COP16

When Christiana Figueres took over the reigns as Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), she emphasized lowered expectations for the COP16 climate talks. In comments made last summer, Figueres predicted that a full and binding climate treaty, if ever reached, would “certainly not happen in my lifetime” Now that COP16 has ended on a much more positive note, …

The Weekly Mulch from the Media Consortium by Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger (reposted with permission) Was Cancun Climate Conference a Success? The United Nations-led Climate Conference at Cancun was not a diplomatic disaster, but for climate activists and grassroots groups, it wasn’t a success either. Representatives sent from around the globe to hammer out an agreement on climate change were unresponsive to grassroots …

GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Anders Hellum-Alexander wraps-up the climate and environmental news headlines for the past week: The COP16 UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico has concluded with an agreement that improves on past agreements. Although, the agreement still does not save us from Climate Catastrophe. Commentary from the British Economist. Commentary from the NYTimes. The Guardian used the platform of a live blog to …

The COP16 climate talks in Cancun ended early Saturday morning on a note of cautious optimism with UNFCCC Executive Secretary saying “Cancun has done its job. The beacon of hope has been reignited and faith in the multilateral climate change process to deliver results has been restored.” Following is a press release from the UNFCCC issued earlier today: UN Climate Change Conference in Cancún …

The Weekly Mulch from the Media Consortium By Sarah Laskow, Media Consortium Blogger (reposted with permission) This year’s round of the United Nations-led climate change negotiations, ongoing in Cancun, Mexico, for the past two weeks, end today. No matter what the official outcome, the progress made on dealing with global climate change and carbon emissions will be incremental. The problem, at base, lies with …

Intransigence prevails over fate of Kyoto Protocol As the final days of the climate talks in Cancun come to pass, so do the obligatory all-night negotiating sessions in an attempt to pull out some progress at the COP16 climate conference – or perhaps just keep the Kyoto Protocol alive for further debate. In a process that demands compromise across a wide gulf of competing …

Opening remarks at a December 7 press briefing at the COP16 climate conference in Cancun by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon When I became Secretary-General, I made climate change one of my top priorities. The reason is simple. Climate change affects everything the UN does – peace and security, development, and human rights. We cannot sustain gains toward our Millennium Development Goals… or preserve the ecosystems that …