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May
China CO2 emissions 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels in Q1 -research
Written by Nur Yasmin
China's emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions rose 9% in the first quarter of 2021 compared with pre-pandemic levels, driven by a carbon-intensive economic recovery and big hikes in steel and cement output, research showed on Thursday.
In the 12 months since China began relaxing COVID-19 lockdowns, total CO2 emissions exceeded pre-pandemic levels by 7%, setting the fastest rate of growth since 2012, said Lauri Myllyvirta, lead analyst with the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
China has won praise for massively increasing its renewable energy capacity and for setting targets to bring carbon emissions to a peak by 2030 and become 'carbon-neutral' by 2060.
But around 70% of the CO2 surge in the first quarter was due to increased consumption of coal, he said. Chinese coal production rose 16% year on year in the first three months.
China has vowed to cut coal consumption, its biggest source of carbon emissions - but only after 2025. read more
Earlier this month, a study by the Rhodium Group think-tank showed that China's total 2019 greenhouse gas emissions exceeded those from the whole of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) for the first time. Per capita emissions were also close to OECD levels.
CREA's Myllyvirta said China's per capita emissions have almost certainly exceeded the OECD average this year.
Only Britain and the United States had registered levels comparable with "the extreme carbon intensity of China's economic model", Myllyvirta added - and that was more than a century ago when renewables were mostly unavailable.
As a developing country with lower historical greenhouse gas levels, China is not yet obliged to make absolute cuts in carbon emissions, and its five-year plan targets suggest they could rise another 5-10% by 2025, Myllyvirta estimated. (Reuters)
May
Biden urges ‘de-escalation’ in Israel-Gaza fighting, Netanyahu says will press on
Written by Nur Yasmin
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to press on with operations against Gaza’s ruling Hamas militants after U.S. President Joe Biden urged him to seek a “de-escalation” on Wednesday in the 10-day conflict on the path to a ceasefire.
An Egyptian security source said the two sides had agreed in principle to a ceasefire after help from mediators, although details were still being negotiated in secret amid public denials of a deal to prevent it from collapsing.
Palestinian medical officials said that since fighting began on May 10, 227 people had been killed in aerial bombardments that have destroyed roads, buildings, and other infrastructure, and worsened the already dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.
Israeli authorities put the death toll at 12 in Israel, where repeated rocket attacks have caused panic and sent people rushing into shelters. Regional and U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to secure a ceasefire have intensified but so far failed.
Netanyahu has repeatedly hailed what he has described as support from the United States, Israel's main ally, for a right to self-defense in battling rocket attacks from Gaza.
But Biden put the Israeli leader on notice in a telephone call that it was time to lower the intensity of the conflict.
"The two leaders had a detailed discussion on the state of events in Gaza, Israel's progress in degrading the capabilities of Hamas and other terrorist elements, and ongoing diplomatic efforts by regional governments and the United States," White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters.
"The president conveyed to the prime minister that he expected a significant de-escalation today on the path to a ceasefire."
'QUIET AND SECURITY'
In a statement released soon after her comments, Netanyahu said: "I am determined to continue this operation until its objective is achieved - to restore quiet and security to you, the citizens of Israel."
Earlier, in remarks reported by Israeli media from a closed question-and-answer session with foreign envoys to Israel, Netanyahu was quoted as saying: "We're not standing with a stopwatch. We want to achieve the goals of the operation. Previous operations lasted a long time so it is not possible to set a timeframe."
In response to Biden's de-escalation call, Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassam said those who sought to restore calm must "compel Israel to end its aggression in Jerusalem and its bombardment of Gaza".
Once that happened, Qassam said, "there can be room to talk about arrangements to restore calm".
Hamas began firing rockets on May 10 in retaliation for what it said were Israeli rights abuses against Palestinians in Jerusalem during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The rocket attacks followed Israeli security police clashes with worshippers at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and a court case by Israeli settlers to evict Palestinians from a neighborhood in Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem.
In a 25-minute attack overnight into Wednesday, Israel bombarded targets including what its military said were tunnels in southern Gaza used by Hamas.
Some 50 rockets were fired from the enclave, the Israeli military said, with sirens sounding in the coastal city of Ashdod, south of Tel Aviv, and in areas closer to the Gaza border. There were no reports of injuries or damage overnight but days of rocket fire have unsettled many Israelis.
CRATERS AND RUBBLE
Nearly 450 buildings in densely populated Gaza have been destroyed or badly damaged, including six hospitals and nine primary-care health centers, and more than 52,000 Palestinians have been displaced, the U.N. humanitarian agency said.
The damage has left large craters and piles of rubble across the coastal enclave.
"Whoever wants to learn about the humanity of the (Israelis) should come to the Gaza Strip and look at the houses that got destroyed on top of those who lived in them," said university lecturer Ahmed al-Astal, standing by the rubble of his house in Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
He said there had been no warning before his home was destroyed in an airstrike before dawn.
Israel says it issues warnings to evacuate buildings that are to be fired on and that it attacks only what it regards as military targets.
The hostilities are the most serious between Hamas and Israel in years, and, in a departure from previous Gaza conflicts, have helped fuel street violence in Israeli cities between Jews and Arabs.
The conflict has also spilled over to the Israel-Lebanon frontier and stoked violence in the occupied West Bank.
Four rockets were launched towards Israel from Lebanon on Wednesday, the third such incident since the Gaza conflict began, the military said. Israeli forces responded with artillery fire towards targets in Lebanon.
There was no claim of responsibility for the rocket attack.
In the West Bank, Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian woman who the military said had fired a rifle at troops and civilians at a bus stop near the city of Hebron.
At least 21 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli troops or other incidents in the West Bank since May 10, Palestinian health officials said.
The latest deaths in Gaza included three Palestinians killed in overnight airstrikes, one of them a journalist with Hamas's Al-Aqsa radio station, officials said.
Gaza medical officials say the Palestinian death toll includes 64 children, and that more than 1,600 people have been wounded since the fighting began. Israeli authorities say the death toll in Israel includes two children. (Reuters)
May
Germany helps kick off $1 bln conservation fund as biodiversity targets missed
Written by Nur Yasmin
Germany helped launch a new billion-dollar fund on Wednesday to tackle rapidly depleting global biodiversity, as countries missed key land and marine conservation targets but prepare to ramp up efforts in the decade ahead.
Protecting biodiversity has risen up the global agenda, not least because scientists say the destruction of remote natural habitats facilitates the spread of diseases such as the new coronavirus to humans as they come into closer contact with other species.
The United Nations hopes to secure an agreement at the next Biodiversity Convention meeting in China in October to protect and conserve 30% of the Earth's land and water by 2030.
"The concept of '30 by 30' is quite a big political ask, but we need these kinds of targets because they are a perfect way to harness political will," said James Hardcastle, a conservationist at the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), referring to the campaign by its tagline.
"We have good hopes for an agreement, but we absolutely must see a commitment to effective conservation, and that includes equity and fairness," he said.
Since 2010, countries have collectively managed to add almost 21 million sq km - an area the size of Russia - to the global network of protected lands, bringing the current total to nearly 17% of the Earth's landmass, according to a progress report published this week by the IUCN.
Yet less than 8% of these lands are connected - something considered crucial for ecological processes and the safe movement of wildlife. Marine conservation areas lag at 7%, below the 2020 target of 10%.
RELIABLE FUNDING
Boosting these figures to hit the 30% target will need international cooperation and financing, experts said. Already 50 countries, including the United States, have pledged to support the "30 by 30" initiative, but with few specifics.
Public and private investors on Wednesday kicked off the Legacy Landscapes Fund (LLF), which has an initial target capital raise of $1 billion.
The goal of the fund is to "provide lasting, reliable core funding for at least 30 top biodiversity hotspots in Africa, Asia, and Latin America," said Gerd Müller, Germany's Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development.
Seeded initially with $99 million from the German government, and $30 million from private investors, the fund is actively seeking other public and private donors, it said.
Experts say the biggest threats to biodiversity are human activities such as deforestation, pollution, overhunting and fishing, and other factors like invasive species.
An estimated two million species are known to scientists, and of those, around half-face extinction in coming decades. Millions of unknown species could meet a similar fate.
Scientists have called for greater public awareness of this looming mass extinction.
A new survey by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the Economist Intelligence Unit found public sentiment is shifting in favor of conservation, most dramatically in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia, where news coverage, Google searches and public petitions related to biodiversity and nature loss have shot up in recent years. (Reuters)
May
Asia snubs IEA's call to stop new fossil fuel investments
Written by Nur Yasmin
Asian energy officials on Wednesday disputed the International Energy Agency's (IEA) call for no new oil, natural gas, and coal investments for the world to be able to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, viewing that approach as too narrow.
The IEA, which has previously championed the oil and gas industry, this week outlined a path to net-zero emissions that suggested stopping new investments in oil, gas, and coal supply, retiring coal-fired plants in advanced economies by 2030, and banning sales of new internal combustion engine cars by 2035.
Energy companies in Australia, the biggest carbon emitter per capita among the world's richest nations, and officials in Japan and the Philippines said there were many ways to get to net-zero, even as the IEA said its pathway was "the most technically feasible, cost-effective and socially acceptable".
Akihisa Matsuda, the deputy director of international affairs at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI), said the government has no plans to immediately stop oil, gas, and coal investments.
"The report provides one suggestion as to how the world can reduce greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2050, but it is not necessarily in line with the Japanese government's policy," he said.
"Japan needs to protect its energy security including a stable supply of electricity, so we will balance this with our goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050."
Japan was the region's third-largest carbon emitter in 2019, after China and India, according to the BP Statistical Review of Energy.
'NO ONE SIZE FITS ALL'
Australia's top oil and gas industry and mining lobby groups said there was "no one size fits all" for decarbonization.
"The IEA report doesn't take into account future negative emission technologies and offsets from outside the energy sector -- two things that are likely to happen and will allow vital and necessary future development of oil and gas fields," Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Chief Executive Andrew McConville said.
Australia's top independent gas producer, Woodside Petroleum (WPL.AX), said it still aims to make a final investment decision for an $11 billion investment to develop a new gas field off Western Australia in late 2021.
"For its part, Woodside is working with its customers, all of whom are in countries that have committed to net zero, to ensure we can supply them with the energy they are seeking in order to achieve their decarbonization pathways," a Woodside spokeswoman said.
Australia on Wednesday committed A$600 million ($467 million) in taxpayer funds to build a new gas-fired power station to back up wind and solar power, which Energy Minister Angus Taylor said was a pragmatic move.
In the Philippines, where coal is set to be the dominant power source for years even after a ban on new coal plant proposals, Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi said the energy transition should be "fuel and technology-neutral".
Cutting finance for oil, gas, and coal without considering efficiency and competitiveness would "set back the Philippines' aspiration to join the ranks of upper-middle-income countries," he said.
While the world is moving to renewable energy, demand for coal is still expected to be strong in the next few decades as some countries are still building new coal-fired power plants, said Hendra Sinadia, executive director at Indonesia Coal Mining Association. (Reuters)
May
Police hold 11 staff of popular Belarus media outlet
Written by Nur YasminBelarusian police were holding 11 employees of the widely-followed news site Tut.by in custody on Wednesday, the outlet said, a day after searching offices and homes in a criminal investigation of suspected tax evasion.
Authorities on Tuesday blocked the website of Tut.by, which has provided detailed coverage of street protests since August against longtime President Alexander Lukashenko.
On Wednesday, it used social media to publish a list of detained staff members, including its chief editor and several administrative employees. It said it was still piecing together what had happened during Tuesday's searches.
The State Control Committee, to which the financial investigation department reports, said on Tuesday a case against unnamed staff had been opened over suspected tax irregularities.
Exiled opposition politician Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya accused authorities of trying to "murder" the outlet and called for Western sanctions on those responsible.
In power since 1994, Lukashenko launched a violent crackdown last year against the protests.
Around 35,000 people have been detained for taking part in street protests since August, human rights groups say. Dozens have received jail terms. Authorities say that more than 1,000 criminal cases have been opened.
Last autumn, the government stripped Tut.by of its official media status and the two have been at odds throughout the demonstrations.
One of its journalists was sentenced to six months in jail in March after she challenged an official assertion that a protester who was killed was drunk at the time of his death. She was released on Wednesday due to time served.
The outlet's website registered more than half a million views per day during the working week in 2019, according to data from research company Gemius. (Reuters)
May
EU agrees to open doors to vaccinated foreigners
Written by Nur Yasmin
European Union countries agreed on Wednesday to ease COVID-19 travel restrictions on non-EU visitors ahead of the summer tourist season, a move that could open the bloc's door to all Britons and to vaccinated Americans.
Ambassadors from the 27 EU countries approved a European Commission proposal from May 3 to loosen the criteria to determine "safe" countries and to let in fully vaccinated tourists from elsewhere, EU sources said.
They are expected to set a new list this week or early next week. Based on data from the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Britain and a number of other countries would meet the new criteria.
The United States would not, although Americans with proof of vaccination would be welcomed.
One EU diplomat said cases of the Indian variant in Britain would need to be taken into account, although individual EU countries are already setting their own policies. Portugal lifted a four-month travel ban on British tourists on Monday.
Under current restrictions, people from only seven countries, including Australia, Israel, and Singapore, can enter the EU on holiday, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated.
Individual countries can and will still be able to choose to demand a negative COVID-19 test or a period of quarantine.
The current main criterion is that there should be no more than 25 new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people in the previous 14 days. The trend should be stable or decreasing and there should be a sufficient number of tests, which would need to show a minimum percentage of negative tests. Variants of concern can be taken into account.
The Commission proposed raising the case rate to 100. The EU ambassadors opted instead for 75. For inoculated people to gain access, they would need to have received an EU-approved vaccine, with those with a World Health Organization emergency listing being considered.
These people should have received final doses at least 14 days before travel. Under the plan, EU countries that waive test or quarantine requirements for vaccinated EU tourists are encouraged to do the same for vaccinated non-EU holidaymakers.
Children should also be able to travel with vaccinated parents.
An emergency brake could be used temporarily to stop all but essential travel from a particular country to limit the risk of more infectious coronavirus variants entering the EU. Such a brake has been proposed for India.
The EU plan covers countries of the border-free Schengen area, including non-EU members Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland, but not the non-Schengen EU member Ireland. (Reuters)
May
Under U.S. pressure on graft, El Salvador ratifies cooperation deal with China
Written by Nur Yasmin
The release on Tuesday of a U.S. government list labeling 17 Central American politicians as corrupt prompted El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele to praise China, and its congress to ratify a 2019 cooperation agreement with the country.
The office of U.S. Representative Norma Torres, who had requested the report, released the U.S. State Department document. The report named a close aide of Bukele and his former security minister among those "credibly alleged" to have engaged in corrupt acts. Bukele himself was not named.
The list also includes Honduran and Guatemalan legislators and former officials from all three nations. The report said the list is based on "media reporting, credible information or allegations" of corruption, drug trafficking, and using proceeds of crime to finance political campaigns.
After the release, Bukele said on Twitter the list was about "geopolitics" not fighting corruption. And he praised China's $500 million investment in public investments in El Salvador "without conditions," an apparent contrast to aid from Washington and U.S.-backed lenders that is conditioned on good governance.
The State Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday night, El Salvador's Congress ratified a cooperation agreement with China, which had been signed back in 2019. The agreement calls for 400 million Yuan - about $62 million - in investment in a water purification plant, a stadium, a library, and infrastructure along Salvador's coast.
Neither China's embassy in El Salvador nor El Salvador's foreign ministry responded to questions about the discrepancy in investment dollars.
Bukele also praised the 500,000 doses of Chinese drugmaker Sinovac Biotech's COVID-19 vaccine due later on Tuesday and thanked China's leader Xi Jinping for the help.
U.S. officials see corruption as a major contributor to a migrant exodus from the region - along with poverty, gang violence and natural disasters. Washington wants to make sure a $4 billion aid package under consideration does not fall prey to graft.
Central American leaders have pushed back on President Joe Biden's anti-corruption strategy. Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez, targeted by a U.S. criminal investigation, has warned that U.S. probes jeopardize joint anti-narcotics efforts.
Bukele recently removed top judges and the attorney general, which Washington considered to be unconstitutional. Widely popular Bukele, 39, says the move was justified by his large congressional majority.
El Salvador, which has a dollarized economy closely tied to the United States by trade and a large migrant population, is currently negotiating an over $1 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, where Washington has a dominant voice.
The loan is likely to include clauses aimed at committing Bukele to democratic standards.
In contrast to Washington's activist posture, China's embassy in El Salvador responded to Bukele's control of the justice system by saying it would not interfere in sovereign matters.
China has in recent years made diplomatic inroads in Latin America, where it sources commodities and jostles for influence with the United States. During the pandemic, China has stepped into the gap left by Western countries and helped poorer nations obtain vaccines.
With Tuesday's vaccine shipment El Salvador will have received some 2.15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from China for its 6.7 million people, according to the country's embassy in San Salvador.
Neighboring Honduras, which does not have diplomatic ties with China, has asked Bukele to share Chinese vaccines in the absence of supplies from the United States. (Reuters)
May
Singapore Airlines posts record $3.2 bln annual loss, to issue convertible bonds
Written by Nur Yasmin
Singapore Airlines Ltd on Wednesday posted its second-consecutive annual loss, which widened to a record S$4.27 billion ($3.20 billion), and said it would issue S$6.2 billion of convertible bonds to help weather the coronavirus crisis.
The loss for the 12 months ended March 31 was worse than the average S$3.27 billion forecast by eight analysts, according to Refinitiv, and included S$2 billion of impairments largely on the 45 older planes surplus to requirements.
It was also far bigger than the S$212 million annual loss in the prior financial year, its first-ever dip into the red when only one quarter was affected by the pandemic.
Annual revenue fell 76.1% to S$3.82 billion in the financial year ended March 31, with strong cargo revenues not enough to offset an almost 98% fall in passenger numbers.
The airline said it expected passenger capacity to rise to 28% of pre-pandemic levels by June, but much of that is due to strong freight demand sustaining the number of flights. It filled just 13.4% of passenger seats in the financial year ended March 31.
The airline, which has no domestic market, has been one of the world's hardest hit in terms of passenger traffic alongside its Hong Kong-based rival Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd.
A proposed travel bubble between Singapore and Hong Kong that had been due to start on May 26 was postponed for the second time on Monday after a recent rise in COVID-19 case numbers in Singapore.
"This crisis is not over," Singapore Airlines Chairman Peter Seah said in a statement. "While the growing pace of vaccinations has given us hope, new waves of infections around the world mean that restrictions on international travel largely remain in place."
Like other carriers globally, Singapore Airlines has cut jobs, deferred aircraft deliveries, and raised equity and debt financing to help get it through the pandemic.
The airline said it would issue S$6.2 billion of mandatory convertible bonds that were an optional part of a S$15 billion rescue package led by its majority shareholder, state investor Temasek Holdings last year. (Reuters)
May
IOC reassures anxious Japan Olympics will be safe
Written by Nur Yasmin
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) reassured an anxious Japan on Wednesday that the Tokyo Olympics would be safe for athletes as well as the host community, amid mounting opposition to the Games and fears it will fuel a spike in COVID-19 cases.
Speaking in Tokyo alongside senior Japanese officials, IOC chief Thomas Bach said he believed more than 80% of residents of the Olympic Village would be vaccinated or booked for vaccination ahead of the Games set to start on July 23.
He rejected growing calls to cancel the global sporting showpiece, already delayed once due to the pandemic, saying that other sporting events had proved the Olympics could go ahead with strong COVID precautions.
Bach's comments came as Japan kept up a battle with the fourth wave of infections though its slow vaccination campaign has undermined already shaky public confidence that the Games should proceed.
"Together with our Japanese partners and friends, I can only re-emphasize this full commitment of the IOC to organize safe Olympic and Paralympic games for everybody," Bach said.
"To accomplish this, we are now fully focused on the delivery of the Olympic Games."
Less than 30% of medics in Japan's major cities have been vaccinated against the coronavirus, with just 65 days left to the start of the Olympics, the Nikkei newspaper said.
Cabinet figures showed this week that three months into Japan's vaccination push, less than 40% of its medical workers were fully inoculated.
The problem is especially pronounced in the capital, Tokyo, which plays host to the Games, and other large population centers, where the rate of fully vaccinated medical workers was less than 30%, the Nikkei added.
Much of the vaccine supply was concentrated in large hospitals, and there had been problems in the reservation systems for medical staff, it said.
The slow pace of vaccinations of doctors and nurses has been among the complaints cited by medical groups that oppose the Games.
Bach said the IOC would do its part to keep the Japanese public safe, by having additional medical personnel as part of the NOC delegations to support the medical operations and the strict implementation of the COVID 19 countermeasures.
STATES OF EMERGENCY
Much of Japan, including the key cities of Tokyo and Osaka, is under a state of emergency until month-end to rein in infections. The southern prefecture of Okinawa will request its own emergency declaration as new infections reached record highs, it said on Wednesday.
Japan aims to inoculate most of its 36 million people older than 65 by the end of July. To reach that target, it hopes to deliver about a million shots a day, or three times faster than the current pace.
So far, just 3.7% of the population of 126 million have received at least one vaccine shot, the lowest rate among wealthy countries. Initially, the holdup was scant supplies of the vaccine developed by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, the only one approved by regulators.
But arrivals of the Pfizer vaccine have increased dramatically in May, and Japan is expected to approve Moderna Inc’s candidate this week for use in mass vaccination centers. The shot developed by AstraZeneca PLC is also being considered by domestic regulators.
As supply bottlenecks eased, problems with vaccine reservation systems and manpower shortages have cropped up. The government is looking into letting pharmacists give the injections, after a similar move regarding dentists last month. (Reuters)
May
Nepal, Bangladesh Scramble To Secure COVID-19 Shots As India Curbs Exports
Written by Nur Yasmin
Nepal and Bangladesh are making frantic diplomatic efforts to secure COVID-19 vaccines to prop up their faltering inoculation drives as their stocks run out and supply prospects have become clouded by a prolonged Indian curb on vaccine exports.
Reuters reported on Tuesday that India was unlikely to resume major exports of COVID-19 vaccines until October at the earliest as it diverts shots for domestic use, a longer-than-expected delay set to worsen a shortage of supplies coming through the COVAX global vaccine sharing scheme, designed to help low-income countries.
Bangladesh said it urgently needed 1.6 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to provide second doses and it had approached several countries for help, including the United States and Canada.
"Bangladesh foreign minister urged the Canadian High Commissioner to pursue with his government so that Bangladesh receives at least 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine from Canada on an emergency basis," the foreign ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said its diplomats were also hoping to secure 4 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine from the United States, which plans to share up to 60 million doses of the vaccine.
Bangladesh has an agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII), which manufactures the AstraZeneca shot, for 30 million doses, but has received only 7 million.
Bangladesh has also turned to China and Russia for supplies of China's Sinopharm and the Russian Sputnik V vaccines after India curbed vaccine exports in April.
Bangladesh has been relying on the AstraZeneca vaccine but only 2% of its 170 million people are fully vaccinated.
'BACK-DOOR DIPLOMACY'
Nepal, which started its vaccination drive in January with 2.35 million doses of the AstraZeneca shot provided by India and COVAX, also said it has no stocks and more than 1.55 million people were waiting for their second dose.
"People above 65 and others in risk groups who received their first shots of the Indian vaccine are waiting for their second," Jhalak Gautam, head of the vaccine section of the Ministry of Health and Population, told Reuters.
"It's already overdue," he said, adding the SII had yet to deliver one million shots that Nepal bought.
The SII said on Tuesday it hoped to start supplying COVAX and delivering to other countries by the end of the year.
Nepal had asked Indian authorities for early delivery of more shots, said Sewa Lamal, a spokesman for Nepal's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Despite their own problems, we hope India can consider emergency requirements," she told Reuters.
India's foreign ministry did not comment on Nepal's request.
The head of the U.N. children's fund, which is helping supply COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX, on Monday asked G7 countries to donate supplies to COVAX as an emergency measure to address the severe shortfall caused by disruption to India's exports.
"There's a lot of back-door diplomacy happening to get extra doses from USA, EU and other 'rich countries to make up for the backlog created by India," a source at UNICEF told Reuters.
The source said a lot of efforts were underway to resolve the supply disruptions and it could be too early to gauge the long-term impact of India's export curbs.
But the short-term impact of the reduced supply was already pronounced. UNICEF said this week that COVAX would deliver its 65 millionth vaccine dose this week, far behind its original target of 170 million. (Reuters)