Welcome to the Reuters.com BETA. Read our Editor's note on how we're helping professionals make smart decisions.Clouds gather but produce no rain as cracks are seen in the dried up municipal dam in drought-stricken Graaff-Reinet, South Africa, November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File PhotoUnited Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres wants the United States to commit this week to at least halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 -- a move he said could unlock similar action from the world’s other large emitters.The United States, the world’s biggest economy and second-biggest...…Welcome to the Reuters.com BETA. Read our Editor's note on how we're helping professionals make smart decisions.Clouds gather but produce no rain as cracks are seen in the dried up municipal dam in drought-stricken Graaff-Reinet, South Africa, November 14, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings/File PhotoUnited Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres wants the United States to commit this week to at least halving its greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 -- a move he said could unlock similar action from the world’s other large emitters.The United States, the world’s biggest economy and second-biggest...WW…

Welcome to the Reuters.com BETA. Read our Editor's note on how we're helping professionals make smart decisions.Over a dozen Democratic senators on Friday urged U.S. President Joe Biden to withhold financial assistance to Brazil unless it demonstrates it is reducing deforestation in the Amazon and cracking down on environmental crimes.The letter, signed by 15 senators led by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, was sent days before Biden hosts a virtual climate leaders summit on April 22-23, which Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is due to attend. It also...…Welcome to the Reuters.com BETA. Read our Editor's note on how we're helping professionals make smart decisions.Over a dozen Democratic senators on Friday urged U.S. President Joe Biden to withhold financial assistance to Brazil unless it demonstrates it is reducing deforestation in the Amazon and cracking down on environmental crimes.The letter, signed by 15 senators led by Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy and New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, was sent days before Biden hosts a virtual climate leaders summit on April 22-23, which Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is due to attend. It also...WW…

By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. climate envoy John Kerry will travel to China this week to discuss international efforts to tackle global warming, seeking to press his counterparts to make ambitious emissions reduction targets despite tension in the U.S.-China relationship.The U.S. State Department said Kerry would travel to Shanghai and Seoul, South Korea, for talks on April 14-17, ahead of President Joe Biden’s virtual summit with world leaders on climate change next week.Kerry will “discuss raising global climate ambition,” during his visits, the State Department said.A source familiar...…By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. climate envoy John Kerry will travel to China this week to discuss international efforts to tackle global warming, seeking to press his counterparts to make ambitious emissions reduction targets despite tension in the U.S.-China relationship.The U.S. State Department said Kerry would travel to Shanghai and Seoul, South Korea, for talks on April 14-17, ahead of President Joe Biden’s virtual summit with world leaders on climate change next week.Kerry will “discuss raising global climate ambition,” during his visits, the State Department said.A source familiar...WW…

By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday proposed $14 billion in spending on initiatives to fight climate change in the 2022 budget, including large cash injections for environmental regulation and science research.The proposal underscores the administration’s ambitions to decarbonizing the economy by 2050 to stem global warming, reversing a policy direction set by former President Donald Trump to slash red tape that hindered fossil fuel production.Biden’s so-called “skinny”, or preliminary, budget proposal includes $11.1 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection...…By , WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden on Friday proposed $14 billion in spending on initiatives to fight climate change in the 2022 budget, including large cash injections for environmental regulation and science research.The proposal underscores the administration’s ambitions to decarbonizing the economy by 2050 to stem global warming, reversing a policy direction set by former President Donald Trump to slash red tape that hindered fossil fuel production.Biden’s so-called “skinny”, or preliminary, budget proposal includes $11.1 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection...WW…

By , , WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A revised World Bank policy on climate change commits to making financing decisions in line with efforts to limit global warming, but stops short of promising to halt funding of fossil fuels, according to a draft bank presentation seen by Reuters.The World Bank, the biggest provider of climate finance to developing countries, is finalizing a new five-year climate action plan amid growing political momentum in Britain, the United States and other countries for ending public financing of high-emission fossil fuel projects.In a sharp reversal from the...…By , , WASHINGTON/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - A revised World Bank policy on climate change commits to making financing decisions in line with efforts to limit global warming, but stops short of promising to halt funding of fossil fuels, according to a draft bank presentation seen by Reuters.The World Bank, the biggest provider of climate finance to developing countries, is finalizing a new five-year climate action plan amid growing political momentum in Britain, the United States and other countries for ending public financing of high-emission fossil fuel projects.In a sharp reversal from the...WW…

By WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Deb Haaland was confirmed on Monday as Secretary of the Interior, becoming the first Native American to lead a cabinet agency and securing a central role in President Joe Biden’s sweeping plans to fight climate change.The U.S. Senate confirmed the New Mexico Democrat 51-40 after she clinched support from Republicans including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Maine Senator Susan Collins.Haaland became one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress in 2018. Her ascension to...…By WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Representative Deb Haaland was confirmed on Monday as Secretary of the Interior, becoming the first Native American to lead a cabinet agency and securing a central role in President Joe Biden’s sweeping plans to fight climate change.The U.S. Senate confirmed the New Mexico Democrat 51-40 after she clinched support from Republicans including South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, Alaska Senators Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan and Maine Senator Susan Collins.Haaland became one of the first two Native American women elected to Congress in 2018. Her ascension to...WW…

By (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Michael Regan as the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, which will play a central role in the Biden administration’s plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, vehicles and oil and gas facilities.The bipartisan tally in the Democratic-led Senate was 66-34 to confirm Regan, who will be the first Black man to lead the EPA.Regan will take the helm of the agency as it rebuilds after the Trump era, which had been focused on undoing Obama era regulations on industry, slashing the agency’s budget...…By (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Wednesday voted to confirm Michael Regan as the next administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, which will play a central role in the Biden administration’s plans to slash greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, vehicles and oil and gas facilities.The bipartisan tally in the Democratic-led Senate was 66-34 to confirm Regan, who will be the first Black man to lead the EPA.Regan will take the helm of the agency as it rebuilds after the Trump era, which had been focused on undoing Obama era regulations on industry, slashing the agency’s budget...WW…

By WASHINGTON (Reuters) - E-commerce firm Shopify said on Tuesday it would become the first customer to buy contract carbon removal units from Canada-based direct air capture company Carbon Engineering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions and called on others to follow suit.Shopify bought 10,000 units, or one metric tonne of carbon dioxide captured and permanently removed from the atmosphere, from the firm’s future direct air capture (DAC) projects.Carbon Engineering has been running a pilot facility at the foot of British Columbia’ Coast Mountains to suck a ton of carbon dioxide a day out...…By WASHINGTON (Reuters) - E-commerce firm Shopify said on Tuesday it would become the first customer to buy contract carbon removal units from Canada-based direct air capture company Carbon Engineering to slash its greenhouse gas emissions and called on others to follow suit.Shopify bought 10,000 units, or one metric tonne of carbon dioxide captured and permanently removed from the atmosphere, from the firm’s future direct air capture (DAC) projects.Carbon Engineering has been running a pilot facility at the foot of British Columbia’ Coast Mountains to suck a ton of carbon dioxide a day out...WW…

By WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Thursday revoked a Trump administration policy that aimed to prevent federal agencies from weighing climate change impacts in their decision-making around major projects like pipelines and highways.The White House Council for Environmental Quality revoked the Trump administration's 2019 draft National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidance for greenhouse gas emissions, which had rolled back an Obama-era policy that required agencies to evaluate the climate change impacts of major infrastructure projects in their reviews.“Today’s action...…By WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Biden administration on Thursday revoked a Trump administration policy that aimed to prevent federal agencies from weighing climate change impacts in their decision-making around major projects like pipelines and highways.The White House Council for Environmental Quality revoked the Trump administration's 2019 draft National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) guidance for greenhouse gas emissions, which had rolled back an Obama-era policy that required agencies to evaluate the climate change impacts of major infrastructure projects in their reviews.“Today’s action...WW…

Welcome to the Reuters.com BETA. Read our Editor's note on how we're helping professionals make smart decisions.U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate summit will turn to the issue of technology on Friday, featuring remarks from entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, after Thursday’s Earth Day kickoff sought to rally world ambition to reduce global warming.Biden called the two-day meeting with dozens of heads-of-state to declare the United States back at the climate leadership table after his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris agreement to cut...…Welcome to the Reuters.com BETA. Read our Editor's note on how we're helping professionals make smart decisions.U.S. President Joe Biden’s climate summit will turn to the issue of technology on Friday, featuring remarks from entrepreneurs Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg, after Thursday’s Earth Day kickoff sought to rally world ambition to reduce global warming.Biden called the two-day meeting with dozens of heads-of-state to declare the United States back at the climate leadership table after his predecessor, former President Donald Trump, withdrew from the Paris agreement to cut...WW…