Posts Tagged ‘COP15’
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Good News for Climate Adaptation at Cancun Meeting
[caption id="attachment_4839" align="alignleft" width="358" caption="A man herds goats in the mountains of the Succulent Karoo, South Africa. Effective climate policies are essential to help vulnerable communities adapt to a changing climate. "][/caption] With the UNFCCC COP16 negotiations now drawn to a close, conservation organisations appear to be satisfied with the decisions made and the achievements thus far. Surprisingly, there were several positive outcomes from Cancun — a big leap from the previous meeting in Copenhagen, which had left many feeling despondent. Still, there are a lot of challenges which need to be addressed going forward. All parties agreed that climate change adaptation was ... -
On Climate Change, Cancun Agreements Show a Pathway Forward
In 2007 on the island of Bali in Indonesia, governments from around the world agreed to start negotiating an agreement for long-term action to address climate change. Three years and 15 negotiation sessions later, in a conference room in Cancun, Mexico early Saturday morning, 193 countries (all members of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, except for Bolivia) made a historic series of decisions. The Cancun Agreements represent a critical step for reinvigorating the international climate change policy process after a disappointing lack of agreement in Copenhagen last year. However, they are only the skeleton of a policy and financial ... -
For Climate Change Action, a Key Opportunity in Cancun
Last year around this time, all eyes were on the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) meeting in Copenhagen, as the international community attempted to create a comprehensive, legally binding global climate change agreement and to determine the next phase of emissions targets under the Kyoto Protocol. Doing so would have been an unprecedented example of international coordination; unfortunately, the nations of the world fell short of what might have been an extraordinary outcome. This week, world leaders have another opportunity to put us on track to address the global issue of climate change. This time they are gathering ... -
Make 2010 the Year of Climate Legislation in the U.S.
When I come back from vacation, I generally have a lot of unread emails and a very thirsty plant waiting for me. It takes a while to get used to being at work again, to review all the unfinished business and prioritize what needs to be done now. The U.S. Senate comes back to work today with a stack of unfinished laws in their inbox. Climate change legislation has to be their priority. Copenhagen taught us many lessons. The most important of which is that the U.S. needs to pass domestic climate legislation this year if they ... -
A Glimmer of Hope
After two long weeks of cold weather, protests and delays in negotiations, the UN talks in Copenhagen finally came to an end. World leaders failed to produce an ambitious, legally binding deal, but the political agreement welcomed by the UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon this Saturday represents an essential step forward. The Copenhagen Accord is a statement of intentions of the majority of nations, developed and developing, to stabilize the climate below 2 degrees Celsius, provide long-term financing, adopt transparent reporting practices. More importantly, it is a prompt start for developing country action. But time is running out for a global solution ... -
Time Running Out at Copenhagen
It’s been a long week-and-a-half of tough negotiations at Copenhagen. There have been many stops and starts, late night sessions that go well into the next morning and more than a few frustrated negotiators. As far as the NGOs, we are usually standing outside on the snow-covered ground for hours, trying to get back into the conference center that we may have left only a few hours before (by the way, thank you Greenpeace for the free coffee every morning). For all of us, it has been an exhausting process. Fortunately, some progress has been made. Today, Secretary Clinton announced that ... -
36 Hours to Save the World
As political heavyweights speak in Copenhagen today, including Hillary Clinton, Ahmadinejad, Sarkozy, Angela Merkel and Brazil’s Lula da Silva, the clock is ticking for an agreement to be reached. World leaders have 36 hours left to take the brave and difficult decisions that will help the world to turn a corner and prevent climate change from becoming an even greater threat to people, and the habitats and economies that sustain us. While many aspects of the Copenhagen negotiations have been tortuous, there are two major aspects of the negotiations that are both well advanced and stand to make a colossal difference to ... -
At Copenhagen: Helping Google See the Forests Through the Clouds
At the COP15 climate conference this week, Google.org demonstrated new technology that significantly advances efforts to measure, monitor and verify changes in forests. The demonstration project utilizes a combination of satellite imagery and smart algorithms and CI’s Tropical Ecology Assessment and Monitoring Network (TEAM Network) has acted as a key advisor in the development of these tools. Together with many partners, the TEAM Network is developing standardized protocols to monitor biodiversity, ecosystem services and land use change to address major environmental challenges such as climate change and the loss of biodiversity. The TEAM Network is also very interested in the ... -
New scientific paper: REDD+ can be key to stop the extinction crisis too
A new scientific paper being previewed at Copenhagen shows how Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) can not only contribute to the fight against climate change, but also provide an excellent opportunity to slow the rate of extinction of species. Revenues developing countries receive under almost any REDD+ scheme would be the biggest investment in tropical forests in history and should lead to enormous gains in conservation of species. According to one of the authors and Vice President of Global Change and Ecosystem Services at CI, Dr. Celia Harvey, the paper presents a variety of options for how ... -
WWF’s “Inside COP15″ Video Blog
CI is all about partnership, and as the COP15 negotiations heat up, we here in the office are tuning in to WWF's "Inside COP15" video blog to expand our view of the Copenhagen climate change conference. Too often, the work being done by CI and our partners can seem remote and far away. That's why CI launched the "Lost There, Felt Here" campaign in 2008 - to make it clear that when ecosystems are destroyed, everybody suffers. In addition to our work at Copenhagen, we work with WWF on marine projects like the Coral Triangle Initiative and to secure the rights of ...
