Task force sets out steps to revive ailing offset market Critics demand transparency and a grievance process Backers say offsets crucial to meet surge of net-zero goals
By Laurie Goering
LONDON, July 8 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Reshaping patchy and largely ineffective carbon offset markets with much tougher standards will be key to helping companies and countries meet a recent avalanche of net-zero emissions commitments, climate finance analysts said on Thursday.
Offsets could play a major role in protecting nature and biodiversity in tropical countries where it is fast disappearing and could provide an alternative income for those now earning a living from destructive jobs like logging, backers said.
Climate action must happen for our people, not to them , cities say reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Africa: Climate Action Must Happen ‘For Our People, Not to Them’, Cities Say
5 hours ago
By Laurie Goering
A shift to a greener economy should bring social benefits, especially for the poorest, or ‘the politics will end up against us’
Efforts to push low-carbon lifestyles and green energy to curb climate change will fail unless many people see benefits – and the poorest and most vulnerable should get the biggest gains, leading mayors and other city officials urged Friday.
“The journey to net-zero (emissions) has to happen with and for our people, not to them,” warned Susan Aitken, leader of the city council in Glasgow, the Scottish city that will host the COP26 U.N. climate negotiations in November.
By Maya Gebeily, Thomson Reuters Foundation
6 Min Read Poorer Iraqis struggle to cope with power cuts Better-off residents bypass blackouts with generators
BEIRUT, July 6 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - No strangers to temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius (122 Fahrenheit), Iraqis are adept at finding ways to stay cool in summer. But a spate of recent power cuts has exposed a deep divide between the heatwave haves and have-nots.
While relatively well-off residents of the capital, Baghdad, can afford generators that crank into action when the national grid falters, others have been struggling to cope without air-conditioning, fridges and electric fans for days.
Government employee Sadiq Sadkan pays about $200 per month to access a generator supplying his middle-class neighbourhood during blackouts, which worsen amid surging summer demand.
FEATURE-Iraq s power cuts show privilege of staying cool in a heatwave reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.