United Nations

Dispatch from Bonn: The Nature Conservancy

Adaptation: Something old, something new, now some money is also due 0
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
Letter from Europe

At Bonn climate talks, it’s a dialogue of the deaf 4
Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago
The negotiations underway in Bonn this week, which are supposed to result in a radical new climate agreement in Copenhagen in just six months' time, risk becoming a dialogue of the deaf.
Deforestation & Adaptation Texting for Copenhagen

Part 3: Draft negotiating text proposed for Copenhagen agreement 0
Posted 6 months ago
A look at the deforestation emissions reduction efforts and adaptation assistance provisions in the draft Copenhagen climate treaty.
A Stern talking to

U.S. climate envoy heads to China to seek bilateral climate deal 0
Posted 6 months ago
Negotiations on a new international climate pact are underway in Germany this week, but the United States' top climate envoy is headed in the opposite direction with a planned trip this weekend to China. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern on Wednesday said he hopes the world's two biggest polluters can reach consensus on a path forward.
A video news playlist from the Bonn climate talks 0
Posted 6 months ago
Letter from Europe

In Copenhagen, it’s the same old business 3
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
Even an impassioned and remarkably erudite speech by the Oscar-winning actress Cate Blanchett failed this week to persuade world business leaders to go beyond mere rhetoric in pushing for action on climate change.
'Tell them to seal the deal'

Ban Ki-moon’s speech at World Business Summit on Climate Change 3
Posted 6 months, 1 week ago
UN chief Ban Ki-moon told business leaders gathered in Copenhagen to get off the sidelines and push hard for a major climate deal.
Everyone on the same page?

‘Sectoral carbon’ ... Eh? Please define 0
Posted 6 months, 3 weeks ago
Say "sectoral carbon" in a room full of climate policymakers, and you better be ready for an argument over what the heck you mean.
Vague intentions

U.S. pledges something or other on climate 1
Posted 6 months, 4 weeks ago
Today United States negotiators promised “ambitious actions,” “robust targets,” and pretty much nada details in a proposal overdue to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.
Evo's Crusade

Bolivia’s leader pushes rich nations for climate adaptation funds 1
Posted 7 months ago
Evo Morales, the one-time coca farmer and llama herder who rose to become Bolivia's president, is now wading into the ring of global climate negotiations to embark on his grandest crusade to date.
Letter from Europe

Tripping over the fine print on the way to Copenhagen 3
Posted 7 months ago
It was only a comma, albeit a hotly disputed one. For me, the single punctuation mark represents a major reason why the world may fail to get to grips with global warming in time, and why a meeting this week may provide the best chance of a breakthrough.
Why the CDM should matter to the United States 11
Posted 7 months, 3 weeks ago
Too many critics in the United States simply want to throw the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) baby out with the bath water. The real opportunity is to learn from the experience and use the fantastic negotiating power of the U.S. government and economy to improve the system.
GLOBE trotter

Legislators from around the world meet to discuss climate policy 0
Posted 8 months ago
Senior legislators from 17 countries met in Washington, D.C., on Monday to discuss their role in shaping climate action plans as world leaders continue to hash out the details of a new international climate treaty.
Back at the table

Todd Stern’s speech cheers delegates at Bonn climate talks 0
Posted 8 months ago
Letter from Europe

A mandarin’s plea for climate action 0
Posted 8 months ago
Tom Burke, a longtime adviser to British leaders on climate issues, says the international conference to set a new treaty to combat climate change, set for December in Copenhagen, "will do more to shape human destiny for longer" than any previous meeting in the history of the world.
Major league

Obama calls for climate summit of the world’s biggest polluters 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
President Obama on Saturday announced that the United States is initiating a Major Economies Forum that will focus on energy and climate change, an attempt to bring the world's biggest polluters together to discuss a path forward.
What to expect when you're expecting a climate treaty

In lead-up to Bonn climate talks, U.S. and U.N. leaders are cautiously optimistic 0
Posted 8 months, 1 week ago
Climate leaders in both Congress and the United Nations are optimistic about making landmark progress on an international climate accord this year, but hopes that an agreement will be finalized in 2009 seem to be dimming.

Yvo de Boer, the U.N. climate chief, and Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), chair of the Energy and Environment Subcommittee in the U.S. House, spoke to reporters on Thursday in advance of climate meetings that kick off in Bonn, Germany, this weekend. The two-week gathering -- which will be the Obama's administration's first international climate summit -- is intended to set the stage for the big climate negotiations in Copenhagen in December.
Glass half empty

Water too often overlooked in development efforts, U.N. report says 0
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago
Fresh water and money have one thing in common: Their mismanagement has left billions of people without ready access to either, according to policymakers, non-governmental agencies and activists attending the World Water Forum here this week.
Will you sign mine?

UNEP yearbook distills a year’s worth of climate science and innovation 0
Posted 8 months, 2 weeks ago
The UNEP year book summarizes a year's worth of climate-science findings, tallies the amount of global waste produced annually (two billion tons), and checks in on the conditions of the world's largest carbon sinks -- oceans, forests, and permafrost. Naturally, it's a gloomy picture.
Mercury Descendant

States agree to mercury treaty talks 0
Posted 9 months, 1 week ago