Kyoto Protocol
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Applying the lessons of Copenhagen in Cancun
In preparing for the upcoming climate talks in Cancun less than two weeks away, I can't help but look back at where things were a year ago.
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Tech will solve the climate crisis faster than laws
Emphasizing technological innovation would render moot the debate about technology-first versus technology-only.
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Remaking the Global Climate Framework
Two months ago, hundreds of world leaders and tens of thousands of activists gathered in Copenhagen to craft a new global treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol in 2012. Green groups put on a spectacle – yes, Greenpeace even docked two of its famous boats nearby to “help in pushing the delegates” – and some […]
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Where things stand on the Copenhagen Accord and international climate politics
After the Copenhagen Accord was “noted” by the UN in December, there was a great deal of insta-analysis. In truth, there was no real way to evaluate the Accord because the meat of it — the emission-reduction commitments from participating countries — was blank. Literally: The deadline for participating countries to submit their commitments was […]
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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 […]
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All or nothing: a look at the Copenhagen endgame
Well, here we are at last. After two years of largely fruitless negotiations, the real bargaining on the terms of a new global climate pact has just begun. Yvo de Boer, the U.N. official charged with shepherding a new international climate pact, must feel as if he’s carrying the world on his shoulders as COP15 […]
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Myth vs. reality on the Copenhagen climate summit
Co-written by Rebecca Lefton, a Researcher for Progressive Media, and Daniel J. Weiss, a Senior Fellow and Director Climate Strategy at the Center for American Progress. Myth #1: Copenhagen is already a failure. Instead of a binding agreement we’ll end up with a political deal that gets us nowhere. Reality: We are on schedule at […]
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Kyoto: Congress’ disgrace, not ‘Al Gore’s mistake’
A specter hangs over the U.S. negotiators at the Copenhagen climate summit: the Kyoto Syndrome. Conventional wisdom holds that the Clinton Administration, and Al Gore in particular, blew it by agreeing to the Kyoto Accords without building the foundation for the Senate to ratify it, which it never did. (See, e.g., “How to Prevent Climate […]
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Copenhagen day 1: Scandal! Bullying!
What better way to open the Copenhagen climate talks — the meeting of the UNFCCC that is supposedly going to decide the fate of the entire world — than with broad civil society outrage at the egregious lack of democracy in the process. Here’s the inside scoop: the Danish presidency is desperate for a positive […]