Spain-Poland opener at Billie Jean King Cup Finals postponed after severe weather alert in Malaga

MALAGA, Spain (AP) — The first tie of the Billie Jean King Cup Finals between Spain and Poland was postponed on Wednesday because of a severe weather alert in the Malaga region, while the scheduled start of Japan vs. Romania on Thursday was moved back two hours.

Organizers said the decision to postpone Wednesday's tie was "made based on guidance from the relevant authorities to ensure the health and safety of all participants and attendees.”

The first-round match between Spain and Poland will now be played on Friday, when Germany will also face Britain.

The tie between Japan and Romania was moved back from 10 a.m. (0900 GMT) to midday local time as authorities planned to lift the severe weather alert at 8 a.m. on Thursday. The gates will open to the public at 11 a.m.

Organizers said technical and security teams conducted "a thorough site inspection" before confirming Thursday's matches, which will also include the United States playing Slovakia in the evening.

Organizers said they would continue to closely monitor the weather conditions and provide updates if necessary.

Matches are scheduled to take place at the indoor Palacio de Deportes Jose Maria Martin Carpena.

Both the Billie Jean King Cup Finals and the Davis Cup Finals are taking place in the southern Spanish city, with the men's competition beginning next week, also at the Palacio de Deportes.

The women's event is taking place after a powerful storm caused flash floods that killed more than 200 people in the Valencia region, east of Malaga, about two weeks ago.

The International Tennis Federation recently announced a donation to the Spanish Red Cross to support relief and recovery efforts in the region, and Spanish player Paula Badosa said she will donate half of her prize money to help the victims.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

FILE - Billie Jean King applauds next to trophy during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in La Cartuja stadium in Seville, southern Spain, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A man walks in front a banner reading in Spanish: "Thank you Rafa" during the Billie Jean King Cup finals at the Martin Carpena sportshall in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A man walks in front a banner reading in Spanish: "Thank you Rafa" during the Billie Jean King Cup finals at the Martin Carpena sportshall in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

A general view of the Martin Carpena sportshall during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in Malaga, southern Spain, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2024, after today's matches were canceled due to heavy rain and postponed until tomorrow. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

FILE - A man walks through a street affected by floods in Valencia, Spain, Saturday, Nov. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

FILE - U.S. tennis star Billie Jean King poses with Canada's team members as they celebrate after wining the Billie Jean King Cup finals in La Cartuja stadium in Seville, southern Spain, Spain, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

FILE - Billie Jean King applauds next to trophy during the Billie Jean King Cup finals in La Cartuja stadium in Seville, southern Spain, Sunday, Nov. 12, 2023. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez, File)

BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — For the third straight year, efforts to fight climate change haven't lowered projections for how hot the world is likely to get — even as countries gather for another round of talks to curb warming, according to an analysis Thursday.

At the United Nations climate talks, hosted in Baku, Azerbaijan, nations are trying to set new targets to cut emissions of heat-trapping gases and figure out how much rich nations will pay to help the world with that task.

But Earth remains on a path to be 2.7 degrees Celsius (4.9 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than pre-industrial times, according to Climate Action Tracker, a group of scientists and analysts who study government policies and translate that into projections of warming. Recent developments in China and the United States are likely to slightly worsen the outlook.

If emissions are still rising and temperature projections are no longer dropping, people should wonder if the United Nations climate negotiations — known as COP — are doing any good, said Climate Analytics CEO Bill Hare.

“There’s an awful lot going on that’s positive here, but on the big picture of actually getting stuff done to reduce emissions ... to me it feels broken,” Hare said.

The world has already warmed 1.3 degrees Celsius (2.3 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial times. That's near the 1.5-degree (2.7 F) limit that countries agreed to at 2015 climate talks in Paris. Climate scientists say the atmospheric warming, mainly from human burning of fossil fuels, is causing ever more extreme and damaging weather including droughts, flooding and dangerous heat.

Climate Action Tracker does projections under several different scenarios, and in some cases, those are going up slightly.

One projected track based on what countries promise to do by 2030 is up to 2.6 degrees Celsius, a tenth of a degree warmer than before. And even the analysts' most optimistic scenario, which assumes that countries all deliver on their promises and targets, is at 1.9 Celsius, also up a tenth of a degree from last year, said study lead author Sofia Gonzales-Zuniga of Climate Analytics, one of the main groups behind the tracker.

“This is driven highly by China,” Gonzales-Zuniga said. Even though China's fast-rising emissions are starting to plateau, they are peaking higher than anticipated, she said.

Another upcoming factor not yet in the calculations is the U.S. elections. A Trump administration that rolls back the climate policies in the Inflation Reduction Act, and carries out the conservative blueprint Project 2025, would add 0.04 degree Celsius (0.07 Fahrenheit) to warming projections, Gonzales-Zuniga said. That's not much, but it could be more if other nations use it as an excuse to do less, she said. And a reduction in American financial aid could also reverberate even more in future temperature outlooks.

“For the U.S. it is going backwards,” said Hare. At least China has more of an optimistic future with a potential giant plunge in future emissions, he said.

“We should already be seeing (global) emissions going down" and they are not, Hare said. “In the face of all of the climate disasters we’ve observed, whether it’s the massive floods in Nepal that killed hundreds of people or whether it’s the floods in Valencia, Spain, that just killed hundreds of people. The political system, politicians are not reacting. And I think that’s something that people everywhere should be worried about.”

The major battle in Baku is over how much rich nations will help poor countries to decarbonize their energy systems, cope with future harms of climate change and pay for damage from warming's extreme weather. The old goal of $100 billion a year in aid is expiring and Baku's main focus is coming up with a new, bigger figure.

A special independent group of experts commissioned by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued its own estimate of costs and finances on Thursday, calling for a tripling of the old commitment.

“Advanced economies need to demonstrate a credible commitment” to helping poor nations, the report said.

A coalition of poor nations at the Baku talks are asking for $1.3 trillion in annual climate finance. The independent experts' report said about $1 trillion a year is needed by developing nations from all outside sources, not just government grants.

Negotiators are still working out how much money will be on the table for the final deal, but indications late Wednesday suggested many options were still on the table.

The report detailed how expensive decarbonizing the world's economy would be, how much it would cost and where the money could come from. Overall climate adaption spending for all countries is projected to reach $2.4 trillion a year.

It’s personal for many activists from the countries experiencing the worst and most immediate impacts of climate change, like Sandra Leticia Guzman Luna, who is from Mexico and is the director of the climate finance group for Latin America and the Caribbean. “We are observing the climate impacts causing a lot of costs, not only economic costs but also human losses,” she said.

“I’m from one of the countries that needs to pay up and is historically responsible,” said Bianca Castro, a climate activist from Portugal. “Year after year, we come to COP and we are heartbroken with what doesn’t happen but we know needs to happen.”

The Associated Press’ climate and environmental coverage receives financial support from multiple private foundations. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.

Attendees arrive for the day at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Activists participate in a demonstration calling for climate finance during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Activists with signs spell out "pay up" for climate finance in the Baku Olympic Stadium during the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Sergei Grits)

Attendees arrive for the day at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

Activists participate in a demonstration for climate finance at the COP29 U.N. Climate Summit, Thursday, Nov. 14, 2024, in Baku, Azerbaijan. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)