Ben Jervey - OnEarth Magazine, from NRDC

Not-So-Deep Thoughts on Copenhagen

Flopenhagen...worse than useless...The Copenhagen Discord...a suicide pact...a failure.

A meaningful agreement...an important first step...better than nothing...a breakthrough...

It's safe to say that reaction to the surprising outcome of COP15--the Copenhagen Accord--have been all over the map. After two weeks of exhausting negotiations, capped off by a sleepless 48-hours, it's also safe to say that most observers and advocates don't quite have their heads around what exactly happened. I certainly don't.

So before I sit down and sift through dozens of policy analyses, hours of recorded interviews, more hours of streaming video from overnight negotiating sessions that I first watched with lead eyelids and a nodding head, and a couple score of newspaper articles from well-connected journalists, here are some random thoughts and observations from my couple of weeks in Copenhagen. (And please pardon any typos and run-ons--the two long, difficult weeks ...read full post

Comments (1) | December 21, 2009
Is the U.S. Complicit in a Startling 11th Hour Greenwash Proposal?

Many here at the Bella Center (late...check that, very late Tuesday night) are reacting with a mix of shock and outrage at word of a new proposal put forth by France and Ethiopia that is being alternatively described as weak, compromised, and dangerous.

The appeal by France and "Ethiopia, representing Africa" is calling for a so-called "Copenhagen Accord," and has some good on the surface: it would be binding on all parties immediately upon signature, it would lead to a "legal international instrument" "as early as possible in 2010," and the finance numbers and timeline are actually encouraging.

But the overall lack of ambition completely ignores the scientific reality, and the modest mitigation targets would--to be blunt--allow for utter devastation throughout the African continent that Ethiopia claims to be ...read full post

Comments (3) | December 15, 2009
Tiny Tuvalu Calls Out the U.S. In Emotional Plea

Update: Video of Tuvalu's intervention:

Tuvalu is turning into the little island nation that could just be the game changer in these talks. After a couple of days spent digging in their heels on the legal form of a potential deal, and then making headlines again yesterday with the release of the AOSIS (Alliance of Small Island States) draft text, Tuvalu open this morning's plenary meeting of the resumed COP with an impassioned plea, which many observers immediately called the signature moment of the talks thus far. In an earnest, emotional address, lead ...read full post

Comments (2) | December 12, 2009
Threatened Island Nations Put Forth a Proposal at Copenhagen: Survival

After a couple of days spent digging in their heels, the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS) went on the offensive today, formally offering a draft text -- they're calling it a "survival pact" -- for a legally-binding treaty here in Copenhagen.
The move served a couple of functions. First, it put the legal form of the agreement front and center in the discussion; and, second, it set some baseline numbers for mitigation and finance.
It also puts at the forefront -- in an early "shared vision" statement -- a couple of bottom lines for the planet: 350ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and 1.5 degrees Celcius temperature rise. (In contract, 450ppm and 2 degrees have become the de facto targets for most developed countries.)
As Bill McKibben said, "It's one of the first proposals from this whole conference that takes note of the fact that we're in a crisis, and that ...read full post

Comments (1) | December 11, 2009
COP15 Talks Grind to a Halt

It was déjà vu all over again today in Copenhagen. Two days in a row, the small island nation of Tuvalu flexed its newfound muscle and brought the talks to a screeching halt. A literal halt--both of the main negotiating "tracks"--the COP MOP and the COP (it wouldn't be a UN meeting without confounding acronyms)--are currently suspended.
Here's how it went down. On Wednesday, during the COP (Conference of Parties, where nations are working towards a complimentary and parallel agreement to the Kyoto Protocol, and what most people think of when they think of the Copenhagen Climate Summit), Tuvalu called for another new track of meetings (a contact group, in the lingo) to discuss some proposals, particularly theirs, that would result in a new legally-binding protocol to come out of these talks. Some countries, specifically China, India, Saudi Arabia, and Venezeula, weren't so keen on this idea. Lovers of the Kyoto Protocol, which clearly defines them as ...read full post

Comments (3) | December 10, 2009
What to hope for in Copenhagen (and what to actually expect)

Some of the more pessimistic people I've talked to in the run-up to the meetings in Copenhagen speak as if these talks are a foregone conclusion. To me it seems a little silly to predict what's going to happen. What the heck are an estimate 50,000 advocates doing flocking to the city if they don't think they can actually impact the procedings? (Though I guess you could've said that about the Democratic National Convention in Denver last year. And, yes, guilty as charged, I was there.) There are obviously plenty of directions that these talks could go, and where it winds up, nobody really knows. Perhaps most interesting, wherever it winds up, there won't be any clear consensus about whether COP15 was a success, a failure, or something in between.

While the devil really is in the details for a treaty like this--any line of text could make all the difference in the world for some country or continent or business or tribe-the Copenhagen talks will be most ...read full post

Comments (1) | December 4, 2009
Points of Contention in Copenhagen

Two full years ago in Bali delegates agreed that this December in Copenhagen would be the time and place to finalize an international climate deal. And with very few exceptions (looking at you, Mr. Inhofe), everyone heading to Copenhagen wants to get a deal done. So, after all this time and given the widespread motivation, what exactly is the holdup?

Compromise, it seems, is really tough, especially when sovereign nations are being asked to make concessions that are perceived to threaten their economies (as industrialized countries fear), their development plans (see China and India), or even their very survival (in the case of the most vulnerable and least developed countries).

So there remain a tricky set of sticking points, or specific contentious issues, that could make or break these talks. These range from higher-level, bird's eye view shared vision ...read full post

Comments (0) | December 3, 2009
Who's who in the UN Climate Meetings

On the surface, UN climate meetings are a beautiful thing. Here are people from all over the world, literally from all but a handful of countries, coming together in the spirit of international cooperation to solve climate change. It's flat out inspiring.

I say "on the surface" because as you get familiar with the inner workings of the UNFCCC (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change), you discover the absurdities of its beaurocracy (sub-groups of contact groups of Ad Hoc Working groups), the glaring inefficiencies (tens of thousands of pages of "non-papers" piling up at the Info Desk, replaced daily), and a startling lack of urgency that is exemplified by the fact that no meeting ever starts anywhere close to on time, nor ever seems to produce an immediately tangible outcome.

But let's focus, for a moment, on the positive. On the people. One of the first things I learned upon entering the intersessional meeting in ...read full post

Comments (0) | December 2, 2009
The Loneliness of the American Climate Advocate

One of these things is not like the others. Read on to find out why...

It's not easy for me to admit this, but it's awfully embarrassing to be an American in the international climate arena. Because, like it or not, the international community still views the United States as the biggest obstacle to a fair, ambitious, and binding global climate treaty. From what I saw on the ground this Fall at the "intersessional" meetings in Bangkok and Barcelona --where all the proposals, submissions and "non-papers" were supposed to be wrestled down to a manageable negotiating text--it's hard to fault the world for having such an impression.

Forget the fact that Americans are still, by an enormous margin, the world's largest per capita emitters of greenhouse gasses. Perhaps the biggest source of frustration has ...read full post

Comments (1) | December 1, 2009
Does Copenhagen still matter? (Hint: Yes, and here’s why)

You've probably heard the bad news: There's no chance for a deal in Copenhagen. So why should you care what happens at the worldwide climate summit that opens in Denmark a week from today?
If you've already been following the road to Copenhagen and know what these climate talks are all about, feel free to skip ahead. If not, here's a basic rundown.
Two years ago in Bali, countries meeting under the UNFCCC (the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) agreed to a "roadmap" that pegged these December meetings in Copenhagen as the deadline to finalize a binding agreement for long-term cooperative action on climate change.
As you may know, there's already an international climate treaty in place: the Kyoto ...read full post

Comments (3) | November 30, 2009