Day: June 21, 2024

NEW YORK: The overwhelming majority of people around the world want an end to geopolitical differences when it comes to fighting climate change, the results of a landmark public opinion poll conducted by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has shown.

Peoples’ Climate Vote 2024, the biggest ever standalone public opinion survey on climate change, also showed that 80 percent of the respondents support more ambitious climate action.

‘The Peoples’ Climate Vote is loud and clear,’ said UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner.

‘Global citizens want their leaders to transcend their differences, to act now and to act boldly to fight the climate crisis.’

The second edition of the survey polled communities around the world on how nations are tackling climate change that is triggering extreme weather, flooding, and temperature spikes across the planet, affecting countries large and small.

The UNDP chief said the survey results ‘reveal a level of consensus that is truly astonishing’.

‘We urge leaders and policymakers to t
ake note, especially as countries develop their next round of climate action pledges – or ‘nationally determined contributions (NDCs)’ under the Paris Agreement,’ Steiner said.

‘This is an issue that almost everyone, everywhere can agree on.’

Conducted with Oxford University and GeoPoll, the survey polled more than 75,000 people speaking 87 different languages across 77 countries with 15 questions on climate change.

The results offer a country-by-country snapshot of where the world’s citizens stand, including on moving towards sustainability.

A majority of people in 62 of the 77 countries surveyed said they supported a quick transition away from fossil fuels to clean energy.

People across the world also reported that climate change was on their minds.

Globally, 56 percent said they were thinking about it daily or weekly, including some 63 percent of those from least developed countries (LDCs).

More than half of people globally said they were more worried than last year about climate change.

The corres
ponding figure was 59 percent in LDCs, and up to 71 percent across nine small island developing states (SIDS) expressed the same sentiment.

A total of 69 percent of people surveyed said their big decisions like where to live or work were being impacted by climate change, with varied results across regions, from 74 percent in LDCs to 52 percent in western and northern Europe and 42 percent in North America.

At the global launch at UN Headquarters, in New York, Cassie Flynn, UNDP Global Director for Climate Change, said ‘the message is clear’, explaining what’s to come.

‘As we move forward is to bring the voice of the people to the debate [on climate change],’ she said.

‘The next two years stand as one of the best chances we have as the international community to ensure that warming stays under 1.5°,’ she said. ‘We stand ready to support policymakers in stepping up their efforts as they develop their climate action plans through our Climate Promise initiative.’

The first Peoples’ Climate Vote took place in
2021 and surveyed people across 50 countries through advertisements in popular mobile gaming apps.

Source: Emirates News Agency

NEW DELHI: The UAE has become the ninth largest seafood export destination for India, D V Swamy, Chairman of India’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA), has said.

He said India’s worldwide seafood exports touched an all-time high in volume during the financial year 2023-2024.

India shipped 1.78 million metric tonnes of seafood worth US$7.38 billion during the fiscal year 2023-24. India’s fiscal year begins annually on 1st April and ends on 31st March.

Frozen shrimp remained the major export item in quantity and value. The Middle East as a whole accounted for 28,571 metric tonnes of this item, Swamy said.

The top 10 markets together contributed 79.89 percent of India’s seafood exports in US dollar terms in the financial year 2023-24.

The MPEDA, set up by an act of India’s Parliament in 1972, is a statutory body entrusted with the primary task of promoting the export of Indian marine products.

Source: Emirates News Agency

BEIJING: China continues to optimise the energy consumption structure, and promote green and low-carbon development to a new height, said a senior official in Beijing on Thursday.

China Central Television (CCTV) quoted Zhang Jianhua, Director of the National Energy Administration, as saying that China has achieved significant advancements in energy security and stable supply levels since the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) National Congress in 2012. Additionally, the country has been consistently refining its energy consumption structure during this period.

From 2013 to 2023, the total production of primary energy rose 35 percent. The installed wind power generation capacity increased by nearly five times, and the installed photovoltaic power generation capacity increased by over 30 times, said Zhang.

The official also said that China has established the world’s largest charging infrastructure system. Over the course of 10 years, the proportion of coal consumption has dropped by 12.1 percentage points,
while the proportion of consumption in non-fossil fuel sources such as wind power, solar power, hydropower, and nuclear power has increased by 7.7 percentage points. As a result, the “green content” of economic development has significantly improved.

So far, China is one of the world’s advanced countries in terms of energy technology modernisation.

In the future, the country will coordinate energy security and low-carbon transformation, reduce the consumption of fossil fuel energy, and continuously promote the transformation and upgrading of energy utilisation.

Meanwhile, China is intensifying its efforts in the development of non-fossil energy, while coordinating the advancement of nuclear power, hydropower, and new energy development and utilisation, aiming to promote high-quality development of energy.

“By 2025, approximately 12 million charging facilities will be established nationwide. Efforts will be made to increase the electrification level of end-use energy to around 30 percent by 2025. We will c
ontinue to expand the scale of green electricity consumption and increase the proportion of non-fossil energy consumption by one percentage point every year,” said Zhang.

Source: Emirates News Agency

DUBAI: His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, has issued Decree No. (40) of 2024 on the formation of the Board of Directors of the Emirates International Accreditation Centre (EIAC).

The Board is chaired by the Director-General of Dubai Municipality, while Dr. Hilal Humaid Saeed Al Kaabi serves as Vice Chairman. Members of the Board include Abdullah Sultan Al Shamsi, Dr. Farah Ali Al Zarouni, Dr. Wafa Jaber Nasser, Dr. Marwan Mohammed Al Mulla, Ahmed AlRoom Al Muhairi, and Mona Abdullah Al Shehi, in addition to the CEO of EIAC.

The Decree is effective from its date of issuance and will be published in the Official Gazette.

Source: Emirates News Agency

TUNIS: The 24th Arab Radio and Television Festival to kick off in Tunis from 26th to 29th June, bringing together 20 Arab countries to showcase their finest works in radio and television.

The event promises a vibrant display of creativity with a dedicated technological exhibition featuring 98 pavilions with the participation of 90 exhibitors presenting the latest technological innovations in the audio-visual field.

The radio and television programmes market will be a space to showcase the productions of the unions member bodies in various types of creativity in the media, cultural and artistic fields.

The festival will recognise and honour prominent figures within the Arab media landscape.

The organisers also explained that the festival body received 289 works nominated for prizes in the official and parallel competitions.

The number of works participating in the radio competitions is 142 works, which is the largest participation in these competitions since the launch of the festival, 125 of which are in
the main competition and 17 in the parallel competition.

Source: Emirates News Agency

RAS AL KHAIMAH: H.H. Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, today issued a resolution restructuring the Board of Directors of the Emirates Cultural and Sports Club.

The resolution stipulates that the Board shall be chaired by Mahmoud Hassan Mohammed Al Shamsi, Engineer Ismail Hassan Al Balooshi as First Deputy Chairman, and Ahmed Mohammed Shamlan Al-Nuaimi as Second Deputy Chairman. Additionally, the Board will include several other members.

The Board’s term shall be two years from the date of issuance. This resolution is effective immediately and shall be published in the Official Gazette.

Source: Emirates News Agency