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Rich ‘do too little to slow temperature rise’
No commentsPromises by rich countries to cut greenhouse gas emissions made at the Copenhagen climate summit will fail to prevent catastrophic climate change, warned the World Resources Institute.
Together, the commitments made by developed countries by Jan. 31 mean global emissions would fall by between 12 and 19% by 2020, but scientists say cuts between 25 and 40% are needed. The WRI says the promises so far will see the global average temperature rise by more than 3C, even though one of the most important achievements of the Copenhagen climate talks was agreement to keep the increase below 2C. This article examines the results of the summit, analyses Colombia’s participation, and looks at the prospects for the next round of talks in Mexico in December.
»Green energy strategy to deal with climate change
No commentsThe Kenyan government is seeking international financial support as it prepares to embrace green energy. Kenyan Evironment Minister John Michuki says geothermal steam reserves (powering in at an estimated at 7000 megawatts) are amongst the resources Kenya hopes to exploit in order to reduce the country’s dependency on fossil fuels. The minister spoke at the launch of the Kenya Climate Change Response Strategy in Copenhagen, on the sidelines of the COP15 climate change negotiations.
»With “dragon woman” out, Philppine climate team loses teeth
No commentsCOPENHAGEN, Denmark – On the eve of President Gloria Arroyo’s arrival for the most important meeting on climate change in over a decade, the Philippine delegation is in apparent disarray. Some of the country’s foremost climate change experts suddenly found themselves excluded, including diplomat and staunch negotiator Bernaditas de Castro Muller, nicknamed “dragon woman” by [...]
»Todd came, Todd saw, Todd threw a spanner in the works.
No commentsA lot of newsprint will go into reporting and analysing Todd Stern’s statements from this evening in Copenhagen. Here’s the short version: “We don’t care”.
»Philippines throws support behind “weak” climate pact
No commentsThe Philippines has thrown its support behind the Copenhagen accord, a non-binding climate agreement criticized for its weak provisions and the non-transparent, non-inclusive process by which it was formulated.
»Copenhagen a Danish Overture to Mexican Coda?
No commentsAccording to American think tank Pew Center on Global Climate Change, a binding deal will definitely be coming out of the two-week climate talks, albeit something that may have yet to ripen in the next gathering of the UNFCCC Conference of Parties in Mexico in 2010.
»Worrying times for the world’s waste-pickers
No commentsSalvaging recyclable material from urban waste saves resources, and gives poor people a livelihood. But the survival of the waste-pickers is under threat.
»Which path will we choose?
No commentsThe Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009 offered two choices: resolute action together to try to slow the increase in global temperatures, or continuing prevarication over who should act first. The path chosen was perhaps predictably depressing.
»Of culture, climate and cycling
No commentsCycling is popular in Copenhagen, with nearly half the city’s population regularly taking to the saddle. Could it show the way to the rest of the world?
»COP15 fails to seal a global climate deal
No commentsAll the Danish efforts to sell Copenhagen as the city of hope was not enough to guarantee a global deal at the end of the UN Climate Change Conference, billed by many as event of the century.
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