Environment

UN’s COP26 climate summit postponed due to coronavirus

LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The UN’s COP 26 climate change summit due to take place in the Scottish city of Glasgow in November has been postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the British government said on Wednesday. “In light of the ongoing, worldwide effects of COVID-19, holding an ambitious, inclusive COP26 in November 2020 is no longer possible,” the government said in a statement, adding that dates for a rescheduled conference in 2021 would […]

Coronavirus having little impact on climate: UN agency

GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Though factories have shut, planes have been grounded and cars left in the garage, the coronavirus pandemic is having very little impact on climate change, the World Meteorological Organization said Wednesday. Any reductions in pollution and carbon dioxide emissions are likely to be temporary, said Lars Peter Riishojgaard, from the infrastructure department of the WMO, a United Nations agency based in Geneva. “It does not mean much for climate,” he told […]

Nature takes back world’s empty city streets

by Laure FILLON / Julie Pacorel PARIS, France (AFP) — As humans retreat into their homes as more and more countries go under coronavirus lockdown, wild animals are slipping cover to explore the empty streets of some of our biggest cities. Wild boar have descended from the hills around Barcelona while sika deer are nosing their way around the deserted metro stations of Nara, Japan. Indian social media has gone wild about footage of a […]

Nature takes back world’s empty city streets

by Laure FILLON / Julie Pacorel Agence France-Presse Paris, France (AFP) — As humans retreat into their homes as more and more countries go under coronavirus lockdown, wild animals are slipping cover to explore the empty streets of some of our biggest cities. Wild boar have descended from the hills around Barcelona while sika deer are nosing their way around the deserted metro stations of Nara, Japan. Indian social media has gone wild about footage of […]

Peru saves bats blamed for coronavirus

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Authorities called Wednesday for worried Peruvians to stop killing bats after rescuing 200 that was going to be burnt by peasants believing them to be spreading the coronavirus. “We must not distort the situation due to the pandemic. Bats are not our enemies,” the National Service of Wild Forests and Fauna (SERFOR) said in a statement on Wednesday. SERFOR called for calm after peasants in Culden, in the northern Cajamarca region, […]

Virus lockdown makes big dent in Paris air pollution: report

PARIS, France (AFP) — France’s stay-at-home orders to combat the coronavirus outbreak has produced a 20 to 30 percent decline in overall air pollution levels in Paris, according to a report from the region’s air quality monitoring agency. The lockdown has taken countless cars and delivery trucks off the roads since coming into effect on March 17, and massively reduced the number of flights at the two airports serving the capital. The Airparif report said […]

Air quality picking up in quarantined countries

  by Laure FILLON Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Air quality is improving in countries under coronavirus quarantines, experts say, but it is far too early to speak of long-term change. Images by the US space agency NASA are clear, in February the concentration of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) fell dramatically in Wuhan, China, the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic, passing from an indicator that was red/orange to blue. NO2 is mainly produced by […]

No soap, no water: billions lack basic protection against virus

by Kelly MACNAMARA with AFP bureaux PARIS, France (AFP) — As nations around the world fight the coronavirus pandemic with mass lockdowns and travel bans, UN experts warn that some three billion people lack even the most basic weapons to protect themselves: soap and running water. The outbreak has infected some 200,000 people and killed 9,000, scorching through populations across the globe after emerging in China late last year. While Europe has become the center […]

Venice canals clear as city tourist-free under coronavirus

ROME, Italy (AFP) — The city of Venice is enjoying crystal clear waters in its world-famous canals due to a lack of debris from tourists and near-zero boat traffic under Italy’s ongoing coronavirus lockdown. The clear waters are a tiny bright spot in the beleaguered but beautiful city, whose economy has been virtually wiped out since tourists fled the area beginning last month, spooked by the spread of coronavirus in the country’s north. Since March […]

Czech PM urges EU to shelve Green Deal amid virus

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AFP) — The Czech premier, whose country depends on nuclear energy and coal, said Monday the European Union should shelve its landmark green law seeking carbon neutrality as it battles the novel coronavirus. “Europe should forget about the Green Deal now and focus on the coronavirus instead,” Prime Minister Andrej Babis told reporters, without explaining how the two are connected. “Europe is now the biggest epicenter of the coronavirus in the world,” the […]

Oil prices extend losses on price war, virus fallout

Singapore, Singapore (AFP) — Oil prices extended the gloom on Monday after a Saudi-Russian price war and an equities meltdown sparked by the coronavirus pandemic saw their biggest weekly losses in more than a decade. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) briefly fell below $30 a barrel, or 5.5 percent, in morning Asian trade before regaining its footing. It was trading at $31.14 a barrel at around 0200 GMT, down nearly two percent from Friday’s […]