Vox Sentences: Climate talks left in the cold

Umair Irfan/Vox

UN climate talks fail to produce strong resolution; 2020 census problems are only growing.

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UN climate talks end without strong commitments

UN climate talks ended Sunday without a full agreement of world powers on how to address the imminent threat of global warming. [AP News / Frank Jordans and Aritz Parra]
While the negotiations were meant to shore up the Paris agreement and define the terms on which the signatory countries would reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. But Trump has pulled the US out of the deal, unofficially since the US can’t formally withdraw until November 4, 2020, the day after the American presidential election. [Vox / Umair Irfan]
The US, along with other major polluters, blocked a nonbinding measure that set higher standards for emissions reduction across the world and left little more than a weak call to action in the final declaration of the event. [New York Times / Somini Sengupta]
Several other countries who are experiencing climate disasters of their own, such as Australia and Brazil, also participated in gutting the summit. [Financial Times]
”We’re in a very politically difficult time right now where we’ve got one key world leader denying climate change, so it’s very hard to get other countries to move forward when you’ve got such a critical country playing a spoiling role,” said Ian Fry, a delegate from Tuvalu. [Politico / Zack Colman and Kalina Oroschakoff]
Future negotiations are possible, with the next UN-sponsored conference regarding climate change set to take place in Glasgow but the EU-China summit next September in Leipzig will likely decide the outcome of future global efforts to combat climate change. [BBC / Matt McGrath]
Vox’s Ezra Klein says there is still hope, and time, for us to fight global warming. The tools are within our reach. [Vox / Ezra Klein]

2020 US census faces set of issues

Some states are looking to shell out billions to help the 2020 census effort while others won’t even pitch in a dime. [New York Times / Michael Wines and Jose A. Del Real]
Many of these costly efforts surround reaching hard-to-count populations within states, often at the expense of those populations. [NBC29 / CJ Paschall]
Another potential issue that is concerning researchers is the obfuscation of the data due to the new policy of differential privacy that is designed to protect individual responses. While it is supposed to prevent individuals from being identified within data sets, it is skewing data and producing problems in the analysis. [Roll Call / Michael Macagnone]
The Council on Foreign Relations’ Andrew Chatzky explains why the census really matters: granting political agency, dividing up federal funds, and assist private companies in matching their business endeavors with receptive populations. [Council on Foreign Relations / Andrew Chatzky]

Miscellaneous

Oklahoma City and other local governments are looking to end food deserts by working with dollar stores. [Wall Street Journal / Talal Ansari]
Harvey Weinstein says he should receive thanks and recognition for helping women in Hollywood advance their careers. [Page Six / Rebecca Rosenberg]
Fox News is rebutting Trump’s own claims of good polling numbers. [Vox / Aaron Rupar]
Kashmir’s internet blackout enters its 134th day. [Washington Post / Niha Masih, Shams Irfan, and Joanna Slater]
While speaking at the Doha Forum in Qatar, Ivanka Trump answered questions and sent mixed signals about the Middle East plan. [Buzzfeed News / Otillia Steadman]

Verbatim

“If a person can accomplish all of that positivity with so little, imagine what they could do with a little bit of support and encouragement.” [Terah Lawyer, program coordinator for the Homecoming Project, speaking to the impact of the project]