As the United Arab Emirates' energy transition gathers pace before it hosts the United Nations climate conference next year, it is looking to climate partners such as China to help it sustain the momentum, its climate change special envoy says. Sultan Al Jaber, the UAE special envoy for climate change and minister of industry and advanced technology, said the UAE is seeing "record growth in renewables", representing more than 80 percent of all new power-generating capacity last year. However, he said, a transformative and pragmatic global energy transition is needed to deliver climate action, and while wind and solar accounted for the vast majority of all new power-generating capacity last year, this still only accounts for 4 percent of today's energy mix. "As the world's energy needs grow ever larger, maintaining global energy security will require oil and gas to remain a significant part of the mix for decades to come," Al Jaber said. A successful energy transition must make progress with economic and climate action in tandem, he said. As part of this, "we know we must do more now" to reduce the impact of oil and gas on the climate, and in the medium term the UAE plans to increase its renewables portfolio to 100 gigawatts by 2030. "I see many more opportunities for collaboration with China as we continue to build and adapt to clean energy solutions. We are constantly looking to the future and have allocated more than $1.5 billion in grants and low-interest loans for renewable energy innovation in more than 40 countries." Like China, Al Jaber said, the UAE is also investing in clean energy projects globally, with more than $50 billion across six continents, including in 27 climate-vulnerable island nations, which, he said, "is extremely important to us" and is one of the country's key approaches for COP 28 UAE next year. In 2017, the UAE launched Energy Strategy 2050, which is considered the first unified energy strategy in the country that is based on supply and...

WASHINGTON: The United States and Pakistan need to rebuild a modest but pragmatic relationship, based on mutual respect for each other’s interests, and not on exaggerated expectations, says a report released on Tuesday. The report, prepared by a dozen American scholars of South Asian affairs associated with the Pakistan Study Group (PSG), Washington, has been released a day before Pakistan’s Army Chief Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa is expected to meet US scholars and think-tank experts at the Pakistan Embassy. The paper warns American policy makers that they cannot afford to walk away from a country that involves three key regions — South Asia, Central Asia, and the Middle East — and has borders with China and Iran and is close to Russia. The authors include a former US secretary of state for South Asia, two former US ambassadors to Pakistan, a former Pakistani ambassador to the US and other senior diplomats who have worked in Pakistan, and American scholars specialising in South Asia. According to this paper, a modest, pragmatic relationship between the US and Pakistan would involve understanding that Pakistan and the US will “continue to see Afghanistan through different lens but can cooperate in maintaining peace in that country and alleviating its people’s suffering”. It also reminds American policymakers that “attitudes toward India at both the elite and popular levels in Pakistan will, at best, change slowly”. The report also notes that “public opinion in both the US and Pakistan acts as constraints on bilateral relations”. The United States, however, can still induce Pakistan to change its overall strategic calculus, which is based on Pakistan’s understanding of its security environment, it added. The paper acknowledges that the United States and Pakistan have divergent views on China and recommends “a more nuanced US policy on Pakistan”. The authors argue that the US engagement with Pakistan would benefit if it were based on a realistic appraisal of Pakistan’s...

As Vladimir Putin’s game of chicken with the US and its allies over Ukraine escalates into a new round of nuclear threats, the smaller weapons that his officials have called on him to use may provide vital hours or even days of warning. While Russia’s long-range missiles and bombers are kept on constant alert, ready to fire in just minutes to ensure they aren’t destroyed by a pre-emptive strike, lower-yielding tactical weapons are locked up in about a dozen warehouses across Russia and it would take time to transport them to launchers. “At a certain level of readiness, weapons are taken out of storage facilities and moved to some other place, for days if necessary. This would be detected by satellites or other means,” said Pavel Podvig, a nuclear security expert at the UN Institute for Disarmament Research in Geneva. That would be exactly the point. So far, US and European officials have said there’s no sign of any such preparations and the nuclear threats have remained purely rhetorical. But as Russian forces steadily lose ground to a Ukrainian counteroffensive – including territory the Russian president formally claimed as his own last week – the Kremlin has again sought to sow fear with hints that further escalation may involve arms that haven’t been used in war since 1945. The threats are part of a broad attempt by the Kremlin to intimidate the US and Europe into cutting support for Ukraine and forcing Kyiv into negotiations on Moscow’s terms. With Europeans braced for a difficult winter after Russia triggered an unprecedented energy crisis by cutting gas supplies, Putin’s seeking to widen divisions within Europe over the price of continued support for Ukraine to try to turn public opinion in key states as tensions grow. His decision to call up 300,000 reservists to shore up Russia’s struggling army and the hasty annexation of the occupied territories, followed by a fiery speech that accused the West of “Satanism”, were just the latest attempts to show the...

Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif on Saturday extended heartiest greetings to China and the Chinese people on China's National Day, which falls on Oct 1. China, as the second largest economy, is a source of stability in a perpetually changing world, the prime minister said in his message on the 73rd anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China on Twitter. Sharif said China offers a promise of hope to the developing world beset by multiple crises relating to climate, finance, food and energy, adding that the Chinese template of inter-state relations prioritizes cooperation over confrontation, a governing principle in the formation of a community of common destiny. "Personally, I am deeply touched by the Chinese adherence to remarkable work ethic and national discipline. This explains how China has been able to lift 800 million people out of acute poverty," he said. This article originally appeared in www..globaltimes.cn October 01, 2022. Original link.

A friend in need is a friend indeed. The proverb rightly describes the bosom friendship between China and Pakistan. The recent deadly floods have been Pakistan’s most catastrophic experiences – a glaring impact of climate change that has not seen a parallel in the world’s history. Amidst these tribulations, China has stood by the people of Pakistan and demonstrated a profound commitment to helping Pakistan in the times most urgent and crucial. Not only the Chinese government but the common people, especially the civil society and philanthropic organizations, have come forward to offer dire assistance to the flood-stricken country. In an unprecedented action, the Chinese People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC) and the China-Pakistan Friendship Foundation for Peace and Development have raised 125 million yuan worth of donations for the flood-affected areas. The ceremony, held in Beijing on September 25, was titled “Chinese People for Pakistani Brothers and Sisters” to raise funds and express solidarity with the affected communities. As many as 18 cities with sister city relationships with Pakistani cities participated in the event. Additionally, some 24 friendship organizations and subnational friendship associations, 13 companies, and several hundred charitable individuals from 15 Chinese provinces and municipalities participated in the event. “Since Pakistan was hit by the floods, the Chinese side, feeling deeply for our Pakistani brothers and sisters, has taken prompt actions to help.”, said Wang Wenbin, spokesperson for the ministry of foreign affairs told media on Monday. Webin further said that the Chinese government has provided 400 million yuan worth of humanitarian assistance to Pakistan in addition to the 125 million yuan raised separately by the civil society in China. The CPAFFC worked immediately to encourage and organize the friendship associations of Chinese cities with sister city relationships with Pakistani cities and...

UNITED NATIONS - This year's general debate of the UN General Assembly concluded on Monday, after representatives of 190 member states spoke around the theme of "A watershed moment: transformative solutions to interlocking challenges." Csaba Korosi, president of the 77th session of the UN General Assembly, said in his closing remarks that 126 heads of state and government took part in this year's general debate. "The sheer number of you who took part in this debate points to the importance that the general debate holds in international affairs," said Korosi. Korosi said he got five messages from the member states during the general debate. The first is the growing awareness that humanity has entered a new era, he said. "Facing complex challenges and multi-layer crises, we reached a time of paradigm shift, because the movements, the adjustments that we see around us cannot be called mere modifications any longer: they are significant transformations in the making," he said. "The basic conditions of our global cooperation have changed. We live now in a different world -- a world of new challenges, changing priorities, changing roles, and changing ways. Fresh pages of history are being written, with new divisions and new alliances, new grievances, and new successes on them," he said. The second message is that the conflict in Ukraine should end, said Korosi. "You also pointed out that its effect is being felt around the world. You described the pain of shortages, inflation, the impact of refugees as far as South America and Africa, concerns about the safety of nuclear plants, and fears of a nuclear attack. You also highlighted the dangers of misinformation and propaganda," he said. The third message is that climate change is gradually destroying humanity, he said. "We heard about countries simultaneously experiencing droughts and flooding. We spoke about unsustainable patterns of production and consumption, eating up the fish and filling our waters with plastics,...