Global/World Issues – Page 2

Future of Fossil Fuels at Stake in Homestretch of Climate Talks

9Dec

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World

Future of Fossil Fuels at Stake in Homestretch of Climate Talks

DUBAI—Fossil-fuel producers are fighting an existential battle here in the final stretch of the United Nations climate conference against countries that want to end the burning of coal, oil and natural gas.Europe and a handful of nations on the front lines of climate change are demanding that a final agreement at the conference, known as COP28, include a phase out of fossil fuels. One option in a draft of the agreement circulating on Friday evening calls for “a phase out of fossil fuels in line with best available science.”Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

9Dec

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Health

The Truth About Net Zero, at Last

The great and good of politics and business have converged on Dubai this week for the global climate conference known as COP28, and by now they must wish they hadn’t. The event has done the one thing such confabs are supposed never to do, which is expose the truth about climate change and the race to net-zero carbon emissions.The truth-teller in chief is the event’s host, Sultan Al Jaber. He’s become a figure of hate on the eco-left since letting slip that he’s a net-zero skeptic. “There is no science out there, or no scenario out there, that says that the phase-out of fossil fuel is what’s going to achieve 1.5 [degrees Celsius],” he said of the climate industry’s global temperature target during a virtual event last month. He warned that attempting to wean the world off fossil fuels woul...

Climate Change Is Breaking Insurance. Here’s How Tech Could Save It.

9Dec

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Technology

Climate Change Is Breaking Insurance. Here’s How Tech Could Save It.

If floodwaters outside a warehouse in Freeport, Texas, owned by private investment firm Postlane Partners rise to 8 inches, an internet-connected sensor will trigger an automatic $3 million payment from an insurance company, a startup called FloodFlash. If the waters rise to 16 inches, the payment will also rise—to $5 million. This type of policy, called parametric insurance, works like a bet. It has a defined payout, which limits the liability of the insurer. And it comes from a new breed of insurance company, stepping in to shoulder risks that traditional insurers can’t—or won’t—take on, because climate change has made more typical kinds of coverage unprofitable.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

9Dec

By adminNo Comments

World

Climate Change Is Breaking Insurance. Here’s How Tech Could Save It.

If floodwaters outside a warehouse in Freeport, Texas, owned by private investment firm Postlane Partners rise to 8 inches, an internet-connected sensor will trigger an automatic $3 million payment from an insurance company, a startup called FloodFlash. If the waters rise to 16 inches, the payment will also rise—to $5 million. This type of policy, called parametric insurance, works like a bet. It has a defined payout, which limits the liability of the insurer. And it comes from a new breed of insurance company, stepping in to shoulder risks that traditional insurers can’t—or won’t—take on, because climate change has made more typical kinds of coverage unprofitable.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

8Dec

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Health

John Kerry and CO2 Emissions Reality

Give John Kerry credit for persistence if not realism. President Biden’s climate envoy keeps demanding the end of fossil fuels while the world continues to blow through his apocalyptic warnings. A new report in time for the COP28 climate conference in Dubai says that global CO2 emissions will hit a new peak this year. But Mr. Kerry keeps berating American fossil fuels producers though U.S. emissions are on track to fall 4% in 2023. The big problem: China’s emissions are set to rise by twice as much as the U.S. decline. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Atomic Power Is In Again—and China Has the Edge

7Dec

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World

Atomic Power Is In Again—and China Has the Edge

SINGAPORE—China became the first country to put the latest evolution in civilian nuclear technology into use, placing it at the cutting edge of atomic power just as climate change is bringing nuclear plants back into vogue. With soaring global temperatures and concerns about climate change casting a renewed spotlight on nuclear as a low-carbon power source, China said Wednesday that the first-ever fourth-generation nuclear power plant began commercial operation in the eastern province of Shandong following seven days of continuous operation. Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

COP28 Climate Summit Takes Aim at Powerful Methane Emissions

4Dec

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World

COP28 Climate Summit Takes Aim at Powerful Methane Emissions

Updated Dec. 2, 2023 3:45 pm ETFrom Texas to Turkmenistan, global leaders at the COP28 climate summit in Dubai are taking a big swing at cutting methane, a potent greenhouse gas produced by oil and gas drilling, livestock and rotting vegetation. They are using financial incentives combined with strict new regulations to get countries and energy firms on board.On Saturday, the Biden administration announced a final methane rule for U.S. oil and gas producers, requiring them to plug methane leaks and stop burning excess gas with flares. The regulations also mandate regular inspections of facilities to make sure the planet-warming compound isn’t escaping into the atmosphere.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Billions in U.S. Funding Hasn’t Convinced Developing World to Ditch Coal

3Dec

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World

Billions in U.S. Funding Hasn’t Convinced Developing World to Ditch Coal

Updated Dec. 3, 2023 12:04 am ETJOHANNESBURG—Wealthy nations are sending tens of billions of dollars to poorer ones for clean energy, the linchpin of a global strategy to cut greenhouse-gas emissions in the developing world.But two of the most ambitious efforts yet—in South Africa and Indonesia—are now at risk of unraveling, sowing doubts about the rich world’s ability to push developing countries away from coal and other fossil fuels.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

Does the West Have a Double Standard for Ukraine and Gaza?

1Dec

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World

Does the West Have a Double Standard for Ukraine and Gaza?

Listen to article(2 minutes)Carrying pets and dragging suitcases over blown-up bridges, millions of Ukrainians fled Russian tank columns last year, in scenes similar to the recent exodus of Palestinians from northern Gaza in response to Israel’s military thrust. In the besieged Ukrainian city of Mariupol, Russian warplanes pounded into rubble hospitals, schools and a theater packed with children.The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have become intertwined in the global debate and in American politics. Contrasting reactions to them have widened the chasm between Western democracies and much of the rest of the planet, as mutual accusations of double standards inflame passions.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8

The World’s Key Canal Is Clogged Up. Winter Fuel Prices Could Get Wacky.

1Dec

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World

The World’s Key Canal Is Clogged Up. Winter Fuel Prices Could Get Wacky.

Climate change may be making winters more unpredictable. It could make your winter heating bills more unpredictable too, particularly if you live at the end of long and vulnerable fuel supply chains.The price of liquefied petroleum gas, a significant U.S. export, has rocketed higher recently in Asia, a remarkable development given that crude oil prices have been falling. Prices for Brent crude, the main global benchmark, are down about $9 a barrel, or about 10%, since mid-September. But Asian propane LPG prices are lower only by 3%, data from Argus Media shows, trading around $665 per metric ton in late November.Copyright ©2023 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8