Dickinson to Durban » Conservation
“Global Weirding,” Or: One Last Thought on COP17
Claire Tighe ‘13 It’s a lovely day in January. The sun is shining; the day is warm. People are out jogging, walking their dogs, and even golfing. The scary part? I’m not describing Durban, South Africa. I’m describing Chicago, Illinois, USA. Yes, in Chicago, Illinois in January 2012, there are people rounding the eighteenth hole like it’s an early July morning. There’s no snow on the ground; the temperature is nearing fifty degrees farenheit. It’s been a few weeks since my return from the COP17 conference in Durban. Here’s a sum of my thoughts since December. Basically, it’s too late to wait for international governmental regimes to make change for us. At this point, even if all of the countries in the world completely cut all of their carbon emissions, Earth would still … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Conservation, Consumption, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Featured, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, Student Research
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
“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
Day One, Quick Morning Update
We’re blogging live at the conference! Quick update: We’re currently interviewing the current chairperson of IPCC Working Group 2. Meanwhile, the UNFCCC Plenary meeting is underway, and our students are trying to get their bearings. I’ll be following AOSIS around. If you’ve got any updates about their whereabouts, negotiating positions or statements, etc, comment here or email dickinsoncop17@gmail.com! … Read entire article »
Filed under: Carbon Markets, Climate Change, Conservation, Consumption, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Featured, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, Student Research, Weather
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