Dickinson to Durban » Featured
“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
In my mind, in my heart.
Claire Tighe ’13 The opportunity to visit a children’s trust in Africa is a great privilege. During my visit with the Makaphutu and Lily childrens’ trusts in the KwaZulu-Natal region of South Africa, I experienced first hand the true need that these people have. For someone who has read endless articles, seen documentaries, written papers, and discussed in various classes how HIV/AIDS and poverty have ravaged South Africa, I had only experienced this need with my head. As a westerner, I may never understand this life, but during my time in this region I began to formulate and understanding for it with my heart, not just my head. I felt the hands of women who wanted to work, of children who wanted to eat. I heard the laughter of people with … Read entire article »
Filed under: Featured, Mosaic Action
COP17 Outcomes: A Feminist Perspective
Claire Tighe ’13 During our travels in the week following the COP17 conference in Durban, many of the people we met asked us about the outcomes of the meeting. I was particularly discouraged by the time that I reached the Dulles airport in Washington, D.C. when a American youth who had just spent her semester in the southern African region asked what the outcome was and if it was suitable to us. With my tongue in my cheek I muttered, “Depends on who you ask.” If you ask Todd Stern, one of the leading negotiators for the United States delegation, you will find that ” ‘the Durban outcome was a very significant and to some extent surprising outcome,’” and that “ ‘more was accomplished than people anticipated and certainly more than … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Environmental Politics, Featured, Key COP17 Issues, Mosaic Action, 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
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