cop15
COP16 and Global Adaptation Policy: Feliz Navidad for Opportunties in 2010?
09/11/10 19:22
The global climate change policy landscape is littered with acronyms and insider language that’s not friendly to newcomers. Additionality, technology transfer, COPs, REDD versus REDD+ (and REDD++)… the terminology is messy and has a steep learning curve that often obscures the actual issues at stake. But these issues are quite important to understand for interested citizens. Here, I’d like to focus on an upcoming opportunity around the international climate change policy meetings scheduled for December in Mexico. This is a long entry, but the issues are complex and non-intuitive. I beg for patience. For those new to climate change policies at a global level, I have provided a simple background paragraph to frame some of the necessary terms.
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Briefing paper: the road to COP16
13/06/10 12:50
WWF-International and GermanWatch have put together a briefing paper assessing the state of global adaptation discussions and the road forward to COP16:
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Video: Red Eyes in Copenhagen: Adaptation at COP15
27/12/09 08:26
Red Eyes in Copenhagen: Climate Adaptation at COP15
7 mins, December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
In December 2009, representatives of 192 nations met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international climate change agreement. Most of these efforts focused on climate mitigation — reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in order to slow down the rate of climate change. These results received widespread analysis. But there were also heated if less publicized negotiations to help the poor and vulnerable of the world adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. Filmed within hours of the conclusion of the Copenhagen Accord on 19 December 2009, this film shows the sleep-deprived thoughts of WWF staff about the impacts and efficacy of the Accord for international climate adaptation policy. These staff have worked on these issues for many years.
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7 mins, December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
In December 2009, representatives of 192 nations met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international climate change agreement. Most of these efforts focused on climate mitigation — reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in order to slow down the rate of climate change. These results received widespread analysis. But there were also heated if less publicized negotiations to help the poor and vulnerable of the world adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. Filmed within hours of the conclusion of the Copenhagen Accord on 19 December 2009, this film shows the sleep-deprived thoughts of WWF staff about the impacts and efficacy of the Accord for international climate adaptation policy. These staff have worked on these issues for many years.
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A Final COP Postcard: The Longest Day
21/12/09 08:07
The COP is finally over, and I’ve had about 36 hours to begin to absorb its truths and promises. Written so soon after the negotiations have ended, I have no doubt my reflections will achieve at best a facile and tenuous first draft of history (or a poor excuse for journalism). But I must write something to describe where climate adaptation — our efforts to prepare ourselves and other species for the coming climate — is headed since the conclusion of the Copenhagen sessions.
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Video: More Water Asks at the COP
17/12/09 06:47
Quick update: a video on the UNFCCC COP15 site of me speaking last week on water and climate from an event sponsored by the Global Water Partnership, Stakeholders Forum, and the Stockholm International Water Institute. Read More...
Joining the Strands at the COP
16/12/09 09:15
My interest in knitting probably marks me as one of the more visibly peculiar members of the WWF delegation to the COP, but knitting is a great asset in a high-stress setting. Some of the oldest knitting in the world was found in bogs in this part of northern Europe — perhaps five or six thousand years old. Knitting is essentially the ability of taking a single length of yarn and looping it back against itself in order to make fabric and clothing. It was a simple, brilliant invention. And it can be quite beautiful. The idea of taking strands of yarn and creating something new, functional, and strong is a calming image as I listen to the needles clicking in my room. Especially given how the COP has been developing.
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Video: The Language of Climate Change Is the Language of Water
14/12/09 04:04
At a recent event sponsored by TERI and the Yale School of Forestry, WWF-US CEO Carter Roberts spoke to a small distinguished group in Denmark’s Kronborg Castle about the vulnerability of freshwater species and ecosystems — and communities and their livelihoods — to climate change. Read More...
Video: Voices on water, biodiversity, and COP15
14/12/09 00:35
The Dutch government and its environmental assessment agency organized a great series of events over two weeks here at the COP on climate adaptation issues. If you’re interested in water, it would be hard to leave the Holland Climate House. I’m involved in a total of four side events there, with one remaining. Read More...
Teenage Angst at the COP: At the Hinge
14/12/09 00:02
A week of prelude is over. The real work has begun in Copenhagen.
Last week was intense, fast paced, and frantic. Most people here are profoundly exhausted. But we’re at the hinge now. Negotiation teams are shifting from delaying and positioning to taking firm and often oppositional stands. More senior level staff are engaging in the government delegations — and more loudly. The hinge of the week has turned.
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Last week was intense, fast paced, and frantic. Most people here are profoundly exhausted. But we’re at the hinge now. Negotiation teams are shifting from delaying and positioning to taking firm and often oppositional stands. More senior level staff are engaging in the government delegations — and more loudly. The hinge of the week has turned.
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Asks for the COP: More Water, Please!
08/12/09 04:06
Much of the practice of creating climate resilient, sustainable water management is already well known and described in policy statements such as the Dublin Principles of 1992, The Hague Ministerial Declaration on Water Security of 2002, the Brisbane Declaration of 2007, the Nairobi Statement on Land and Water Management for Adaptation to Climate Change of 2009, and the Stockholm Message to Copenhagen of 2009. I stand proudly with these documents and their authors. A comprehensive international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the rate of climate change is essential. But as we approach international efforts to reduce the negative impacts of climate change, especially the COP15, I ask negotiators and policymakers to focus their efforts on climate adaptation on these principles:
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Trust: Why We're Here in Copenhagen
08/12/09 03:55
Copenhagen is very open city. For instance, it’s really rare to see a bike in a stand that’s been locked. This is amazing, given the actual number of bicycles here in Copenhagen. There are counters at some of the major intersections that show the number of bikes that have passed by that day, and walking past one of these counters around noon I saw that over 10,000 bikes had passed. And this is in weather that has been hovering around freezing, very windy, and extremely wet for the past week.
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Arrivals: The Beginning of Copenhagen
07/12/09 00:04
My first morning in Copenhagen, and I haven’t yet seen the light. Most of our delegation is staying in a hostel that a reviewer wondered if this is what a prison might look like if it had been designed by Ikea. It’s actually not that bad — I’ve stayed in much worse. And the beginning of a long stay in any place far from home always focuses on securing essentials and dealing with practicalities: unpacking, making sure you have the right plugs for your electronics, and laundry. Read More...
