Copenhagen Summit – Day 11 Summary
After the Danish COP presidency was forced to give up on creating consensus around a draft text for a political climate deal, negotiations broke the deadlock Thursday and continued on a two-track basis.
Sarkozy: Failure in Copenhagen would be a catastrophe - European leaders expressed themselves in no uncertain terms when addressing fellow heads of state and governments attending the penultimate day of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen.
Brown urges Copenhagen to overcome obstacles to a deal - Prime Minister Gordon Brown will deliver an impassioned plea this morning to fellow world leaders to ‘make the desirable possible’ by overcoming their differences.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown addresses climate summit – ‘In these few days in Copenhagen, which will be blessed or blamed for generations to come, we cannot permit the politics of narrow interest to prevent a policy for human survival.’
Kyoto proponents win first round - The Copenhagen negotiations broke the deadlock on Thursday and are now moving forward on a two-track basis that maintains the integrity of the Kyoto protocol.
Uphill struggle for ambitious deal - The Danish Presidency has given up on its ambition to create consensus on a text that would form the basis of a global political deal to combat global warming, reports a Danish daily.
China willing to detail emission effort – According to Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei China is ready for “dialogue and cooperation that is not intrusive, that does not infringe on China’s sovereignty”.
The US insists on transparency – In partnership with other countries, the US will try to mobilize 100 billion dollars a year for climate aid by 2020, according to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The US insists that funding will only be granted if developing countries allow for full transparency of their emissions.
China signals hope for deal - China was reported to signal an operational accord out of reach. Now China’s climate change ambassador says China has not given up hope for a deal.
COP15 agree on procedure - At Thursday noon, the delegates at the UN climate conference decided to continue the climate talks in two tracks, one on the Kyoto Protocol, another on the Climate Change Convention.
Obama won’t break new ground at summit – US officials stressed Wednesday that when Obama travels to the climate conference in Denmark this week he won’t bring anything to the talks beyond Washington’s already stated goals.
Emissions pledges do not match needs - Emissions cuts offered so far at the Copenhagen summit will lead to global temperatures rising by an average of three degrees, a confidential UN analysis obtained by The Guardian reveals.
>>>Full in depth article visit COP15 and Act on Copenhagen
>>> View other MoreEco News & Views Summit Summary’s
December 18, 2009
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Copenhagen Summit – Day 5 Summary
After two days of intense negotiations and bargaining, EU leaders gathered in Brussels agreed on funding to help poor countries cope with climate change. Meanwhile, a UN working group at the Copenhagen conference produced the first official draft for a global climate deal.
EU putting more money on the table - EU leaders say they have agreed to commit 2.4 billion euro (3.6 billion US dollars) a year until 2012 to help poorer countries combat global warming. On Friday, EU leaders also agreed to reduce their emissions by 30 percent from 1990 levels.
Yvo de Boer: EU billions a boost to talks – The European Union’s decision to fund 7.2 billion euro for tackling global warming over the next three years is “hugely encouraging” for the climate conference process, says the UN climate chief.
First official draft on climate deal – A key working group under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) came up with a six-page text Friday. The draft may form the core of a new global agreement to combat climate change beyond 2012, when the present framework, the Kyoto Protocol, expires.
Russia sets conditions for climate deal – A new global climate change deal should take Russia’s low greenhouse gas emissions in recent years into account, a Russian presidential adviser insisted Friday.
Chinese official: Stern “irresponsible” – In unusually blunt language, China’s Vice Foreign Minister He Yafei said on Friday that he was “shocked” by US climate envoy Todd Stern’s comments earlier this week that China shouldn’t expect any American public climate aid money, and that the US was not in any debt to the world for its historically high carbon emissions.
G-77 chief negotiator walked out in anger – Chief negotiator for 130 developing countries believes that the UN climate change conference “will probably be wrecked by the bad intentions of some people”.
>>>Full in depth article visit COP15 and Act on Copenhagen
>>> View other MoreEco News & Views Summit Summary’s
December 12, 2009
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Copenhagen Summit – Day 4 Summary
It’s day five of the negotiations and UK Ministers are starting to arrive, gearing up for the Ministerial segment of these crucial negotiations. Ed Miliband has joined the UK negotiating team and will today go into a series of bilateral meetings with key counterparts including the United States, China, South Africa and Denmark.
Yesterday the overarching plenary was suspended, but the negotiations have continued in other sessions on issues such as technology, finance, and adaptation.
As always the team at MoreEco have summarised the events of Day 4 for your.
Capping temperatures is ‘achievable’ says AVOID scientist - Carbon emissions must start to fall within the next 10 years to keep the rise in global temperatures below the 2 degree C level that would trigger environmental devastation, one of the UK Government’s leading climate scientists says.
US is determined to achieve strong agreement – Stern – The chief negotiator for the United States says that Washington is determined to get the ’strongest possible agreement’ in Copenhagen. Todd Stern said he was under no illusion that success would be easy but said that there was a strong political commitment to an agreement from the US Government.
A message from Global Agenda Council Members to World Leaders - More than 200 senior figures across business, finance and academia have called on world leaders to agree a ‘bold new deal’ to curb global warming and generate low carbon growth. The signatories, who are members of the Global Agenda Council on climate change of the World Economic Forum, an independent body, warned that climate change threatened to put ‘our very society at risk’.
Sweden pledges 800 million euro for climate change fund – Sweden says it will give 800 million euro (1.2 billion US dollars) to help developing nations fight climate change.
G-77: Personal call on President Obama - The Group of 77, representing the majority of the world’s developing countries, urges the US to join the Kyoto Protocol and commit to emission reductions comparable to those of other industrialized nations.
>>>Full in depth article visit COP15 and Act on Copenhagen
>>> View other MoreEco News & Views Summit Summary’s
December 11, 2009
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Copenhagen Summit – Day 3 Summary
The third day of the UN climate conference in Copenhagen saw another political argument between the two biggest players – and polluters – China and the United States.
China: the US and EU must present deeper cuts – The United States and the European Union (EU) are expected by the Chinese delegation to bring more notable emission reductions targets to the Copenhagen climate talks. At a press conference Tuesday, the Deputy Head of the Chinese delegation, Su Wei (photo above), said neither the US, the EU, nor Japan had offered sufficient cuts in their greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
US fires back at China – Statements by Su Wei, Deputy Head of the Chinese COP15 delegation, on lack of ambitions from the US were opposed by Todd Stern, President Barack Obama’s climate change envoy, as he arrived Wednesday at the conference in Copenhagen.
Developing countries split on demands – Small island states and poor African nations on Wednesday wanted the climate conference to aim at a legally binding deal tougher than the Kyoto Protocol. Richer developing countries opposed the proposal.
EPA chief: US will regulate CO2 with common sense – The United States for the first time outlined a dual path toward cutting greenhouse gases that would involve both President Barack Obama’s administration and the US Congress to reduce greenhouse emissions.
Denmark ready to pay its share – Denmark – the host country of the ongoing UN climate change conference – has put money on the table for adaptation to climate change in developing countries.
COP15 Video Highlights – Watch highlights from day 3 of the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15) – recorded on December 9, 2009.
DECC Delegate Update -DECC delegate gives an update from day three of the Copenhagen negotiations
>>> Source & full articles visit COP15 website
December 10, 2009
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Play the Oxfam Climate Challenge with Heather Graham and Mackenzie Crook
Climate change is happening now. It is already costing the lives of the poorest and most vulnerable people; those who suffer first and worst. This is a problem that can be solved.
In December, in Copenhagen, the world’s leaders will meet to discuss a united response to the problem of climate change. This conference offers the world its best chance yet to agree a solution. The solution must be fair and safe for all – and it must be binding.
Think you know about climate change?
Well here’s your chance to prove it. Take Oxfam’s climate challenge quiz. Play along with Heather Graham and Mackenzie Crook. Test your knowledge. Challenge your friends. And to find out more about Oxfam’s climate change campaign, head to http://www.oxfam.org/climate
Games include: Boiling Point; Trains, Planes and Bananas; and Pollution Solution.
There’s a button to sign an Oxfam petition on climate change and an option to share the game on your Facebook account. Oxfam have also hooked the climate challenge up with Nokia phones, so it’s available as an Ovi app.
Don’t forget you can do all your eco christmas shopping at Oxfam to support their causes and still earn 8% MoreEco cash back.
November 26, 2009
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Recycling is UK’s favourite activity!
70 per cent of households always separate their rubbish for recycling, but only 2 per cent buy their energy on a green tariff, according to the early findings of a major new annual household Survey, called Understanding Society, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).
Preliminary results from 1500 respondents show that those who own their own home are more likely to separate their rubbish (83 per cent) than those in rented accommodation (59 per cent), whilst less than one in a hundred households have solar water heating (0.5 per cent) or solar energy panels (0.5 per cent). Initial findings also show that switching off the lights in unused rooms (82 per cent) and not leaving the television on standby (67 per cent) are significantly more popular than taking fewer flights (16 per cent), car sharing (15 per cent) and not buying items because they have too much packaging (8 per cent).
Green behaviours costing the least money and effort are currently the most popular with the British public, despite the fact that 59 per cent of people think that if things continue on their current course we will soon experience a major environmental disaster.
A fuller picture of environmental and other behaviours and attitudes based on the first annual survey of 100,000 individuals from 40,000 households for Understanding Society will be published at a later date.
With Copenhagen Climate Change Conference just a couple of weeks away, the environment is likely to remain a hot topic amongst the British public, says Professor Nick Buck of the Institute for Social and Economic Research (ISER) at the University of Essex, which is leading the new research: “One of the unique features of Understanding Society is that we speak to the same people each year, which means we can see how people’s behaviours and attitudes change over time. The information we collect about how ‘green’ people are will play a key role in informing the ongoing debate about environmental issues.”
The UK’s favourite green behaviours…
- Switching off lights in unused room – 82%
- Not leaving TV on standby - 67%
- Take own bag when shopping – 55%
- Don’t keep tap on when brushing teeth – 55%
- Putting more clothes on when cold – 45%
- Walk or cycle on short journeys – 40%
- Use public transport rather than car – 29%
- Buying recycled paper products – 28%
- Taking fewer flights where possible – 16%
- Car sharing – 15%
- Not buying items due to too much packaging – 8%
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
ESRC Press Office:
Zoë Stevens (Tel: 01793 413218, Email: zoe.stevens@esrc.ac.uk)
November 24, 2009
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Organise a Perfect Green Christmas
Organise the perfect green Christmas this year and save money with top 10 tip guide; reduce your carbon footprint and have a more eco friendly and sustainable holiday season.
1. Serve local, healthy and seasonal December foods at your events and xmas parties. Choose vegetables that are in season and do not have to be flown in from abroad. Broccoli, cabbage and onions can all be grown without the aid of harsh chemicals so you can spend your organic pounds elsewhere.
2. Decorating your house can be one of the most enjoyable parts of Xmas. Go for ethically made and traded decorations. Natural Collection, Big Green Smile, Nigel’s Eco Store and Vita Etica all have a great range. Kids really enjoy making their own green decorations out of old scraps of material and leftovers. Try popcorn garlands – which are really fun and cheap to make and scour a woodland floor for fallen pinecones and twigs that are great for decorations!
3. E-mail party invites and Christmas cards rather than post them. There are loads of free Xmas themed party invite e-cards around or alternatively make your own out of scrap and recycled products. If you really want to send cards, choose charity ones or check out these really funky recycled ones. After the big day, make sure your Christmas cards don’t go to waste – take them to a Woodland Trust recycling point.
4. Christmas heating and lighting bills can be huge! Save cash and protect the environment by using energy saving devices such as standby busters and radiator boosters. Don’t forget to turn off the tree lights or better still try these solar powered ones.
5. Use recycled paper, gift bags or even colorful cloth to wrap the Christmas presents and instead of tape, use colorful ribbon to tie up the gifts.
6. Make a green statement this xmas! Send a message to the manufacturers of consumer goods by shopping for & buying only natural, non toxic, eco friendly, organic presents this year. Shop through www.moreeco.com for the largest selection of green retailers on one site and earn cashback and offset carbon at the same time.
7. Which makes a better tree? Artificial or a real one? Simply real ones are as they are great for the environment and can be replanted after use. If replanting isn’t an option, most local councils run Christmas tree recycling schemes. Contact yours or go to http://www.letsrecycle.com. If you need to use an artificial one avoid those made in China or Tawian which have transport costs associated with them. They also can be made with nasty chemicals, metals and plastics which can emit into our homes. Adorn with fair trade and ethical traded decorations or again make your own.
8. How do we give children what they desire but without poisoning our planet? Take electronic toys for instance. There are 900 million batteries used each year in the UK alone and many are in toys. But only 2% of batteries are currently recycled – the rest end up in landfill sites and are poisoning our planet! So what do you do? Choose an eco toy. Green and eco-friendly toys shouldn’t cost the earth so choose from a great selection here that don’t require batteries. Alternatively go for rechargeable batteries which will save you pounds throughout the year.
9. Recycle your unwanted presents. Unfortunately everyone receives at least one unwanted gift at Christmas. Many recycle their unwanted presents to charities. Local hospitals and hospices are often very pleased to receive unwanted smellies to give to patients. Or you could try Nigels Eco Store’s regifting forum or www.freecycle.org and swap them for other people’s unwanted gifts.
10. Don’t go overboard especially in the current climate and remember – reduce, reuse and recycle.
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Finally if you are stuck for eco gifts for him, her or your kids, then check out EcoTrendSpotter’s Eco Christmas Shopping Guide.
November 16, 2009
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The Road to Copenhagen: Less than 40 days to go
- Should a new legal instrument be introduced to replace Kyoto and be the foundation for a binding and comprehensive international agreement on climate?
This is what the EU would like, primarily to bring the US into the new arrangements, but the proposal met with some resistance at Bangkok. The rest of the developing world is suspicious of developed countries aiming to dodge ambitious new post-2012 targets. The approach was further undermined by the US freely acknowledging that they will be in no position to commit to any binding agreement. - Unfortunately there has been little progress on agreeing mid-term targets for developed countries and commitments from developing countries. Norway brightened the political landscape by pledging an impressive 40% cut in 2020 compared with 1990 levels, but in general the impasse remains
- Financing discussions for climate mitigation and adaptation, essentially the wealth transfer from the developed to the developing world to finance climate actions, are still focussed on the institutions necessary to administer funds rather than concrete pledges themselves.
- A strong political declaration is made to agree a way forward on how to address the post-2012 Kyoto period, which must include targets and actions
- A process is agreed on management of climate adaptation funds
- An agreement is made to continue existing and new financial market mechanisms post-2012
- A process is discussed that sees common international standards for measuring, reporting and verifying emission reductions
- An agreement is made to tackle deforestation through a global international mechanism
October 30, 2009
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Summary – International Day of Climate Action
As News & Views has posted previously, last Saturday marked the first International Day of Climate Action.
In celebration of this, the team have scored the web for the best pictures, events and features of the day.
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Best Videos
In the News
In Every Corner of the Globe
Best Pictures
International Day of Climate Action
Supermodels Strip For Climate Change
October 29, 2009
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In Every Corner of the Globe – International Day of Climate Action
350.org’s inspirational video highlighting the importance of international day of climate action:
In Every Corner of the Globe
October 27, 2009
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