Copenhagen Accord
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The Copenhagen Accord: A Big Step Forward
The Copenhagen climate deal that President Obama hammered out Friday night with the leaders of China, India, Brazil and South Africa broke through years of negotiating gridlock to achieve three critical goals. First, it provides for real cuts in heat-trapping carbon pollution by all of the world’s big emitters. Second, it establishes a transparent framework […]
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Obama to world in Copenhagen: ‘We will do what we say.’ Now tell it to the Senate.
“There is no time to waste. America has made our choice. We have charted our course, we have made our commitments, and we will do what we say.” — President Obama, speaking to world leaders in Copenhagen December 18 “Kan Han?” (Can He?) So implored the headline and full-page picture of President Obama on the […]
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Rough initial thoughts on the Copenhagen Accord
Copenhagen was obviously a failure — at least if you judge it by “the numbers,” the formal emission targets and financial commitments that are needed to support a fair and effective emergency global climate mobilization. If you judge it, that is, by what is necessary. The more pressing question, though, is whether Copenhagen was a […]
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Copenhagen Prognosis: The ‘almost overwhelming challenge’ of a carbon-free civilization
Cross-posted from the Wonk Room. A new scientific report, the Copenhagen Prognosis, outlines the terrible challenge the world faces from climate change — as well as several paths to safety. World leaders in Copenhagen struggled to come to a provisional accord that would provide a framework for sustainable civilization. But a team of the world’s […]
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BBC World Service: Who is to Blame at Copenhagen?
I just joined the BBC World Service for a live, hour-long program called “Copenhagen: Who is to Blame?” reflecting on the outcomes of the negotiations, including BBC’s environmental analyst, a Chinese policy specialist, WWF’s Campaign Director, India’s Vandana Shiva, and other experts (the podcast is available here, and for a cliffnotes version, start at 39 […]
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Key countries agreed to Copenhagen Accord
In the late morning hours Saturday in Copenhagen, the overwhelming majority of countries adopted a new framework for addressing global warming. This new agreement — called the Copenhagen Accord (available here) — was hammered out by 28 of the world’s key countries. These countries represent over 80 percent of the world’s global warming pollution (both […]
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Earth to Thomas Friedman: Winning the “Earth Race” Requires Federal Investment
In a major departure from conventional climate wisdom, Thomas Friedman argues in today’s New York Times that the UNFCCC framework is broken and should be replaced by a global competition in the clean-tech industry, which he says the United States can and should lead. “Let the Earth Race begin,” he declares, contrasting this with the […]
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Obama hits the reset button on the foundations of international climate agreements
Shortly before leaving Copenhagen yesterday, President Obama announced that the terms of an interim, “political” agreement, the Copenhagen Accord, had been reached with the leaders of Brazil, South Africa, India, and China which very well may lay the groundwork for a new international agreement on climate change. Commentators are already lining up to decry this […]
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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 […]
