It’s Friday, December 9th – the last day, ostensibly, of the COP17. Is a new legally-binding instrument between all major emitters to reduce greenhouse gas emissions forthcoming? Will there be agreement to extend the Kyoto Protocol into a second commitment period? Will countries increase their emission reduction ambitions? Most people you ask say no. There’s a lot of consternation in […]
new and timely synthesis report of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was formally launched at COP17 today, giving those concerned with our world’s future both new reason for hope and a new mandate for action. The report regards the gap between existing reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and the actual reductions that are needed to achieve the UNFCCC’s goal […]
Protestors have gathered outside the fenced perimeter of the massive COP17 conference center to encourage world leaders to keep the Kyoto Protocol alive and, in the words of one sign, “keep the coal in the hole.” Today the Women’s Rural Assembly arrived to support the protest. At least a hundred smiling women marched in to the familiar drone of vuvuzelas, […]
The Yale student delegation is staying in a hotel as far away from Durban, and the COP17 conference center, as physically possible. A muddy trek up a hill, past hasty developments of car dealerships and construction supply companies, brings you to the COP17 “shuttle” pickup – aka the parking lot of a bustling BP gas station. An hour and a […]
What can we expect from this year’s climate conference? With well more then 15,000 delegates likely to be in attendance (COP15 had more then 24,000!) we can expect a lot, at least on the discussion side of things. At the risk of missing something, I will say only that two of the main issues on everyone’s mind will be: 1) […]