Hello,
Yet another catastrophe has struck the Philippines this week as one of the year's most powerful storms, Super Typhoon Fung-wong, has killed 18 people in the Southeast Asian island. Meanwhile, a tornado hit the southern Brazilian state of Parana, killing six people, as the United Nations climate conference continues in the north of Brazil in Belem.
Delegates at COP30 are grappling with how best to help the vulnerable withstand worsening weather and other climate extremes. Let’s start with Typhoon Fung-wong. More than a million people were evacuated before Fung-wong hit land on Sunday, unleashing fierce howling winds, heavy rain and storm swells on the most populous island of Luzon that left some sleepless through the night.
A mudslide buried a house and killed two children in the northern town of Kayapa in the province of Nueva Vizcaya, regional civil defense official Alvin Ayson said. They followed two deaths from drowning and fallen debris.
After passing over the Philippines on Sunday, Typhoon Fung-wong headed north towards Taiwan and gradually lost strength. Also on my radar today: |
|
|
A woman wades through a flooded alley after Typhoon Fung-wong hit Dagupan City, Pangasinan, Philippines. REUTERS/Noel Celis |
Typhoon Fung-wong and Brazil’s tornado |
Ranking as one of the Philippines' most powerful storms of the year, Fung-wong has killed 18 people in the island nation, authorities said on Monday.
The storm is the 21st this year in the Philippines, coming after Typhoon Kalmaegi killed 224 last week, with five dead in Vietnam.
Scientists have said rising sea temperatures pack more energy into tropical cyclones, making them more intense and boosting rainfall.
The back-to-back storms came as officials of more than 190 countries gathered in Brazil for the COP30 climate summit.
Brazilian authorities said 437 people were treated for injuries and about 1,000 were displaced after a tornado, accompanied by strong winds and heavy rain, struck the southern state of Parana. The nearby city of Guarapuava was also affected.
According to the Parana Meteorology and Environmental Monitoring System, the tornado's winds reached speeds between 180 kph (111 mph) and 250 kph. The town of Rio Bonito do Iguacu was hit hardest late on Friday, with the state's civil defense agency reporting that over half of the urban area suffered roof collapses, along with multiple structural failures. |
|
|
Over in Brazil’s Amazon city of Belem, the first point of order for COP30 will be to vote on an agenda.
The biggest question mark was whether countries would aim to negotiate a final agreement – a hard sell in a year of fractious global politics and U.S. efforts to obstruct a transition away from fossil fuels.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva hopes countries will consider setting a plan for quitting fossil fuels. “How are we going to do this? Is there going to be consensus about how we are going to do it? This is one of the great mysteries of COP30,” COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago said.
Other possible issues for the agenda include deciding how countries will cut emissions further, with their current plans falling short of what’s needed to limit extreme warming. By Monday morning, 106 governments had submitted new climate plans.
Delegates are also keen to tackle agriculture emissions – a topic often left to the side given the difficulty of addressing the farming and livestock practices central to many countries' food security and livelihoods.
Among developing countries, do Lago said, “there is a movement” to advance solutions and access to technologies that can help make farming more efficient and less polluting.
Finally, countries also want to address financial and action targets for adapting to the conditions of a warmer world, with hopes that development banks can undergo enough reform to ensure more money – including from the private sector – goes to these goals. |
Reuters journalist Raneen Sawafta is moved by medics following an Israeli settlers attack, near Nablus, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. REUTERS/Nidal Eshtayeh |
-
Journalist safety: Israeli settlers attacked a group of 30 Palestinian villagers, activists, and about 10 journalists during an attempt to harvest olives near a settler outpost in the Israeli-occupied West Bank this weekend, witnesses said. Two Reuters employees – a journalist and a security adviser accompanying her – were among those injured in the attack by the men who wielded sticks and clubs and hurled large rocks, in an area close to the Palestinian village of Beita.
-
COP32: This year's COP30 president told Reuters that Ethiopia is set to be confirmed as host of the COP32 climate summit in 2027, while the choice of host for next year's COP31 remains a point of contention between Australia and Turkey, who are vying for the 2026 event.
-
Bangladesh erosion: Every year, hundreds of families in northern Bangladesh's Kurigram district face displacement. As riverbanks collapse, people lose not only their homes but also their land, crops, and livestock. The Brahmaputra, Teesta, and Dharla rivers — once lifelines for millions — have become unpredictable, eroding land faster than ever before. Click here for the full Reuters story that explains climate change’s role in what’s happening in Kurigram.
-
India air quality protests: Protestors demonstrated in New Delhi demanding action to curb an annual scourge of toxic air swathing the capital and its surrounding region. "We have only one problem, and that is of clean air," said Neha, a mask-wearing protester, who gave only one name. The city's air quality index of 345 ranked as 'very poor' on Monday, compared to ratings of 'good' in the category from zero to 50, and 'severe' in the range from 401 to 500, according to the Central Pollution Control Board.
-
Trump loyalty hiring lawsuit: Three unions including the American Federation of Government Employees alleged in a lawsuit that a question the Office of Personnel Management mandated job applicants be asked as part of an overhaul of the civil service is unconstitutional and violates free-speech rights. While most of the questions related to job performance, the unions said one "instead elicits the political views of applicants and political agreement with the current president."
|
|
|
For many, this year’s 30th climate summit, COP30, marks a full-circle moment. Brazil hosted the Rio Earth Summit where the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change treaty was signed 33 years ago.
This year, the country insisted the event would return to its roots in acknowledging the world’s most vulnerable including indigenous groups, with some joining the talks. Click here for a Reuters explainer on why the summit matters and click here for a brief breakdown of the latest climate science.
|
|
|
Sustainable Switch was edited by Emelia Sithole-Matarise. |
|
|
|
