Ever since arriving at F&ES over a year ago, I heard in more than one occasion that the participation of Yale F&ES students at COP meetings was a joke and that our contributions were minimal. The money should be put to better use some would say. Stay home and prevent a large number of GHG emissions from student travel was another argument. I must admit I largely agreed with these statements–until now.
Having prepared myself for the COP by interning at the Papua New Guinea UN Mission this Fall, and now almost two weeks into COP17, my views have changed. There are ~15 of us supporting the delegation of the Maldives and that of Afghanistan. In this capacity, I see very clearly how our presence adds value to the…
“The present U.S. position of no new agreement until post- 2020 is really blowing negotiations apart,” Papua New Guinea’s chief climate delegate, Kevin Conrad, said.
“We can’t wait for the U.S.,” Italian Environment Minister Corrado Clini said.
‘It is a betrayal not just of small island nations, many of whom would be destined for extinction, but a betrayal of all humanity. There are no plausible technical, economic or legal impediments for not taking the actions required by science,” said Ambassador Dessima Williams, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations and Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States.
In the corridors here at COP17, a negotiator for the US delegation gave 3 reasons Americans don’t want the Obama administration to…
The EU is learning the hard way that the way to make friends at climate negotiations is to support the Kyoto Protocol and its obligatory emissions reductions, and the way to make enemies is to actually do something to reach Kyoto Protocol targets. The EU’s Aviation Directive is a proposal to include the carbon emissions associated with international aviation flights under its emission trading scheme (ETS), to start in January next year. And it has met with opposition from China, the U.S., Japan, and dozens of other countries, not to mention a suit by U.S. Airlines and their trade association in the European Court of Justice, set to be decided on December 21 (A preliminary opinion from the court has already indicated that it thinks the Directive is…
F&ES is staying true to it principles of sustainability and environmental justice by offsetting the greenhouse gas emissions that will be generated by the entire Yale delegation through the official COP17 offset program: CEBA.
The Durban CEBA Initiative is a partnership between the eThekwini Municipality and The Wildlands Conservation Trust aimed at uplifting local communities by creating ‘green’ jobs for the poor and unemployed, restoring the ecosystems that are important to the welfare of these communities, and reducing collective vulnerability to climate change.
Each CEBA credit purchased employs one local community member for a day to undertake a range of climate protection work, such as invasive alien plant (IAP) clearing, ecosystem restoration, or community recycling. This work is directed towards both reducing climate change impacts through carbon sequestration…
This post originally appeared on ChinaFAQs.
By Angel Hsu, Jonathan Smith, and Max Song
The idea of a total cap on energy consumption in China, first suggested last March before the National People’s Congress has reemerged in Durban, and surprisingly there are now suggestions that China might consider some kind of a cap on carbon emissions. This has been suggested apparently as part of domestic policy rather than as a negotiating position, but details are very sketchy.
Over the last week, we have been witnessing an active debate amongst Chinese academics and researchers on energy and carbon caps, although these discussions have taken place separately, from outside the plenary floor and in the multitude of side events the Chinese delegation has been hosting. Chinese…
Ms. Tina Joemat-Pettersson, Minister of Agriculture SA, at the opening plenary of Forest day 5 © Theodore Varns
Forest day celebrated its fifth birthday at COP 17. This year’s event was centered on discussions on how forests can be better harnessed to slow the pace of global warming and help communities adapt to the changing environment. The theme was from Policy to Practice with a particular focus on the
Durban City Hall
We’d like to give a shout out to the host city Volunteers of COP17 who have rounded out our experience of navigating this conference and downtown Durban with added cheer and comfort. Amongst thousands of scurrying diplomats, activists, and bureaucrats, the volunteers remain enthusiastic, helpful, and calm. As Dani said, “they are actors too” and I think she’s right.
The host city volunteers are students, retirees, and local citizens who can be found just about everywhere. More than once, I’ve been pulled aside by a volunteer who read my confused face and just knew “that girl needs some help”….with finding specific meetings among countless conference rooms or procuring a translation…
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon addresses the high-level opening plenary session.
Today 12 heads of state and 130 ministers arrived for the official start of the high-level segment of COP17. Pulling overtime shifts during the first week and through Monday night, the subsidiary bodies and first week negotiators have worked to get “clean” (i.e. largely non-bracketed text) options together for the big guns to ultimately decide on.
The opening plenary address for the high-level segment had speeches by South African President Jacob Zuma, Prince Albert II of Monaco, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, and other heads of state, but it was UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon who made the most unexpected comments during…
China’s Vice Minister for Climate Change Xie Zhenhua launches the China Pavilion alongside UNFCCC Secretariat Cristiana Figueres.
This post originally appeared on ChinaFAQs.
When China launched its first official pavilion at a UN climate conference on Sunday, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Secretariat Cristiana Figueres was there alongside China’s NDRC Vice Minister Xie Zhenhua to cut the ribbon. Swarmed by journalists in the standing-room only conference center of the China pavilion in Durban, Figueres applauded China for being a “trend-setter” in global renewable energy, resonating around the world and during the first week of climate negotiations in Durban.
“As I look at what has happened here at Durban in the negotiations this past week, what I see is a sailboat that has been…
