Travel warnings: Here's what Canadians should know this summer
With the summer travel season approaching, the government of Canada has issued advisories or warnings for Canadians who are heading to certain destinations.
With an end-of-the-week deadline rushing at them faster than agreements are coming out of them, negotiators at the UN climate summit were in a difficult spot Wednesday.
Talks in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh got off to a plodding start and are behind the pace of previous meetings as government ministers returned to Egypt to take over negotiations with three days left before the scheduled close Friday.
"I think we still have a long way to go. But I remain hopeful that we can come to good conclusions," the European Union's top climate official, Frans Timmermans, told The Associated Press.
Demands for rich nations to provide additional aid for vulnerable countries suffering devastating impacts from climate change have become a major point of division at the two-week meeting.
Developed countries such as the United States have long resisted the idea of "loss and damage" for fear of being held financially liable for the carbon dioxide they've pumped into the atmosphere for decades.
But there has been a softening of positions among some rich nations that now acknowledge some form of payment will be needed, just not what.
"Countries that are particularly affected, who themselves bear no blame for the CO2 emissions of industrial nations such as Germany, rightly expect protection against loss and damage from climate change," German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said. She later conceded that an agreement on the issue might not be possible in Egypt, however.
Timmermans, who is the EU's executive vice-president, echoed that view.
"We're all willing to find some substantial steps forward, but we're not there yet," he said.
Small island states, who are among the most vulnerable to sea-level rise resulting from global warming, said they were concerned the issue could scupper the negotiations.
"The inaction of many developed countries has the potential to stall talks and land a devastating blow to the hopes of the developing world for the establishment of a loss and damage funding facility," said Conrod Hunte, a senior diplomat from Antigua and Barbuda.
Former Irish President Mary Robinson, who is also chair of the Elders group of former global leaders, urged negotiators at the climate talks to take a "real decision" on climate financing to vulnerable countries.
"We need to see a landing that brings money to the most vulnerable," she told The AP on the sidelines of the climate conference in Egypt.
Robinson called for global financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, to free more funds to help vulnerable nations recover and be prepared for climate change impacts.
"They actually have ways of opening up their lending much more without losing their triple-A rating," she said.
Ugandan climate activist Vanessa Nakate also criticized the continued discussion and resistance from some countries to establish a loss and damage financing structure. She also called for governments around the world to phase out fossil fuels to keep the Paris accord's target of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).
"It's important that we not only address the issue of loss and damage, but also address the root cause of loss and damage," she said.
That objective got a boost when the Group of 20 leading and emerging economies meeting in Bali ended with a statement that endorsed the 1.5 degree target and made 49 references to climate.
A small thaw in relations between the United States and China at the Group of 20 meeting in Bali also boosted hopes that the world's top two polluters can help get a deal over the line in Egypt.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry confirmed Wednesday that he and his Chinese counterpart Xie Zhenhua had resumed formal talks after they were frozen three months ago by China in retaliation for U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's trip to Taiwan.
The middle of the second weeks of climate summits in general are "a deep valley of anxiety," said Christiana Figueres, the former United Nations climate chief who was at more than 20 summits but not the one in Egypt. She said that's because there is such a big desire for something to come out of talks, but "it's also the moment in which people begin to be much more aware of the short time horizon that is left to be able to deliver something by Friday."
That pressure "makes us act on the double and hopefully be more creative and also more conciliatory than we were perhaps in the first week," Figueres said.
Alex Scott, climate diplomacy lead at the think tank E3G, said the slow progress made during the first week mean there's "a few late nights to come" to try to find compromise areas.
"There's so much frustration and anger boiling over" from developing nations that have been talking about the issue since 1991, said Alden Meyer, a longtime climate negotiations analyst at E3G.
Meanwhile, Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva received an enthusiastic welcome at the talks in Egypt.
In two appearances, da Silva told cheering crowds that he would crack down on illegal deforestation in the Amazon, reinitiate relationships with countries that finance forest protection efforts and push to soon host a world climate summit in the rainforest.
Brazil's efforts on climate change are seen as vital because its Amazon rainforest territory provides a vast "carbon sink" to the world where emissions can be stored, whereas deforestation would fuel global warming.
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With the summer travel season approaching, the government of Canada has issued advisories or warnings for Canadians who are heading to certain destinations.
Longtime councillor and MP Carolyn Parrish won Mississauga's mayoral race Monday night, beating out a crowded field of contenders for the top job.
Evan Rodrigues scored back-to-back third period goals, including the winner, as the Florida Panthers won Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final 4-1 over the visiting Edmonton Oilers on Monday night.
Dressed in a navy blue suit, Kane Carter stood tall in the prisoner’s box and calmly entered not guilty pleas to the three charges against him in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver Monday.
Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he would ban Apple devices at his companies if the iPhone maker integrates OpenAI at the operating system level.
The man charged with killing a woman by lighting her on fire on a TTC bus two years ago admitted to causing her death, but should not be found criminally responsible due a diagnosis of schizophrenia, prosecutors and defence counsel argued at the outset of his trial in Toronto.
Ryan Reynolds' mom Tammy set the PVR at her Vancouver home to record The View before she even knew she would appear on Monday's episode with her superstar son.
Kia will recall more than 20,000 Telluride SUVs in Canada over a fire risk and owners of 2020 to 2024 models are urged to park outside.
Chrystia Freeland presented her promised capital gains proposal to Parliament on Monday, setting the stage for a key vote as the Liberals try to wedge the Conservatives on the contentious tax proposal.
A dog who spent the first three-and-a-half years of his life suffering and almost a year at a shelter has found his forever home, according to the BC SPCA.
In most families, ringing in a 100th birthday is a massive milestone. Minni Pelman’s family certainly thinks so – as they celebrate her 108th birthday in the park outside her building.
Showing off the latest purchase in his Eaton's collection, Corey Quintaine joked he is rebuilding the former flagship store that used to sit at 320 Portage Avenue one Facebook Marketplace purchase at a time.
After learning about food security at school, 11-year-old Violette Ferguson wants fresh eggs and to change the rules around chickens in the city.
An Ontario powerlifter caught a mild cold last year. Six days later, he was fighting for his life in the ICU.
Marking a milestone, Lakeshore resident Olga White celebrated her 107th birthday in style Wednesday.
The municipality of Tantramar, N.B., is holding a sale to get rid of surplus items it acquired after the Town of Sackville amalgamated with smaller communities last year.
For several weeks, a mysterious social media user has apparently been leaving $50 bills hidden across Metro Vancouver.
A statue dedicated to the Royal Regina Rifles Regiment has been officially unveiled in France just ahead of the 80th anniversary of D-Day.