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Nature backs Biden over 'disastrous' Trump for US president
 By Patrick GALEY
 Paris (AFP) Oct 14, 2020

Greta Thunberg urges EU to do 'as much as possible' on climate
Stockholm (AFP) Oct 14, 2020 - Swedish teen climate activist Greta Thunberg on Wednesday urged EU leaders to "do as much as possible" to step up the bloc's ambitions to reduce carbon output at this week's summit.

"Of course none of what has been proposed or pushed is in line with the science, but we are still demanding them to do as much as possible... to commit to what they had promised to do" in the 2015 Paris Agreement, Thunberg told AFP in a video interview.

"It is odd how words and actions don't add up," German Fridays for Future activist Lisa Neubauer said of European leaders' climate commitments.

"It appears like the ones who have made the most claims are the ones who back up the most," she added, singling out French President Emmanuel Macron in particular.

Leaders must agree by the end of this year on their 2030 targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and the European Commission has proposed a goal of slashing them 55 percent compared with 1990 levels -- up from 40 percent under earlier plans.

The ultimate aim under Brussels' timetable would be carbon neutrality by 2050.

Now heads of government will have their say, and must hammer out an option palatable to a European Parliament that has already criticised the Commission's plan as not ambitious enough.

On Wednesday, 11 member states including France, Spain and the Netherlands backed reductions of "at least 55 percent" by 2030.

But many countries in the EU's east, notably coal-intensive heavyweight Poland, are reluctant, and Germany -- which holds the EU's rotating presidency -- is keen to achieve unanimity.

"There's a narrative that some countries are leading, and some countries are the bad guys. But what we need to shine a light on is that even those who are seen as leaders are so unbelievably far from doing what is enough," Thunberg said.

Climate charities have warned that reductions of 55 or even 60 percent in EU greenhouse output would fall short of what's needed to keep global warming below the two-degrees-Celsius ceiling agreed in Paris.

Leaders like Macron have "an incredible opportunity and responsibility to take," Thunberg said.

"And if people like him can't take it, if not even countries like France can't take the responsibility, then how can we expect countries like China or India to live up to their commitments?"

The journal Nature said Wednesday it was backing Democratic candidate Joe Biden for US president in a full-fronted attack on Donald Trump's "disastrous" handling of the pandemic and undermining of global efforts to tackle climate change.

One of the world's most prestigious scientific publications, Nature said that "no US president in recent history has so relentlessly attacked and undermined" vital institutions such as science agencies, the Department of Justice and the electoral system itself.

It excoriated Trump for pulling out of the 2015 Paris climate accord and the Iran nuclear deal, as well as for his attacks on the World Health Organization -- something it labelled "unthinkable during a pandemic".

"The Trump administration's disregard for rules, government, science, institutions of democracy and, ultimately, facts and the truth have been on full display in its disastrous response to the COVID-19 pandemic," it said.

"Despite having vast scientific and monetary resources at his disposal, Trump failed catastrophically when it mattered most."

Magdalena Skipper, Nature's editor-in-chief, told AFP that Trump had "continually undermined" evidence-based decision making, contributing to public confusion on matters of scientific fact.

"He has undermined key science agencies including the Center for Diseases Control and the Environmental Protection Agency... leading to erosion of public trust in the institutions that are key to keeping people and the environment safe," she said.

- 'Astonishing' failure -

In contrast, the Nature article praised Biden's track record in the Senate as someone willing to pursue bipartisan deals, "a skill that will be needed now more than at any time in the recent past", it said.

If elected, Biden has said he will restore the US to the Paris accord and take measures guided by science to try to bring Covid-19 under control. He would also have the opportunity to roll back many of Trump's more environmentally damaging policies.

Nature said the Democratic candidate should seek to reverse "egregious" legislation passed by Trump concerning immigration and student visas, as well as to "hold the US to its international commitments".

Skipper said Biden's pledges on climate action were "among the most ambitious ever advocated by nominees from a major party".

Last month, for the first time in its 175-year history, US magazine Scientific American endorsed a White House candidate, opting for Biden as Trump "rejects" science.

"We do not do this lightly," the editors wrote in a scathing anti-Trump editorial published online for the magazine's October issue.

"The evidence and the science show that Donald Trump has badly damaged the US and its people -- because he rejects evidence and science," they wrote.

The New England Medical Journal earlier this month slammed the US's "astonishing" failure to bring Covid-19 cases and deaths under control, but stopped short of explicitly endorsing Biden in next month's election.


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CLIMATE SCIENCE
Earth 'squeezed like an orange': Call for climate action
 San Francisco (AFP) Oct 11, 2020
 Celebrities from filmmaker Ava DuVernay to Britain's Prince William to the Pope himself issued powerful calls Saturday calling for people to mobilize and unify to confront the climate crisis. Here are some quotes from the free, streamed TED event: "The Earth must be worked and nursed, cultivated and protected. We cannot continue to squeeze it like an orange." -- Pope Francis "I want to cast my vote in favor of the planet." -- Filmmaker Ava DuVernay "Young people no longer believe ... read more
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