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Fast-Start Disclosure
6 Oct 2010
ECO is in shock! Are we really witnessing a race to the top for the transparency of fast start finance? After months of pestering developed countries about fast-start disclosure, the United States – a country not known for its climate leadership – says it will disclose so much information that the Dutch fast start finance […]
Another day in the corridors…
6 Oct 2010
There is more than a touch of irony that on the same day the Secretariat released a compilation of Party submissions on ways to enhance the engagement of observer organizations, those same groups were kept out of all AWG-LCA drafting groups. ECO hears the reasoning for closed sessions is that negotiators will speak more […]
Another Look at Closing the Gigatonne Gap
6 Oct 2010
In narrowing the negotiating text here in Tianjin, delegates should focus on a shared vision of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5° C and atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide of no more than 350 ppm. Anything above these levels would result in a host of severe impacts, including the inundation of low-lying island nations, […]
A Question of Balance
6 Oct 2010
Eco is confused. There seem to be a number of different definitions of ‘balance’, a word that has become high fashion in the halls of the Tianjin conference centre. But what is balance? Is it ‘allow me’ or ‘after you’? There have been a range of so-called ‘balanced options’ put forth in these negotiations. […]
Walking the KP Talk
6 Oct 2010
ECO often chastises parties for too much talk and not enough action. However, yesterday’s vexed AWG-KP contact group on legal matters showed that sometimes refusing to talk blocks forward progress. If we are ever going to secure a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol – the only legally binding targets and timetables within […]
Greetings from Chinese NGOs: Huanying lai Tianjin! Welcome to Tianjin!
5 Oct 2010
The meeting this week in Tianjin is the first UN climate conference in China. We, the Chinese NGOs, want to give guests from around the world the warmest welcome and wish you all a pleasant stay in the city. Although Tianjin is a city famous for its local comedians, we hereby kindly ask the delegates […]
The Adaptation Fund Leads by Example
5 Oct 2010
While Parties consider how to set up the new Climate Fund here in Tianjin, the Adaptation Fund, established under the Kyoto Protocol, has reached full operationalisation and set important milestones. Two weeks ago, the members of the Adaptation Fund Board met again in Bonn and took decisions which mark the beginning of a new era […]
The Great Climate Wall – ‘I will act on climate, will you?’
4 Oct 2010
In a gesture that signaled more urgent engagement to cool the planet, UNFCCC executive secretary Christiana Figueres opened the first international climate conference in this country by sealing the symbolic Great Climate Wall of China, a mosaic wall of 4,000 photos of people from China and around the world who are concerned about our […]
Stand and Deliver
3 Oct 2010
Next Sunday, October 10, the day after the close of the Tianjin conference, the world will take action – over 5,000 actions, to be precise, in more than 165 countries around the globe. The 10/10/10 Global Work Day organized by 350.org and many others will highlight the public appetite for action that has only grown […]
Agenda for Adaptation
3 Oct 2010
With a new negotiating text for negotiations under the LCA track, ECO finds many valuable elements but we nevertheless have some important concerns. First and foremost, there seems to be the tendency, by developed countries in particular, to push towards the weaker options. In order to make the adaptation framework a driver for action in […]