Dickinson to Durban » Entries tagged with "COP15"
“Full of Sound and Fury, Signifying Nothing”
While studying British literature in high school, it never occurred to me that one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines might one day aptly describe the outcome of international climate negotiations – and certainly not the Copenhagen meeting in which so much hope was invested. Yet alas! For, to borrow Macbeth’s own words, the non-binding Copenhagen Accord was “full of sound and fury, signifying nothing”. But could a document signed by so many top government leaders and diplomats really be deserving of such a comparison? Well, let’s take a look. The Accord has 5 pages (the actual statement is only 3) to outline the agreement everyone reached. It impressively acknowledges that “climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time” and asserts that the Parties have “strong political will to … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Summer Reading Responses
Our legs are moving but are we walking?
Are climate negotiations moving forward? Yes, but at a crawl. The results of the past two COP gatherings have yielded two documents: the Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreements. The Copenhagen Accord, written at COP 15, is a short document expressing the recognition that global climate change is a serious problem and the only way to address it is through serious cutbacks in emissions. It also clearly states that two degrees Celsius is the target for maximum temperature change. This in itself is not a novel idea; however, the last sentence of the document asks for “consideration of strengthening the long-term goal referencing various matters presented by the science, including in relation to temperature rises of 1.5 degrees Celsius.” The idea to cut emissions below the minimum required has not … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change
What got done?
Both the Copenhagen Accord and the Cancun Agreements, products of COP15 and COP16 respectively, are important documents in climate change negotiations. They are lacking though. Neither at any point have anything about what countries need to do to keep the global average temperature from rising more than 2 degrees Celsius. Each document, in its own right, provides some good steps in helping the climate change negotiations move forward, providing different mechanisms to allot financial support and information transfer between the Parties to the Conference. I understand the need for these mechanisms and they are good things to have come out of the past two Conferences. These financial and other mechanisms can only help the future Conference of the Parties move forward and make some kind of significant move in addressing climate change. Again, they … Read entire article »
Filed under: Climate Change, Mosaic Action
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