And as our readers are well aware the Taliban's great friend, Osama bin Laden was also very concerned about global warming.
First up, from Bloomberg Green, April 28:
Red Sea Diversions Spew Carbon Emissions Equal to 9 Million Cars
- Ships burn more fuel by taking longer route and boosting speed
- Undermines net zero commitments of firms reliant on shipping
Ships seeking to avoid ongoing attacks by Houthi rebels in the Red Sea area are emitting millions of additional tons of carbon, making it tougher for companies using ocean freight to reduce pollution across their supply chains.
Instead of passing through Egypt’s Suez Canal, hundreds of vessels since mid-December are sailing around South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope — a detour that adds at least a week to the journey between South Asia and northern Europe.
The additional fuel burned has led to approximately an extra 13.6 million tons of CO2 emissions over the past four months — equivalent to the pollution of about 9 million cars over that same period, according to a report from consultancy INVERTO, a subsidiary of Boston Consulting Group Inc.
“The extra emissions resulting from this crisis will increase companies’ carbon footprints – making it very hard to hit their net zero targets,” said Sushank Agarwal, a managing director at the company. “To meet these targets, companies will either need to reduce emissions elsewhere in their supply chains or invest in more carbon offset initiatives — both can be very costly.”....
....MUCH MORE
And from AFP via Al Arabiya, April 24:
The Taliban government has entered its first talks with the United Nations, donors and non-governmental organizations over the impact of climate change in Afghanistan, organizers said Wednesday.
After four decades of war, Afghanistan ranks as one of the countries least prepared to face the effects of climate change, which is spurring extreme weather and warping natural environments.Foreign aid to Afghanistan has dwindled since the Taliban takeover in 2021, with donors wary of backing a government considered a pariah, leaving poor and climate-vulnerable communities further exposed.
The Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC) co-hosted three days of talks ending Tuesday, country director Terje Watterdal told reporters at a news conference in Kabul.
He said it was the first time Taliban officials “joined a parallel session, face-to-face and online, with a broad range of their counterparts in the West since the change of government in August 2021.”
The talks included universities, diplomats, UN agencies, donors and grassroots members of Afghan society....
....MUCH MORE
Finally, a look back at some of the concerns expressed by Mr. bin Laden. From his 2002 Letter to America, which was recently making the rounds among various Gen-Z and Gen Alpha cohorts:
"You have destroyed nature with your industrial waste and gases more than any other nation in history. Despite this, you refuse to sign the Kyoto agreement so that you can secure the profit of your greedy companies and industries"
In 2007 he further developed the thesis. From the AFP transcript of the Sept. 7 al-Queda video.
"...In fact, the life of all of mankind is in danger because of the global warming resulting to a large degree from the emissions of the factories of the major corporations, yet despite that, the representative of these corporations in the White House insists on not observing the Kyoto accord, with the knowledge that the statistic speaks of the death and displacement of the millions of human beings because of that, especially in Africa.
This greatest of plagues and most dangerous of threats to the lives of humans is taking place in an accelerating fashion as the world is being dominated by the democratic system, which confirms its massive failure to protect humans and their interests from the greed and avarice of the major corporations and their representatives...."
—The Ottawa Citizen via Climateer Investing, September 7, 2007. [original link rotted, archived]
If interested, that month we also had "Religious leaders unite in prayer on climate change, Osama Bin Laden on Tax Policy, Book Reviews, Globalization and More" as well as:
September, 2007
Fidel Castro, Global Warming,W. and Apec
The Cuban Commander-in-Chief is renowned for his oratory. A Google search for: Fidel, lengthy, speeches; gives you 120K hits. Even in translation it can be mesmerizing....
...And from the link-vault:
