The Latest: UK sounding optimistic about UN climate progress

The latest on U.N. climate summit COP26:

GLASGOW, Scotland — The British government is sounding increasingly upbeat about progress at the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow.

Going into the 12-day meeting, Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave the talks a 60% chance of keeping alive the goal of limiting climate change to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

But after announcements on halting deforestation and cutting methane emissions, Johnson's spokesman, Max Blain, said "we are starting to see some significant momentum over the last day and a half as we see some real tangible commitments announced."

He said a pledge to halt deforestation by 2030, signed by more than 100 countries, was "a massive success for COP." Blain said: "This is a significant step forward, the biggest step forward in protecting the world's forests in a generation."

But he stressed that "we are not complacent.

This is not a done deal by any means."

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GLASGOW, Scotland — U.S. President Joe Biden had a capable stand-in when he fell behind schedule at the U.N. climate conference.

U.S. climate envoy John Kerry tried to keep the program moving along when Biden didn't show up on time for a Tuesday side event on reducing methane gas emissions..

Kerry, who served in the U.S. military, said the delay – and wait reminded him of the Navy.

"We had a saying: Hurry up and wait," he joked before returning to his seat.

The wait for Biden continued. When the president arrived, Kerry, a former U.S. senator and secretary of state, then went to the mic a second time to deliver a lengthier introduction.

"I'll do what I learned to do in the Senate, which is filibuster," Kerry said, referring to the practice of U.S. senators talking ad nauseum to delay votes.

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GLASGOW, Scotland — The United States and several European countries plan to provide funds and expertise to help South Africa ditch coal and roll out more renewable energy.

German officials said South Africa will receive about $8.5 billion in loans and grants over five years to manage the country's transition away from coalfired power plants, which are a major source of greenhouse gas emissions.

South Africa gets about 90% of its electricity from coal-fired plants.

German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze said the partnership announced Tuesday. which is also backed by Britain, France and the European Union, "has the potential to become a blueprint for other regions."

One focus of the initiative will be helping to create new jobs for tens of thousands of people in South Africa's coal mining industry.

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GLASGOW, Scotland — Countries responsible for almost half the world's methane emissions are signing a pledge Tuesday to cut by at least 30% the amount of the potent greenhouse gas they release into the atmosphere over the next decade.

Clamping down on methane flaring and leaks from oil wells and gas pipelines is considered one of the easiest ways to cut emissions.

Cutting methane produced from agriculture — in particular by belching

cows — is a trickier matter.

Dozens of countries, including the United States, European Union members and Britain, are signing up to the pledge. It is part of a series of methane-reduction efforts announced by the Biden administration Tuesday.

Helen Mountford, a climate expert at the World Resources Institute, said the agreement "sets a strong floor in terms of the ambition we need globally."

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MOSCOW — President Vladimir Putin says Russia relies on its vast forests and "their significant capacity to absorb carbon dioxide and produce oxygen" in achieving the goal of building a carbonneutral economy by 2060.

Putin said Tuesday that "after all, our country accounts for around 20% of the world's forestland."

Experts have questioned Russia's calculations on just how much carbon its forests absorb, particularly in light of the devastating forest fires the country has seen in recent years.

Putin made the comments in a video statement at the launch of a new initiative aimed at preventing deforestation, which was announced at the U.N. climate summit in Glasgow on Tuesday. Putin isn't attending COP26 in person, and no reason has been given for him not going.

Putin also said that "we improve forest management, and fight illegal logging and forest fires. We are expanding reforestation areas. We have been consistently increasing funding for these purposes."

The Russian leader said Moscow expects the new declaration on forests and land use backed by 100 countries to facilitate "closer partnerships" between countries in forest conservation and to help "to fulfill the objectives of reducing levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere set out in the Paris Agreement."

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KAMPALA, Uganda — The International Rescue Committee is urging world leaders attending the U.N. climate summit to urgently invest in climate resilience and famine prevention among the world's most vulnerable countries.

In some African countries where the group operates, including Somalia, people face "the sharp end of the climate crisis," including emergency conditions with current levels of global warming, it said.

"We're extremely worried about the impact of continuing drought and conflict on vulnerable populations throughout the horn of Africa, where a large proportion of the population relies heavily on crops to eat and sell for their livelihoods, Kurt Tjossem, the group's vice president for East Africa, said in a statement.

In Somalia, 3.5 million people face hunger after a failed harvest, with farmers who depend on livestock seeing their animals die from thirst daily, he said.

Although Africa contributes least to global warming, experts say the continent of 1.3 billion people will suffer most from its effects.

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GLASGOW, Scotland — Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says about 1,000 cities and local governments have backed a campaign for a net zero future, promising to purse ambitious climate actions to limit the rise of global temperatures.

Garcetti, the outgoing chair of the C40 group of big city mayors, told a panel discussion at the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow on Tuesday that the communities promised to pursue actions in line with meeting the goal of limiting global temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 degrees Fahrenheit).

Scientists say time is running out to meet that goal and the wish to keep that goal alive has been a centerpiece of the conference.

The 1,049 communities signed up for one or more actions, such as divesting from fossil fuels, creating sustainable food systems and committing to reduce air pollution. The actions have the potential to reduce global emissions by at least 1.4 gigatons annually by 2030.

Garcetti said that "this needs to be the decade of exponential action.''

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GLASGOW, Scotland — President Joe Biden and other world leaders are making a pitch for his Build Back Better World initiative, the U.S. president's effort to offer an alternative to China's infrastructure financing.

Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen are hosting a meeting Tuesday of Group of Seven developed nations and other countries that would benefit from spending on infrastructure.

Biden says "The choices we make today, and I literally mean today, resonate for decades to come."

The White House says the program is meant to offer a "clear contrast" to China's massive infrastructure financing program known as the Belt and Road initiative.

In an apparent reference to China, with whom the U.S. is competing, Biden says it's important to respond to the needs of developing countries and that projects not be dictated "from afar."

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GLASGOW, Scotland — Environmentalists have launched their traditional "Fossil of the Day" awards at the U.N. climate conference, with Britain and Australia the first to receive the questionable honor.

Climate Action Network, an umbrella group of hundreds of non-governmental organizations, said many observers who had traveled long distances to attend the summit were prevented from reaching meetings because of lengthy lines. When they tried to log on from elsewhere, technical problems prevented them from connecting, CAN said.

It urged the host country to improve organization so civil society groups can participate in the talks.

Australia received the second "fossil" for recently approving three new coal projects even as it claimed to be stepping up its efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions, CAN said.

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GLASGOW, Scotland — Cyprus' president says his government is working with neighboring countries to come up with a regional action plan aimed at tackling climate change in the east Mediterranean and the Middle East.

Nicos Anastasiades told the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow on Tuesday that 240 scientists from the Middle East and Europe are already working to prepare policy recommendations, measures and "specific solutions" for the region that has been classified a "global climate change hot-spot."

Anastasiades said in the next few months, a meeting of regional ministers will precede a leaders' summit that will endorse the action plan and set up monitoring mechanisms to ensure "implementation of our commitments."

Cyprus hosted a regional climate change conference last month that underscored the need for a speedy switch in the Middle East and the east Mediterranean from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources because greenhouse gas emissions are helping to drive up regional temperatures faster than in many other inhabited parts of the world. ___

GLASGOW, Scotland — Ecuador's president has announced that his country is expanding the marine reserve around the Galapagos Islands by almost half.

President Guillermo Lasso told the U.N. climate conference in Glasgow on Tuesday that the government has agreed with the fishery, tourism and conservation sectors to establish a new marine reserve in the Galapagos Islands of 60,000 square kilometers (more than 23,000 square miles).

Lasso said this would be added to an existing marine reserve of about 130,000 square kilometers (50,000 square miles).

Experts says oceans are particularly vulnerable to climate change and the Galapagos Islands are considered one of the world's biodiversity jewels. ___

GLASGOW, Scotland — More than 100 countries are pledging to end deforestation, which scientists say is a major driver of climate change.

Britain hailed the commitment as the first big achievement of the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow.

But campaigners say they need to see the detail -- such promises have been made, and broken, before.

The U.K. government said it has received commitments from leaders representing more than 85% of the world's forests to halt and reverse deforestation by 2030.

More than $19 billion in public and private funds have been pledged toward the plan, which is backed by countries including Brazil, China, Colombia, Congo, Indonesia, Russia and the United States. ___

GLASGOW,

— The mayors of Seattle and Freetown in Sierra Leone greeted each other like long lost sisters on a train hurtling toward Glasgow.

They have been bonded by years of Zoom calls and collaboration in the fight against climate change. They lead cities on different sides of the economic and climate divide.

One is in the cool and northwestern corner of the one of the world's richest nations. The other is the capital of an impoverished country in the tropics of west Africa.

But Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan and Freetown counterpart Yvonne Aki-Sawyerr are both on the front lines of global warming and they are working to ensure their cities are prepared for rising sea levels, torrential rains and extreme heat.

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POINTE-AUX-CHENES, Louisiana — Faith leaders and activists across the world are increasingly joining the fight against climate change driven by a moral imperative to preserve creation for future generations.

Christian pastors have joined forces with Native American tribes to protect their hurricane-prone coastal lands as climate change contributes to rising sea levels.

Hindu groups joined river cleanups. And mosques organized tree-planting campaigns. But they believe systemic change to protect those most vulnerable to the climate crisis must also come from world leaders.

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BEIJING — China is the largest contributor to global warming and China's people are already suffering the brunt of climate change.

Historic floods that destroyed farms this summer in the country's agricultural heartland are a preview of the kind of extreme conditions the country is likely to face as the planet warms.

Chinese government reports also predict rising sea levels will threaten major coastal cities while melting glaciers imperil western China's water supply. Those with the least resources to adapt are often on the frontlines of suffering in a common pattern around the world. As one farmer in Henan province said, "Ordinary people suffer most."

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GLASGOW, Scotland — President Joe Biden is seeking to whip up climate change-fighting efforts abroad at a time when his own climate legislation at home is again in limbo.

Biden is attending a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland, for a second and final day Tuesday. He's due to promote global efforts to preserve forests and stem methane leaks before flying home to Washington.

But Biden's climate efforts on the global stage are playing out as Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia has again raised doubts about Biden's social spending package, including its $555 billion in climate provisions.

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WASHINGTON — The Biden administration is launching a wide-ranging plan to reduce methane emissions, targeting a potent greenhouse gas that contributes significantly to global warming.

Methane packs a stronger short-term climate punch than even carbon dioxide. The plan was being announced as President Joe Biden wraps up a two-day appearance at a U.N. climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland. It would tighten methane regulations for the oil and gas sector and crack down on leaks from pipelines.

A proposed rule would for the first time target emissions from existing oil and gas wells nationwide, rather than focus only on new wells.