Elizabeth Plascencia – Page 2 – COP 20: Lima, Peru

October 1, 2014

The Carbon Disclosure Project: One Carbon Atom Closer to Change

By Elizabeth Plascencia

The Carbon Disclosure Project Logo

The term climate accounts for the prevailing trends in weather for a given area overtime. Accordingly, how does this projection suddenly become “global”? It is disseminated at the very nature of it all – greenhouse gases (GHG) are not held liable under any physical boundaries. Consequently, all emissions are subject to one atmosphere and repercussions are therefore global in that respect. Ranging from small local movements to large international agreements, efficiently and effectively addressing global climate change entails action on all levels. Through the work of cooperative transnational networks there is an active movement towards widespread involvement. With specific attention to the second most abundant GHG in the atmosphere, carbon dioxide (CO2), the transnational organization of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is an international, non-profit body that provides the “…only system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage, and share vital environmental information” (CDP, 2014). CDP effectively advances its objectives with respect to governing climate change by providing a public platform for global emissions information sharing which directly drives market forces to sustainable economies.

Historically, international agreements requesting a reduction in national GHG emissions (i.e. Kyoto Protocol) have gained minimal widespread momentum. The Carbon Disclosure Project’s success may be due to the fact that it works in such a way that creates a market force pressure on firms and businesses to invest in renewable rather than carbon intensive fuel in order to reduce emissions. As per its public platform on emissions, “The CDP now covers US $57 trillion worth of assists from over 3,000 companies. The scope of private regulation is, therefore, impressive and reaches key actors not subject to other forms of governance” (Bulkeley, p. 99). It is clear that the CDP is actively working towards a long-term sustainable global economy by providing widespread evidence and management of environmental impact.

Though frequently seen as separate within international negotiations, climate change and business are fused together and “The CDP provides a secretariat for the world’s largest institutional investor collaboration on the business implications of climate change” (Bulkeley, p. 99). CDP’s approach to climate change is directly linked to a transformation in the global economic system. As opposed to the convectional separation of business from the realm of climate change, CDP provides a platform for cities and companies to evaluate their respective emissions and make progress into a more energy efficient agenda which would not only benefit their company but also the welfare of the planet and its inhabitants. The CDP’s main goals are listed below (CDP, 2014):

Request information n greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and the risks and opportunities from climate change from thousands of the world’s largest companies. Through measurement and transparency companies are better placed to manage and protect themselves from climate change risk.
Use the power of the shareholder to drive greenhouse gas emissions reduction. We coordinate a request from a group of investors asking the world’s largest companies in high emitting sectors to implement cost-effective emissions reductions. This expands on our climate change disclosure request to accelerate greater action by companies around the world.
Provide companies with carbon management support services. We have developed a services package that helps companies take a rigorous approach to carbon management, benchmark business performance, and learn best practices.

Nearly eleven years from the first carbon data request to corporations, the Carbon Disclosure Project continues to inform large corporations and stakeholders about emissions. Continued expansion within new sectors such as forestry and water rights drive CDP towards the creation of a sustainable future.

Check out this interview of Paul Simpson, Chief Executive Officer at CDP, from COP19 in Warsaw, Poland.

[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfqRf3xYqZM”]

Bibliography

Bulkeley, Harriet, and Newell, Peter. Governing Climate Change. Routledge, 2010.

CDP – Driving Sustainable Economies. “About CDP – Catalyzing business and government action” https://www.cdp.net/en-US/Pages/About-Us.aspx. 2014

CDP – Driving Sustainable Economies. “Alliances” https://www.cdp.net/en-US/OurNetwork/Pages/alliances.aspx. 2014

CDP – Driving Sustainable Economies. “Our Climate Change Work” https://www.cdp.net/en-US/Programmes/Pages/climate-change-programs.aspx. 2014

CDP – Driving Sustainable Economies. “What we do – CDP Worldwide” https://www.cdp.net/en-US/WhatWeDo/Pages/cdp-worldwide.aspx. 2014

Lee, Taedong. “Global Cities and Transnational Climate Change Networks.” Global Environmental Politics. Vol. 13.1 (2013) pp. 108-128.

September 26, 2014

James Balog at Dickinson College

ChasingIce filmstill by James Balog Extreme Ice SurveySM

By Elizabeth Plascencia

I was a senior in high school when I first watched Chasing Ice. Nearly three and a half years later I had the honor of introducing Mr. James Balog for his public lecture at Dickinson College. Combining visual arts and science, Balog has presented the retreating ice of the world as a force to be reckoned with. Combating climate change skeptics with multi-year record proof, Balog is somewhat of a hero to me. Mindfully capturing these beautifully dynamic and fragile masses, he told a story.

In lieu of the Lorax – Mr. Balog speaks for the ice.

James Balog with the 2014 Global Climate Change Mosaic cohort at Dickinson College

James Balog's lecture at Dickinson College on September 23, 2014 — James Balog’s lecture at Dickinson College on September 23, 2014

Balog’s residency granted me the opportunity to interact through open class discussions and an afternoon student luncheon. Overall this experience has propelled me into the pursuit of finding my voice.

What will my cause be to champion? I speak for change.

Mosaic student Elizabeth Plascencia '16 introducing James Balog — Mosaic student Elizabeth Plascencia ’16 introducing James Balog

[youtube_sc url=”https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIZTMVNBjc4″ title=”Chasing%20Ice%20Official%20Trailer%20″]

September 12, 2014September 21, 2014

Who put the “real” in realist?

By Elizabeth Plascencia

Evidently realists will be realists, I will be me, and you shall be you. Set on a trajectory of thought spanning from the latter end of World War II, realism, as a paradigm, populated the gamut of international relations, which felt seemingly appropriate for its time. Strikingly similar to that of the second law of thermodynamics, entropy or chaos, was at an all time high post-World War II, in which case a realists’ pessimistic stance deemed valid. Within R. Bova’s text, How the World Works: A Brief Survey of International Relations, he boldly states, “At this point, however, no single paradigmatic challenger to realism has emerged”, where I contentiously yet mindfully respond. Today, September 12, 2014, I challenge the realist paradigm on the sanction of qualitatively and quantitatively significant evidence extrapolated from the liberalism paradigm of international relations theory.

In essence, liberalism speaks to the ever-changing nature of world politics and opens the window to optimism that realists’ blocked with stagnant anarchic assumptions for the rest of the world. In lieu of qualitative evidence negating Bova’s statement, “In short, for realists, the expectation that global environmental crisis will lead to cooperative responses is both naïve and contrary to the record of human history”, the unity of liberal internationalism, liberal commercialism, and liberal institutionalism creating the Kantian Triangle[1] are highly regarded (pg 249-50). The UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) is an outstanding example for a liberal institution that promotes peaceful cooperation on an issue as pressing as global climate change. Moreover as presented by the National Research Council within “The Context for America’s Climate Choices” the United States “…endorsed an effort to work with the international community to prevent a 2 (3.6 ) increase in global temperatures relative to pre-industrial levels” (pg. 11). Furthermore providing evidence framing single nation and multi-nation cooperative initiations that are making active efforts to mitigate climate change.

Within a working liberalism paradigm there exists this notion of “absolute gains” [2] which is derived from cooperative and peaceful state interactions. Whilst keeping a focus on absolute gains, a liberalist sees no reason to compare their gains to that of another nation. In fact, quantitative statistical analyses as presented by the International Energy Agency reveal that “The Australian government and European Union had announced intentions to link their systems, starting with one-way trading of European allowances into the Australian market from 2015, followed by two-way linking from 2008” and “In December 2008, the European Council and the European Parliament endorsed an agreement on climate change and energy package which implements a political commitment by the European Union to reduce its GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions by 20% by 2020 compared to 1990 levels. The package also includes a target for renewables in the European Union, set at 20% of final energy demand by 2020” (pg. 17).

As previously stated – realists will be realists, I will be me, and you shall be you. Derive what you will from the empirical trends, but know this – if anarchy is what they think, anarchy is what they will get.

Footnotes:

[1] Kantian Triangle – Idea that international institutions, economic interdependence, and the diffusion of democratic government are mutually reinforcing and together support liberal notions of a trend towards peace and cooperation among states (Bova, 22).

[2] Absolute gain – the total benefits that accrue to a state as a consequence of its interactions with other states without regard to the benefits that accrue to others (Bova, 19).

Works Cited:

Bova, R., 2011, “How to think about world politics, realism, and its critics” How the World Works: A Brief Survey of International Relations, Longman Publishing, pp 3-37.

Bova, R., 2011, “Transnational challenges, the state system under stress” How the World Works: A Brief Survey of International Relations, Longman Publishing, pp 237-250.

International Energy Agency, 2013, CO2 emissions from Fuel Combustion, Highlights, pp 7 – 19.

National Research Council, 2011, “The Context for America’s Climate Choices,” in America’s Climate Choices, pp 7 -14.

September 2, 2014September 21, 2014

The Discovery of the Truth: Revised and Expanded Edition

by Elizabeth Plascencia

Courtesy of Balog: Columbia Glacier, Alaska from 2006 to 2012

To divulge the whole story of global warming – what a task. Where to even begin? How would we explain the state of our existence on planet Earth to a foreigner? Human activities in the Anthropocene? The Industrial Revolution? Population growth? Fossil Fuels? I am unsure of the beginning and I sure don’t want to know the ending.

Weart carefully tells the story of global warming through meticulously weaving in and out of science and history in The Discovery of Global Warming: Revised and Expanded Edition. Additionally, to my surprise, Weart actually stated a handful of aggressive verbs, which is often unlikely for climate change activists who try to “speak the party talk”. I was pleasantly surprised. Often climate change speakers are lost in their sea of words when attempting to maintain their position in the middle and not appear too radical. In order to achieve some sort of movement I really respected when Weart presents to model ourselves differently in the name of change. Real change. Not just something that we talk about and agree on at a conference.

Discovering the truth about our state of being is so much more than just the idea. It is taking action and creating momentum in order to catapult change.

September 2, 2014September 21, 2014

ON CLEARANCE (90% off): Doubt

by Elizabeth Plascencia

What does it mean to doubt? Is it the dictionary definition of “a feeling of uncertainty or lack of conviction” or rather this mindset that has been spoon-fed to us about climate change? How does one so easily doubt the change that is evident right before our very eyes? Easy. It has to do with something in your pocket or on your desk right now – your wallet.

Our wallets expand and contract every so often, rarely, or never. Unfortunately, it is now evident that human beings are fragile enough to be swayed by meaningless dollars signs and devour the doubt in exchange for the green. The climate change skeptics who claim that the science behind the matter is “unsettled” or “to be determined” are particularly of this nature.

I found the book Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway of special interest due to the language of presentation. Not only did the authors blatantly spell out the truth but did so in a way that brutally clarified the raw material at the core of this so-called “dispute” over climate change. I soon realized that the raw material was in essence composed of industry and power through the familiar green noted above. Basically, this book enraged me and I had to put it down twice.

It is sickening to me, 19-year old me, to be aware of these outstanding faults in our society and feel slightly powerless. Because what I observe around me is not the tobacco industry crashing but rather the latter – I return home every summer to the strewn cigarette butts that ornament my hometown beach in Santa Monica, California.

Congruently, the quote that stood out most to me was the following:

“How could the industry possibly defend itself when the vast majority of independent experts agreed that tobacco was harmful, and their own documents showed that they knew this? The answer was to continue to market doubt, and to do so by recruiting ever more prominent scientists to help” (p.24)

As symbolic as the cigarette butts are to the tobacco consumer, we must stop the market for doubt right in its tracks. No sale today. No sale tomorrow. The market for doubt has crashed.

September 2, 2014September 21, 2014

Take the longest road, get lost, and talk to the locals before arriving at Machu Picchu

by Elizabeth Plascencia

It’s actually crazy to me how much technology knows the individual. As swiftly as my fingers tap along the brightly lit keyboard in front of me, Google already recognizes the “Mach…” and automatically fills in the rest – Machu Picchu. Sure – this once mysteriously epic, wild adventure of a lost city right off the Inca Trail is now practically a household name.

As I was saying, technology knows. It listened to me and remembered when just shy of seven months ago I searched Machu Picchu. My initial interest in the ruins began early on as an amateur geologist interested in the towering Andes. This initial spark was of course dimmed by reality and a lack of funds in the bank. My second wave of interest ignited once more when news of the Global Climate Change Mosaic caught my attention on campus. Surely enough this could not be true. Could it?

Fast forward to present day as I sit here at my dorm desk reflecting on the projection of this semester. Fall 2014 of my junior year at Dickinson College could not be more jam packed with adventures, loads of reading, hard work, and ultimately gratitude. I am honored to be a part of a team that will dive deep into the pressing topic of global climate change.

Mark Adams’ richly descriptive recollection of his Peruvian adventures in Turn Right at Machu Picchu truly was a highlight read for me this summer. Adams presents an organic unfolding of what may have been the greatest adventure of his life; and for that, I thank him. Thank you, Mr. Mark Adams – wherever you may be. I thank him for reminding me to be mindful and thoughtful. One should not just desire to visit said place, rather there be an educational curiosity, cultural tie, pure thrill. Something. I am done with this generation that post “selfies” in front of grandiose UNESCO World Heritage Sites. I challenge anyone planning a trip to this sacred landscape to do their reading, watch a fair share of documentaries, perhaps even read this book, or run by this list written by Mark Adams himself.