EUROPEANS, particularly in the south of the continent, are being subjected to more heat stress during the summer months as climate change causes longer periods of extreme weather, a new study said today.
The European Commission’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said that comparisons of data over decades show record heat last year resulted in hazardous conditions for human health.
The report said: “Southern Europe experienced a record number of days with ‘very strong heat stress’,” defined as temperatures from 38°C to 46°C.
The number of summer days with “strong” (32°C to 38°C) or “very strong” heat stress is rising across the continent, while in southern Europe this is also the case for “extreme heat stress” days above 46°C, Copernicus said.
…
Category: politics
Climate change causing ‘heat stress’ in Europe, says new report
Net-zero banks show little sign of slowing down fossil fuel financing
A criticism often levelled at Mark Carney’s Glasgow Financial Alliance for Net Zero initiative (GFANZ) and in particular its banking arm, the Net Zero Banking Alliance (NZBA), is that member banks are not required to set firm policies limiting fossil fuel investment.
New figures published by NGO the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) in its annual ‘Banking on Climate Chaos’ report reveal that the world’s 60 largest banks by asset size, the majority (49) of which have made net-zero commitments, have invested $5.5trn dollars in the fossil fuel industry since the Paris Agreement was signed seven years ago.
This new data, which records banks’ lending, debt underwriting and equity capital market activities, adjusting each transaction according to how much exposure the borrower or issuer has to a specific sector, shows that in 2022 alone, the 60 banks provided $673bn to more than 3,000 companies engaged in fossil fuel activities, including $150bn specifically to the top 100 companies expanding fossil fuels.
The total sum for 2022 represents a 9% decrease compared with 2021 financing, although RAN’s report dismisses the idea that this reduction indicates “a positive, long-term trend”. This is because a more significant trend observed over the past year, given the current context of “rising interest rates, a strong dollar, and wartime profits”, is that several large oil majors that often account for a significant share of bank loans no longer need banks’ support following a year of bumper profits.
…
Carla Denyer destroys right wing argument that tackling the climate emergency and cost of living crisis is incompatible
Green Party’s Carla Denyer appears on BBC’s Question Time. On her first appearance on BBC Question Time, Green Party of England and Wales co-leader Carla Denyer dismantled a right wing argument that tackling the cost of living crisis is incompatible with rapid action to address the climate emergency.
…
“The UK has the leakiest homes in Europe. People are spending so much on their energy bills only for it to blow out the windows and the doors and the gaps because they’re poorly insulated. If we had a proper, big, nationwide home insulation programme street by street, that insulated people’s homes, it would bring down their bills, it would give them warmer, more comfortable homes which are healthier, and we’ve heard all about – recently – the issues with living in cold, damp homes, and it would tackle carbon emissions. It can be done.”
‘Responsibility for ambulance crisis is with a Government that has failed to invest in NHS’
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/responsibility-ambulance-crisis-government-failed-29768725
The average time for an ambulance to arrive for someone suffering stroke, severe burns or chest pain is now 93 minutes. This is five times longer than the target of 18 minutes
Each day 120 people on average die before an ambulance can reach them.
Many of these lives could have been saved if we had an NHS that was fit for purpose.
But under the Tory Government, emergency response times have hit a record high.
The average time for an ambulance to arrive for someone suffering stroke, severe burns or chest pain is now 93 minutes. This is five times longer than the target of 18 minutes.
The blame cannot be laid at the door of paramedics, who provide the best possible service under increasingly stressful conditions.
The responsibility lies with a Government that has failed to invest in the NHS.
…
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/responsibility-ambulance-crisis-government-failed-29768725
Carla Denyer slams Labour failure to back junior doctors’ pay demands
Green Party’s Carla Denyer appears on BBC’s Question Time. Green Party of England and Wales co-leader Carla Denyer has made her debut appearance on BBC Question Time. Against a backdrop of continued strikes in the NHS, the panel was asked about the junior doctor’s pay dispute.
In her response, Denyer took aim at the Labour Party’s continued refusal to commit to meeting the British Medical Association’s (BMA) calls for a restoration in pay. According to the BMA, junior doctors have seen a real terms pay cut of 26% in the last 15 years. The BMA is seeking a pay increase of 35% in order to restore the losses since 2008.
…
