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Exclusive: at least 228 water conflicts were recorded in 2022 – an 87% rise on the year before, Pacific Institute database shows

• Peter Gleick: As water becomes a weapon of war, we must focus on cooperation and peace

Water-related violence surged to an all-time high in 2022 – driven in large part by Russia’s war in Ukraine and Israeli attacks against Palestinian water resources in the West Bank.

At least 228 water conflicts were documented in 2022 – an 87% rise since 2021, according to research by the Pacific Institute shared exclusively with the Guardian.

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Record increase in water-related violence shows how urgently we need to reduce these tensions between countries

In recent months, the world has been bombarded with reports of attacks on major dams and civilian water systems in Ukraine, water being used as a weapon during the violence in Gaza and the West Bank, unrest and riots in India and Iran over water scarcity and drought, and conflicts between farmers and herders in Africa over land and water sources. Our limited and precious freshwater resources have become triggers, weapons and casualties of war and conflict.

Water is vital for everything we want to do: it allows us to grow food, run industries and businesses, cook and clean our homes, and manage our wastes. Although there is plenty of water on Earth, it is unevenly distributed in space and time, with humid and arid regions as well as wet and dry seasons. These disparities lead to competition and disputes over water access and control. As populations and economies grow, the pressure on limited water supplies and the delicate ecosystems that depend on them is intensifying. And now, human-caused climate disruptions are affecting the planet’s hydrologic cycle, worsening extreme weather events such as floods and droughts, altering rainfall patterns, melting glaciers and snowpacks, and leading to higher temperatures and increased water demands.

Peter Gleick is co-founder and Senior Fellow of the Pacific Institute, Oakland, California, and author of the new book, The Three Ages of Water (PublicAffairs/Hachette 2023)

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EUA prices made moderate gains on Wednesday morning after updated positions data showed investment funds had continued to build net short positions last week, setting a new record in the process, while energy markets also rose amid technical trading.

Progress seen in climate talks between world's two biggest carbon emitters but major hurdles remain.

A California-based carbon removals firm has purchased "groundbreaking" direct air capture (DAC) technology from a Pittsburgh-headquartered advanced materials company.

Growth in China’s thermal power output continued to grow in October with sustained expansion of coal output, though slower than the pace seen in solar and hydropower generation, government data showed Wednesday.

Buyers of Article 6-aligned carbon credits are shying away from nature-based units amid lingering quality concerns, officials have told the ongoing Asia Pacific Climate Week in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court of has ruled that a 2021 government budget act, which redirected €60 billion initially borrowed to address the COVID-19 pandemic towards climate and energy measures, is unconstitutional and therefore void.

World Meteorological Organization sees ‘no end in sight to the rising trend’, largely driven by fossil fuel burning

The abundance of climate-heating gases in the atmosphere reached record highs in 2022, the UN’s World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has reported.

The WMO said “there is no end in sight to the rising trend”, which is largely driven by the burning of fossil fuels.

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The UK government's £20 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) policy is not consistent with the country's net zero targets, while over three-quarters of planned capacity in 2030 is set to come from projects that require long-term fossil use, according to a report from an international think-tank published on Wednesday.

Japan's green transformation (GX) initiative is misaligned with UN's guidance on climate policy, especially given the country's slow regulatory progress in carbon pricing, a think tank has said.

Oil production rose 320,000 barrels per day in October, propelling global supply to a record 101.8 million barrels of oil per day (bopd) and supply will reach historic levels this year and grow further next year, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA).

The New South Wales state government has released draft guidelines for wind projects, deeming almost the entire state as “less suitable” for wind farms, sparking shocked reactions from the industry.

EU co-legislators in the early hours of Wednesday morning agreed a provisional deal on rules that will limit methane emissions from the energy sector, including a clause hard-fought from the Parliament to extend the rules to energy imports in three years.

A developer of clean cooking projects is the first to be issued with carbon credits aligned with Paris Agreement Article 6 on the Gold Standard registry, with an African nation agreeing to correspondingly adjust for those credits on its own emissions tally in order to prevent double counting of the emissions reductions.

The US and China, the world's two largest GHG emitters, have agreed to jointly tackle global warming through multiple initiatives including large-scale CCUS projects and ensure their 2035 climate targets will include all GHG emissions, they announced Wednesday.

The global failure to reduce fossil fuels is leaving small island states trapped in a constant cycle of fightback against disease and extreme weather

Read more: Health of billions at risk from global heating, warns report

In the summer of 2023, the world recorded the highest temperature in 100,000 years. All continents were affected and even the gentle breeze often felt in the tropics did little to cool the sweltering heat experienced by small island developing states (Sids). Our latest Lancet Countdown report, tracking the connections between health and the climate crisis, showed that Sids experienced 103 health-threatening heat days each year between 2018 and 2022 – equating to almost a third of the year being above the threshold whereby heat-related deaths are likely to increase.

Aside from the direct dangers of exposure to health-threatening heat such as heat stress, heatstroke, and, in severe circumstances, death, increased heat improves the climate suitability for the spread of infectious diseases such as dengue fever, malaria and vibrio by expanding their climatic boundaries, our most recent data shows. Our mathematical models of dengue fever show an increase in the frequency of outbreaks with an increase in heat, and the evidence suggests that the climate crisis has exacerbated the frequency of these outbreaks.

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The carbon-focussed and environmental arm of a major investment bank is calling for collective philanthropy to invest in Southeast Asian blue carbon systems in a bid to slow and reverse the rapidly disappearing mangrove systems in the region.

A South Australian biochar company has received an A$11 million ($7.1 mln) loan from its parent company to fund the purchase of pyrolysis plants for its carbon removal project.

State oil company’s huge expansion plans make its CEO’s role as president of UN climate summit ‘ridiculous’, say researchers

The state oil company of the United Arab Emirates, whose CEO will preside over imminent UN climate negotiations, has the largest net-zero-busting expansion plans of any company in the world, according to new data.

Sultan Al Jaber is the chief executive of the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) and president of the Cop28 summit, which begins on 30 November. The researchers behind the new data said Adnoc’s huge planned expansion of oil and gas production was a clear conflict of interest and they said his position was “ridiculous”.

$140bn has been spent by the industry on exploration for new oil and gas reserves since 2021.

96% of the 700 companies that explore or develop new oil and gas fields are continuing to do so.

More than 1,000 companies are planning new gas pipelines, gas-fired power plants or liquified natural gas (LNG) export terminals.

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