La COP30 s’enfonce dans la nuit, l’ambition sur la sortie des fossiles en péril

Les négociations de la COP30 au Brésil se sont prolongées samedi dans une lutte nocturne acharnée pour finaliser un accord a minima, après deux semaines chaotiques de sommet en Amazonie, proche de se conclure sans engagement majeur pour accélérer la sortie des énergies fossiles.L’enjeu est de sceller un accord pour rattraper le retard pris par l’humanité dans sa lutte contre la pollution carbone, soutenir l’adaptation au changement climatique des pays pauvres et démontrer la viabilité du multilatéralisme dans un monde fracturé. Mais depuis vendredi à l’aube, les pays se disputent à Belem sur un texte de la présidence brésilienne qui ne contient plus le mot “fossiles”. Et encore moins la création d’une “feuille de route” sur la sortie du pétrole, du charbon et du gaz, réclamée par au moins 80 pays européens, latino-américains ou insulaires, et endossée par le président brésilien Lula lui-même.Au point que l’Union européenne a évoqué la perspective de partir “sans accord”, ce qui serait un échec humiliant pour le Brésil et cette première conférence climatique de l’ONU en Amazonie, débutée le 10 novembre.Les Européens se retrouvent “isolés” dans leur refus du texte, certains pays souhaitant claquer la porte et d’autres ayant “peur (…) d’endosser la responsabilité” de l’échec du sommet, selon une délégation d’un des 27.Qui s’oppose à des efforts sur les fossiles? L’Inde, l’Arabie saoudite et la Russie, rejoints par des pays émergents, a déclaré Monique Barbut, ministre française de la Transition écologique.”Je mets en garde les médias contre les narratifs simplistes sur les véritables bloqueurs”, a répondu Romain Ioualalen, de l’ONG Oil Change International, soulignant que les négociations portent aussi sur des aides aux pays pauvres “qui sont bloquées par les pays développés”.”Ne nous laissons pas distraire par tout ce bruit. Dans toute négociation climatique, il y aura toujours des accusations. Concentrons-nous sur l’essentiel: l’accès à l’énergie pour les plus pauvres, la sécurité énergétique pour tous et la durabilité énergétique pour la planète”, dit à l’AFP l’Indien Arunabha Ghosh, émissaire de la COP30 pour l’Asie du Sud.Le projet d’accord demande des “efforts” pour tripler les financements pour l’adaptation des pays pauvres au changement climatique. Mais les pays riches sont réticents à remettre la main au portefeuille après une COP29 qui les a engagés sur dix ans.Après l’échec d’une longue réunion à la mi-journée avec les près de 190 pays présents, la présidence brésilienne a changé de format. A partir de 17H00 (20H00 GMT), elle a mené sans quasi-interruption des discussions à huis clos avec un groupe restreint de pays, représentatifs des différents blocs.Très peu a filtré de ce long huis clos qui se poursuivait tard dans la nuit. Selon plusieurs observateurs et délégués interrogés par l’AFP, les débats se concentrent sur des modifications à la marge des trois principaux points de frictions : l’ambition de réduction des énergies fossiles, l’aide financière due par les pays développés, et les tensions commerciales sur les taxes carbone aux frontières.- Pression de Lula -“Ceux qui doutent que la coopération soit la meilleure chose à faire pour le climat seront absolument ravis de voir qu’on n’arrive pas à nous mettre d’accord”, a plaidé le président de la COP30, le diplomate André Correa do Lago.Il a la lourde tâche de mettre d’accord 194 pays et l’Union européenne, membres de l’accord de Paris, pour une adoption par consensus, comme c’est la règle aux COP.L’idée d’une “feuille de route” pour accélérer la sortie du pétrole, du charbon et du gaz, largement responsables du réchauffement climatique, est née de la frustration face au manque de concrétisation de l’engagement à leur abandon progressif pris à la COP28 il y a deux ans.Dans une année géopolitique mouvementée, avec de nombreux pays occidentaux se détournant politiquement du climat, peu comptaient sur le retour de cette question au menu, jusqu’à ce que le président Lula la remette au centre du jeu au début du sommet.Pour la ministre colombienne de l’Environnement Irene Velez Torres, dont le pays est devenu un chef de file anti-pétrole, la COP30 “ne peut se terminer sans feuille de route pour abandonner les énergies fossiles”.

Markram falls as South Africa reach 82-1 in second India Test

Aiden Markram fell bowled to Jasprit Bumrah after a strong start as South Africa reached 82-1 at the first break of the second Test against India on Saturday in Guwahati.World Test champions South Africa chose to bat in their bid to clinch their first series on Indian soil in 25 years.After an earlier scare, Markram dragged a fuller delivery from pace spearhead Bumrah on to his stumps at the stroke of the interval. He made 38.Left-handed Ryan Rickelton was batting on 35.Play started 30 minutes earlier than usual because of early sunsets, with the order of the session breaks reversed, meaning tea before lunch.The openers started cautiously and Markram got off the mark on his 17th ball with a crunching cover drive for four off Bumrah.The bowler nearly had his revenge next ball only for KL Rahul to drop a chance at second slip.Bumrah covered his face in dismay with Rahul spilling a regulation catch on a pitch which looks good to bat on.Spin was introduced in the 14th over with Washington Sundar given the ball as India rotated their bowlers in search of a wicket.India are led by wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant after regular skipper Shubman Gill was forced out with the neck injury he suffered in the first Test.South Africa, who recently drew 1-1 in Pakistan, are chasing a first series win in India since Hansie Cronje’s team triumphed there in 2000.They won the first Test by 30 runs at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens.

Markram falls as South Africa reach 82-1 in second India TestSat, 22 Nov 2025 05:59:35 GMT

Aiden Markram fell bowled to Jasprit Bumrah after a strong start as South Africa reached 82-1 at the first break of the second Test against India on Saturday in Guwahati.World Test champions South Africa chose to bat in their bid to clinch their first series on Indian soil in 25 years.After an earlier scare, Markram …

Markram falls as South Africa reach 82-1 in second India TestSat, 22 Nov 2025 05:59:35 GMT Read More »

Cricket World Cup for blind women helps change attitudes

On a lush cricket ground outside Colombo the sharp jingling of a ball cuts through the afternoon air. Every rattle is a pushback against the stigma of disability.Sri Lanka and India are co-hosting the first T20 World Cup for visually impaired women.The semi-finals are on Saturday between India and Australia and Pakistan and Nepal, followed by the final on Sunday.India manager Shika Shetty told AFP that the sport has transformed lives and helped change attitudes.”I think this (world cup) is one of the biggest opportunities for our visually impaired girls,” said Shetty, who is not blind.India captain T.C. Deepika recalled the disbelief she faced when she first picked up the bat.”People were saying, ‘How do they do it? They must be lying,'” she said in a video posted by the Cricket Association for the Blind in India.”(Later) they realised I can do something. People began to see that I have ability,” Deepika added.- Playing by the ear -While able-bodied cricket requires players to keep an eye on the ball at all times, blind players must have sharp ears. The white plastic ball, the size of a tennis ball, is packed with ball bearings that rattle as it rolls.The bowler must ask the striker if he or she is ready and then yell “play” as the jingling ball is delivered underarm with at least one bounce.Like a regular cricket match, each side has 11 players, but at least four must be totally blind. They are required to wear blindfolds for fairness.Fielders clap once to reveal their positions.Others are partially sighted, classified by how far they can see — two metres for B2 players, six for B3. Each team can have up to eight B1, or totally blind, players. Any run scored by a B1 player is counted as two.- ‘Liberating’ -Chaminda Karunaratne says cricket has been both a refuge and a way to prove that blindness cannot impede his sporting ambitions.The blind 40-year-old Sri Lankan school teacher has represented his country in international tournaments and now wants women to share that space.”Cricket has done wonders, especially for my mental health,” Karunaratne said as the Indian and Pakistan women’s teams battled it out on the ground.”When you get into a sport like this it boosts your self-confidence, you can move more freely and you tend to take part in community activities,” he said. “That is liberating.”Karunaratne, a key member of the Sri Lanka Cricket Association for the Visually Handicapped, added: “I appeal to parents to send their blind girls to take up cricket. It is an opportunity to interact with others.””You can show that you are not helpless, not dependent,” he said.Association president Sudesh Tharanga admitted forming a women’s team had been a challenge, although nearly a million Sri Lankans are estimated to have some form of visual impediment.”We started assembling a team only after we were asked in September if we could co-host the T20 tournament in November,” Tharanga told AFP.Despite limited preparations Sri Lanka managed to field one of the tournament’s youngest squads.

Japan businesses brush off worries over China tourists

Shiina Ito has had fewer Chinese customers at her Tokyo jewellery shop since Beijing issued a travel warning in the wake of a diplomatic spat, but she said she was not concerned.A souring of Beijing-Tokyo relations this month, following remarks by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi about Taiwan, has fuelled concerns about the impact on the ritzy boutiques, noodle joints and hotels where holidaymakers spend their cash.But businesses in Tokyo largely shrugged off any anxiety.”Since there are fewer Chinese customers, it’s become a bit easier for Japanese shoppers to visit, so our sales haven’t really dropped,” shop manager Ito told AFP.Chinese buyers normally make up half of the clientele at her business in the capital’s traditional Asakusa district, where crowds of tourists stroll through shop-lined alleys.Many tourism and retail businesses in Japan rely heavily on Chinese visitors, who spend more on average than other foreign tourists on everything from sushi to skincare.Some hotels, designer clothes shops and even pharmacies have Mandarin-speaking assistants, while department stores often have signs in Chinese.In Tokyo’s upscale Ginza district, Yuki Yamamoto, the manager of an Instagram-famous udon noodle restaurant, said he had not noticed any immediate impact on sales in the days since China warned its citizens to avoid Japan.”I don’t think there’s been any sudden, dramatic change,” he said, despite estimating that on a normal day around half the hungry diners who queue outside his door are Chinese.”Of course, if customers decrease, that’s disappointing for the shop. But Japanese customers still come regularly, so we’re not extremely concerned.”China is the biggest source of tourists to the archipelago, with almost 7.5 million visitors in the first nine months of 2025 — a quarter of all foreign tourists, according to official Japanese figures.Attracted by a weak yen, they splashed out the equivalent of $3.7 billion in the third quarter.Last year, each Chinese tourist spent on average 22 percent more than other visitors, according to the Japan National Tourism Organization.However, a record 36.8 million arrivals from across the globe last year has also led to fears of overtourism affecting the daily lives of many in Japan.- ‘Economic coercion’ -On November 7, Takaichi implied Tokyo could intervene militarily in any attack on Taiwan, a self-ruled island which China claims as part of its territory.Beijing then advised Chinese citizens to avoid travelling to Japan, and retail and tourism stocks subsequently plunged. Most have yet to recover.In response, Kimi Onoda, Japan’s hawkish minister of economic security, warned of the danger of “relying too heavily on a country that resorts to economic coercion whenever it is displeased”.That “poses risks not only to supply chains but also to tourism”, she said.Wu Weiguo, the manager of a travel agency in Shanghai, said that “the biggest impact is on group travel”, with 90 percent of his clients requesting refunds for planned Japan itineraries.But according to the national tourism board, only around 12 percent of Chinese visitors last year came to the archipelago as part of organised tours, down from almost 43 percent in 2015.Transport Minister Yasushi Kaneko said the issue was not “something to get all worked up about”, noting an increase in arrivals from other countries.- ‘Take time’ -Nevertheless, hotels in Japan that heavily depend on Chinese customers are feeling the effects.”Cancellations from travel agencies in China are coming one after another,” said Keiko Takeuchi, who runs the Gamagori Hotel in central Japan. “About 50 to 60 percent of our customers are Chinese nationals.”I hope the situation calms down quickly, but it seems it will take time,” she fretted.Beijing has made clear it was furious with Takaichi, summoning Tokyo’s ambassador and, according to Chinese state media, postponing the release of at least two Japanese movies.But travel agency manager Wu said that the spat would not stop holidaymakers dreaming of Tokyo.”They believe the service is high-quality and shopping is reasonably priced,” he said.”Chinese people will continue to want to visit Japan.”mac-kh-tjx-aph/ami/lb