Environment and development groups from around the world condemned the U.S. Climate Envoy Todd Stern's recent statement* at Dartmouth College renouncing a limit of 2°C temperature rise as a global goal for UN climate negotiations. Mr Stern said that agreeing to a framework to achieve the 2C goal would "only lead to deadlock" and that a new agreement should give countries … [Read more...]
Building on Durban’s climate change momentum
Ministers and high-level officials from 32 countries that met informally in Bonn on 4-5 May have expressed determination to build on the strong momentum of the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban to curb greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. One of the central outcomes of the meeting in South Africa, at the end of last year, was … [Read more...]
Co-chairs elected for climate finance programme
South African Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, Ms. Nkoana-Mashabane, has announced the appointment of Mr. Zaheer Fakir (South Africa) and Mr. Georg Børsting (Norway) as co-Chairs of a work programme on long-term climate finance. 100 Billion Dollars Per Year In the context of meaningful mitigation and adaptation actions and transparency on implementation, … [Read more...]
The Climate Express Newspaper
During COP17 2011, we contributed stories to the official Climate Express newspaper. The Climate Express can be downloaded below: Volume 1 Volume 2 Volume 3 … [Read more...]
A virtual tour of COP17
If you missed COP17, here is a virtual tour to show you what was going on in the CCR expo area. Click here to check out the panoramic tour. Thank you to Jaco Tredoux from www.RcHeliCam.co.za See more of our COP17 stories here. top image source … [Read more...]
What are local governments going to do now?
At the Durban Local Government Convention, 114 Mayors and other elected local leaders representing over 950 local governments from around the world have adopted the Durban Adaptation Charter, a political commitment to strengthen local resilience to climate change. The Durban Local Government Convention: adapting to changing climate towards COP17/ CMP7 and beyond, ran in … [Read more...]
Shipping emissions still in the hands of IMO
The Durban Platform for Enhanced Action, the key outcome of the 17th Conference of Parties (COP17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December 2011, has been dubbed by many as the platform for inaction, with the decision to find agreement by 2015 being seen as the agreement to disagree at a later date. COP17 did little to directly answer the … [Read more...]
New climate dialogue needed
“Are the right people in the climate change debating room? Evidence shows climate change hugely impacts on the health and the welfare of children, but conversations in the negotiation process seem removed from this reality and finding solutions for this suffering.” This was one of the questions raised at the jam packed COP17: What Happened and What Does it Mean discussions … [Read more...]
Green Building conference to provide answers
In the aftermath of COP17, where the built environment was again acknowledged as a primary contributor to climate change and a hot spot for accessing mitigation opportunities, but also as a hot spot for adaptive interventions which will be fundamental to creating more climate resilient cities and communities into the future, and after 6 years of advocacy and knowledge sharing … [Read more...]
Steer clear of this climate ‘Ponzi scheme’
Africa can do better than invest faith and state resources in yet another Ponzi scheme — the ‘privatisation of the air’. LAST winter, when carbon prices fell 15% in one week, industry analysts called it ‘carnage’. Then, in the fortnight before last month’s Durban climate summit, carbon prices fell more than 30%, with front-year European Union (EU) Allowance permits dropping … [Read more...]
COP 17 – success or disappointment
They came to Durban in their hundreds, they saw, they talked, and talked, and talked, and talked but the question is did they really conquer? Notwithstanding the extra day and half and the much heralded agreement. What were the successes of the Durban platform as the agreement has been dubbed? The big success is that Durban pulled together all the key role players and … [Read more...]
Please don’t squander this moment
An open letter to the governments of the world meeting in Durban. Dear friends, Welcome to our city. We remember a time in Durban – indeed, a period in the history of this nation of South Africa – when we feared that the apartheid states’ intransigence would spark a conflict in which much blood would be shed. But even at our lowest ebb, even when the injustice we faced … [Read more...]
Urgent petitions against US delaying COP17
Waiting nine years for climate action isn’t just a delay, it’s a death sentence for communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. Yet that appears to be exactly what the US representatives to Cop17 are pushing: delaying climate change action until 2020. It’s not too late to stop this delay from going through but we have just 48 hours to build a groundswell of support … [Read more...]
