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Dickinson to Durban » Archive

58,250 Meal Later…

  My curiosity as to the “aftermath” of the conference is still peaked. After we spent (a few Dickinson undergraduate students in the grand size of the conference!) two weeks and I look back at the number of paper coffee cups I went through to stay caffeinated, I can’t imagine the total paper and plastic waste from this conference. I understand that a huge component of hosting the COP at the ICC in durban was the center’s planned “Green Programme,” which would effectively make the event carbon neutral. This ambitious goal from the start had me skeptical, even when I was in attendance at the conference seeing the huge garbage bins fill up day in and day out. I found the article “Durban ICC Delivers a Top Quality COP17 / CMP7 Conference … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change

Continued Press Interest on Durban’s Outcomes

It is now officially over one month since the conference in Durban occurred and the participants packed up and left. After the Mosaic’s time at the conference, and the feelings of frustration most of us felt, it’s interesting to see the press on the outcomes of this conference. Even more interesting is that it’s actually…positive. After spending everyday at the conference, immersed in the discussions, the press briefings, the interviews, one forgets that the framework established at the conference still needs to be worked out. In the article “Signs of New Life as U.N. Searches for a Climate Accord,” (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/25/business/global/signs-of-new-life-as-un-searches-for-a-climate-accord.html?_r=1&scp=2&sq=durban%20climate%20conference&st=cse) the New York Times writer John M. Broder reports on the hopeful work being done after the conference, but also the immense complexities, difficulties and economic forces working against the major … Read entire article »

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Makaphutu And Lily of the Valley Childrens’ Trusts

The final week the MOSIAC group spent in South Africa we stayed at the Koinonia Retreat Center and did some volunteer work for the Makaphutu Children’s Trust. This experience made me reflect many times during the long week after the COP on the privileges I have as well-off, white, female from the United States. While this fact does not cross my mind most days, the days we spent at work in the orphanage and in the nearby villages interacting with the people, really made me think about my privileged status. One moment especially with one of the local people in a village we distributed food to, will forever “get under my skin.” As our distribution group pulled up in our Hyundai van into a small village located in the Valley of … Read entire article »

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Hit the Ground Running

With one more full, formal day left in the negotiations, I myself have summed up some of the frustrations in the air and lost some faith in the higher powers here at the conference. From speaking with a variety of people in the last few days, I have come to see that the real action that will take place in mitigating climate change is not going to come from the delegates now sitting in the long plenary sessions here at the COP. Rather, the real action will be “from-the-ground-up.” If the complexities of making concrete market mechanisms or funds available (i.e. Adaptation Fund, Clean Development Fund, Green Climate Fund, or Carbon Market) are pushed aside for a moment, one can see the CONCRETE work that has been accomplished on the … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change