Monday, March 26, 2007

Local voices, global choices: Encouraging debate about climate change in the South

Panos London promotes media coverage of development issues in the global south. Of particular interest to this website is there work reporting issues relating to COP 12 in Nairobi. Melting Point is the name of this project. The website is here.

A webcast presenting the work they do can be found here, report here.

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Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Top Climate stories via the Pew Centre for Global Climate Change

Top Climate stories via the Pew Centre for Global Climate Change newsletter.

TOP STORIES FROM 2006
 
Momentum toward action on climate change in the U.S. grew to an all-time high
during 2006 and we anticipate continued progress in 2007. Below we highlight
some of the major events of the past year.


PROGRESS TOWARD U.S. FEDERAL POLICY

---Elections
The 2006 elections have significantly improved the prospects of reasonable
climate policy
in the United States. Read the Pew Center's analysis of how the
elections will impact U.S. climate policy.
 
---Congressional Proposals
During the 109th Congress (2005-2006), 103 bills, resolutions, and amendments
specifically addressing global climate change and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions
were introduced.
 
STATES TAKE ACTION

---California Passes Landmark Legislation
California, the world's twelfth largest emitter of greenhouse gases, passes
landmark legislation (AB 32) to cap all greenhouse gas emissions from major
industries at 1990 levels by 2020.
 
INTERNATIONAL DIALOGUE APPROACHES PIVOTAL TIME

---COP 12
Climate negotiators from around the world gathered in November for the United
Nations Climate Change Conference in Nairobi, Kenya. Read about Pew's activities
and its summary of COP 12:
 
SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE OF HUMAN ROLE IN CLIMATE CHANGE GROWS

---Read a concise summary of the latest strong evidence that greenhouse gases
released by human activities are the main cause of contemporary global warming. 

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Saturday, December 16, 2006

Website of the Week:Impacts of climate change in India.

 Website of the week: Indian environmental magazine "Down to Earth".

This website has a guide to the impacts of climate change in India (just click next at the base of the linked article) and a review of what was and was not achieved at Nairobi.

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Thursday, December 14, 2006

Climate Blog Highlights: Monsoon Rains, Carbon Credits, Budget Breakdown, Reforestation...

David T the Low Carbon Kid has a breakdown of the environmental measures announced in Gordon Browns' pre-budjet report. This is a better summary than i have seen up to now so check it out if you are interested in seeing just how green the Labour government is.

There is an interesting article about forest preservation and reforestation in South Africa here, via the CDM blog.

There is a post about the impending refugee crisis due to climate change over at the Climate Progress. There is also a post about the link between extreme rainfall during India's monsoon season and climate change.

Dave Sag over at the Carbon Footprints blog has several interesting posts recently, first off there is apostabout a recent feasibility study looking into carbon credits (AKA carbon rationing, AKA domestic tradeable quotas, AKA all sorts of things). This study (pdf) as carried out at the request of environment minister David Miliband who also has a blog. If you are interested in this idea you may also be interested in another report on the topic by the Tyndall Centre. Dave also highlights many other interesting stories some of which will receive blog postings in there own right on my blog later.

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Saturday, December 09, 2006

Website of the Week: Development and Adaptation Days



This weeks website of the week is the Development and Adaptation days section of the International Institute of Environment and Development (IIED) website.

The IIED is based in London and do a great deal of important work focused on "Mainstreaming Adaptation". Clearly a fair degree of climate change is already locked in and whilst we may not be justified in assuming complete failure by nation states in curbing there emissions it is abudently clear that there has been a period of political domancy that is going to hit the poorest hard. Adaptation stratagies are therefore a very real requirement for the comming century, nowhere more so than on the marginal grazing lands of Africa's Sahel.

Infact, as mentioned previously the possibility for conflict driven by climate change is only to real. Jeffrey Sachs has interesting things to say about Dar Fur on this account.


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Communicating Climate Change


Language, facinating isn't it? 

I named this post communicating climate change as the links are all either directly or indirectly from the Fynmense blog which uses these words.

Of course, the idea of simple communication being possible is interesting. If we think that modern day media is that neutral then we are beyond naive. If this where our only problem then I think we would have things licked...all we would need to do is a bit of basic education. However, although I can quite easily explain climate change, its impacts, our responsibility and our possible responses; I can rarely persuade people that there participation is required and that this is not merely a personal interest.

If we where being honest, it is apparent that my problem is that i cannot sell conceptual products. I need to be better not at communicating but at marketing climate change. We would also admit that the news media are superb at selling ideas to there chosen demographic and that what they need to do is accept this. Climate change must be discussed as  an urgen human problem with very real and feasible human fixes the media must be prepared to constructively engage in spreading this message.

There is a speech transcript from a UNFCCC side event at Nairobi here. There is also a detailed breakdown of the speches on the CISERO website.


Speeches are by:

Dr Rajendra K Pachauri assumed his current responsibilities as the head of TERI (Tata Energy Research Institute) in 1981. In April 2002, Dr Pachauri was elected Chairman of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), which was established by the World Meteorological Organization and United Nations Environment Programme in 1988.

Pål Prestrud is the current director of CICERO (Center for International Climate and Environmental Research – Oslo) and vice chair of ACIA (Arctic Climate Impact Assessment). He holds a doctorate in biology from the University of Oslo, and his previous positions include division director for the Division of Science and Technology at the Research Council of Norway, research director at the Norwegian Polar Institute, and deputy director general at the Section for Polar Affairs and Cooperation with Russia, Department for International Cooperation at the Ministry of the Environment.

Nick Nuttall is spokesperson for United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Jules Boykoff holds a Ph.D. in political science. His work on U.S. media coverage of global warming, which he co-authored with Maxwell Boykoff (Oxford University, Environmental Change Institute), has appeared in a variety of scholarly and popular publications. Al Gore used their research in his film and book “An Inconvenient Truth”. Boykoff teaches political science at Pacific University in the United States.

Liisa Antilla holds a master’s degree in human geography from King’s College London. She is an independent researcher living in Seattle, Washington, USA. Some of her work on media coverage of climate change is posted at www.oneblueworld.blogspot.com.

Alister Doyle has been Reuters Environment Correspondent since 2004. Based in Oslo, he has worked in more than 30 countries with Reuters since 1982, with postings in Paris, Brussels, London, Central and South America.

Marc Morano joined the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee as the majority Communications Director in June 2006 after a decade and a half as a working journalist, documentary maker and national television correspondent.

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Wednesday, December 06, 2006

REDD -- REDucing emissions from Deforestation

I recieved the following email in the daily round of notices form the IISD's Climate-L mailing list. If you are interested in climate policy you should probably tollerate the high traffic and subscribe, there is lots of interesting info available.

Dear climate-l readers,

we would like to make you aware of an
article discussing recent developments regarding the issue of reducing emission
from deforestation (REDD). The publication also provides estimates for the
potential market value of an international mitigation scheme and for potential
incomes of individual countries.

The article - entitled “Nairobi talks made progress on forest conservation for global warming emissions credits - is available at on here.

The research paper analyses key implications of different international policy approaches for the environmental effectiveness of an agreement on REDD, as well as for its economic and political attractiveness to different stakeholders. It also addresses potential co-benefits of carbon trading solutions for biodiversity conservation and sustainable development, suggests ways to maximise synergies, and considers solutions to several unresolved negotiation issues.

Comments are highly welcome!

Johannes Ebeling Consultant EcoSecurities Direct +44 (0)1865 264 010 Mobile +44 (0)770 799 2110 Tel +44 (0)1865 202 635 Email johannes.ebeling@ecosecurities.com www.ecosecurities.com

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Thursday, November 16, 2006

Reports from Nairobi Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC COP/MOP)

Interest in all things Nairobi not sated by the huge number of blogs originating there?

Perhaps its time to read some dispatches from the professionals. And you better know I don't mean the media!

The International Institute for Sustainable Development produces a very dispasionate and somewhat technical two page report on the conferences progress every day. You could love it or hate it for these reasons.

The CAN International produce a somewhat less detached daily report, which is still very interesting, many will probably think more interesting.


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Wednesday, November 15, 2006

Blogs on/from the unfccc COP12 / MOP2 talks in Nairobi, Kenya.

Last year a good number of blogs where developed by various groups to cover the cop11 /mop in Montreal. Some of these are still going, most are not. This year I have collated the best UNFCCC blogs that have come to my attention.

Itsgettinghotinhere Set up last year as "Dispatches from the Global Youth Climate Movement", this is definetly one of the best blogs about climate change campaigns, with a whole section currently dedicated to Nairobi.

CAN International The umbrella group for many NGO's at the climate negotiations, CAN provide a more indepth look at the issues than you may be used to, discussion of Article x part y are fairly common but the assumption is of an understanding of the main issues rather than a legal training. Fossil of the week is also a popular activity of their's.


CDM A blog about the clean development mechanism from the people involved in the process. Facinating stuff, looking at the practice of largescale carbon offsets rather than the theory.

Climate Equity Watch Some strong coverage by an on location jornalist. Probably one of the best blogs around for an overview of what is really going on.

Daily coverage of the United Nations Climate Change Conference - Nairobi
2006 6 - 17 November 2006 United Nations Office at Nairobi, Gigiri (Coverage
from November 10-17 2006)


Can the Climate Change its Spots A blog from Greenpeace's "solar generation", news from Nairobi on the progress they are having promoting a renewable future.

A youth movement against Climate Change demanding Clean Energy NOW!

Generation Kyoto A newly created blog by the College of Atlantic Students ( sounds like a clandestine group of people from Atlantis dosent it?) Interesting--and regularly updated, blog.

Dispatches from COP12/COPMOP2 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol

WRI As you would expect from the World Resources Institute, and invaluable guide to the main currents at this years climate talks.

Some tips I have recieved:

Jake Torrie Greenpeace Canada are posting the blog enteries of Jake Torrie, nice coverage from a representative of the ever vigorous Canadian Youth Movement
(they have every reason to be pissed dont they!?)

Lucy Giarud is blogging on the world bank's Private Sector Development (PSD) blog. If you think my blog is to traditionally 'green' or leftest (i do at times) then you might
like to take a look at this blog with a business orientated slant on things.

The blogs bellow are good climate blogs but dont (or havent yet bloged from nairobi about recent developments)

Canadian Youth Climate Coallition A blog about climate activism in Canada. No reports back from Nairobi yet but there should be soon as they have representatives at the talks.

UN Dispatches The official UN blog on climate change and issues of key concern. Hardly a news blog but worth a read for the latest UN announcements.

Blue Climate A very nice general USA based climate change blog. Large domestic focus but also international negotiations coverage.

Climate Progress A general climate change blog that is well worth a read if somewhat light on UNFCCC coverage.

DePaul University A general climate change blog with current focus on Nairobi, this isn't on site but I include it as I have learned a couple of new things from reading it.

Cool The Planet Interested in a non-western perspective? This communal blog is from Greenpeace south asia. The focus is only partially Nairobi but a different perspective on climate politics.

Greenpeace A range of blogs from greenpeace supporters.

If you have a blog that you would like to be included in this list then please leave a comment or email me the link. I am trying to make this a useful index of the best relavent blogs so that people can find them all in one place.



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Sunday, November 12, 2006

Climate change protest in Nairobi to call for progress in climate talks.

Climate change demo in Nairobi on 11th November



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Friday, November 10, 2006

News from Nairobi the International Climate Talks Cop/Mop and Much More.

The global climate talks have gotten underway in Nairobi.

I don't believe the major political wrangling is currently underway but there have been many side events and the technochrats are already busy looking at a range of issues.

Oppening Press Release: Download

Kenya's President warned that climate change threatened the development of billions of the worlds poor.


"We face a genuine danger that recent gains in poverty reduction will be thrown into reverse in coming decades, particularly for the poorest communities on the continent of Africa."


While i`m looking at the UNFCCC website here are a few recent pieces of news:

A new report by UNEP has also been release to coincide with the start of the conference, this report highlights the challenge faced by Africa due to climate change.

Achim Steiner, United Nations Under-Secretary General and Executive Director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), said:

Climate change is underway and the international community must respond by offering well targeted assistance to those countries in the front-line which are facing increasing impacts such as extreme droughts and floods and threats to infrastructure from phenomena like rising sea levels

Note: A superb related report entitled "Africa: Up in Smoke 2" was recently published by the working group on climate change and development.

Joint Implementation was also launched not long back. Somewhat of a forgotten part of Kyoto, JI joins the CDM and emissions trading to complete the range of 'flexibility mechanisms'.

Finally, a press release that i really should have mentioned at the time. The Kyoto/Montreal track is not enough. Not just in terms of ambitions but in terms of internal workings. A new climate pact is required according to UNFCCC Executive Secretary Yvo De Boer

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