EDF Talks Global Climate

Barcelona: nearing consensus or merely contentious?

You have a down day and it’s followed by an up day, that’s how negotiations go…. Thus the chairman of Barcelona’s closing plenary session summarized a roller coaster week.

Strong words were uttered in Barcelona as tensions built over who should do what between developing and industrial nations. The source of most friction is the fate of the Kyoto Protocol — developing nations don’t want to give up Kyoto without a strong commitment to a new and stronger agreement.

African nations actually walked out of a session Monday, stalling one track of talks for 24 hours. By Thursday some participants were lowering expectations for a climate treaty in December altogether.

But if Thursday was a down day, we bounced back Friday. In the closing plenary, instead of fireworks, nations took the microphone, one after the other, reiterated their positions and then stated their deep commitment to reaching a strong outcome in Copenhagen, establishing or leading to a firm and binding global climate treaty.

Not that all tensions were resolved. Far from it. Some nations are calling for a single agreement, others for a two track outcome — where Kyoto would continue until a stronger global treaty can be reached.

But if Friday was an up day, there is certainly more excitement to come.

Posted in Barcelona / Leave a comment

House staffer draws interest in Barcelona

You know something’s afoot when a 9 a.m. talk by a U.S. House staffer draws more than 50 people. But it happened at an EDF panel on U.S. legislation at the climate talks in Barcelona — where U.S. moves to cap carbon emissions are a major topic of interest.
Read More »

Posted in Barcelona / Leave a comment

Bangkok climate talks… in pictures

Climate negotiators receive a warm welcome upon arriving at the UN conference center in Bangkok…
BKK09 WEB Welcome
Read More »

Posted in Bangkok / Leave a comment

IEA data: cleaning up the atmosphere and the economy

An excerpt of the 2009 IEA energy report released in Bangkok shows global energy emissions are down 3 percent this year due to the global economic crisis.

Ironically that could give us just enough breathing room to keep atmospheric CO2 concentration below 450 parts per million as we ramp up investment in renewable sources.
Read More »

Posted in Bangkok / Leave a comment

True or False? N.Zealand a climate slacker?

Land-use emissions expert Jason Funk writes from Washington

New Zealand has always been environmentally progressive, but it got slammed this week when it offered up a range of emissions reduction targets for a global climate deal. Some groups practically called NZ a slacker for offering to cut 10% to 20% below 1990 levels. They wanted targets of 25% to 40% below 1990 levels, what the IPCC calls for from industrial countries. So, is it true? Is NZ becoming a climate slacker?
Read More »

Posted in Other / Leave a comment

Bonn 2: Text on table, horse-trading begins

The Bonn 2 UN climate talks opened in Germany today, and this could be the session that produces a rough outline of the scope and ambition we can expect from a new 2009 global agreement to stop runaway climate change.
Read More »

Posted in Bonn, Bonn 2 / 3 Responses