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Dickinson to Durban » Environmental Politics

A Glimmer of Hope

A Glimmer of Hope

By: Christine Burns ’14 Talks here at Durban have seemed pretty grim over the past two weeks, but maybe something will come together in the final hour!  At the beginning of the COP the EU proposed a “road map” that might be able to pacify countries like the US.  The road map is a plan to incorporate all major economies in a legal agreement by 2015.  This means that countries like China and India which are major … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Politics, Key COP17 Issues, Student Research

Kyoto As A Symbol

Claire Tighe ’13 Anyone with common sense at this conference would agree that signing on to the Kyoto Protocol would not mitigate enough GHG emissions to prevent catastrophic climate change. Even though, as Dr. Pachuari of the IPCC stated during our breakfast yesterday, science and the COP negotiations have become ever disjointed, most parties present here understand that attempting to mitigate, is not enough. So why are different groups, such as CAN, YOUNGO (see their interesting Ode to Kyoto video), and AOSIS holding on so tight to pushing through a second committment period of the Kyoto Protocol (hereafter referred to as KP2)? Because it’s a symbol. To anyone without the financial means to mitigate and adapt to climate change, agreeing to a KP2 means that they are committed to the UNFCCC process. … Read entire article »

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

AOSIS Increases Urgency

Claire Tighe ‘13 Just tuned into a press briefing hosted by AOSIS to hear about their progress in the last two weeks. What is the state of their demands for the outcomes of COP17? Have these changed over the last two weeks? What about since the last few COPs? What is left to be done? According to the vicechair of AOSIS, their negotiating positions have not changed much since 2009, as they still use the “Protocol Approach,” which advocates for a second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol (KP). However, since the last two COPs, AOSIS has increased the level of urgency with which they approach the negotiations. They do this by highlighting scientific findings that predict catastrophic climate change, particularly for the most vulnerable (small island states). According to AOSIS, their negotiating … Read entire article »

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

Costa Rica: “The beacon of common sense”

Costa Rica: “The beacon of common sense”

By Anna McGinn ‘14 The Climate Vulnerability Forum (CVF) is a group of countries that group themselves together, not as an additional negotiating block, but as a group of countries with a common interest in protecting the most vulnerable countries of the world.  The first meeting of this group was held in 2009 in the Maldives before COP15.  They continue to meet every year before the COP to solidify their shared perspective on the negotiations.  Yesterday, … Read entire article »

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