Climate Change

Fij praised for taking on COP23 presidency

Germany is hosting the UN climate change meeting this November in Bonn.

At a side event this week at the UN General Assembly in New York, Mr Flasbarth linked the possibilities that can be derived when two different nations work together to build awareness on climate change.

At the same event, the Fiji prime minister Frank Bainimarama reiterated the importance of working closely with Germany.

Tuvalu PM calls for urgency on Paris Agreement

Enele Sopoaga was speaking at a Small Island Developing States event in New York where he and other leaders have gathered for the United Nations General Assembly.

Describing climate change as a security issue, he said there was a need to ensure that implementation of the Paris Agreement was verifiable.

The Agreement, which aims to limit global temperature increase below 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels, was designed to protect communities most vulnerable to climate change impacts.

Australia's warmest winter 'driven by climate change'

Data released this month showed average maximum temperatures in the winter months of June to August were nearly 2C above average.

Climate change made the "exceptionally warm and dry" winter 60 times more likely, the Climate Council said in a report.

The group has linked the record hot winter to "worsening climate change".

The Climate Council is an independent, non-profit organisation that was set up in 2013 to continue the work of its government-funded predecessor, which was abolished by the Tony Abbott government.

Paris climate aim 'still achievable'

The study is one of several to address the "carbon budget", which - among other things - determines how much CO2 the planet can emit and still reach a given limit for global warming.

It indicates the 2015 target, perceived by some as tough, could be met with very stringent emissions cuts.

It used computer models that project climate behaviour into the future.

The aim of the Paris deal was "holding the increase in global average temperature to well below 2C above pre-industrial levels and pursuing efforts to limit temperature increase to 1.5C."

Tuvalu appeals to 'climate tourists'

Paufi Afelee said many visitors come to Tuvalu for development projects and research but some of the tourists who arrive are sceptics who think climate change is a hoax.

She said tourists who see the impact of global warming on Tuvalu are the ones who can help.

"Our natural resources cannot cater for mass tourism. So even though there's a push to increase our tourism numbers, it's more about catering for the type of tourist that can come here and actually learn about our way of life," she said.

Paris climate deal: Trump open to staying in, Tillerson says

Rex Tillerson said the US would stay in the agreement "if we can construct a set of terms that we believe is fair".

His comments come despite the White House earlier denying reports it was softening its stance on the accord.

In June Mr Trump announced the US would withdraw from the pact.

The president said the move was part of his "solemn duty to protect America", painting the agreement as one which aimed to hobble the US economy in favour of countries like China and India.

Tuvalu hopes Trump will change view on climate change

Mr Sopoaga, who leads a country already experiencing sea level rise, is at the Pacific Forum leaders’ summit in Apia where climate change is on the agenda.

He said given the US president Donald Trump's dismissal of the agreement, nations needed to work multi-laterally to ensure there is trust and respect in the interests of saving humanity.

India to help Pacific with climate change

The newly established India-UN Development Partnership Fund aims to help island countries become more resilient to extreme weather and other climate change impacts.

The fund said since 1950 extreme weather events in the region had caused more than 9,800 deaths and affected 9.2 million people.

UNDP Pacific is to implement the project in Tonga, Kiribati, the Marshall Islands, Solomon Islands, the Cook Islands, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia.

The project involves the provision of technical equipment and training of hydrologists and meteorologists.

'Dodgy' greenhouse gas data threatens Paris accord

Air monitors in Switzerland have detected large quantities of one gas coming from a location in Italy.

However, the Italian submission to the UN records just a tiny amount of the substance being emitted.

Levels of some emissions from India and China are so uncertain that experts say their records are plus or minus 100%.

These flaws posed a bigger threat to the Paris climate agreement than US President Donald Trump's intention to withdraw, researchers told BBC Radio 4's Counting Carbon programme.

Bottom-up records

Alarming: Sea-level rise in Solomon Islands doubles global average

Director of Solomon Islands Meteorological Services David Hiba who is now studying at Reading University in the UK said the current sea level in Solomon Island is more than doubled the global average.
 
“This is the net sea level rise after filtering out noises such as tides, earth movement, meteorological factors etc,” Hiba said.