This section's articles

• Turn Their Backs On Canadian Government During Opening Speech

  Canadian Youth Ejected From COP17

  8 December 2011 Temoignages.re

  “Our so-called Environment Minister entered these talks by going on record that he would be defending the tar sands. I have yet to hear him say that he's here to defend my future,” said James Hutt, one of the youth delegates who participated in the action. The six youth, including Brigette DePape (the “Rogue Page”) received an ovation from the crowd watching the Minister's address. They were escorted out of the International Convention Center's (...)

• United Nations Climate Talks

  Oxfam and WWF join with shipowners to urge agreement on way forward for tackling greenhouse gas emissions from ships

  1 December 2011 Temoignages.re

  Oxfam, WWF and the International Chamber of Shipping (which represents over 80% of the world merchant fleet) call on delegates to COP 17 to give the International Maritime Organization (IMO) clear guidance on continuing its work on reducing shipping emissions through the development of Market Based Measures (MBMs). The organisations maintain that an effective regulatory framework for curbing emission of CO2 from international shipping must be global in nature and designed so as to reduce (...)

• Message to Hilary Clinton

  The US is a major obstacle to progress

  1 December 2011 Temoignages.re

  They expressed concern at the negotiating positions and strategy of the US. Quoting Obama during his election that “Few challenges facing America – and the world – are more urgent than combating climate change,” and that “once I take office, you can be sure that the United States will once again engage vigorously in these negotiations, and help lead the world toward a new era of global cooperation on climate change.” Now the US is a major obstacle to (...)

• United Nations Climate Talks

  Small island states reject proposal for a global climate deal by 2020

  1 December 2011 Temoignages.re

  On the eve of the opening of the Durban Climate Conference, Ambassador Dessima Williams, Permanent Representative of Grenada to the United Nations and Chair of AOSIS cautioned that if Durban puts off a legally binding agreement and closes the door on raising mitigation ambition before 2020 many of our small island states will be severely threatened. “AOSIS is calling on the Durban conference to deliver agreement on a second five-year commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, a (...)

• World Meteoroligical Organization

  WMO Report: 2011 was the world’s 10th warmest year, warmest year with La Niña on record, second-lowest Arctic sea ice extent

  1 December 2011 Temoignages.re

  Global temperatures in 2011 have not been as warm as the record-setting values seen in 2010 but have likely been warmer than any previous strong La Niña year, based on preliminary data from data sources compiled by the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO). The global combined sea surface and land surface air temperature for 2011 (January–October) is currently estimated at 0.41°C ± 0.111°C (0.74°F ± 0.20°F) above the 1961–1990 annual average of 14.00°C/57.2°F. At present, (...)

• According to the president of COP-17

  Adaptation : an essential element of the Durban outcome

  23 November 2011 Temoignages.re

  UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figures, has signalled that progress on adaptation at COP 17 is imperative, particularly for African nations: “As Africa is one of the most vulnerable regions in the context of climate change, the African continent has much to gain from strengthened and coordinated adaptation action, which will be so desperately needed as climate change effects such as droughts and floods increase even further than where they are now”. Progress will be (...)

• Durban Climate Conference

  UNFCCC Secretariat launches new Momentum for Change Initiative

  23 November 2011 Temoignages.re

  here are myriad opportunities to benefit people directly, while at the same time contributing to global efforts to control emissions or enhance adaptation capacity, and these opportunities have already been seized by many stakeholders, at national or sub-national levels. Under a new initiative entitled ‘Momentum for Change', the secretariat will create a series of platforms to recognize and encourage such projects. The first platform of the series focuses on successful and (...)

• World Meteorologic Organization’s Bulletin highlights growth in nitrous oxide in atmosphere

  WMO : Greenhouse Gas Concentrations Continue Climbing

  22 November 2011 Temoignages.re

  Between 1990 and 2010, according to the report, there was a 29% increase in radiative forcing - the warming effect on our climate system - from greenhouse gases. Carbon dioxide accounted for 80% of this increase. “The atmospheric burden of greenhouse gases due to human activities has yet again reached record levels since pre-industrial time,” said WMO Secretary-General Michel Jarraud. “Even if we managed to halt our greenhouse gas emissions today – and this is far (...)

• The African Ministerial Conference on the Environment

  «Africa has a lot to gain from a successful conference in Durban»

  17 September 2011 Temoignages.re

  On behalf of the UNFCCCís Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres, I am honoured to address this important meeting of the African Ministers of Environment. Ms. Figueres deeply regrets not being here in person, but scheduling conflicts have made it impossible. You meet here less than three months before the UN Climate Change Conference takes place under African skies at the end of the year. As you know all too well, the Durban conference is a critically important step on the road to a (...)

• Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC

  Durban UN climate change talks to finalize institution building arrangements

  17 February 2011

  Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) noted that the level of ambition, currently on the table, amounted to only 60 per cent of what was needed to limit the temperature increase to the agreed 2 degrees but stressed that a 2 degree increase was no guarantee for the survival of small island states. She pointed out that no agreement was reached on the year in which global emissions needed to peak. 'This is (...)

• According to the Niels Bohr Institute at the University of Copenhagen

  Dramatic climate change is unpredictable

  5 February 2011

  For millions of years the Earth's climate has alternated between about 100,000 years of ice age and approximately 10-15,000 years of a warm climate like we have today. The climate change is controlled by the Earth's orbit in space, that is to say the Earth's tilt and distance from the sun. But there are also other climatic shifts in the Earth's history and what caused those? Dramatic climate change of the past By analysing the ice cores that are drilled through the (...)

• According to United Nations

  Dramatic greenhouse gas cuts are both achievable and affordable

  27 January 2011

  In a series of studies, the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), an agency mandated to promote sustainable industrial development in developing countries, highlighted the need to combine energy efficiency, renewable energy and the capture and storage of greenhouse carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions to stay below the danger threshold of an average temperature rise of two degrees above pre-industrial levels by 2050. Cost-effective renewable energy could supply 21 per cent of all (...)

• Document : UNFCCC press release

  UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun delivers balanced package of decisions, restores faith in multilateral process

  13 December 2010

  The UN Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, ended on Saturday with the adoption of a balanced package of decisions that set all governments more firmly on the path towards a low-emissions future and support enhanced action on climate change in the developing world. The package, dubbed the "Cancun Agreements" was welcomed to repeated loud and prolonged applause and acclaim by Parties in the final plenary. "Cancun has done its job. The beacon of hope has been reignited and faith in (...)

• Studies show Jatropha-based biofuel could reduce carbon footprint by up to 80%

  TAM Airlines and Airbus first to fly Jatropha-based biofuel in Latin America

  23 November 2010

  "Airbus and TAM have taken an important step towards establishing an aviation biofuel solution that is both commercially viable and sustainable, with positive impact on the environment," said Airbus' President and CEO, Tom Enders. “This flight serves as evidence of the aviation industry's commitment to advance on its self-imposed CO2 reduction targets: carbon neutral growth from 2020, and working towards a 50 percent net CO2 reduction by 2050.” “This (...)

• According to UNEP

  Nagoya 2010: Report puts economic value of nature on the global political radar

  22 October 2010

  "TEEB has documented not only the multi-trillion dollar importance to the global economy of the natural world, but the kinds of policy-shifts and smart market mechanisms that can embed fresh thinking in a world beset by a rising raft of multiple challenges. The good news is that many communities and countries are already seeing the potential of incorporating the value of nature into decision-making," said Mr. Sukhdev, a banker who heads up the Green Economy Initiative of the United Nations (...)

• World People’s Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth

  Climate Change : “Accord of the Peoples”

  27 April 2010

  Today, our Mother Earth is wounded and the future of humanity is in danger. If global warming increases by more than 2 degrees Celsius, a situation that the “Copenhagen Accord” could lead to, there is a 50% probability that the damages caused to our Mother Earth will be completely irreversible. Between 20% and 30% of species would be in danger of disappearing. Large extensions of forest would be affected, droughts and floods would affect different regions of the planet, deserts (...)

• After the "Danish text" at the Copenhagen summit, "Obama’s hardline US climate talk strategy"

  Climate talks : a new leak published by the Guardian

  13 April 2010

  Strategic communications objectives 1) Reinforce the perception that the US is constructively engaged in UN negotiations in an effort to produce a global regime to combat climate change. This includes support for a symmetrical and legally binding treaty. 2) Manage expectations for Cancun – Without owning the message, advance the narrative that while a symmetrical legally binding treaty in Mexico is unlikely, solid progress can be made on the six or so main elements. 3) Create a (...)

• Bonn UNFCCC conference : the chairman of the AWG-KP asks where is the money

  John Ashe : How to raise climate funds still uncertain

  12 April 2010

  In an exclusive interview with Xinhua, Ashe said the accord proposed the climate financing, which was a "hopeful" start, as it vowed to offer 10 billion U.S. dollars per year to help poor countries combat climate change in the next three years, also known as "the fast-track approach," and to boost the aid to 100 billion dollars annually by 2020. But the last-minute compromise in Copenhagen summit last year " does not specify the exact means" to guarantee the target, said the chair, who is (...)

• UNFCCC conference : message from the developing countries

  «Climate change treaty ’more urgent than ever’»

  12 April 2010

  Blocs representing the poorest nations called for intensive talks during the year, leading to agreement on a legally binding treaty in December. The EU backed the call, re-stating that the conclusion of December's Copenhagen summit had not met its ambitions, explains the BBC. But other industrialised countries do not appear so keen for a new treaty. The three-day meeting here in Bonn is the first since the Copenhagen summit concluded without the global treaty that many countries (...)

• One dollar a tonne

  India proposes coal tax to pay for clean energy push

  4 March 2010

  The Indian government is expected to back up its recent commitment to curb carbon emissions with a controversial move to levy a new tax on coal in order to pay for the roll out of renewable energy technologies. Speaking in his annual budget speech to the Indian parliament, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee said that a clean energy tax of 50 rupees ($1) a tonne will be leveled on all domestically produced or imported coal with the resulting revenue ring-fenced for use in a new national (...)

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