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Don’t Look Back, Look Forward
26 Jun 2019
ECO gets the feeling that negotiators prefer to talk about the past rather than about the future… In 2016, the development of a technical paper that elaborates sources of and modalities for accessing financial support for addressing loss and damage was mandated. The Secretariat had a very long time to prepare it and yet it […]
ACT NOW – We are in the Middle of a Climate Crisis
26 Jun 2019
Today, we are racing towards tipping points in earth systems, for example in West Antarctica. We have reached societal tipping points with thousands of people on the streets, protesting for more ambitious climate policies. With all this pressure, ECO asks itself: What needs to happen for the negotiations to reach a tipping point themselves, to […]
Being Loquacious
26 Jun 2019
Do you remember that kid at school that was loquacious or an empty suit? Someone who talks a lot and always has something to say. Someone who thinks they have all the good arguments to save the world but when it’s time to deliver their words don’t mean anything. ECO has been paying attention to […]
Ambition From a Bar Stool in Osaka
26 Jun 2019
ECO has been noting with interest here in Bonn the countries which have been bold enough to ‘step Up” and answer the question, “What will you be doing to enhance your NDC?” So far (drum roll€¦) we have found that out of all the countries who have dropped by the Step Up booth, there are […]
Merci Hélène
26 Jun 2019
Dr. Hélène Connor died last Friday 21st of June on a flight as she returned home from a long-wished trip to Tibet. Hélène was a Montreal University Ph.D and a graduate of France’s top business school Hautes Etudes Commerciales. This soft spoken, unassuming and charming Frenchwoman was radiantly brilliant. She was a real multitasking powerhouse […]
Mathematical operations for climate finance
26 Jun 2019
It has come to ECO’s attention that some rich countries may need a quick refresher course in the basics of mathematics. There are four elementary arithmetic operations: + (addition), ˆ’ (subtraction), × (multiplication) and ÷ (division). Let’s put these to use in some examples: Addition Country A has a four-year budget allocation for multilateral climate […]
Loss and Damage Funding Gap: Evidence from Humanitarian Support
26 Jun 2019
In the loss and damage negotiations, ECO sometimes hears the argument that no additional sources of finance are needed. Some say, for example, that humanitarian finance is available to address the impacts of weather disasters. But what are the facts? The latest Humanitarian Finance Update from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs […]
Enough Fossils Already
26 Jun 2019
Who are the climate leaders in this era of emergency? ECO would argue they are typically found outside this conference centre. They are the everyday people on the frontlines of confronting the fossil fuel industry (psst … the biggest cause of the climate crisis), defending human rights, and working to transition their communities to 100% […]
UK Adopts Net Zero Emissions Target by 2050
26 Jun 2019
ECO is excited to see the trickle of pledged national net zero goals gaining momentum, with the potential to become a flood by 2020 when, ECO reminds you, all countries should have submitted updated NDCs in line with the 1.5ºC imperative and the need to reduce global CO2 emissions by around half by 2030. A […]
ScienceBack
25 Jun 2019
With apologies to Justin Timberlake:I’m bringin’ science back (yeah)Some of the boys don’t know how to act (yeah)I think it’s special, the IPCC and facts (yeah)So workshops ho! the report we”ll unpack (yeah) Last week, science got a rough ride in the SBSTA item on the IPCC SR1.5, with the Saudi assault on attempts to […]