Dickinson to Durban » Archive
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
Toolbox? Check. Education? In progress…
By Emily Bowie ’14 A post for you with a little less of a depressing outlook… (Too discouraged to think about the negotiations right now). As I slide into week two, after a weekend of safari’s and a potential case of bronchitis, I am beginning to narrow my research topic and have landed on the question, what sector is adaptation in east Africa coming from? This includes both the sources of initiatives as well as the sources … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Justice, Key COP17 Issues
Getting Desperate in Durban
By Dani Thompson Yesterday, the doors of most UNFCCC plenary sessions became closed for civilians and observers. The negotiations are taking a more serious turn, and the U.S. is taking a verbal beating by the folks of the Climate Action Network (CAN). At the CAN daily briefing on Monday, we heard over and over again that many nations are fed up with the U.S. and their constant blocking of international agreements for a potential second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. It seems the time has come for the countries ready and willing to agree to a legally binding agreement to move forward on their own. “If [the US] cannot get your team on the ground, move aside and let the rest of the world move forward with an agreement.” These and other strong words came from Kumi Naidoo (second from left), a representative … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues
The Home Stretch
“Climate change will not be incremental; it will be transformational.” These are tyhe inspiring words heard from Minister of the Maldives, Mohammed Aslam, a man whom I had the pleasure of hearinf speak yesterday in the Vulnerable Climate Forum’s discussion at King’s Park in Durban. This simple phrase uttered by a man whose country will be threatened by the effects of climate change before many other countries was both a sentiment of despair and promise. For me, it was important to remember that in these last few days of the COP in Durban, that moralistic and concise words such as these can drive the UNFCCC process towards an agreement or not; either “transforming” our global relations in reagrds to climate change or continuing the “incremental” progress we have seen at previous … Read entire article »
Filed under: Key COP17 Issues
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