Durban climate talks

Obama’s climate leadership? ‘It doesn’t exist,’ says Tim Wirth

Tim Wirth.Photo: Center for American Progress Action FundCross-posted from Climate Progress. U.N. Foundation President Tim Wirth told Climate Wire this week that President Obama has a “last window of opportunity” to avert catastrophic climate change — assuming he gets reelected: I don’t know who and where the climate leadership in the administration is. It doesn’t […]

The top five takeaways from the Durban climate talks

Talking about climate-policy developments gets tedious. Bear with us for the verdict on Durban.After running 36 hours into overtime, the climate talks in Durban, South Africa, finally wrapped up this weekend. As usual, all the dramatic stuff happened in the last 12 hours, after everyone had been beaten into submission by sheer exhaustion. I do […]

2C or not 2C: That is the question about the Durban deal

Also: Rommgelina doesn’t have the same ring.Photo: Ammar Abd Rabbo Cross-posted from Climate Progress. We don’t get to marry Brad Pitt or Angelina Jolie. We’re not going to be as successful as Oprah Winfrey or Steve Jobs. So we generally grade ourselves on the basis of what we think was plausibly achievable, not what is theoretically […]

As Durban deadline draws near, big carbon emitters should cut a deal

It's not clear when we'll get another chance to put all the world's major carbon emitters on the road to a common effort.

Top eight climate disasters during the Durban climate talks

Cross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. During the two weeks of the international climate negotiations in Durban, South Africa, millions of people have been affected by extreme weather disasters. Our poisoned climate is fueling more extreme and dangerous weather, as the super-heated atmosphere brings heavier rains, harder droughts, and fiercer storms. These eight climate disasters that took […]

Tokelau, population 1,500, goes renewables-only

At the U.N. climate talks in Durban, the South Pacific micro-state of Tokelau announced that it would be switching entirely to renewable energy. Tokelau has 1,500 people and three cars, but, uh, it's the thought that counts? Tokelau, which has 1,000 fewer people than my high school, currently runs diesel generators that eat up imported […]

Durban dispatch: U.S. takes ‘recourse to nonsense’

It’s just a guidepost, guys. No need to panic.Photo: US Mission GenevaCross-posted from ThinkProgress Green. China limits commitments This week, China’s top climate envoy said that the nation would be open to signing a formal treaty limiting emissions after 2020 — but laid down conditions for doing so that are unlikely ever to be met. […]

A New Obsession

“This obsession with a legally binding treaty [to tackle climate change] is an obstacle for countries achieving targets they have committed to,” declared Paul Bledsoe, a climate change advisor to President Clinton. “What we need is national will to reach stated goals.” Given that the only international agreement so far, the Kyoto Protocol, expires in […]

U.S. 2020 climate treaty proposal isn’t a delay — it’s a death sentence

The U.N. climate talks desperately need a crisis. For the last 10 days, negotiations here in Durban, South Africa, have made little progress on the fundamental challenge these talks were set up to confront: how the world can come together to avoid catastrophic climate change. Instead, the pace of negotiations has been set by the […]