Dickinson to Durban » Archive
Hit the Ground Running
With one more full, formal day left in the negotiations, I myself have summed up some of the frustrations in the air and lost some faith in the higher powers here at the conference. From speaking with a variety of people in the last few days, I have come to see that the real action that will take place in mitigating climate change is not going to come from the delegates now sitting in the long plenary sessions here at the COP. Rather, the real action will be “from-the-ground-up.” If the complexities of making concrete market mechanisms or funds available (i.e. Adaptation Fund, Clean Development Fund, Green Climate Fund, or Carbon Market) are pushed aside for a moment, one can see the CONCRETE work that has been accomplished on the … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change
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
Whither the Science in the COP-17 negotiations?
By Prof. Jeff Niemitz I’ll admit from the outset that I know relatively little about the art of negotiation of the climate actions on the table in Durban. I have learned a lot in the past two weeks however. It is always hard to bridge the gap between the science and the policy implications that may go along with it. This appears to be the case this year at COP-17. The science, while well digested from the IPCC 2007 report, does not appear to be much of an influence on the negotiations 4 years hence. Even a very important interim report from the IPCC on the increasing extreme weather events the world has been experiencing including the eastern US as you all know (excessive rain this fall, Hurricane Irene and Lee, … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change
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