Month: October 2021

Environmental, General News

USA: US Climate Envoy John Kerry says Glasgow COP26 is the Last Best Hope for the World.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-58914524

John Kerry says Glasgow COP26 is the last best hope for the world

America’s climate envoy John Kerry says the COP26 climate change summit in Glasgow is the “last best hope for the world to get its act together”.

Mr Kerry told the BBC that key countries were pursuing policies that border on being “very dangerous”.

He said that if greenhouse gas emissions were not reduced enough over the next nine years there was no chance of meeting long-term targets.

The aim is to hold the rise in the earth’s temperature to 1.5C.

Scientists have said that would require global carbon emissions to fall by 45% from 2010 levels by the end of this decade.

But apart from a brief period during Covid-19 lockdowns, emissions are still rising.

China, the world’s biggest emitter, will be key to any hopes of a strong outcome at COP26, when it is held in Glasgow from 31 October to 12 November.

Leaders and delegates from around the world will attend the summit, including Mr Kerry and US President Joe Biden.

‘Greatest test of global citizenship’

Mr Kerry has previously said the US will push for rapid action after four years of “reckless behaviour” under previous President Donald Trump.

He said the US would now move forward with “humility and ambition” in the global negotiations.

A former presidential candidate, Mr Kerry has long been a powerful voice in climate politics. As President Obama’s Secretary of State he played a key role in securing the Paris agreement in 2015.

The US Special Envoy on Climate Change told BBC Radio 4 documentary Glasgow: Our last best hope? that there were a lot of big promises without the necessary action.

“The truth is emissions are going up around the world, not down in enough countries, and key countries are pursuing policies that border on being very dangerous for everybody.”

Mr Kerry has previously called on China to increase the speed and depth of its efforts to cut carbon.

China has promised to peak emissions by 2030 – but the US diplomat said that was not good enough.

“If you don’t reduce enough between 2020 and 2030 the scientists tell us we can’t get where we need to go. We will not be able to hold the earth’s temperature rise to 1.5 degrees and we won’t be able to achieve net zero by 2050.”

Mr Kerry said he wanted Glasgow to raise the ambition of the 20 major economies in the world.

He said he would be looking for definite road-maps to net zero and money to help less developed countries also reach their goals without suffering economic hardship.

Mr Kerry called this the “greatest test of global citizenship” he could think of.

“Glasgow is coming at a point where these scientists have told us we have about nine years remaining within which to make the most critical decisions. Those decisions have got to really start in earnest and in a significant sum in Glasgow.”

“We have to get on the road here and we’ve been talking about it for 30 years.

“So this is really what Glasgow is about, the last best hope to do what the scientists tell us we must which is to avoid the worst consequences of climate by making decisions now and implementing them now.”

Glasgow: Our last best hope? is on BBC Radio 4 at 11:00 on Tuesday 19 October.

More on climate change

More reading:

John Kerry says Trump was ‘reckless’ over climate – and we agree !

Climate change: Trump’s Paris withdrawal was ‘reckless’ – John Kerry – BBC News

Climate change: US pushes China to make faster carbon cuts

Climate change: US pushes China to make faster carbon cuts – BBC News

Scottish climate expert Jim Skea warns ‘clock is ticking’

Scottish climate expert Jim Skea warns ‘clock is ticking’ – BBC News

Please – Give A Shit !!

Regards Mark

Farm Animals, General News

Switzerland and its agricultural fair: animals as exhibits

From October 7th, the annual fair for agriculture and nutrition (OLMA) will take place in St. Gallen, Switzerland, where, among other things, so-called farm animals will be presented in shows.

PETA contacted the organizers of the OLMA in advance and asked in their letter to refrain from displaying animals.

Chained up. Displayed. Demonstrated. Mistreated.

Countless animals are exploited at the OLMA agricultural fair every year.
We demand that the animal-despising fair is finally stopped and that the Federal Council immediately refrains from regularly praising degrading animal exhibitions.

The animals are displayed against their will in the midst of the noise of the visitors in the smallest of spaces like objects.

They are tied to short chains around their necks or kept in tight cages.
Bulls are tormented with a painful nose ring, mother pigs – who actually urgently need rest – are presented to the audience with their children in a completely inconsiderate way.

A hooting crowd adds incredible stress to sheep, ducks and piglets during pathetic animal shows.

Continue reading “Switzerland and its agricultural fair: animals as exhibits” →

General News

Adam Oswell and the „Elephant in the Room“.

Adam Oswell – Wildlife Photojournalist named “Wildlife Photographer of the Year”!

This picture shows zoo visitors in Thailand who watch a young slave elephant playing the clown underwater.
In Thailand there are now more elephants in captivity (around 3,800 animals) than in the wild.

All over the world, animals in zoos, circuses and shows suffer so that their slave owners make money

Never entertain your children where other animals are being abused.

https://www.reisereporter.de/galerie/14202-wildlife-photographer-of-the-year-die-gewinnerbilder-2021

And I mean…Thanks to a coincidence of evolution, humans are fortunate enough to be able to exercise power over other living beings.
He uses this to proclaim himself as the crowning glory of creation and to regard all other beings as serving him.
So that we feel better, so that we can make progress in our knowledge, we take the right to enslave other living beings, to be able to inflict pain on them.

This is man.
It annihilates, destroys, poisons, pollutes, suppresses.
If we don’t stop multiplying there will be a terrible end.
For human and non-human animals.

Regards to all, Venus

Vivisection

France: senseless and excruciating experiments on dogs

Again and again he keeps his mouth in the bowl, dips it into the slimy food, tries desperately to ingest something, to swallow – to be full and relaxed for once.
But the muscle paralysis is so advanced that he can hardly move his jaw.
Most of the pulp just runs out of his mouth again, he even finds it difficult to breathe – and the despair keeps growing.

At the Alfort National University of Veterinary Medicine in France, dogs are bred to have paralyzing muscle diseases in order to experiment on the animals.

Actually, the organization wants to find cures for the disease muscular dystrophy.
That is why it finances experiments at the French Alfort National University with donations.
The problem: Instead of working with modern research methods, Alfort conducts animal experiments in which it specifically breeds the disease for dogs that it wants to cure, deliberately creating sick animals that suffer extremely and usually die early.
Research doesn’t get anywhere.

The dogs can only walk, swallow and breathe with great effort. This was shown by shocking recordings from the French animal welfare organization Animal Testing in 2016.

The animal experiments on the dogs are financed by the French aid organization AFM-Téléthon.

PETA France has received shocking images from the Alfort National Veterinary College from the French animal welfare organization Animal Testing.

They show dogs that were specifically bred to have crippling muscle diseases.
The animals can only walk, swallow and breathe with great effort.
Some of them are completely paralyzed before the age of 6 months, and every second animal dies before it is 10 months old.

At some point, some dogs can no longer eat independently and have to be fed through a gastric tube. Heart problems often develop over time as the disease attacks and weakens the heart muscle.

A lab worker admitted that the dogs are suffering: “I don’t want to swap with the beagle. The suffering is real. “

In the video, a man with a censored face explains that a large part of the money for the experiments would be lost if the public learned about the conditions in the laboratories.
“Clearly, if we showed them our dogs with myopathy, they would lose a lot of money,” he explains.
To date, the lab has not commented on the allegations.

A month ago, the EU Parliament voted to actively end animal experiments – with an overwhelming majority of 667 votes, 4 against and 16 abstentions.
The MPs are calling for the EU Commission to phase out animal experiments.
Unfortunately, as a result of this vote, the EU Commission is not obliged to implement such an exit plan.
It is all the more important that we now maintain the pressure on politics and science.
Please help us today!

Help the dogs by calling on AFM-Téléthon to stop supporting the cruel experiments!

Sign and share the Petition: https://www.peta.de/aktiv/tierversuche-muskelkranke-hunde/

And I mean…“92% of the potential drugs that have been shown to be effective and safe in animal experiments do not make it through clinical trials, either because they are ineffective or because of undesirable side effects.

Of the 8% of active ingredients that are approved, half will later be withdrawn from the market because more serious, often fatal, side effects are found in humans. ”
Source: The website of the organization “Doctors Against Animal Experiments”.

The reality of genetic experiments, for example, is unduly brutal – and mostly without value: half a million transgenic mice died last year in Germany alone for basic research.
To use? Not visible.
Because: What helps the mouse against Alzheimer’s disease does not help humans by a long way.
However, the pharmaceutical industry tries to convince us otherwise.

In the meantime, the “producers” advertise their laboratory animals as “customized manipulated animals”.
Ethically extremely reprehensible
Behind this is the hunt for patents from multi-billion dollar corporations such as Pfizer or Novartis, which even have genetically engineered chimpanzees patented.

Animals are thus declared to be the product of industry.
It is about senseless cruelty with no real benefit to people, in a world in which there would already be many, many different and more modern methods of research.
Instead of brutally torturing animals, it makes more sense to invest in research into alternative methods.

We cannot support the suffering, the pain, the agony and the terrible death of the animals in the laboratory.
We don’t see any plausible reason for experiments on animals.
The singe reason, why animals are used for experiments ist just because they cannot defend themselves.
That is the ethical basis for all animal testing.

We are in favor of scientific research that does not exploit animals and torture them senselessly.
And will continue to actively fight against animal testing

My best regards to all, Venus

General News, Uncategorized

USA: Teen Faces Federal Charges For Creating Horrific ‘Crush’ Videos Of Tortured Cats And Dogs – Demand Full Justice – Sign Petition Please.

Further update to our post of March this year:

USA: Petition – Teen Faces Federal Charges For Creating Horrific ‘Crush’ Videos Of Tortured Cats And Dogs – Animal Victory. Please Sign for Maximum Punishment. – World Animals Voice

Update 10/07/2021:

Animal Victory has learned that the next court date is scheduled for November 10, 2021.

There is still time to add your name to the petition to help us put Krystal Cherika Scott away for as long as possible!

There is still time to sign – Please add your name to the petition:

Teen Faces Federal Charges For Creating Horrific ‘Crush’ Videos Of Tortured Cats And Dogs – Animal Victory

Regards Mark

Environmental, General News

UK: It’s Fish Jim, But Not As We Know It! – Faux fish: vegan alternatives set to take UK market by storm.

Quorn fishless fingers that looks just like the real thing.
Quorn fishless fingers. Photograph: Tim Gainey/Alamy Stock Photo

I love these – really tasty ! – Mark

Faux fish: vegan alternatives set to take UK market by storm

Alt-seafood scene is ‘hot’ as booming sales of vegan food draw investment in research and development

Faux fish: vegan alternatives set to take UK market by storm | Vegan food and drink | The Guardian

It is seafood but it does not involve fishing nets or the sea, with plant-based filet-o-fish burgers, smoked salmon and prawns the next big thing in alternative protein.

Dubbed faux fish, a raft of new products are going on sale as new manufacturing techniques produce lifelike prawns from peas and flaky fish fillets from jackfruit.

Analysts describe the alt-seafood scene as “hot”, as companies spurred on by booming sales of plant milks and meat substitutes pour investment into the area. The focus on fish alternatives has also increased due to heightened consumer concern about overfishing, which has been spurred on by the popular Netflix documentary Seaspiracy.

Tesco, which works with the American chef and self-proclaimed “plant pusher” Derek Sarno, is set to expand its plant-based range with a handful of new products including Thai-style fish cakes and New England-style crab cakes.

The Dutch brand Vegan Zeastar has thrown down the gauntlet with its ambition of “veganising every dish that involves fish to fight the destruction of our oceans”. Its latest product is smoked “Zalmon”, made from tapioca starch, that looks uncannily like the real thing and is due to go on sale early next year. Its Shrimpz and Kalamariz are stocked online including by Ocado.

The fact that the food industry is getting serious about the area was highlighted by this month’s launch of Vrimp by Nestlé. Made from seaweed and peas, they promise the “authentic texture and flavour of succulent shrimps”, with the lookalike created using special moulds with a fine seam on the body the only giveaway.

Nestlé, the world’s biggest food group, has 300 people working on plant-based foods. Mark Schneider, its chief executive, said there had been a “significant shift” towards plant-based eating across all age groups.

“This is not just a one season fad,” said Schneider. “This is something that has very solid, longer-term growth rates.” He said people were interested in plant-based foods for different reasons. “With fish it is more health-related, and with beef and chicken it is more about the environment,” he said.

For Britons trying to reduce their environmental footprint, eating plant-based food is becoming more palatable because alternatives to meat and dairy today are so good, according to Schneider. Ahead of the Cop26 climate summit, he said consumer behaviour was a “big part of the equation” because making choices that lowered their carbon footprint was “easier than trying to get the carbon out of the existing products we consume”.

To date, a lot more time and money has been devoted to creating plant-based burgers and nuggets because the markets are so much bigger for beef and chicken. Another factor is that restaurants make up a substantial share of fish and seafood sales. When eating out, taste and experience were more important, making it more difficult for alternatives to be on par, said Thijs Geijer, a senior economist at ING.

Geijer said the huge variety in taste and texture within fish meant companies had to “invent the wheel” for a large range of products, with some of them – mainly startups – focused on tuna, which is sold in vast quantities in supermarkets. Nonetheless the category was “hot”, he said.

Continued on next page.

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Farm Animals, General News

Meat Industry Spends €1.7 Million To Influence EU Politicians, Leaked Docs Reveal

Meat Industry Spends €1.7 Million To Influence EU Politicians, Leaked Docs Reveal

The lobby group is pressing MEPs to delay the vote on a sustainability-focused food strategy

An EU meat industry lobby giant has reportedly ‘waged a campaign’ against a strategy aimed at creating a more environmentally-friendly food system.

Copa-Cogeca reportedly spent a staggering €1.7m on plans to influence MEPs, according to investigative journalism organization EU Observer.

But the group claims it fully supports the program and claims that the leak is a ‘deliberate attempt to trigger a media backlash’.

Meat industry leak

Copa-Cogeca identifies itself as the ‘strongest’ interest cooperative of European farmers.

The document leaked to the media this week includes plans to maintain the agriculture industry. And, according to EU Observer, it involves tactics to ‘influence’ political debate.

This is with regard to the Farm to Fork strategy, which is a plan to ‘redesign’ the food system and make it more sustainable as part of the European Green Deal.

Moreover, it was created to mitigate climate breakdown and ‘adapt’ to its impacts, as well as promoting fair trade.

But Copa-Cogeca calls for the vote on the strategy, penciled for October 21, to be delayed by a fortnight. It told MEPs this is to ensure a public debate can take place. And, that it’s ‘critical’ for communication strategies, based on a number of unnamed studies.

The delay will create a ‘richer debate’, says Copa-Cogeca.

Branded ‘disinformation’ campaign

But European Environmental Bureau’s Célia Nyssens told the news outlet the lobby group has ‘orchestrated a massive disinformation campaign to undermine the EU’s sustainable food goals’.

Nyssens added: “They are shamelessly picking and choosing the studies and within those studies the specific findings, which fit their agenda in order to convince MEPs to reject the EU Farm to Fork targets, which are direly needed to put agriculture on a sustainable path.”

Following the leak, Copa-Cogeca issued a statement in response.

It said there is ‘nothing’ problematic in the document, and that the process is the norm in EU affairs.

Additionally, it said it ‘fully supports’ the Farm to Fork strategy. And, is merely asking for a full assessment of its impacts.

‘We consider it normal that all opinions can and should be expressed on a subject as important as the future of our food system’, the statement reads.

It concludes: “We are well aware that this leak is a deliberate attempt to trigger a media backlash. Just as we start speaking of the potential impacts of the Farm to Fork strategy for the first time. 

“The current discussion shows the desperate need for public data on the subject.”

Meat Industry Spends €1.7 Million To Influence Politicians, In Leaked Docs (plantbasednews.org)

Regards Mark

Farm Animals

Death on the chain: calves in the German dairy industry

The images are unbearable: calves chained up in dark stables that are clearly at the end of their strength.

Calves, only a few days old, in a Brandenburg (Germany) dairy farm. (Image: SOKO Tierschutz e.V)

They are chained and do not have permanent access to food and water as prescribed.
This is shown by pictures that animal rights activists filmed on the farm for over half a year.
An employee can also be seen on the recordings.
Again and again he pulls out dead animals.
Finally, the filmmakers can document how some of the animals, which are only a few days old, slowly perish.

Death on the chain.

https://fb.watch/8GVNoPUFmQ/

(The video is unfortunately in German, but (almost) everything that is told in it is also included in the article)

Exclusive pictures that were leaked for” Report MAINZ” by Friedrich Mülln from “SOKO Tierschutz” (Animal Welfare association)

Image: SOKO Tierschutz.e.V

From the propaganda of the dairy industry, we mostly only know the beautiful pictures of happy calves in the pastures, who can spend time with their mothers.

The reality of the German dairy industry is demonstrably different.
As the video recordings show, calves have to live without freedom of movement and without permanent access to feed and water, even though this is required by law.
After reviewing the material, experts confirm that this is not an isolated case.
Animal abuse is documented and shows that animal cruelty has system.

Around 600,000 calves are born in Germany every year and have to die again shortly afterwards, mainly for economic reasons. They are born so that the cow would give milk, otherwise they are worthless for agriculture.
The veal market is on the floor.
A farmer currently receives eleven euros for a calf, and even the feed costs are higher.
The result: it is most economical for farmers when the animals die again shortly after birth.

Image: SOKO Tierschutz e.V

Calves are slowly dying on the chain

In the documentation, an official veterinarian is asked: “If calves are tied up and left to their own devices, then it is clear that they will die.”
He condemns this form of treatment.
The farmer in question says that he is aware that it is forbidden to keep calves in this way.
The veterinary office has already forbidden him to keep chains, and imposed a fine, but he doesn’t seem to have any real sense of guilt.

Friedrich Mülln, from SOKO Tierschutz e. V. says:
“Anyone who keeps animals like this does not assume that these animals will stay alive.
There are animals that died on the chain.
And they are obviously not being adequately cared for. And one has to say that the farmer simply assumes that these animals can also die from this neglect and that he can then write them off. “

What does the official veterinarian say?
“When I have animals of that age, they actually look quite fit there, but practically tie up calves and then leave them to their own devices, then it is clear that it won’t last long, because then they will die, of course.”

And what does the farmer say about it? The animal rights activists and the Report MAIN team drive to Brandenburg and confront him with the recordings and the assessments. He is ready for an interview, but declines an interview in front of the camera.

He admits that it is his business and that he chained the animals, although he knew that this was forbidden. But he didn’t want to kill them that way, he says (!!!)

No wonder that the animal rights group SOKO Tierschutz has been filming scenes like this again and again for years: dead calves, perished in agony, found behind farms in almost all federal states.

Friedrich Mülln, SOKO Tierschutz e. V .: “Yes, you think there are a lot of carcasses lying around on chicken farms, but the dairy industry is not that different. So thrown away … It’s disposable. “

https://www.swr.de/report/kaelber-in-deutschland-vernachlaessigt-misshandelt-verhungert/-/id=233454/did=25437600/nid=233454/114uqsg/index.html

And I mean…This is not an isolated case, such or similar tortures take place wherever animals are enslaved, exploited and killed for humans.

If you want to end animal suffering, you stop eating animals and their products and you stop cooperating with an institution, the meat industry, which is one of the most criminal in human history.

Not only the babies are treated so cruelly … every animal that is used in any form is degraded to a product / commodity and is brutally killed after a short or often long ordeal.

There is no reason to eat dead animals and their products. But there are many serious against it.
Animal exploitation is a model from the past.
The future is vegan ~

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental

Environmental lawsuit against Bolsonaro before the ICC International Criminal Court

The Amazon rainforest in Brazil continues to shrink due to the enormous deforestation.
The Austrian climate protection organization Allrise has sued Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro for the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest before the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The climate protection activists recently filed the complaint with the title “The Planet Against Bolsonaro” in The Hague.
You accuse the right-wing extremist head of state of “crimes against humanity” because of his Amazon policy

However, the Hague Court is not required to actually initiate an investigation.

Allrise estimates that the Brazilian government is responsible for the deforestation of around 4,000 square kilometers of Amazon rainforest every year. Bolsonaro has “systematically” weakened or eliminated laws and controls by the authorities and is taking targeted action against environmental activists.

Deforestation in Brazil rose by almost 50 percent under Bolsonaro’s leadership.
The average size of the deforested areas has increased by 61 percent, and forest fires in the Amazon region have increased by 84 percent.
Bolsonaro has abolished critical environmental regulations, cut the Environment Department’s budget by 23 percent, and reduced the number of law enforcement officers by 27 percent.

Slash and burn in Brazil, here in the north-western state of Rondonia: Most of the deforested areas are turned into grazing land for cattle. © Carlos Fabal / AFP

He has defamed climate scientists and environmentalists as enemies of the state.
Fines for illegal logging have fallen 42 percent during his tenure, while deforestation hits a record high.
Land user penetration into indigenous areas has increased by 134 percent, killing at least 28 people.

The destruction of the Amazon threatens the safety and health of all people on this planet.

The forest fires in Brazil are clearly visible on NASA’s fire map. Photo: NASA Firms

Please sign the current petition against Bolsonaro from German Environmental aid (Deutsche Umwelthilfe e. V.)
Together with the non-profit association AllRise, German Environmental aid calls on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to recognize these acts as “crimes against humanity” within the meaning of the Rome Statute of the ICC.

Any declaration of support helps us make it clear to the ICC and its member states that Jair Bolsonaro must be held accountable

Share. Sign. Stop his crimes.

https://www.change.org/p/the-court-of-public-opinion-anzeige-gegen-jair-bolsonaro-wegen-verbrechen-gegen-die-menschlichkeit

https://www.n-tv.de/politik/Bolsonaro-droht-Umweltklage-in-Den-Haag-article22860252.html

And I mean…Specifically, it is about the destruction of the Amazon rainforest, because the deforestation rate has skyrocketed since Bolsonaro took office.
The Amazon rainforest is well on the way to becoming a dessert.

The forest is considered to be the green lung of the earth.
Its soils and trees provide habitat for tens of thousands of species and store masses of carbon.

Bolsonaro has now managed to destroy the rainforest in a very short time.
He reverses climate protection measures and motivates the ranchers and miners to occupy more areas.

Bolsonaro doesn’t believe that the forest itself has any value.
On the contrary: he considers it to be an obstacle to Brazil’s economic development.
That’s what you call an environmental terrorist.
The consequences of his criminal policy are the devastation of entire regions, millions of livelihoods destroyed, famines, flight, displacement and thousands of deaths.
So the crimes are also about murder.

The environmental destruction of the Amazon by Bolsonaro’s policy would be on a par with war crimes and genocides.

However, the consequences for Bolsonaro in the event that the lawsuit is successful are not yet clear.
The environmentalists and initiators of the lawsuit want to set a precedent.

“Our initiative has strong Brazilian support but we don’t seek to speak on behalf of any Brazilian communities, nor claim to represent them. Our case aims to add an important international dimension to their struggle.
The Amazon is theirs, but it is needed by us all,” so the Organisation ALLRise

In any case, the Allrise organization does not want to stop at just one lawsuit.

“There are several Bolsonaros, there are several Amazonas. We have a lot to do. “

My best regards to all, Venus

Environmental, General News

Australia: Scott Morrison: Australia PM To Attend COP26 Summit After Global Pressure.

Hey, Fires – I’m On Holiday !

Scott Morrison: Australia PM to attend COP26 summit after global pressure

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-58907526

Australia’s Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he will now attend the COP26 UN climate conference after weeks of initial hesitation.

Global leaders will meet in Glasgow next month to negotiate a new deal to stall rising global temperatures.

Mr Morrison drew criticism when he indicated last month that he might skip the meeting.

Australia, a large producer of coal and gas, is under pressure to commit to stronger climate action.

Its climate policies and emissions reductions are ranked among the worst in the OECD.

“I confirmed my attendance at the Glasgow summit, which I’m looking forward to attending. It is an important event,” Mr Morrison told reporters on Friday.

Climate activists had slated Mr Morrison for not committing to attend, and it was being seen as a diplomatic snub to the UK, a close ally of Australia.

In an interview to the BBC, Prince Charles earlier expressed surprise at Mr Morrison’s comments, urging leaders to act urgently to combat climate change.

COP26 will be held between 31 October and 12 November in Scotland’s largest city.

It will be the biggest climate change conference since landmark talks in Paris in 2015.

The COP26 global climate summit in Glasgow in November is seen as crucial if climate change is to be brought under control. Almost 200 countries are being asked for their plans to cut emissions, and it could lead to major changes to our everyday lives.

Why the COP26 climate summit is important

Simple guide to climate change

How extreme weather is linked to climate change

Mr Morrison had cited the challenges of Covid as a reason he might not attend, saying he had already served a great deal of quarantine.

But Australia is beginning to make plans to end quarantine requirements.

Many countries have set ambitious targets to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, but Australia has REFUSED to do so.

Analysis: By Justin Rowlatt, BBC climate editor

In poker they call it a “tell”: a tiny change in a player’s behaviour that signals something crucial about the cards they holding.

Now, the Glasgow climate conference isn’t a poker game. Most world leaders do actually understand the huge risks climate change presents and would prefer to minimise its impact.

But they also know doing so could impose real costs on their economies. They would like to see the maximum global action on the issue with the minimum cost to their people.

And for many of them they believe the best way to achieve that is to keep the cards in their hand hidden: to make sure there are no “tells”.

Deciding whether or not your leader is going to attend is part of that, it is a way of putting other nations under pressure.

It makes it very difficult for the organisers and – to be honest – isn’t helpful for negotiations. But it is a fact of global diplomacy. Let’s just hope that they decide to play a more open game when the conference begins.

Australia has committed to a 26% cut on its 2005 emissions by 2030 – a target frequently criticised as too weak.

Experts say it needs to commit to a 47% cut by 2030 if it is to meet the UN goal of keeping temperature rise below or within 1.5C.

Australia is one of the largest emitters on a per capita basis because its energy grid is still largely reliant on coal power.

The conservative government has faced months of pressure, both at home and overseas, to improve its climate policies. It is expected to reveal higher emission targets next week.

“The government will be finalising its position to take to the summit. We’re working through those issues,” Morrison said on Friday.

Many rural parts of Australia are dependent on coal, gas and farming.

Coal is Australia’s second-most lucrative export and it expects demand to continue for at least the next decade.

“The plan that I am taking forward together with my colleagues is about ensuring that our regions are strong, that our regions jobs are not only protected but have opportunities for the future,” Mr Morrison said.

Regards Mark

Can we suggest a bigger one to cover your entire head ?

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison arrives for a media conference

Enjoy !