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Dickinson to Durban » Archive

Maybe Occupy Has A Point

If fossil fuel interests are holding the negotiations back, then the OCCUPY movement may have a point. According to Ferrial Adams of Greenpeace Africa, there are delegates on the United States’ team representing some of the major oil companies in America – Shell, Chevron, BP, and Exon Mobil. Who knows what their influence may be? She argues that the delegates need to “listen to the people, not the polluters.” I’d like to see Occupy Durban join the conference ASAP!   … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Key COP17 Issues

CAN Updates-Day 3

Each day at 12:30, a group called Climate Action Network International (or CAN) holds press (and public) briefings on the state of the negotiations. Here are a few of their highlights: Going into COP17, there are “big political problems that need to be resolved.” (Georgiana Woods, CAN Australia) These are mostly technical issues about how the negotiations will work and how to proceed with this COP. Unfortunately, it may be that the delegations cannot quite do this. Rather, next week, once many of the political leaders join the conference, they will be able to decide what is realistic for the negotiations, and how to move forward. According to Woods, “This meeting is a turning point for negotiations. We’ve gone as far down the road of deferring action as we can.” This is … Read entire article »

Filed under: Carbon Markets, Climate Change, Conservation, Consumption, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Featured, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, Student Research

Stand Aside (and Don’t Deliver)

We spoke informally with a Norwegian delegate who suggested that if the United States doesn’t plan on agreeing to anything big, they should at least stand aside and stop blocking agreements from happening. Interesting idea. … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action

“The U.S. Can’t Do A Damn Thing.”

They can’t, according to COP17 NGO observers we interviewed this morning. The question is, should the rest of the parties move on in the international negotiations without them? The answer is probably yes. Until now, international negotiations haven’t been working very well. How to make them work? Anyone who is willing to take action should do so. Anyone who doesn’t want to, well, they are not included. Waiting for all groups to agree on the same thing is inefficient. Having a small number of countries agree on behalf of everyone else regarding the global problem of climate change (i.e. Big Emittors at COP15 who negotiated behind closed doors) may be efficient, but it is also unfair. Thus, anyone who wants to make a deal can. Anyone who refuses, can move … Read entire article »

Filed under: Carbon Markets, Climate Change, Conservation, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Featured, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, Student Research