Yvo de Boer

The new U.N. climate chief should have a strong understanding of women’s issues

Photos: angela7dreams via FlickrWe have a critical opportunity right now to make sure the next U.N. climate chief will serve the needs of the global community of women, and we need to seize it. With Yvo de Boer stepping down as executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon […]

The Climate Post: Asian ice granted temporary stay of execution

First things first: A new U.S. senator and a blip in the post-Copenhagen U.N. negotiations may cause comprehensive global climate policy to melt away faster than the Himalayas-or will they? Surgeon General’s warning: Many points in the 2007 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report have been revealed to be wrong as scientists observe global […]

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 […]

Rumors of Copenhagen’s demise have been greatly exaggerated

Waking up on a dreary Sunday morning this weekend in Copenhagen (where I’ve recently moved to prepare for the upcoming climate talks in December), I was met with a barrage of headlines, mostly from U.S. media, telling me that Copenhagen is doomed to total failure and I might as well head off to Mexico City […]

Cautious optimism for Copenhagen deal as Barcelona climate talks end

Is that the sun we see?The mood was markedly improved on the final day of the Barcelona climate talks, as delegates, observers, and non-governmental organizations all brushed off the pessimism that dominated much of this week and announced that there is still hope for a global deal at the Copenhagen COP15 summit. News that the […]

Barcelona outcome: White House strategy is plea for more time

As climate talks wrapped up in Barcelona, the picture wasn’t nearly this pretty.Photo: MorBCNIt’s been 30 years since scientists gained a clear understanding of the dangerous consequences of continuously adding more carbon dioxide to the atmosphere. This week during five days of negotiations in Barcelona, the world learned again that the formula for solving global […]

Negotiators take aim at U.S. on day one of Barcelona climate talks

The final round of negotiations prior to the Copenhagen Climate Summit kicked off Monday in Barcelona, Spain.  Delegates from around the world will meet for the next five days in an attempt to find common ground on multiple areas of disagreement before convening in Denmark this December to try to forge a legally binding international […]

Suddenly, a few reasons to be optimistic about Copenhagen

Suddenly, unexpectedly, there is a ray of hope in the air, hope that a significant global climate deal may yet be struck at December’s talks in Copenhagen. It could herald the start of a successful agreement, or it could dissolve just as rapidly into despair. And the coming week will do much to determine which. […]

Japan election a shot in the arm for climate talks

The change in governments in Japan could make Yvo de Boer’s job of shepherding a new climate deal easier.World Economic Forum via Flickr“If we continue at this rate we are not going to make it,” concluded a grim-faced Yvo de Boer at the end of the latest session of international climate talks in Bonn last […]