US Sinks Arctic Agreement on Climate Change

US Denies it Sunk Agreement But the US State Department denied it had been reluctant to act over climate change in the Arctic and pointed the finger at Russia and China for not playing by the rules. “There were several different versions of the declaration going around. The US was ready to sign,” insisted a US official who spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity. US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said, while addressing the council, that collective goals are not the answer. “Collective goals are rendered meaningless, even counter productive as soon as one nation fails to comply,” said Pompeo. US intransigence over global warming is nothing new. President Trump has said he is sceptical whether global warming is the result of human activity and withdrew the US from the Paris climate accord, which was signed by 200 governments in 2015. Arctic temperatures are rising twice as fast as in the rest of the world and pose a serious threat to the region’s wildlife and indigenous populations. But the melting sea ice has also opened up some of the world’s last untapped mineral wealth, including huge reserves of oil and gas. Scientists believe the Arctic may hold up to 30% of the world’s reserves of natural gas.]]>

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Edward Cowley

Journalist at Truly Belong

Edward Cowley has been a journalist for over ten years.

Edward has been a news reporter in Moscow and has written features for the Sunday Times and the Moscow Times.

Some of the places he has worked at include RT (Russia Today) and BBC World.As well as Russia and the former CIS, Edward specialises on the environment and has directed a half hour film on the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster.

At Belong, Edward has developed a strong environmental slant for the magazine, including a series of features focussing on environmental problems. The environment affects all of us and Belong is a magazine with an international outlook, with stories from all around the world.