Headline

Pledges Made So Far At The COP28 Climate Talks

Published

2 years ago

December 2, 2023

The COP28 climate talks in Dubai have begun with a flurry of announcements promising action on global warming, led by its big-spending, oil-rich host the United Arab Emirates.

But observers have warned that the headline-grabbing pledges could distract from the real battles on fossil fuels and negotiating a formal COP28 text at the end of the two-week talks.

As pressure builds during what is expected to be the hottest year on record, here are some major funding pledges and declarations announced so far at COP28:

Loss and damage

The first day of the talks Thursday saw the launch of a landmark “loss and damage” fund to help vulnerable countries cope with the increasingly costly and damaging impacts of climate disasters.

The UAE and Germany pledged $100 million each, France $109 million, $50 million from Britain, $25 million from Denmark and $17.5 million from the United States, the world’s biggest historical polluter.

Campaigners said the US offering was woefully inadequate.

The total committed as of Saturday was some $656 million, according to a tally by the Natural Resources Defense Council, an environmental advocacy group.

That falls vastly short of the $100 billion a year that developing nations — which have historically been least responsible for greenhouse gas emissions — have said are needed to cover losses from natural disasters.

Tripling renewables

At least 116 countries committed Saturday to triple renewable energy capacity worldwide by 2030 and double the annual rate of energy efficiency improvements.

G20 nations, which account for nearly 80 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, paved the way for a deal when they endorsed the renewable energy goal in September.

While supporters are expected to push for the pledge to be included in the outcome of the talks, there are fears that the COP28 hosts were willing to shunt the more ambitious targets into voluntary deals.

Fossil fuels

The US committed to phasing out its existing unabated coal plants as it joined the Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA) Saturday.

Abatement generally means when the emissions from a power plant are captured before going into the atmosphere.

Global CO2 emissions from coal-fired power plants reached a new high in 2022 and the US has the world’s third-biggest capacity behind China and India.

Colombia became one of the largest fossil fuel producers to join the Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty Initiative, a movement led by climate-vulnerable island nations to end new development of coal, oil and gas.

Meanwhile, 50 oil and gas companies representing 40 percent of global production also pledged to decarbonise their operations by 2050. However, the non-binding agreement does not include emissions when their fuels are burned by customers.

Tripling nuclear

More than 20 countries led by the US called on Saturday for the tripling of world nuclear energy capacity by 2050. While nuclear generates almost no greenhouse gases, the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan in 2011 dealt it a severe blow.

But experts and activists point to the fact that new nuclear plants can take decades, while renewable energy is rising fast.

Food and farming

More than 130 countries have agreed to prioritise food and agriculture systems in their national climate plans.

The non-binding declaration was welcomed by observers, with food systems estimated to be responsible for roughly a third of human-made greenhouse gases.

But some criticised it for lacking concrete goals — and not mentioning fossil fuels or signalling any change to more sustainable diets.

Healthy future?

Over 120 countries signed up to a declaration to “place health at the heart of climate action”. It called for governments to step up action on climate-related health impacts like extreme heat, air pollution and infectious diseases.

Almost nine million people a year die from polluted air, while 189 million are exposed to extreme weather-related events.

The declaration notes “the benefits for health from deep, rapid, and sustained reductions in greenhouse gas emissions”, but makes no direct reference to the fossil fuels responsible for most human-caused pollution. COP28’s themed day on health is Sunday.

UAE Climate Investment fund

The UAE said it is putting $30 billion into a new private climate investment fund.

The oil-rich COP28 host said that the fund, called Alterra, would partly try to focus on climate projects in the developing world, and hoped to stimulate investments totalling $250 billion by 2030.

AFP

Headline

Christian Genocide’: Trump Designates Nigeria As Country Of Particular Concern

Published

6 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

United States President, Donald Trump, has named Nigeria a “country of particular concern,” citing what he described as a growing threat to Christianity in the nation.

In a statement on Truth Social on Friday, Trump claimed thousands of Christians have been killed by radical Islamist groups and urged U.S. lawmakers to investigate the situation urgently.

Trump maintained that the United States would not stand by while Christians in Nigeria and other parts of the world face persecution, adding that America remains ready to protect Christian populations globally.

He said, “Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.

“When Christians, or any such group, is slaughtered like is happening in Nigeria (3,100 versus 4,476 Worldwide), something must be done! I am asking Congressman Riley Moore, together with Chairman Tom Cole and the House Appropriations Committee, to immediately look into this matter, and report back to me.

“The United States cannot stand by while such atrocities are happening in Nigeria, and numerous other Countries. We stand ready, willing, and able to save our Great Christian population around the World!”

His declaration follows increasing criticism from U.S. politicians and public figures who claim that Christians in Nigeria are facing systematic violence.

Recently, US comedian and HBO host Bill Maher accused Islamist groups of carrying out a genocide against Christians in the country.

“I’m not a Christian, but they are systematically killing the Christians in Nigeria. They’ve killed over a hundred thousand since 2009. They’ve burnt 18,000 churches. These are the Islamists, Boko Haram. This is so much more of a genocide attempt than what is going on in Gaza.

“They are literally attempting to wipe out the Christian population of an entire country,” Maher said.

Entertainment news feed
Similarly, US Senator Ted Cruz claimed that Nigerian government officials were “ignoring and even facilitating the mass murder of Christians by Islamist jihadists.”

Cruz also lamented that Christians in the country were being targeted for their faith by terrorist groups and “are being forced to submit to sharia law and blasphemy laws across Nigeria.”

He said it was “long past time to impose real costs on the Nigerian officials who facilitate these activities,” adding that he had introduced the Nigeria Religious Freedom Accountability Act to the US Senate to sanction such officials.

In the same vein, Riley Moore, who represents West Virginia’s 2nd District in the US Congress, wrote to the US Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, urging him to designate Nigeria as a Country of Particular Concern.

Moore also called for a suspension of arms sales and technical support to Nigeria until the government demonstrates commitment to ending what he described as “a reign of persecution and slaughter against Christians.”

However, both the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and the Nigerian Presidency have dismissed the allegations of a Christian genocide.

While CAN described the reports as false narratives peddled by foreign agents, the Presidency insisted that there is no religious war taking place in the country.

Headline

Trump Breaks Silence On ‘Christian Genocide’ In Nigeria

Published

7 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

In a stark rebuke to months of escalating violence, President Donald Trump has declared Nigeria a “country of particular concern” over what he described as an “existential threat” to Christianity, accusing radical Islamists of orchestrating a mass slaughter of believers in the West African nation.

The announcement, posted on Truth Social on Friday, marks the administration’s most direct intervention yet in a crisis that has claimed thousands of lives this year alone, reigniting debates over US policy toward religious persecution abroad.

Full statement below;

“Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands of Christians are being killed. Radical Islamists are responsible for this mass slaughter. I am hereby making Nigeria a “COUNTRY OF PARTICULAR CONCERN” — But that is the least of it.

Headline

Tanzania Protesters Loot Singer Juma Jux Fashion Store

Published

11 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Tanzanian protesters have reportedly looted singer Juma Jux’s fashion store.

Unrest erupted on Thursday after a disputed general election marked by disqualification and detention of the key opposition figures in Tanzania.

The protesters are demanding cancellation of the election results, alleging irregularities in the country’s presidential election.

Amid the development, a controversial post by an X user Bolaji Fesomade alleged that the singer store valued at $780 million has been set ablaze by protesters.

Reacting to the report, Juma Jux’s wife, Priscilla Ojo on her Snapchat account, dismissed the claims, noting that the store was looted and not burnt.

She simply wrote; “Looted not Burnt”.