for oil and gas
projects, he stressed that despite an unprecedented role for
renewables, the UK would remain dependent on these sources for
power generation for the foreseeable future.
"There is no button I can press tomorrow, and as we will be
dependent on oil and gas for decades to come, even as we move to
net zero, it makes sense that we should produce it here," he told
journalists.
Regarding the new coal mine in Cumbria, he stressed that it would
produce coking coal for making steel, not for energy production and
that there was currently no alternative.
Rebecca Newsom, head of politics for Greenpeace UK called the
report "a pitiful catalogue of Rishi Sunak's climate failures".
"This report exposes the catastrophic negligence shown by this
government which has left Britain with higher bills, fewer good jobs,
our energy security weakened, and the climate emergency
unaddressed," said Labour's Shadow Climate and Net Zero Secretary
Ed Miliband.
The chair of the COP26 summit, Alok Sharma, agreed the UK was at
risk of losing what he called its "international reputation and
influence on climate".
He said the country risked falling behind without a response to
initiatives like the US's vast subsidies for green industries.
"Resting on our laurels is definitely not the answer industry is
seeking," he said, one of the sharpest criticisms the Conservative
MP has made of the government's climate policy.
More needs to be done to encourage us all to install heat pumps,
insulate our homes, reduce how much meat we eat and fly less, the
Committee said.
At the same time, it said, the switch to renewable power needs to
be ramped up, industry needs more help to decarbonise and there
needs to be a huge increase in the numbers of trees planted and the
speed of peatland restoration.
The report acknowledged that glimmers of the Net Zero transition
can be seen in growing sales of electric cars and the growing
renewable power sector.
But it warned the government continues to rely on unproven
technological solutions rather than "more straightforward"
encouragement of people to reduce high-carbon activities.
The Committee says the government should be doing more to
encourage us to fly less rather than relying on the development of
sustainable fuels to reduce the carbon emissions from aviation, for
example.
It pointed out that lots of UK airports are planning to expand
capacity despite a CCC recommendation that there should be no net
airport expansion. Seven out of the 10 major UK airports have plans
to expand, according to BBC research.
Lord Deben, whose second and final term as chair of the CCC ends
this month, said that one of the government's biggest failures was
not putting net zero at the heart of the UK's planning system.
"If you pass laws in order to do something and then don't provide the
means, then you're failing," he told the BBC.
He said he was sad his final report "does not show satisfactory
progress".
UK greenhouse gas emissions have fallen 46% from 1990 levels, the
CCC says, largely thanks to a massive reduction in the use of coal
for electricity and the growth of the renewable power sector.

Northern hemisphere summer

marked by heatwaves and wildfires:
WMO 31 July 2023
aRecord temperatures have been reported on land and in the sea,
while wildfires have sparked devastation, caused dozens of
casualties, and forced thousands to be evacuated.

Last week, scientists from the UN agency and the European

Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said new data
showed that July was on track to be the warmest month on record.

‘The new normal’

WMO said the temperature in Xinjiang province in China reached
52.2 °C on 16 July, setting a new national record. The US city of
Phoenix also experienced 31 consecutive days of temperatures
above 110 °F, roughly 43.3 °C.

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WMO
Sea surface temperatures have hit new records, with severe marine
heatwaves in the Mediterranean and off the coast of Florida. Many
parts of the US state, including the city of Miami, have been hit by
an extended, record-breaking heatwave.

“The extreme weather – an increasingly frequent occurrence in our

warming climate – is having a major impact on human health,
ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water supplies.
This underlines the increasing urgency of cutting greenhouse gas
emissions as quickly and as deeply as possible,” said Petteri Taalas,
the WMO Secretary-General.

“In addition, we have to step up efforts to help society adapt to what

is unfortunately becoming the new normal.”

Wildfires and evacuations

WMO said France, Greece, Italy, Spain, Algeria and Tunisia also
reported new peaks in daytime and nighttime temperatures.

For example, in Figueres, Spain, a record temperature of 45.4°C was

recorded on 18 July, while the mercury reached 48.2°C on 24 July in
Sardinia, Italy. Algeria and Tunisia recorded temperatures of 48.7°C
and 49.0°C, respectively, on 23 July.

Meanwhile, wildfires have prompted the evacuation of hundreds of

residents and tourists from three Greek islands - Rhodes, Evia and
Corfu – since 17 July. Fires also caused several dozen casualties in
Algeria.

Fires in the Arctic

Hot, dry conditions were also behind an early and intense wildfire
season in Canada, where more than 120,000 people were forced to
flee their homes.

More than 1.1 million hectares have already burnt, according to the
Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre, compared to the 10-year
average of about 800,000 hectares.

Smoke from the fires polluted the air, affecting millions across North
America. Additionally, numerous fires have broken out within
Canada’s Arctic Circle in recent days.

In response to extreme weather, WMO and partners are providing

forecasts and warnings to protect lives and livelihoods, in line with a
UN plan towards ensuring all people on the planet are covered by
early warning systems by 2027.

Heatwaves and high temperatures

threatening young lives in South
Asia: UNICEF
UNICEF estimates that 76 per cent of children under 18 in the
region - 460 million - are exposed to extreme high
temperatures where 83 or more days in a year exceed 35° Celsius.

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July was the hottest month ever recorded globally, raising further
concerns about a future where children, including those living in
South Asia, are expected to face more frequent and severe
heatwaves, largely due to climate change.

“With the world at global boiling, the data clearly show that the lives
and well-being of millions of children across South Asia are
increasingly threatened by heat waves and high temperatures,” said
Sanjay Wijesekera, UNICEF Regional Director for South Asia.

The world’s hottest city

According to UNICEF’s 2021 Children's Climate Risk Index
(CCRI), children in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Maldives, and
Pakistan are at 'extremely high risk' of the impacts of climate
change.

“We are particularly concerned about babies, toddlers, malnourished

children and pregnant women as they are most vulnerable to heat
strokes and other serious effects,” added Mr. Wijesekera.

In parts of Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, including Jacobabad,

the world’s hottest city in 2022, temperatures were in their 40’s in
June, exposing 1.8 million people to severe short- and long-term
health risks.

The scorching heat came less than one year after the devastating
floods which left most parts of southern Sindh underwater in August
2022.

Life-threatening risks
Even in the rainy season, the heat can exacerbate the situation for
children. Since children cannot adapt quickly to temperature
changes, they are not able to remove excess heat from their bodies.

This can cause symptoms and illnesses such as higher body

temperature, rapid heartbeat, cramps, severe headache, confusion,
organ failure, dehydration, fainting and coma, in young children; poor
mental development in infants; and developmental setbacks such as
neurological dysfunction, and cardiovascular diseases.
Early contractions, hypertension, seizures, high blood pressure,
preterm births and stillbirths are risks for pregnant women, who are
particularly susceptible to heat.

For young children, ice packs, fans or misting with water can help
lower their body temperature, while cold water immersion can help
older children.

Beating the heat

During high temperatures, UNICEF urges frontline workers, parents,
families, caregivers and local authorities to protect children
and B.E.A.T. the heat by taking the following steps:

 BE AWARE of heat stress and protect yourself and

your children. Take preventive measures and
recognize heat stress and know what actions to take;
 EASILY IDENTIFY the symptoms. Recognize the
symptoms of various heat-related illnesses that
caregivers, communities and front-line workers need
to know;
 ACT IMMEDIATELY to protect. Learn the first-aid
actions that caregivers and front-line workers need to
take to rebalance body heat in the short term; and
 TAKE to a health facility. Front-line workers, families
and caregivers should recognize the symptoms of heat
stress symptoms immediately, especially signs of
heat stroke, and help take affected people to a health
facility.
Ultimately, the most vulnerable children, adolescents and women are
the ones that pay the highest price for extreme weather events.

“Young children simply cannot handle the heat,” said Mr.

Wijesekera. “Unless we act now, these children will continue to bear
the brunt of more frequent and more severe heatwaves in the
coming years, for no fault of theirs.”

First Person: Rising above floods in

Viet Nam
Extreme weather between October and November of 2020,
highlighted the vulnerability of the inhabitants of the city of Hu ế in
central Viet Nam to flooding.
City resident Nguyễn Văn Tia told UN News how his family was
impacted by the flooding and has benefited from the FloodAdaptVN
programme coordinated by the United Nations University Institute
for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).

“During the 2020 floods, the water rose very quickly. Within a few
hours, my house was flooded by up to half a metre. All the homes in
the neighbourhood were full of water. We tried to keep property and
people safe by relocating the elderly and children to higher floors
where there were tables and chairs for them to sit on. We suffered
great damage like collapsed houses and the loss of possessions.

After 2020, we experienced floods again but now local people in this
region are very active when storms and flooding occur. In our ward,
a team for storm and flood prevention was established.

Together with the local authorities, the team distributes life-saving

equipment like boats, life jackets, and outboard motors. Families
that live in lower areas can relocate to higher buildings to avoid
flood and storm impacts.

Prevention measures
Residents are very aware of flood risks now. As soon as a flood
warning comes in, we evacuate. We also help each other and
evacuate the most vulnerable people first.

The team also reminds everyone to protect their houses. Two years
ago, my son built a highly elevated house for us to live in. If he
would not have done that, I would have added an attic to the house
we lived in before. Because of the elevated foundation compared to
1999, the water in my house did not rise nearly as high in more
recent flooding occurrences.

Nobody in our area lost their life in the 2020 floods. We were warned
in time by local media, as well as by mass media such as television
broadcasts. It enabled us to prepare for the flood risk in advance.
Afterwards, we cleaned up the surrounding environment to prevent
waterborne diseases to keep people from falling sick, or even dying.

Every year I prepare for floods in advance; I know we will be safe

when storms bring floods in the years to come.”
‘Lifeline’ of renewable energy can
steer world out of climate crisis: UN
chief 18 may 2022
The State of the Climate 2021 indicates that extreme weather – the
day-to-day face of climate change – wreaked a heavy toll of human
lives, triggered shocks for food and water security, and led to
hundreds of billions of dollars in economic losses last year.

The report, which describes yet more clear signs that human
activity is causing harm on a planetary scale - to our land, ocean and
atmosphere - also confirms that the past seven years have been the
warmest on record, with global temperature in 2021 reaching about
1.1°C above pre-industrial levels.

“It is just a matter of time before we see another warmest year on

record. Our climate is changing before our eyes. The heat trapped
by human-induced greenhouse gases will warm the planet for many
generations to come”, warned WMO chief Petteri Taalas. “Sea level
rise, ocean heat and acidification will continue for hundreds of years
unless means to remove carbon from the atmosphere are invented”.

A plan for renewables

Calling the report, a “dismal litany of humanity’s failure to tackle
climate disruption”, UN Secretary-General António Guterres said
that while time is running out to prevent the worst impacts of the
climate crisis, there is a ‘lifeline’ right in front of us.

“We must end fossil fuel pollution and accelerate the renewable
energy transition before we incinerate our only home…
Transforming energy systems is low-hanging fruit”, he emphasized in
a video message.

Highlighting that renewable energy technologies such as wind and

solar are readily available and in most cases, cheaper than coal and
other fossil fuels, the UN chief proposed five critical actions to
jump-start the energy transition, which he called the “peace project
of the 21st century”.

1. Treating renewable energy technologies as essential global

public goods
This means removing obstacles to knowledge sharing and
technological transfer, including intellectual property constraints.
Mr. Guterres called for a new global coalition on battery storage led
by governments and bringing together tech companies,
manufacturers and financiers to fast-track innovation and
deployment.

2. Secure, scale up and diversify the supply components and raw

materials for renewable energy technologies
Supply chains for renewable energy technology and raw materials
are concentrated in a handful of countries, and more international
coordination is needed to overcome this obstacle.

3. Build frameworks and reform fossil fuel bureaucracies

The UN chief is calling for governments to fast-track and streamline
approvals of solar and wind projects, modernize grids and set
ambitious renewable energy targets that provide certainty to
investors, developers, consumers and producers.

4. Shift subsidies away from fossil fuels

Each year, governments around the world pour around half a trillion
dollars into artificially lowering the price of fossil fuels - more than
triple the subsidies given to renewables.

“While people suffer from high prices at the pump, the oil and gas
industry is raking in billions from a distorted market. This scandal
must stop”, Guterres highlights.

5. Private and public investments in renewable energy must

triple
The UN chief is calling for and adjustment to risk frameworks and
more flexibility to scale up renewable finance.

“it’s time to jump-start the renewable energy transition before it’s

too late”, the Secretary-General urged.

Climate emergency
The UN chief’s plan is long overdue, at a time when extreme
weather continues to impact the lives of millions in recent weeks,
as seen with the drought emergency in the Horn of Africa, the deadly
floods in South Africa, and the extreme heat in India and Pakistan.

The WMO State of the Global Climate report complements the

latest assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) which only included data up to 2019, and it will be
used as a negotiation document during the upcoming UN Climate
Conference in Egypt (COP 27) later this year.
Here are some of its key findings:

· Greenhouse gas concentrations

Levels reached a new global high in 2020 and continued to increase

in 2021, with the concentration of carbon dioxide reaching 413.2
parts per million globally, a 149% increase on pre-industrial levels.

"We have broken records in main greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide,

methane and nitrous oxide and especially the record in carbon
dioxide is striking; we haven’t seen any improvement despite of the
lockdowns caused by COVID in 2020, so the concentrations continue
growing”, explains WMO chief Petteri Taalas.

· Ocean heat

Another record high. The upper 2,000m depth of ocean water

continued to warm in 2021 and it is expected that it will continue to
warm in the future – a change which is irreversible on centennial to
millennial time scales, and affects deeply marine ecosystems such
as coral reefs.

· Ocean acidification

Because of the excess carbon dioxide (CO2) the ocean is absorbing

(some 23% of annual emissions), its waters are increasingly
acidifying.

This has consequences for organisms and ecosystems, and also

threatens human food security and tourism.

The decreasing PH level also means the ocean’s capacity to absorb

CO2 from the atmosphere also decreases.

"90 per cent of the excess heat that we have produced to the planet,
they are stored in ocean”, informs Prof. Taalas.

Sea-level rise

Sea level increased a record of 4.5 mm per year over the period
2013-2021, mainly due to the accelerated loss of ice mass from the
ice sheets.

This has major implications for hundreds of millions of coastal

dwellers and increases vulnerability to tropical cyclones.

· Cryosphere
The world’s glaciers that scientists use as a reference have thinned
by 33.5 meters since 1950, with 76% happening since 1980.

In 2021, glaciers in Canada and the US Northwest had a record ice

mass loss because of heatwaves and fires in June and July.

Greenland also experienced an exceptional mid-August melt and the

first-ever recorded rainfall at its highest point.

· Heatwaves

The heat broke records across western North America and the
Mediterranean in 2021. Death Valley, California reached 54.4 °C on
9 July, equalling a similar 2020 value as the highest recorded in the
world since at least the 1930s, and Syracuse in Sicily reached 48.8
°C.

A heatwave in British Columbia, Canada caused more than 500

deaths and fuelled devastating wildfires.

Flooding and Droughts

Flooding caused economic losses of US$17.7 billion in Henan province

of China, as well as 20 billion in Germany. It was also a factor
leading to heavy loss of life.

Droughts affected many parts of the world, including the Horn of

Africa, South America, Canada, the western United States, Iran,
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Turkey.

The drought in the Horn of Africa has intensified through 2022.

Eastern Africa is facing the very real prospect that the rains will fail
for a fourth consecutive season, placing Ethiopia, Kenya and
Somalia into a drought of a length not experienced in the last 40
years.

"These [climate] impacts are unevenly distributed. If you’re living in

Central America, South America, Central, East or West Africa, South
Asia or in a Small Island Developing State, you’re 15 times more
likely to die from climate-related impact or a climate-related
weather extreme", explains Special Adviser to the Secretary-
General on Climate Action, Selwin Hart.

· Food security

The compounded effects of conflict, extreme weather events and

economic shocks, further exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic,
undermined decades of progress towards improving food security
globally.

Worsening humanitarian crises in 2021 have also led to a growing

number of countries at risk of famine. Of the total number of
undernourished people in 2020, more than half live in Asia (418
million) and a third in Africa (282 million).

"There’s a component coming from this COVID crisis, and there’s a

high risk now because of the war in Ukraine that we will see major
hunger problems”, adds Prof. Taalas.

· Displacement:

Hazards related to water events continued to contribute to internal

displacement. The countries with the highest numbers of
displacements recorded as of October 2021 were China (more than
1.4 million), the Philippines (more than 386,000) and Viet Nam (more
than 664,000).

Low-cost solutions can give billions

access to modern cooking by 2030, but
the world is failing to deliver
26 July 2023
Women and children bear brunt of harm from lack of clean cooking, which
can be solved with modest investment, bringing major benefits in terms of
health, development, gender equality and climate
Nearly one in three people around the world still cook their meals over open
fires or on basic stoves, resulting in significant damage to health, living
standards and gender equality – and yet this challenge can be overcome this
decade through a relatively modest amount of investment, according to a new
IEA report, produced in partnership with the African Development Bank Group.

Today, 2.3 billion people rely on charcoal, firewood, coal, agricultural waste
and animal dung as fuel to prepare meals, causing them to breathe in harmful
smoke in the process. Air pollution from these rudimentary cooking methods
causes 3.7 million premature deaths per year, ranking it the third largest cause
of premature death globally. Women suffer the worst impacts from the lack of
clean cooking. The burden of fuel collection and making meals typically falls
on women and takes on average 5 hours a day. This prevents many women
from pursuing education and employment or from starting a business that
could deliver financial independence.
The new report, A Vision for Clean Cooking Access for All, offers a practical guide
to bring the tools and fuels needed for every household worldwide to have
access to clean cooking by 2030.
“Clean cooking is a topic that rarely hits the headlines or makes it onto the
political agenda,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “And yet, it’s a
cornerstone of global efforts to improve energy access, gender equity,
economic development and human dignity. This report shows universal clean
cooking access could be reached worldwide by 2030 with annual investment
of USD 8 billion, which is just a tiny fraction of what the world spends on
energy each year. Tackling this injustice is affordable and achievable.”
Basic cooking methods that are widely used by populations that lack access to
clean cooking also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. The collection of
wood and charcoal for cooking results in the loss of areas of forest the size of
Ireland each year.

In the last decade, global progress on clean cooking has been slow, with
progress restricted to a handful of countries. Since 2010, China, India and
Indonesia all halved the number of their citizens who lack clean cooking
access. These efforts relied largely on providing free stoves and subsidised
canisters of liquefied petroleum gas. However, during the same period, Africa’s
population without clean cooking access continued to climb. Under today's
policy settings, most African countries are not expected to reach full clean
cooking access even in the 2050s.

“The lack of access to clean cooking negatively impacts public health,

perpetuates deforestation, and increases greenhouse gas emissions.
Universal access to modern energy by 2030 is imperative and requires game-
changing approaches,” said President Akinwumi Adesina of the African
Development Bank Group. “I am confident that the rich data and insights from
this report will inform and shape our collective approaches to this noble goal of
universal access to clean cooking in Africa.”
To achieve the universal access target laid out in the UN’s Sustainable
Development Goal 7, nearly 300 million people need to gain access to clean
cooking means each year between now and 2030. People in sub-Saharan
Africa represent half of this amount, highlighting where international efforts
need to focus.

The benefits in terms of gender equality, health and time-savings from

reaching universal access to clean cooking would be immense. The report
finds, for example, that premature deaths from poor indoor air quality would
drop by 2.5 million annually. The average household would save at least 1.5
hours of time a day, freeing up time for other pursuits such as education or
work, especially for women. The total time-savings globally would be equal to
the annual working hours of a labour force the size of Japan’s. And the
reduction in global greenhouse gas emissions would reach 1.5 billion tonnes a
year, equivalent to the current emissions from all ships and planes combined.
Achieving universal access to clean cooking would require investment of USD
8 billion annually in stoves and infrastructure between now and 2030. This is
less than 1% of what governments spent in 2022 globally on measures to keep
energy affordable for their citizens. Public and private finance have a key role
to play in advancing clean cooking, especially in regions without the fiscal
space to drive the required investment through public funds. Concessional and
climate financing will be needed to support projects in the poorest regions,
notably in sub-Saharan Africa. Concessional finance would need to make up
around half of the annual investment.

“Solving access to clean cooking does not require a technological

breakthrough,” Dr Birol said. “It comes down to political will from governments,
development banks and other entities seeking to eradicate poverty and gender
inequality. But today, we are failing women in some of the most vulnerable
areas of the world.”

Extreme weather highlights need for

greater climate action 14 july 2023
According to the UN weather agency, June witnessed the warmest
global average temperature on record, and heatwaves have
persisted into early July. Torrential rains and floods have resulted in
dozens of fatalities and affected millions in the United States,
Japan, China and India.

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WMO
‘New normal’
“The extreme weather – an increasingly frequent occurrence in our
warming climate – is having a major impact on human health,
ecosystems, economies, agriculture, energy and water
supplies,” said WMO Secretary-General Petteri Taalas.

“We have to step up efforts to help society adapt to what is

unfortunately becoming the new normal,” he added.

Deadly natural hazard

Heatwaves, amongst the deadliest natural hazards, kill thousands of
people each year.

Elevated temperatures raise the risk of forest fires, as seen recently

in Canada, which lost over nine million hectares of forests in 2023
till date, far surpassing the 10-year average of about 800,000
hectares. The resulting pollution and haze spread across much of
the northeastern United States, impacting the health of millions.

Above-normal temperatures, with the mercury rising more than five

degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) above the long-term
average, are forecast in the Mediterranean region over the next two
weeks, as well as in many places in North Africa, the Middle East
and Türkiye.

A widespread heatwave is intensifying in the southern United

States, with high temperatures likely in numerous places, according
to the US National Weather Service, which says a few locations
could even register all-time temperature records.

Raining like never before

Heavy rains and flooding have caused severe damage and loss of life
in several parts of the world in recent days.

WMO said the Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA) has issued

heavy rain emergency warnings for the Fukuoka and Oita
prefectures, on Kyushu, the country’s third largest island, together
with a new daily rainfall record two days ago.

“It’s raining like never before,” JMA said.

Meanwhile, the northeastern US, including New York state and New
England has seen deadly torrential rains. New York issued a flash
flood emergency and more than four million people were under
floods alerts on 11 July.

Elsewhere, floods in northwest China killed a reported 15 people,

and northern India, roads and bridges collapsed and houses were
swept away as rivers overflowed during heavy monsoonal rainfall
and flooding, claiming dozens of lives.

Low-income countries at higher risk

The UN agency also highlighted that while developed countries have
increased level of preparedness, such as warnings, and
management of floods, low-income countries remain vulnerable.

“As the planet warms, the expectation is that we will see more and
more intense, more frequent, more severe rainfall events, leading
also to more severe flooding,” said Stefan Uhlenbrook, WMO
Director of hydrology, water and cryosphere.
“Developed countries like Japan are extremely alert, and they’re
also very well prepared when it comes to flood management
measures. But many low-income countries have no warnings in
place, hardly any flood defense structures and no integrated flood
management. WMO is committed to improving the situation,” he
said.