Climate Climate & Energy

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  • Climate deal not accepted by all, but Copenhagen conference makes it ‘operational’

    COPENHAGEN — Seven countries, led by the tiny Pacific island nation of Tuvalu, this morning declined to accept the Copenhagen Accord that was reached late last night. But in a procedural move designed to put the agreement into effect, the conference decided to “take note” of the accord instead of formally approving it. NGO experts […]

    Keith Schneider Climate & Energy

  • Final text of the Copenhagen Accord

    This is the text of the climate accord worked out by President Obama and the leaders of several key nations in Copenhagen on Dec. 18. In pursuit of the ultimate objective of the Convention as stated in its Article 2, Being guided by the principles and provisions of the Convention, Noting the results of work […]

    Grist staff Climate & Energy

  • What to make of second leaked U.N. doc and its sanctioned 3C rise in global temp?

    Earlier this week, yet another “leaked” U.N. document caused a fuss in Copenhagen. Leaked document #2, first reported on by the Guardian, showed that the commitments on the table for a post-Kyoto treaty would still allow for a potentially disastrous 3C temperature rise in global temperature. Bill McKibben of 350.org, whose name was mysteriously scrawled […]

    Grist staff Climate & Energy

  • Price of coal surges!

    The price of coal surged this morning as a new buyer entered the market.  A high-volume rush order came in from the North Pole in the last few hours, accounting for the surge.  Shaking his head, one dazed trader said the size of the order was equivalent to the yearly total of a medium-size country […]

    Geoff Dabelko Climate & Energy

  • Video archives from the Copenhagen climate talks

    Grist sent comedian Eugene Mirman (of Flight of the Conchords fame) to lighten up the mood as a special correspondent at the climate talks in Copenhagen. He was joined by Grist’s own Umbra Fisk — and a few special guests — on the scene. Enjoy (and share!) their crazy video adventures in Denmark. Eugene Mirman […]

    Grist staff Climate & Energy

  • ‘This entire conference is an elaborate sham’

    COPENHAGEN — For two weeks we’ve been listening to the story of the leaked emails from East Anglia — a media tempest in an English teapot. And all the time the biggest scandal has been directly under our noses. This afternoon at Copenhagen a document was mysteriously leaked from the UN Secretariat. It was first […]

    Bill McKibben Climate & Energy

  • ‘Transparency’ is a hot issue in Copenhagen — but what does it mean?

    Sergio Barbosa Serra. Photo courtesy Brazilian governmentCOPENHAGEN — I just had a cappuccino with Sergio Barbosa Serra, Brazil’s ambassador of climate change and one of the country’s top delegates at the Copenhagen talks. We discussed what’s going to get hashed out over the next 36 hours of the U.N. climate conference. He boiled the challenge […]

    Amanda Little Climate & Energy

  • Selling our future

    In Chapter 1 of Plan B 4.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization, I underscore important indicators of global stability and resource consumption.  The following are summaries of key datasets that inform these discussions. Each year, the Fund for Peace and Foreign Policy magazine rank 60 “failing states,” countries which on some level fail to provide personal […]

    Lester Brown Climate & Energy

  • Not Reid, not Godot: The whole world is waiting for YOU Mr. President

    The world is aghast. It’s fate, it seems, “lies in the hands of a few U.S. Senators,” as Tuvalu negotiator Ian Fry lamented in his plea for a real, science-driven deal here in Copenhagen. The collective forehead of humanity wrinkles at the prospect. Who are these people? A couple of them from North Dakota, representing […]

    KC Golden Climate & Energy

  • What’s under construction in Copenhagen?

    As 120 heads of state arrive at the Bella Center in Copenhagen, there’s amazingly little direction on just what exactly they are negotiating. Is this going to be an extension of the Kyoto Protocol (a second commitment period), or will the Kyoto Protocol be buried, with some brand new treaty rising from its ashes? Will […]

    Noah Sachs Climate & Energy