World cities brace for climate challenges

Any company which wants to increase the price of its products needs to pay a fee now, according to a new decision taken by Public Authority for Consumer Protections (PACP). The decision, signed by the PACP chairman, says the company should inform the authority, get the new prices approved and pay the stipulated fee.

Each application submitted by establishments for increasing the price should not exceed 50 commodities.

While Grade 4 establishments must pay a fee of RO 100, the same will be raised by RO 100 for each grade. ‘Excellent Grade’ establishments should pay RO 500.

The PACP had recently issued VIENNA: Faced with exploding populations and steadily rising temperatures worldwide, cities must make haste in reinforcing defences against climate change-induced flooding and heat waves, experts warned.

City temperatures are forecast to shoot up in the coming years, exposing inhabitants to killer heat spikes, while rising sea levels and river flooding threaten homes, drinking water, and transport and electricity infrastructure.

Cities are vulnerable to a unique risk called the “urban heat island” (UHI) effect — their concrete surfaces retain more of the sun’s heat than undeveloped areas, scientists explained at a meeting of the European Geosciences Union (EGU) in Vienna.

By midcentury, if planetwarming fossil fuel emissions continue unabated, city temperatures in Belgium could exceed today’s heat-alert levels by as much as 10 degrees Celsius for 25 days each summer, according to one research paper.

Another study showed that heat waves will become a frequent challenge for European cities — more numerous in the south of executive regulations to further strengthen consumer protection in the Sultanate.

The new guidelines, coming just over two years since the promulgation of the Royal Decree regarding the Consumer Protection Law, came into force on March 13 this year. the continent, more intense in the north.

And floods, a major risk to Europe’s dense urban settlements, will become more common because of an increase in freak rainstorms, as well as sea-level increases caused by polar ice melt and warmer ocean water expanding.

In flood-prone southeast Asia, precipitation is set to increase by 20 per cent this century, one researcher said in Vienna. The stakes are especially high given the projections for expansion of urban areas, which are often ill equipped to deal with nature’s vengeance.

These regulations seek to address all the shortcomings in the Consumer Protection Law.

For example, it deems a product as adulterated if it contains “foreign substances that may change its composition and affect its durability”. Likewise, it mandates printing of the product specifications on the package label as sought by regulatory agencies in the Sultanate. Penalties have been toughened.

Prison terms ranging from one to two years, with fines up to RO 2,000 have been prescribed.

Actions that compromise the safety of consumers are punishable with jail terms ranging from 10 days to one year, with fines ranging from RO 100 to RO 2,000.

The new regulations have been welcomed by the public.