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Canada Adrift
30 Nov 2010
Let’s say you’re a tar sands loving North American government with a bit of a carbon dependency problem. You need a clever way to get away with doing nothing on climate change, and you notice that your neighbor to the south won’t have an easy time getting a cap-and-trade bill through its Congress. For Canada’s […]
A New Way to Walk the Talks – And Fabulous Prizes!
29 Nov 2010
COP 16 will be the seventh Conference of the Parties since the Kyoto Protocol entered into force in February 2005. That’s a lot of talking. And the physical layout of these meetings means there is also a great deal of walking. But, lack of progress in the negotiations shows that so far not enough governments […]
A Climate Fund Worth Fighting For
29 Nov 2010
In the lead-up to Copenhagen and since, climate finance ranked has ranked higher and higher on the list of make-or-break issues. It’s both vitally important and politically challenging. As COP16 kicks off, however, there are worrying signs that negotiators may be taking their eye off the ball and sleepwalking toward a result that does little […]
Opening Moves
29 Nov 2010
Cancun should deliver a substantial package of decisions that provides a clear framework for climate action. Such a package will move forward toward a legally binding agreement and put positive pressure on countries to go beyond their current quite inadequate pledges and commitments. The Cancun package must progress both the KP and LCA tracks and […]
No Time to Lose
9 Oct 2010
Dearest delegates, we gather you’ve been working hard behind those mostly closed doors. But let’s face it, following the failure of Copenhagen to deliver a fair, ambitious and binding agreement, the refusal all this year to set aside differences and focus on areas of convergence may yet scupper the UNFCCC talks. At Cancun, you will […]
The EU Chooses
9 Oct 2010
Next Thursday, European environment ministers will discuss whether the EU should upgrade its 2020 target to 30% unilaterally. ECO says yes! And while you are at it, make sure to meet it domestically, so that any offsetting comes on top of 30%. While several environment ministers have already indicated their support, others are holding back. […]
LULUCF: the Second Agenda
9 Oct 2010
You’ve heard about all the trouble with the logging loophole in LULUCF. But there’s another important agenda on emissions from non-forest lands under the Kyoto Protocol. Several ideas such as mandatory accounting for cropland management and grazing land management, and the introduction of a new activity category of wetland management, have languished with very little […]
Fossil of the Day: New Zealand
9 Oct 2010
A fossil is awarded to New Zealand, as an ambassador for all Annex I Parties, for bluntly declaring that if they don’t get the rules they want on forest management, they’ll have to change their overall emission reduction target. Does this mean that the LULUCF sector is just a slush fund and Copenhagen pledges are […]
The Legal Impasse: High Noon at the KP Corral
8 Oct 2010
There are a number of puzzled-looking lawyers in the hallways in Tianjin right now, and ECO admits as well to being puzzled by the refusal of China and Brazil to allow the legal matters contact group to discuss elements set out in the KP chair’s scenario note this week. It seems that since the beginning […]
LULUCF on the Leading Edge of Failure
8 Oct 2010
The LULUCF negotiations are heading towards the worst possible outcome for forests and are dragging down climate mitigation as a whole. With each passing day it looks more and more likely a deal will be cut that allows developed countries to increase their annual emissions into the foreseeable future without any real accountability. Do the national […]