Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Officials from the Group of Seven wealthy nations announced Friday that they will aim to largely end greenhouse gas emissions from their power sectors by 2035, making it highly unlikely that those countries will burn coal for electricity beyond that date.
Ministers from the G7 countries meeting in Berlin also announced a target to have a "highly decarbonized road sector by 2030," meaning that zero emission vehicles would dominate the sales by the end of the decade.
In a move aimed at ending the recurring conflict between rich and poor nations during international climate talks, the G7 also recognized for the first time the need to provide developing countries with additional financial aid to cope with the loss and damage caused by global warming.
The agreements, which will be put to leaders at the G7 summit in Elmau, Germany, next month, were largely welcomed by climate campaigners.
"The 2035 target for power sector decarbonization is a real breakthrough. In practice this means countries need to phase out coal by 2030 at the latest," said Luca Bergamaschi, director of the Rome-based campaign group ECCO.
Coal is a heavily polluting fossil fuel that's responsible for a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions caused by humans. While there are ways to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide from the burning of coal, experts say it is almost impossible to reduce it to zero, meaning it will likely have to be the first fossil fuel to be phased out.
G7 members Britain, France and Italy have already set themselves deadlines to stop burning coal for electricity in the next few years. Germany and Canada are aiming for 2030; Japan wants more time; while the Biden administration has set a target of ending fossil fuel use for electricity generation in the United States by 2035.
A common target would put pressure on other major polluters to follow suit and build on the compromise deal reached at last year's U.N. climate summit, where nations committed merely to "phase down" rather than "phase out" coal -- with no fixed date.
The issue is likely to be taken up later this year at a meeting of the Group of 20 leading and emerging economies, who are responsible for 80 per cent of global emissions.
Getting all G20 countries to sign on to the ambitious targets set by some of the most advanced economies will be key, as countries such as China, India and Indonesia remain heavily reliant on coal.
Under pressure to step up their financial aid to poor nations, the G7 ministers in Berlin said they recognized that "action and support for vulnerable countries, populations and vulnerable groups need to be further scaled up."
This includes governments and companies "providing enhanced support regarding averting, minimizing and addressing loss and damage associated with the adverse impacts of climate change," they said.
Developing countries have for years demanded a clear commitment that they will receive funds to cope with the loss and damages suffered as a result of climate change.
Wealthy nations have resisted the idea, however, for fear of being held liable for costly disasters caused by global warming.
"After years of roadblocks, the G7 finally recognize that they need to financially support poor countries in addressing climate-related losses and damages," said David Ryfisch of the Berlin-based environmental campaign group Germanwatch.
"But that recognition is not enough, they need to put actual money on the table," he added. "It is now up to (German Chancellor Olaf) Scholz to mobilise significant financial commitments by leaders at the Elmau summit."
Separately, the United States and Germany signed an agreement Friday to deepen their bilateral cooperation on shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy in an effort to rein in climate change.
The deal will see the two countries work together to develop and deploy technologies that will speed up that clean energy transition, particularly in the area of offshore wind power, zero-emissions vehicles and hydrogen.
The U.S. and Germany pledged to also collaborate on promoting ambitious climate policies and energy security worldwide.
U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said both countries aim to reap the benefits of shifting to clean energy early, through the creation of new jobs and opportunities for businesses in the growing market for renewables.
Such markets depend on common standards of what hydrogen can be classified as "green," for example. Officials will now work on reaching a common definition to ensure hydrogen produced on one side of the Atlantic can be sold on the other side.
Germany's energy and climate minister, Robert Habeck, said the agreement reflected the urgency of tackling global warming. Scientists have said steep emissions cuts need to happen worldwide this decade if the goals set in the 2015 Paris climate accord are to be met.
"Time is literally running out," Habeck said, calling climate change "the challenge of our political generation."
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Nearly 20 hours after a man climbed and remained perched on top of the Reconciliation Bridge in downtown Calgary, the situation came to a peaceful resolution.
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.
B.C. conservation officers recently seized a nine-foot-long Burmese python from a home in Chilliwack.
A New Brunswicker will go to bed Thursday night much richer than he was Wednesday after collecting on a winning lottery ticket he let sit on his bedroom dresser for nearly a year.
The Ontario government is introducing changes to auto-insurance, but some experts say the move is ill-advised.
A Toronto restaurant introduced a surprising new rule that reduced the cost of a meal and raised the salaries of staff.
Newfoundland’s unique version of the Pine Marten has grown out of its threatened designation.
A Toronto man is out $12,000 after falling victim to a deepfake cryptocurrency scam that appeared to involve Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
It started small with a little pop tab collection to simply raise some money for charity and help someone — but it didn’t take long for word to get out that 10-year-old Jace Weber from Mildmay, Ont. was quickly building up a large supply of aluminum pop tabs.
There’s a group of people in Saskatoon that proudly call themselves dumpster divers, and they’re turning the city’s trash into treasure.
Ontario is facing a larger than anticipated deficit but the Doug Ford government still plans to balance its books before the next provincial election.