Dickinson to Durban » Archive
Key Players in U.S. Climate Policy
The companies listed above are those establishments chosen by Resources for the Future (RFF) research on an executive summary and overview of potential U.S. climate change policy implementations. The opinions of these companies, along with RFF researchers, provide a wide range of inputs and estimations for appropriate climate legislation in the United Sates. The array of representatives ranges from oil and gas companies to agricultural and chemical producers. It is important for these companies to have a say in legislation because it is likely that they will be most affected by changes in policy. Possible implementations for greenhouse gas emission reductions are market-based approaches, like a cap-and-trade system or a carbon tax. Such policies enforce greenhouse gas emission reductions on those companies most responsible for emitting in the first place. Thus, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Summer Reading Responses
High Expectations for Durban
The continuous challenge of global climate change involves a collective and comprehensive effort on an international level to reach significant decisions that could potentially address the dangerous effects of global warming. The UNFCCC annually performs an attempt to reach agreements over climate regulation. The Conference of the Parties (COP) comes together every year to promote negotiation, cooperation, and ultimately, progress against the effects of climate change. Most recently, COP-16 in Cancun, Mexico reached a number of agreements and attempts for regulation. Overall, the conference in Cancun was relatively successful in maintaining a mutual, collective effort toward reducing emissions, promoting sustainable development, and concurring with a common goal of keeping the average global temperature rise below 2° Celsius (http://cancun.unfccc.int/cancun-agreements/significance-of-the-key-agreements-reached-at-cancun/#c45). The many objectives for COP-16 included a wide range of goals: Establish clear objectives … Read entire article »
Filed under: Summer Reading Responses
Learning to Compromise
In roughly nine short weeks, the students of the Climate Change Africa Mosaic will be attending the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP-17) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). As this event draws nearer, it’s time we figure out exactly what goes on throughout this important meeting. Negotiations, political discussions, and potential solutions are all things what we should have a firm understanding of before we attend the conference. As an aide to this understanding, last week, we participated in the World Climate simulation exercise. Each person was a representative of a Developed Nation, Rapidly Developing Nation, or Developing Nation; for example, I represented South Africa, in the Rapidly Developing Nations category. Each category was provided with a chart, in which we imputed our expectations for CO2 emission … Read entire article »
Filed under: Summer Reading Responses
Fair Share
Harriet Bulkeley and Peter Newell (2010) explain the contemporary politics of global climate change with accounts of suspicion, inequality, and skepticism. Pointing fingers and holding responsibilities are things involved with every political issue throughout history. When it comes to global climate change, the unethical implications behind actions of developed countries make it easy to see who is responsible for causing, and in turn, preventing climate change from reaching drastic tribulations. Evidence shows that developed countries are indeed most responsible for the causes of climate change; the irony in this is that developing countries will be most affected by impacts of the changing climate. Bulkeley and Newell (2010) suggest “This sense of injustice derives from the fact that those who have contributed least to the problem of climate change in the past, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Politics
Recent Comments