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Dickinson to Durban » Entries tagged with "Copenhagen Accord"

USA, China, EU not on the same page for Long Term Action

USA, China, EU not on the same page for Long Term Action

By Timothy Damon ’12 Earlier today I sat in on the open meeting of the Ad hoc Working Group for Long Term Cooperative Action (AWG-LCA), a body tasked with looking ahead and considering the future trajectory of activities under the UNFCCC process. There I had the opportunity to witness a brief exchange between several major players, including the USA, EU, and China. I will recount this episode and provide some analysis. Shortly after I entered the room, … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues

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

Ready or not…

Ready or not…

As COP17 looms ever closer, one must ask what outcome is reasonable to expect. According to a document released early this month, the UN has officially identified several important items it is placing its hopes on for the Conference: 1. Building institutions to aid the response of developing countries to climate change; 2. Agreeing on a pathway for realizing emissions reductions down the road; 3. Figuring out what will become of the Kyoto Protocol.   Let’s take a quick look at … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Environmental Politics, Key COP17 Issues

Baby Steps?

by Claire Tighe ’13 According to the UNFCCC website, the Cancún Agreement, resolved in Mexico at COP16 in 2010, accomplished quite a bit for the continued international efforts at mitigating and adapting to climate change. However, negotiations are by no means complete, and delegates at COP17 will have to continue these “baby” steps in the climate agreements. But are “baby steps” enough to solve climate change? As the online science resource Climate Action Tracker notes, “Emissions are at a historic high while actions are not.” The Cancún Agreements did manage to form “the largest collective effort the world has ever seen to reduce emisssions,” as well as “the most comprehensive package ever agree by Governments to help developing nations deal with climate change,” and a “timely schedule […] for keeping the global … Read entire article »

Filed under: Climate Change, Key COP17 Issues, Summer Reading Responses