Durban, December 16, 2011
Jennifer Morgan, Edward Cameron, and a team of climate experts from WRI look back on the key decisions from Durban and give a first take on their implications for global efforts to tackle climate change. insights.wri.org: Reflections on COP 17 in Durban
Durban Just The Start Of Fight For EU Climate Chief
The European Commissioner for Climate Change Connie Hedegaard speaks with her spokeperson Isaac Valero before a plenary session at United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP17) in Durban December 10, 2011. Photo: Rogan Ward
Durban / Brussels, December 14 2011 -
European climate chief Connie Hedegaard, who salvaged Durban talks on global warming, has a next-to-impossible task ahead of striving to shame the world's biggest polluters into real action and tackling the EU's own environmental shortcomings.
The determination of Hedegaard and her team staved off collapse during extended negotiations in South Africa at the weekend for an updated Kyoto Protocol to bring in all carbon emitters.
The devil is now in the detail, or more precisely the lack of it. > planetark.org: Durban Just The Start Of Fight For EU Climate Chief
Durban deal clinched by two strong women, a united EU and a compromise
Last informal talks Photo / At the table: (left) Connie Hedegard (EU) and (right) Jayanthi Natarajan (India).Flickr / Michael Szabo
Durban, South Africa, December 11 / 12 2011 (BBC) --
India emerges as the country leading opposition to a strong binding deal on climate change at the annual UN talks in South Africa.
Other important countries including the US are prepared to negotiate an emission-curbing "legal instrument" by 2015, taking effect by 2020.
India is holding out to start after 2020, and the weaker "legal outcome".
The EU and large blocs of countries vulnerable to climate impacts say this is a "red line" issue.
They are concerned that 2020 is too late to prevent dangerous impacts, such as a rise in sea levels that could eventually make low-lying islands uninhabitable.
An extraordinary face-to-face encounter between two powerful women, sitting in the midst of a giant huddle in a packed conference hall, finally sealed the Durban climate change agreement as dawn was breaking yesterday, when many had given it up for lost.
The world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters, China, the US and India, will be legally bound for the first time to cut their emissions in a new international climate change treaty to be signed by 2015 and to come into force by 2020. > news.xinhuanet.com: Climate change negotiators struggle to reach deal in Durban > www.independent.co.uk: Durban deal clinched by two strong women, a united EU and a compromise > www.independent.co.uk: 11th-hour agreement in Durban sees Big Three legally bound to reduce carbon emissions
UN chief hails Durban climate roadmap
Durban COP 17: UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon and UNFCCC secretary general Christana Figueres. Photo: iisd.org
Politicians Listen to the Polluters at UN climate talks
Durban, December 11, 2011 -
UN climate talks in Durban have ended the same way they began, in failure. Governments at the UN climate talks have chosen to listen to the polluters over the people and failed to reinforce previous climate saving measures and have steered clear of new global rules for tackling climate change.
Despite the rallying calls that filled the hallways of the conference center yesterday, polluters have won this round of talks with politicians making little progress on a global deal to tackle climate change.
Two years ago in Copenhagen, politicians promised a US $100 billion fund would be set up to help the poorest countries adapt to and mitigate climate change. They came to Durban two years later only planning to design a way to collect and distribute the money. It turns out they could not even manage to do that.
While the details of the talks may be complex the truth is simple. We are nowhere near where we need to be to avert catastrophic climate change. > www.greenpeace.org: Politicians Listen to the Polluters at UN climate talks
Climate deal fails poor people
Oxfam's stunt shows how the food we all rely on is at risk in the face of a changing climate. Ainhoa Goma/Oxfam. Photo: oxfam.org
Durban, December 11 2011 -
Negotiators at the UN climate talks have narrowly avoided a collapse, agreeing to the bare minimum deal possible as the UN climate talks in Durban went well beyond the eleventh, twelfth and thirteenth hours. >oxfam.org: Climate deal fails poor people
WWF: Climate talks helping create a 4° world
Sam Smith at the Global Day and Action March in Durban. Photo: wwf.panda.org
Durban, December 11 2011 -
Government leaders are still not seeing the big picture—we are here to address catastrophic climate change, WWF said today ahead of the closing of the climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa.
Samantha Smith, leader of WWF’s global climate and energy initiative issued the following statement: "“There is still time to make some incremental progress on a few key issues here in Durban, but it’s important to realize that incremental progress is pretty much all we’ve seen for 17 years."
“The bottom line is that – no matter the final scenario – we are not seeing the kind of ambition of governments that will keep warming to 2°. In fact, some scenarios in play here could result in being legally bound to a 4° world. This would have dire consequences and result in an unstable future where the basic needs of people, like food and water, could no longer be met. > wwf.panda.org / WWF: Climate talks helping create a 4° world
WWF: Governments fail on ambition, courage at UN climate change talks
Governments fail on ambition, courage at UN climate change talks. Photo: wwf.panda.org /Peter McKenzie
Durban, December 11 2011 -
After two weeks of sparring and a day-long extension, governments once again failed today to provide the inspiration and ambition to tackle climate change and provide hope for hundreds of millions around the world who suffer and will continue to suffer from climate-related impacts.
Governments reached a weak agreement that established a Green Climate Fund with little money, postponed major decisions on the content of the Kyoto Protocol, and made an unclear commitment to a global agreement from 2020 that could leave us legally bound to 4 degrees of global warming. > wwf.panda.org / WWF: Governments fail on ambition, courage at UN climate change talks
Durban: Climate conference approves deal
Applause for South-Africa's International Relations Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, president of the COP 17. On the left, (in pink), UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres. Photo: iisd.ca
Durban, (South Africa), December 11 2011 -
A U.N. climate conference reached a hard-fought agreement early Sunday on a complex and far-reaching program meant to set a new course for the global fight against climate change for the coming decades.
Talks on a new legal deal covering all countries will begin next year and end by 2015, coming into effect by 2020.
The pact negotiated today would for the first time force all the biggest polluters to take action on greenhouse gas emissions, but critics said the action plan was not aggressive enough to slow the pace of global warming.
The package of accords extended the Kyoto Protocol, the only global pact that enforces carbon cuts, agreed the format of a fund to help poor countries tackle climate change and mapped out a path to a legally binding agreement on emissions reductions.
But many small island states and developing nations at risk of being swamped by rising sea levels and extreme weather said the deal marked the lowest common denominator possible and lacked the ambition needed to ensure their survival. > www.independent.co.uk: 'Modest' gains as UN climate deal struck / Mixed feelings > ww.bbc.co.uk: Climate talks end with late deal > hosted.ap.org: Climate conference approves landmark deal See also: > www.iisd.ca: Highlights from COP 17
Climate summit in disarray as exhausted ministers row
EU commissioner Connie Hedegard is discussing matters with China negotiator Xie Zhenhua. Photo: Kate Shepherd
Durban, South Africa, December 11 2011 (Guardian) --
Talks to strike a new climate deal that would bind all countries for the first time are in disarray after the EU clashed with India and China in a series of passionate exchanges over the legal status of a potential new agreement, putting more than a year of talks between 194 countries in jeopardy.
In the third consecutive all-night session, exhausted ministers had more or less agreed on a series of measures aimed at protecting forests, widening global markets and establishing by 2020 a $100bn fund to help poorer countries move to a green economy and cope with the effects of climate change. But the crucial issue at the talks was whether a new agreement on protecting the climate should have full legal force. > www.guardian.co.uk: EU versus India (and China) > www.grist.org: As Durban deadline draws near, big carbon emitters should cut a deal
Climate change negotiators struggle to reach deal in Durban
Durban, South Africa, December 10 (Xinhua) --
The participants in Durban's climate change negotiations have taken on "extreme and contradictory positions," making the talks "really tough," the negotiators told Xinhua here Saturday .
As a sign that the climate change negotiations have hit a rough patch, the two-week-long UN Climate Change Conference has been extended by several days.
According to the UN rules, negotiations have two days to continue. Failure to reach agreement during those extra days would mean postponing issues to the next conference of parties. > news.xinhuanet.com: Climate change negotiators struggle to reach deal in Durban
In austere times, world needs a climate change 'Plan B'
Atlanta, December 6 / 10 2011 -
As world leaders struggle to prevent the global economy tipping into further economic crisis, negotiators from 195 nations are in Durban, South Africa at the U.N. Climate Change Conference. They are working to avoid the far greater economic and social meltdown threatened by climate change.
Whilst few dispute the serious risks climate change poses, there are legitimate concerns that the deal in discussion cannot be agreed, let alone effectively implemented.
What's being discussed is a global deal involving binding commitments by wealthier nations to reduce carbon emissions. The deal also involves these nations footing a large part of the bill for financing action in poorer countries to reduce emissions and support communities hurt by climate change.
This plan is, frankly, unlikely to be agreed because of conflicts over the numbers -- who does what, and who pays whom, how much, and for what. > edition.cnn.com: In austere times, world needs a climate change 'Plan B' > edition.cnn.com: Why women are world's best climate change defense
Durban climate change talks: a deal currently on hold
Durban, December 10 2011 -
The momentum and urgency of last night's negotiations appears to have melted away this morning. A revamped negotiating text did not appear until around 10.30am local time and an informal ministerial meeting will not convene until 5pm. The danger is that the clock runs down and the talks run into the sand as ministers begin heading for the airport. > www.guardian.co.uk: Durban climate change talks: a deal currently on hold
Durban, December 10 2011 -
Outlines of a deal now emerging, with more promise than this time yesterday. But with such a complex package under negotiation, many important questions remain to be answered. This is going to go on for some hours yet before we get to a Durban deal.
Whatever the outcome, it is clear that an agreement struck here will not, on its own, ensure the level of action necessary to stay below four degrees warming. Governments must come together around the most ambitious package possible today to keep the door open on efforts to really get to grips with the climate crisis. > tcktcktck.org: Day 12.5 and the state of play at COP17
America’s Position on Climate ‘A Tragedy,’ Losing U.S. Prestige to China
Bill Blakemore interviews Christiana Figueres. (videostill: ABC News)
Durban, December 09 2011 -
America’s loss of prestige as a leader in global attempts to deal with catastrophic global warming is so commonplace now that even prominent international leaders in those efforts are dropping their usual diplomatic reticence about stating it.
Here is how Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the U..N Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), which holds this annual global climate conference, put it to ABC news today here: > abcnews.go.com: Bill Blakemore interviews Christiana Figueres
The Occupation of COP17 was Inevitable
Durban / London, December 9 2011 - (by Bianca Jagger) -
It is the last day of negotiations at COP17, in Durban. Soon we will know whether world leaders have stepped up to the challenge of combating the threat of catastrophic climate change or if they have failed us, and future generations. As I write protesters have occupied the ICC. Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace, was removed in plastic handcuffs. According to Twitter, a protester was taken out of the conference in wheelchairs. This is where things stand, as I board my flight back to London. > www.huffingtonpost.com: The Occupation of COP17 was Inevitable
Durban climate change talks - Friday as it happened
Durban / London, December 9 2011 - (Guardian) -
The UN's COP17 negotiations saw plenty of drama over the timetable and legal status of a global deal on Friday, but the talks ran over into Saturday www.guardian.co.uk: Durban, minute by minute
"Get It Done": Urging Climate Justice, Youth Delegate Anjali Appadurai Mic Checks U.N. Summit
Durban, December 9 2011 -
A number of protests are being held at the UN Climate Change Conference in Durban to protest the failure of world leaders to agree to immediately agree to a deal of binding emissions cuts.
Anjali Appadurai, a student at the College of the Atlantic in Maine, addressed the conference on behalf of youth delegates. Just after her speech, she led a mic check from the stage — a move inspired by the Occupy Wall Street protests.
"It always seems impossible until it’s done," Appadurai said. "So, distinguished delegates and governments around the world, governments of the developed world: Deep [emissions] cuts now. Get it done." > www.democracynow.org: UN climate talks to seek new deal
UN climate talks to seek new deal
Durban / London, December 9 2011 - (BBC) -
This year's UN climate talks look set for a long overrun as ministers try to narrow differences on a basic vision of how to tackle climate change.
The divide sees the EU and more than 70 of the world's most climate-vulnerable nations in one camp, and big emitters, such as China and the US, in the other.
A draft text largely reflecting big emitters' concerns was rejected.
The EU and its allies have pledged to walk away rather than accept an agreement they consider too weak.
This year's meeting in South Africa is not intended to produce a new binding agreement.
But the EU, the Alliance of Small Island States (Aosis) and the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) bloc are seeking a firm roadmap towards such a deal, and soon. > www.bbc.co.uk: UN climate talks to seek new deal
Another climate summit, another chance goes up in smoke
Durban / London, December 9 2011 - (The Independent) - The chance of a binding new climate deal involving the world's biggest greenhouse-gas emitters, China, the US and India, looks increasingly unlikely as the UN climate conference in Durban draws to a close today. In an outcome that would dash the hopes of thousands of people and many countries who feel themselves threatened by global warming, an international treaty that would make the planet's biggest polluters cut back by a definite timetable on their carbon emissions is looking like an impossible dream. > www.independent.co.uk: Another climate summit, another chance goes up in smoke > www.independent.co.uk:Crunch time for climate deal talks in Durban
Binding agreement expected at COP 17 climate change meeting
Durban, December 8 2011 - (Xinhua) -
Deference or no deference, political interests or no political ambitions, negotiating parties at the ongoing COP 17 meeting must agree to save the earth, said many participants at the UN climate change conference in Durban, South Africa.
Although negotiators are still "trying to find each other" behind closed doors and its only 24 hours to go, people at the conference are "optimistic" that they will put political and economic interests aside to save "our children and grand- grand children" from the impacts of climate change.
"We hope that the EU and all other parties will commit to the second commitment of the KP (Kyoto Protocol) which is why we are here. If this conference collapse and end without a concrete agreement on KP that will be a shame and disappointment," Time for Climate Justice (TCJ) Campaigns Manager Laura Trevelyan said in an interview with Xinhua. > news.xinhuanet.com: Binding agreement expected at COP 17 climate change meeting
Uncertainty Lingers on Big-Ticket Items as Durban Prepares for Ministers’ Arrival
Durban, December 5 2011 -
This is the most difficult UNFCCC Conference of the Parties to get a read on in recent memory. That seems to be the only thing that delegates and observers will say with absolute certainty as COP 17 wraps up its first week in Durban. The fluidity of the discussions thus far, combined with the quick turn-around seen last year in Cancun once ministers took the helm, has most people close to the talks issuing the caveat that “anything can happen.”
Much of the mystery clouding week one is due to the high number of closed-door contact groups, informal sessions, and “indabas” - Zulu-inspired informal discussions encouraged by COP President Maite Nkoana-Mashabane - that are taking place on a wide range of issues. Both the media and delegates have said it has been difficult to keep track of the many discussions, let alone get a read on how the talks are progressing.
Informally, several delegates have expressed concern that while there has been movement on many unresolved details pushed forward from Panama, macro issues - most notably the future of the Kyoto Protocol - are advancing too slowly to be resolved before the talks come to a close on Friday. > ictsd.org:
Kyoto remains foggy at best
India emerges as chief opponent of a new global-warming treaty
Durban / New Delhi, December 5 2011 -
India is now the leading opponent of a new comprehensive global-warming treaty, it became clear at the weekend after the first week of negotiations at the UN Climate Conference in Durban, South Africa.
The world's second most populous country has resolutely set its face against a fresh climate deal that at some stage would involve every country in the world cutting its carbon emissions in an effort to bring climate change under control.
The Indians are refusing to approve anything that might put a brake on their economy, now expanding with growth in 2010 estimated at 10.4 per cent. Its carbon emissions are growing at more than 9 per cent a year, the fastest of any major nation, and the country has shot up to become the world's third biggest carbon emitter, after China and the US. > www.independent.co.uk: India emerges as chief opponent of a new global-warming treaty
U.N. Climate Chief Sees Air Clearing On Cut Pledges
Durban, 3 / 5 december 2011 -
The U.N.'s climate chief said on Saturday she believes countries can snap the deadlock that has lasted for years and sign up to fresh and binding commitments to cut greenhouse gases, after a week of climate talks between nearly 200 countries.
"Countries are now looking at how they might bring about a second commitment period and no longer if there is going to be a second commitment period," climate chief Christiana Figueres told Reuters in an interview. > planetark.org: U.N. Climate Chief Sees Air Clearing On Cut Pledges
U.S. sees little new in China greenhouse gas cut pledge
Durban / Washington, December 4 2011 -
The United States is sceptical that China's comments it could support a legally binding deal to cut its own greenhouse gas emissions marked a breakthrough in troubled climate talks, an Obama administration official said in Durban Sunday. > www.reuters.com: U.S. sees little new in China greenhouse gas cut pledge
Obama could save the talks with a single call to COP17
Durban / London / Washington, December 4 2011 - (by Joss Garman) -
The big question in Durban is whether an extraordinarily obstructive Obama administration is days away from killing this long climate process and burying its corpse next to the Doha round of trade talks.
The stakes really are that high. Chris Huhne, the UK's Energy and Climate Change Secretary, and his colleagues are facing a host of complex issues. But for me, three stand out. Do we keep the Kyoto protocol alive? Can we set up a fund to pay for poorer countries to cope with climate change and build clean energy? And when do we sign the next deal, the one that really nails the carbon beast? But in the end a good deal can't be struck here unless President Obama orders his delegation radically to change course. > www.independent.co.uk: Obama could save the talks with a single call to COP17
Bruce Sterling: Climate Change Is Now A ‘Melancholy And Tiresome Reality’
Durban, December 4 2011, -
Bruce Sterling, the science-fiction author and futurist whose book Distraction foreshadowed the Occupy Wall Street movement, spoke about the “melancholy and tiresome reality” of climate change at the 2011 Art + Environment Conference in Reno, Nevada this October. Sterling described the catastrophic drought and wildfires that have consumed his home state of Texas. He went on to explain how we now live in the Anthropocene, a term first coined in 2000 by Paul Cruetzen to describe a new geologic era in which the predominant factor on the Earth’s surface is human activity. Sterling’s 30-minute talk is a must-watch tour-de-force of sober acceptance of the world we have created, and what the future holds > thinkprogress.org: Bruce Sterling: Climate Change Is Now A ‘Melancholy And Tiresome Reality’
Marching for 100 Percent Change
Durban, December 4 2011 -
Chanting loudly, thousands of demonstrators marched through the streets to the venue of the 17th United Nations Climate Change Conference to demand that their voices be heard for "immediate and drastic" carbon emission reductions to save the planet. > ipsnews.net: Marching for 100 Percent Change
Durban Conference: The forgotten planet
Durban / London, December 3 / 4 2011, -
As the economic crisis bites, the world's politicians are less concerned about the summit aiming to halt climate change.
The world's ministers and their mandarins gather in their thousands this weekend to hammer out a plan for the small matter of saving the planet. Yet few of us appear to have noticed.
Despite apocalyptic warnings about temperatures reaching record levels and carbon emissions rising faster than ever, the delegates at the vast UN climate conference in South Africa this weekend could not be further from reaching a deal – or further from the thoughts of a global population gripped by economic fears. > www.independent.co.uk: Durban Conference: The forgotten planet
Protests at climate change summit in Durban
Durban / London, December 3/4 2011 -
Thousands of demonstrators have marched through the South African city of Durban demanding faster action on climate change.
Protesters were particularly angered by the stance of rich countries such as the US and Canada.
In London former UK Deputy Prime Minister Lord Prescott said the approach of these nations was "appalling".
Halfway through this summit, some progress has been made, but a few countries including the US, Canada and Saudi Arabia are holding out on important issues such as the future of the Kyoto Protocol.
Fourteen years ago, Lord Prescott played a leading role in the UN summit in Kyoto that brought the protocol into existence. Speaking to the BBC, he was scathing about nations trying to delay progress now. > www.bbc.co.uk: Protests at climate change summit in Durban
Durban climate change conference continues, outcome still uncertain
Durban, South Africa, December 2 2011 - (Xinhua) -
With the UN Climate Change Conference in South Africa's Durban stepping into its fifth day Friday, little consensus has been reached on legally-binding carbon emissions cuts -- instead, new disagreements have emerged, making the outcome of the conference all the more uncertain. > news.xinhuanet.com: Durban climate change conference continues, outcome still uncertain
Climate deal pushed by poorest nations
Durvan, December 1 st 2011 -
The world's poorest countries have asked that talks on a new climate deal covering all nations begin immediately.
At the UN climate summit, the Least Developed Countries bloc and small island states tabled papers saying the deal should be finalised within a year.
Many of them are vulnerable to climate impacts such as drought or inundation.
The move puts the blocs on a collision course not only with many rich nations, but also with developing world partners such as China, India and Brazil.
These three developing world giants believe talks on a new mandate should not begin now because developed nations have yet to fulfil existing commitments.
But their smaller peers believe there is no time to lose. > www.bbc.co.uk: Climate deal pushed by poorest nations
Banks 'lent 232 bn euros to coal industry'
Durban, South Africa, November 29 2011 - (Physorg) -
November 30, 2011
Leading banks around the world lent 232 billion euros ($308 billion) to the coal industry, one of the biggest sources of greenhouse gases, from 2005 to 2010, campaigners say.
The figures, presented on the sidelines of November 28-December 9 UN climate talks in Durban, come from a trawl through the lending portfolios of 93 of the world's leading banks, they said.
The total value of financing for 31 major coal-mining companies and 40 producers of coal-fired electricity amounted to 232 billion over the five years.
"Our figures clearly show that coal financing is on the rise," said Tristen Taylor of Earthlife Africa Johannesburg, one of four groups that combined to compile the report, "Bankrolling Climate Change."
"Between 2005 and 2010, coal financing almost doubled. If we don't take banks to task now, coal financing will continue to grow."
Coal has emerged as the biggest single area of concern about greenhouse-gas sources. > www.physorg.com: Banks 'lent 232 bn euros to coal industry'
Chinese delegation critical of Kyoto withdrawal plan
Durban, South Africa, November 29 2011 - (Xinhua) -
The plan to withdraw from Kyoto Protocol will severely mar the talking process at the UN climate conference in Durban, South Africa, the Chinese delegation told Xinhua on Tuesday.
It will further hurt the international community's endeavor to cope with climate change, said Su Wei, deputy head of the Chinese delegation to the Durban conference and chief negotiator on climate change.
The attempted withdrawal "will definitely add to the obstacles in our negotiation," Su noted, in reference to reports about a recent decision by the Canadian cabinet. > news.xinhuanet.com: Chinese delegation critical of Kyoto withdrawal plan > Canada to pull out of Kyoto Protocol next month (Nov 28)
Can the Kyoto Protocol be saved?
(ENN/Reuters), November 28 2011 -
Countries will make a last ditch effort to save a dying Kyoto Protocol at global climate talks starting on Monday aimed at cutting the greenhouse gas emissions blamed by scientists for rising sea levels, intense storms and crop failures.
Kyoto, which was adopted in 1997 and entered into force in 2005, commits most developed states to binding emissions targets. The talks are the last chance to set another round of targets before the first commitment period ends in 2012. > www.enn.com: Last chance to save Kyoto deal at climate talks
Big emitters aim at climate delay
Durban, November 28 2011 -
As this year's UN climate summit opens, some of the developing world's biggest greenhouse gas emitters are bidding to delay talks on a new global agreement.
To the anger of small islands states, India and Brazil have joined rich nations in wanting to start talks on a legal deal no earlier than 2015.
The EU and climate-vulnerable blocs want to start as soon as possible, and have the deal finalised by 2015. > www.bbc.co.uk: Big emitters aim at climate delay
Time Running Out For Deal On Global Warming At Climate Talks
Durban, November 28 2011 -
Time is quickly running out to strike a deal at global climate talks to save a Kyoto Protocol in its death throes and make major cuts in the greenhouse gas emissions that scientists blame for rising temperatures, wilder weather and crop failures.
Major parties have been at loggerheads for years, warnings of climate disaster are becoming more dire and diplomats worry whether host South Africa is up to the challenge of brokering the tough discussions among nearly 200 countries that run from November 28 to December 9 in the coastal city of Durban. > planetark.org: Time Running Out For Deal On Global Warming At Climate Talks
United nations climate change conference in Durban
Durban, November 28 2011 -
The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban, South Africa, begins today and will continue until 9 December. The event includes the seventeenth Conference of the Parties (COP 17) to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the seventh Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (COP/MOP 7).
In support of these two main bodies, four subsidiary bodies will convene: the fourth part of the fourteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action under the Convention (AWG-LCA 14); the fourth part of the sixteenth session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments for Annex I Parties under the Kyoto Protocol (AWG-KP 16); and the thirty-fifth sessions of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation (SBI 35) and the Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA 35).
A joint COP and COP/MOP high-level segment involving government ministers and other senior officials will also take place from 6-9 December. > www.iisd.ca: United nations climate change conference in Durban
Durban climate talks: a chance to end political posturing
London / Durban, November 26 2011 -
The United Nations climate change talks (known as COP17) starting this week in South Africa are a unique opportunity for leaders of the world to move beyond political posturing and lay foundations for an ambitious global climate deal. It’s a vital time, and governments have a lot of work to do in Durban if they want the world to know they’re serious about addressing dangerous climate change.
Samantha Smith, leader of the WWF global climate and energy initiative, says: “Climate change is a global threat that makes borders and politics irrelevant - and it needs a united response from the world’s governments. Right now, the story of worsening natural disasters caused by climate change will fill the pages of history books with a narrative of failed ambitions, shortsightedness, and a lack of courage from world leaders to deal with this threat. > www.wwf.org.uk: Durban climate talks: a chance to end political posturing
In climate talks West would redefine rich and poor
Durban, November 25, 2011 -
As delegates gather in South Africa to plot the next big push against climate change, Western governments are saying it's time to move beyond traditional distinctions between industrial and developing countries and get China and other growing economies to accept legally binding curbs on greenhouse gases. > www.physorg.com: In climate talks West would redefine rich and poor
Angela Merkel: China, India, Brazil Must Cut CO2 Emissions
Science Not Politics Must Drive Durban Climate Talks
New Delhi, November 24 2011 -
Global climate talks need to focus on the growing threat from extreme weather and shift away from political squabbles that hobble progress toward a tougher pact to rein in greenhouse gas emissions, Rajendra Pachauri, the head of the U.N. climate panel, said.
Rajendra Pachauri warned the latest round of talks risked being bogged down by "short-term and narrow political considerations."
"It is absolutely essential that the negotiators get a continuous and repeated exposure to the science of climate change," Pachauri told Reuters in an interview late on Tuesday. > planetark.org: Science Not Politics Must Drive Durban Climate Talks
UN overhaul required to govern planet's life support system: Experts
Amsterdam, November 23 2011 -
Reducing risk of environmental disaster requires reforms of international governance comparable in scale and importance to those that followed World War II, experts say. Evidence is mounting that humanity may be approaching dangerous tipping points and effective environmental governance is needed soon, according to organizers of the huge "Planet Under Pressure" conference in London March 26-29, 2012 -- largest scientific conference leading up to next June's Rio+20 Earth Summit. > www.eurekalert.org: UN overhaul required to govern planet's life support system: Experts > www.essp.org
Congress Skips Durban Climate Talks: Is That a Good Thing?
Washington, November 23 2011 -(By Stephen Lacey) -
At least we know Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) — one of the fiercest climate deniers in Congress — won’t be making a side show out of the Durban climate talks. He won’t be attending this year.
But neither will anyone else in Congress.
Greenwire reports today that only one Congressional staffer and zero members — yes zero — have plans to attend the COP 17 climate conference in South Africa next week. With the press prematurely declaring the talks all but dead, members of Congress seem to have latched onto that storyline. > thinkprogress.org: Congress Skips Durban Climate Talks: Is That a Good Thing?
Xie Zhenhua: I hope that the Durban Conference on financial issues can have positive progress
Beijng, November 22 2011 -
State Council Information Office in 2011 1122 issued “China’s climate change policies and actions,” White Paper on the same day at 10 am press conference.
National Development and Reform Commission, Xie Zhenhua, deputy director of the conference expressed the hope that the meeting in Durban on long-term funding to address climate change, green climate fund for the system, and mechanisms to make the relevant decisions in who pays, how much , how the distribution and so on, can have positive progress. > www.stockmarkettoday.cc / Xie Zhenhua: I hope that the Durban Conference on financial issues can have positive progress (Nov 22)
Rich nations 'give up' on new climate treaty until 2020
London, November 20 2011 -
Governments of the world's richest countries have given up on forging a new treaty on climate change to take effect this decade, with potentially disastrous consequences for the environment through global warming.
Ahead of critical talks starting next week, most of the world's leading economies now privately admit that no new global climate agreement will be reached before 2016 at the earliest, and that even if it were negotiated by then, they would stipulate it could not come into force until 2020. > www.guardian.co.uk: Rich nations 'give up' on new climate treaty until 2020 (Nov 20)
2015 climate 'roadmap' idea well received, says EU
Brussels, November 6 2011 -
European Union Commissioner for Climate Change Connie Hedegaard talks to the media in Brussels last month. The EU's proposal for upcoming UN talks to lay down a new "roadmap" leading to a comprehensive global deal by 2015 has been well received, Hedegaard says.
The European Union's top climate diplomat said on Saturday the bloc's proposal for upcoming UN talks to lay down a new "roadmap" leading to a comprehensive global deal by 2015 has been well received. > 2015 climate 'roadmap' idea well received, says EU > EU targets 2011: EU 2050 Energy Road Map Sees Big Shift To Renewables (Oct 18 2011)
Climate summit set for rows on flying, cash and history
London, November 5 2011 -
EU plans on aviation, "climate aid" and the West's past CO2 output are set to be divisive at the UN climate summit.
India has tabled a paper arguing that the EU's plan to include international flights in its emissions trading scheme violates the UN climate convention.
Meanwhile, technical analysis for a group of developing countries says Western nations have a duty to absorb CO2 over the coming decades.
It also says the West is not living up to promises on climate finance. > www.bbc.co.uk: Climate summit set for rows on flying, cash and history
China Urges Way Out Of "Deadlock" In Durban Climate Talks
Beijng, October 27 2011 -
China's chief climate official called on developed countries to come up with their own national initiatives to cut carbon emissions in order to avoid "deadlock" at next month's global climate change talks in Durban, South Africa.
Xie Zhenhua, vice-director of the National Development and Reform Commission in charge of China's efforts to combat climate change, said a number of countries were unwilling to participate in a binding new global climate pact once the first phase of the Kyoto Protocol expires at the end of 2012.
He told official news agency Xinhua that some nations were unwilling to take part in a second "commitment period" because countries such as the United States had so far refused to accept legally binding CO2 targets, thus threatening the "environmental integrity" of the Kyoto Protocol. > planetark.org: China Urges Way Out Of "Deadlock" In Durban Climate Talks > news.xinhuanet.com: China's proposal unveiled ahead of Durban climate talks
Climate Change Negotiators See No Major Durban Deal
Panam City, October 10 2011 -
Global climate change negotiators Friday concluded their last round of discussions before next month's U.N. convention in Durban, South Africa with faint hope of extending the Kyoto Protocol beyond next year.
But while negotiators see no chance for a sweeping deal to control greenhouse gas emissions, they say that the talks could yet lay the groundwork for a binding climate deal that could include the world's largest greenhouse gas emitters, China and the United States.
"Governments are really committed to starting a process toward that (new pact) and that includes the United States and China," Christiana Figueres, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or UNFCCC, told Reuters Friday.
"How they will get there, with what speed they will be able to get there, that still remains to be seen," she said. > www.eea.europa.eu: Climate Change Negotiators See No Major Durban Deal
BASIC Ministers Push Kyoto as Focus of Durban Climate Meet
Geneva (Switserland), September 5, 2011 -
Ministers from key developing countries have signalled their intention of making a second commitment period to the Kyoto Protocol the “central priority” of the end-of-year UN climate meet in Durban, South Africa. The officials, representing the BASIC countries (Brazil, South Africa, India, and China), insisted that Kyoto is a cornerstone of the multilateral efforts to combat climate change and that failure to agree to a second commitment period would undermine the UN Framework on Climate Change (UNFCCC) process. > ictsd.org: BASIC Ministers Push Kyoto as Focus of Durban Climate Meet
Emerging powers press rich world on CO2 cuts
(Physorg.com), August 28 2011 -
Brazil, South Africa, India and China called Friday on industrialized nations to step up their commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at a key UN climate summit later this year. > www.physorg.com: Emerging powers press rich world on CO2 cuts
EU Kyoto doubts go public
Brussels, 13 January 2011 -
Officials are striking increasingly dissonant notes on the question of whether the EU should continue to support the Kyoto Protocol as a framework for UN agreements after 2012 if countries such as Japan, Russia and Canada maintain their opposition.
Speaking at the Lisbon Council Eco-Innovation Summit in Brussels today (13 January), Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard passionately warned her colleagues that it was easier to see the weaknesses of the Kyoto Protocol than the contours of any replacement deal. > www.euractiv.com: EU Kyoto doubts go public
