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Billions of dollars ostensibly committed to addressing the impacts of the climate crisis in poorer countries are not being delivered, the UN’s humanitarian chief has declared. Martin Griffiths said he was “scrambling to try to understand” where a promised $100bn a year agreed at the UN climate change conference in 2009 by richer countries has gone.
“The truth of the matter is that we are scrambling to try to understand where the climate money is that was promised a decade ago. Where is it? Who’s holding it and who is not delivering it to places like Somalia?” the UN’s undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief coordinator said, referring to a worsening famine in the east African country where US troops are stationed.
“Somalis are the victims of our behaviour, the victims of our habits – not of theirs. And yet we haven’t even managed to get to them the money that we pledged nobly some time ago for exactly this kind of purpose.”
Amid growing calls from African countries for easier access to the pledged funds, Griffiths said he had “failed” to get an answer when he asked governments how climate financing was decided and delivered.
Follow the money. The Green Climate Fund was created as a way to deliver the money promised in 2009, but its impact has been limited since rich countries often channel their financing through the World Bank or regional development banks.
Iranian authorities reportedly open fire in Mahsa Amini town
On the 40th day since the death of Mahsa Amini in Iran, which typically spells the end of an official mourning period, security forces reportedly fired shots as they clashed with protesters who had rallied in their thousands in her home town.
“Security forces have shot teargas and opened fire on people in Zindan Square, Saqqez city,” Hengaw, a Norway-based group that monitors rights violations in Iran’s Kurdish regions, tweeted without specifying whether there were any dead or wounded. It said more than 50 civilians had been injured by direct fire in cities across the region.
Appeals had gone out for protesters to take to the streets despite a ban by the security forces. The call was answered in Tehran, Isfahan and Mashhad, but the biggest gathering was in Saqqez, the home town of Amini – who died three days after she was arrested by the morality police for being dressed “inappropriately” – in the western Kurdistan province.
‘Woman, life, freedom’. As many as 10,000 mourners attended Amini’s gravesite yesterday despite security services warning her family not to hold the ceremony and commanding a heavy presence in the city. The shootings appear to have happened when a smaller group marched to the governor’s office in Saqqez.
China is locking down parts of Wuhan again
Almost three years after the first ever Covid case emerged in the now infamous Chinese city of Wuhan, more than 800,000 people have been forced to lock down for at least three days as streets and homes were effectively sealed.
China today reported a third consecutive day of more than 1,000 new Covid cases nationwide, triggering more curbs and restrictions across the country despite it representing a modest tally. In a mosaic of measures across the country, Wuhan suspended the sale of pork in parts of the city after authorities said one Covid case had been linked to the local pork supply chain.
The country has repeatedly vowed to stick to its zero-tolerance response to Covid-19 and implement what the authorities say are necessary measures to contain the virus.
Does a full lockdown beckon for Guangzhou? China’s fourth-biggest city by economic output sealed up more streets and neighbourhoods and kept people in their homes as new areas were deemed high-risk in a Covid resurgence that has persisted into its fourth week.
In other news …
Bees order numbers in increasing size from left to right, a study has shown for the first time, supporting a much-debated theory that this direction is inherent in all animals including humans – following a so-called “mental number line” – that some believe is in fact cultural and not innate.
Quebec’s separatist party has renewed calls for Canada to no longer have as a head of state a “foreigner who knows nothing about Canada” – a reference to the British monarch – and be subject to any degree of control by a “slave-driven” British monarchy, in the latest example of Commonwealth figures seriously questioning ties to the UK.
Germany has announced its plan to legalise cannabis for recreational use, proposing to allow adults to buy and own up to 30g of the herb, as well as privately being able to grow up to three plants, in measures that would also sanction public consumption but cap THC levels.
Kanye West’s wax figure in Madame Tussauds, the London museum, has been moved to the archive room as the chart-topping rapper’s ignominious fall from grace shows no sign of letting up after a fresh wave of antisemitic and anti-black remarks in a podcast broadcast on Tuesday.
Stat of the day: Carbon emissions ‘to peak in 2025’, says IEA
Worldwide government spending on clean energy in response to the Ukraine invasion would mark a “historic turning point” in the transition away from fossil fuels as global carbon emissions from energy peak in 2025, the International Energy Agency has projected. Government spending on clean fuels in response to Russia’s invasion has massively increased, according to analysis by the world’s leading organisation in the sector.
“None of the government leaders complained about too much clean energy,” Fatih Birol, the IEA’s executive director, said. “They complain that they don’t have enough clean energy.” Under the new plans investment in low-carbon energy such as solar, wind and nuclear power will rise to $2tn a year by 2030, an increase of more than 50% from today. “The golden age of gas is approaching the end,” Birol said.
Don’t miss this: Bellwether state holds key to Brazil election
Brazil’s two presidential candidates are campaigning hard in Minas Gerais, which has a long record of picking the winner, before a crunch second round vote as they offer their contrasting visions to the country. “I think the best Bolsonaro will manage is a draw in Minas … and this tells you a lot about how I feel about the election overall. This is going to be a tight race but it’s one where Lula remains favourite,” said Felipe Nunes, a political scientist from the state’s federal university.
Nil César, a campaigner posting flyers, told the Guardian’s Tom Phillips that President Jair Bolsonaro’s contempt for the poor and dramatic loosening of gun laws meant their pre-election operation was quite literally a matter of life or death for the community’s disfranchised youth.
Climate check: Thirsty elephants irk drought-hit Kenyan farmers
A drought in Kenya’s south-eastern region around a conservation area has brought elephants scouring the area for food and water close to farmers. “Experts say we are suffering because people in rich countries have polluted the atmosphere,” said farmer Francis Mutuku. “I cannot plant maize any more and need to switch to crops that take a short time to mature and that require little water, such as green grams [mung beans].”
Rachel Kennedy, who lives close to Mutuku, says she is leaving water in a drinking trough intended for her cows so that the elephants – which can consume 200 litres of water a day – can drink and not destroy the concrete tank. “I moved my cows to my ancestral home over 50km away to avoid confrontations with elephants,” she said.
Last Thing: The doctors leaving anti-abortion states
Four months after Roe v Wade was overturned, some providers have left states restricting abortions or changed careers, writes Poppy Noor. Some have been left scrambling to make plans out of state due to bans in places such as Texas. “They needed to get all the way to the east coast or west coast before they would find a doctor who could help them, and they needed to do it in the next 24 or 48 hours. Even in the best scenario I don’t think 99% of people could have made that trip in the time they had,” said Alireza Shamshirsaz, a Texan now living in Boston, on a couple whose pregnancy was not going to be viable who came to him for care.
“If we wait to the edge, we have more near misses. In medicine, when you have too many near misses, eventually, you actually miss. That means ending up with a dead mother,” he added. “If you can’t do a termination, who will support these kids after the birth? Who will pay the bills they will need for medical care? Nobody. We destroy these families.”
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