COP15
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Seven steps to achieving a real climate deal
So where do we go from here? How do we get from the disorganized, disappointing, dispiriting debacle of Copenhagen to a new and worthwhile climate treaty? The world needs solid directions for getting to a real climate deal in Mexico next year.Asking the question recalls the famous joke about the Irishman who, when asked by […]
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Post-Copenhagen pledge: Coal free future begins in Kentucky
This post was co-written by Stephanie Pistello, Ben Evans, and Ben Sollee, co-founders of the Coal Free Future Project. On the heels of the Copenhagen Climate Summit, we plan to make our own post-Copenhagen pledge here at home: It’s time to envision a coal-free future. It’s time for clean energy independence. For those of us […]
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All over the map: Rounding up editorial reax to Copenhagen
It’s too weak! … No, it was a fool’s errand to begin with … China is to blame! Of course not, it was the United States that brokered a bad deal for the world’s poor … There’s no hope … Progress was made, there’s more to do … Despair … Hope … theogeo via FlickrSuch […]
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What’s missing in the Copenhagen accord?
Climate delegates finally finished two years of negotiations Saturday by “taking note” of the two-and-a-half page Copenhagen Accord hashed out Friday night. It reminded me of a marathoner who slow-walks the course, hobbles across the finish line seven hours late, and then declares victory. Yes, there was a semblance of a deal by Saturday, but […]
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‘There will be no decisions about us, without us’
COPENHAGEN—The anger in Juan Carlos Soriano’s voice was clear when he rose to a podium in the Bella Center Friday afternoon. And it was easy to understand why: the climate-treaty talks were (and still are at this writing) stuck between competing draft texts, none of which offer plans to keep global warming within safe scientific […]
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An unwelcome lesson in power politics
350.org’s Bill McKibben at a candlelight vigil Dec. 17 in Copenhagen.Matthew McDermott via FlickrCOPENHAGEN — Late last night, after the word had come down that the climate talks had ended in a four-way, non-binding, unfair, and breathtakingly unambitious agreement between the United States, China, India, and South Africa, a crowd of young demonstrators from around […]
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The Copenhagen Accord
The Conference of Parties formally took note of the Copenhagen Accord this morning after an emotional all night debate, during which many countries expressed deep disappointment with the outcome, but a determination to use it as a stepping stone to more rigorous action. This procedure allowed the Accord to be formally acknowledged by consensus, despite […]
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COP15: the untold story
While reporters were busy writing about the violence in Copenhagen they missed the alive spirit that came from the world’s citizens gathered to fight climate change. Photo: Greenpeace Finland via FlickrJust off the plane from Copenhagen, little sleep under my belt, I’m full of ideas for how to ratchet up the climate movement, big time. […]
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Global will is ripe. Leaders need to pluck it.
The “Copenhagen Accord” is terribly weak. Not just “weaker than it needs to be to prevent climate catastrophe.” We knew it would be that, but hoped to emerge with a serious framework for real solutions. Formally, diplomatically, legally, we didn’t get that. This truth is stark but indispensable. We shouldn’t spin away from it. The […]