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Euractiv
02-07-2025
- Business
- Euractiv
Global climate action at risk as ‘disappointed' camps square off, EU negotiator warns
Europe has found itself stuck in the middle between two diametrically opposed camps in global climate negotiations, the EU's chief negotiator has warned, as progress stalls in the run-up to the crucial COP30 summit in Brazil. A preparatory conference in Bonn closed last week with observers warning of a "bleak" outlook for the UN process, with the group of 'like-minded developing countries' (LMDC), which includes China, accusing rich industrialised nations of negotiating in 'bad faith'. Jacob Werksman, who is set to head the EU's negotiating team at the November summit in the Amazonian port city of Belém, shot back that the bloc had come to Bonn in 'good faith'. Speaking on the eve of the European Commission's proposal for a 2040 emissions reduction target, Werksman spoke of "two camps of disappointment" among parties to the Paris Agreement to arrest global heating. With the world expected to move at the thirtieth round of annual climate action talks from negotiation to implementation, the apparent split risks derailing the process. Those who 'are disappointed with the negotiations' so far 'feel that we might end up with a series of significant ambition and implementation gaps,' Werksman said at a panel hosted by Brussels-based think tank Strategic Perspectives on Tuesday. Splits widen On the other side, there is a 'small but significant' group who see the global 1.5°C goal as being 'out of reach' already, he said. These countries – whom Werksman declined to name – are unlikely to 'contribute significantly to the $1.3 trillion roadmap' on climate finance agreed last year. Moreover, the agreement at COP28 in Dubai to transition away from fossil fuels by an unspecified point in the future "may have been a step too far for them,' said Werksman, who has been principal adviser at the EU's climate directorate since 2012. Instead of getting to work on the basis of these agreements, they want to "open them up a bit further,' he added. European countries, as they await the Commission's proposal today, are similarly split between the more ambitious, like Denmark, and those who fear the bloc is at risk of 'overburdening' itself, as French President Emmanuel Macron has put it. With the Commission expected to propose a 90% emissions reduction target for 2040, Werksman sees the EU overall as sitting somewhere between the two opposing camps he identified in the global talks. 'We want to see the implementation of our ambitious agreements,' he said. At the same time, Europe must realise that it "will not be able to get there if we do not bring the concerned and the sceptics along with us'. The LMDC are 'very difficult to engage with in that context,' the EU negotiator said. The group of developing countries also contains "constituencies that wish the Paris Agreement had done well as those that think [it] has gone too far". (rh, aw)
Economic Times
25-06-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
In Bonn, India leads climate finance fight for developing world ahead of COP30
Developing nations, led by India, are pushing for climate finance accountability at the Bonn climate conference, demanding developed countries fulfill their obligations under Article 9.1 of Paris Agreement. Dissatisfaction with COP29's climate finance outcomes fuels the push to include Article 9.1 as a formal agenda item at COP30. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads ( Originally published on Jun 24, 2025 ) Backed by strong interventions led by India, coalitions such as G77+China, the Like-Minded Developing Countries (LMDC), Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS), Least Developed Countries (LDCs), and the African Group of Negotiators (AGN) came together to raise the issue of climate finance accountability at the ongoing SB62 Bonn climate conference The mobilisation of developing nations at Bonn is likely to set the tone for the upcoming COP30 in Brazil, where there is expected to be a strong push to include Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement as a formal agenda item. This comes against the backdrop of widespread disappointment with the climate finance outcomes at COP29 in Baku in Bonn conference - an annual precursor to the COP - has seen a standoff between developed and developing countries over including Article 9.1 as a standalone agenda item. The article underscores the obligation of developed countries to provide financial resources to support both mitigation and adaptation efforts in developing the demand to list Article 9.1 formally on the agenda was not accepted, the conference Chairs permitted a formal consultation on the issue on June 23. India and Bolivia led the discussions, with active interventions from Nigeria, Chad, and the Arab the heart of the debate is Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which states: "Developed country Parties shall provide financial resources to assist developing country Parties with respect to both mitigation and adaptation in continuation of their existing obligations under the Convention."However, developing nations argue that the poor implementation of Article 9.1 has undermined both climate equity and trust in the global climate regime. Most climate finance, they note, continues to be in the form of loans rather than grants, increasing the financial burden on vulnerable made a forceful pitch during the formal consultation, describing Article 9.1 not just as a moral imperative, but a legal obligation and the "cornerstone of climate equity." It cautioned that strategic deflections from the issue would only delay global climate action and asserted that the commitment cannot be replaced by loosely defined or indirect support concern over what it called a weakening of multilateralism in climate action , India stressed that implementing Article 9.1 was essential to restoring credibility, balance, and trust in the climate also termed the New Collective Quantified Goal (NCQG) on climate finance, announced at COP29 in Baku, as "grossly inadequate," "incomplete," and an "eyewash," sources told Indian delegation also flagged shifting narratives that place unrealistic burdens on developing countries, ignoring their domestic priorities and development challenges. It emphasised that additional climate finance must not come at the cost of undermining national development goals.
Hindustan Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
In Bonn, the pursuit of elusive climate finance
The Bonn climate conference — the mid-year climate review — serves as a prelude to the annual Conference of Parties (CoP) . To that end, the stormy start to the ongoing mid-year review in the German city is not good augury. On the first day, developing nations clashed with developed nations — Donald Trump-governed US is absent from the talks — over two inclusions to the conference agenda proposed by the former: discussions on climate finance under Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, and on unilateral trade measures with climate goals in mind. The Like Minded Developing Nations (LMDC) bloc that includes India had demanded that climate finance as well as trade measures such as the carbon border adjustment mechanism be taken up at the conference. Predictably, the EU and other rich nations and blocs strongly resisted this, delaying the adoption of the agenda for the conference to the second day. Climate finance, more than other differences on climate action being debated by the global community, has become the leitmotif of the limited success at recent climate talks. The developed world resists any binding obligations on quantum, duration, and conditionality of funding that they must provide to the developing nations to undertake necessary climate action. The window for any meaningful action to contain warming within 1.5 degree C is likely closed (or quite narrow). Generating consensus in a Trumpian world will need reviving trust in multilateral climate action, and the responsibility lies squarely with the developed nations to demonstrate that they are willing to work with developing nations on climate by making greater concessions than they have agreed to in the past and, indeed, working to offset the damage from the US's abdication of climate responsibility. One of the areas where they can demonstrate this is climate India said earlier this month, without the money, even preliminary climate pledges won't be met, let alone ambitious ones articulated and pursued.
Hindustan Times
19-06-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
India ‘disappointed' after talks at Bonn
India and several developing countries have expressed disappointment after a key climate finance discussion was excluded from the Bonn Climate Talks agenda, vowing to raise the issue at November's COP30 summit in Brazil. The dispute centred on Article 9.1 of the Paris Agreement, which mandates that developed countries provide financial resources to assist developing nations with both mitigation and adaptation efforts. The debate over the 9.1 agenda item proposal led to a 30-hour delay before talks could begin. 'We are extremely disappointed with the reluctance of developed countries to discuss their legal obligations to provide finance to developing countries,' said Amandeep Garg, additional secretary at ministry of environment, forests and climate change, who represented the Indian delegation. The Like Minded Developing Countries (LMDC) group and the G77 and China had proposed agenda items on both the legal obligation of wealthy countries to provide climate finance and another on unilateral trade measures. However, these were not adopted after the European Union and other developed nations refused to agree. 'Without enough affordable financial support, developing countries cannot address the challenges posed by climate change,' Garg said during his intervention at the agenda adoption session, backing the LMDC position. 'This is completely unacceptable. We do not understand how this process can engage in article 9.1 without which climate action in developing countries cannot be taken in scale, scope and speed' Garg added: 'It has been 10 years of the Paris Agreement and still the items which are required to be discussed, we are not discussing them.' Diego Pacheco, Bolivia's negotiator and spokesperson for the LMDC group, warned that the issue would resurface at COP30. 'Public finance from developed countries is a necessary condition for implementation of the Paris Agreement,' he said. 'You can deny us the starting point but be rest assured, the LMDC will raise these items at COP30.' The African Group also highlighted the implementation of Article 9.1 as critical to their region, emphasising the need to address resource provision for nationally determined contributions, national adaptation plans, and just transition measures. EU negotiators said their 'positions and motivations being mischaracterised' and urged parties to respect all positions in a constructive spirit. The agenda was finally adopted on Tuesday evening after extensive behind-closed-doors consultations. Simon Stiell, the UN climate chief, acknowledged the difficulty of the negotiations whilst urging progress on mandated items. 'The past 30 hours have been hard and have not reflected the urgency that we face,' Stiell said. 'Through cooperation and compromise, we have resolved the impasse. We must now move the work ahead.' This year's Bonn talks agenda includes discussions on Global Goal on Adaptation indicators under the UAE–Belém Work Programme, the UAE Dialogue on implementing global stocktake outcomes, the UAE Just Transition Work Programme, and the Baku to Belem roadmap to 1.3 trillion dollars. Avantika Goswami, programme manager at the Climate Change Centre for Science and Environment, said the European Union and its allies had blocked the G77's demand to discuss developed countries' climate finance obligations. 'The fight is not over, as the LMDC bloc and India have vowed to bring focus back to this at COP30,' she said. The dispute comes as climate change appears to be losing prominence in some international forums. The International Institute of Sustainable Development noted that G7 statements following recent talks between leaders in Kananaskis omitted references to climate change, with only the chair's summary making a passing reference to the issue. 'The G7 sidestepped climate change in the leaders' statements, despite acknowledging increased wildfires,' said Patricia Fuller, IISD president and chief executive. 'Previous G7 commitments to action on climate change remain on the books and must be delivered.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Top Liberian doctor struck off over qualification doubts
The head of Liberia's doctors' association has been banned from practising medicine after a regulatory body said it did not have evidence of his initial medical degree. As part of a qualifications audit, the Liberia Medical and Dental Council (LMDC) asked Peter Matthew George to provide his professional certificates. In April, the LMDC told Dr George that it had revoked his license as he had not given satisfactory proof he had graduated in medicine from the UK's University of Hertfordshire as, it said, he had been claiming. Dr George has disputed the LMDC's findings. He told the BBC there was a "bias" against him because of his advocacy in a row between doctors and the government. In a letter to Dr George explaining its decision, the LMDC said he had not provided an actual certificate of his qualification from the University of Hertfordshire but instead sent an "award verification letter" which said he had "obtained an MD". The LMDC pointed out that "MD" is a qualification acquired in the US and not the UK. Furthermore, the LMDC said "of utmost concern is that investigation showed that the only University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom does not currently offer a medical degree". The university told the BBC that "following a thorough review of our academic records, we can confirm that there is no evidence that this individual was ever awarded any degree by the University nor studied here. Any claim to the contrary is therefore false and constitutes a misrepresentation of our institution. "We are cooperating fully with the appropriate authorities in Liberia and will continue to support any investigations as required." In his education record on LinkedIn, Dr George said he had studied for a "professional doctorate in medicine MD, general medicine" at Hertfordshire between 2010 and 2014. His LinkedIn page has since been taken down. But in an email to the BBC, Dr George said his primary medical degree was not from the British university. "I never told anyone so. Those are make-up stories," he wrote. Asked why he had mentioned the University of Hertfordshire, he said: "Maybe I made an error when writing because am under pressure." Instead, he said his initial medical degree was from the University of Central Nicaragua. He said that since starting practising medicine in Liberia in 2014, and providing his qualifications to the authorities at the time, no-one had raised an issue with his work. In fact, he said, he had been promoted and praised for improving the medical facilities at the Chief Jallah Lone Government Hospital in Gbarpolu county. "I have served the Liberian health sector diligently for over a decade with no record of misconduct," he said. Dr George argued that problems began to arise after he became the president of the Liberia Medical and Dental Association (LMDA) in December last year. He said he was continuing "the long-standing advocacy for the rights and welfare of doctors and dentists in the country" and said hostility against him began after the LMDA raised issues with the "reclassification of all government-employed specialists and consultants". The news that he had been barred from the profession has only just emerged as Dr George was given 15 working days to respond. The medical council said it did not receive a response. In a statement, the LMDA said it had now "nullified" his presidency and that he was no longer a member of the association. How President Joseph Boakai hopes to rid Liberia of its problems Liberia's war and peace: Lessons from 30 years' reporting How returning $50,000 changed a taxi driver's life Go to for more news from the African continent. Follow us on Twitter @BBCAfrica, on Facebook at BBC Africa or on Instagram at bbcafrica Africa Daily Focus on Africa
