Development Blogs.com

A

A

A

The atmosphere in Bali is intense. Yvo de Boer, the UNFCCC Executive Secretary, showed signs of distress moments ago and left the plenary upon accusations of manipulating the process by China, Ban Ki-Moon delivered an emphatic speech urging for the deadlocked countries to find consensus, and the normal degree of diplomacy that operates in this process has decreased along with the time left for reaching consensus. Plenary speeches make explicit accusations to the US for blocking consensus and American speeches are followed with jeers from the audience. While the particulars of the mandate continue to be discussed, I hope that Canadians back home are engaged with what is happening in Bali and discussing the position of the Canadian government. I have been tremendously unimpressed not...

A

A

It is the final night of the UN conference. All of the side events have ended and all of the displays have been taken down. Compared to the constant bustle of normal conference pace, the convention center feels like a ghost town. Yet, the negotiations goes on. It is now 2am and negotiations are continuing to take place behind closed doors. In the main hall, people are waiting, and some are sleeping, for the final report and close of these negotiations. As rumor has it, that time will not come until at least 5am at the current rate of progress. Outside in the halls, there are intense strategy huddles, camping outside of the negotiation rooms in hopes of catching a hint of how they are going, and finally outright partying complete with rum, wine, and music. Other than the fact that anytime...

A

A

Paying nations to be green diverts attention from necessary resolute actions based upon what is right and sufficient to minimize climate change I have been an obstinate supporter of the Kyoto process; whose weaknesses, including non-universal participation and inadequate emission targets, are well known. Short of revolution, I do not believe alternative international political processes exist at this late date to enable nations to cooperatively and successfully reduce emissions. Kyoto and a possible successor beginning to be negotiated now in Bali provide the basis and mechanisms for binding emission cuts that can be tightened. I do not see how emissions can be cut by the necessary amount (> 80%) in the requisite period of time (ASAP, for sure by 2050) other than through...

Excerpt from Earth Meanders personal essay: Paying nations to be green diverts attention from necessary resolute actions based upon what is right and sufficient to minimize climate changeI have been an obstinate supporter of the Kyoto process; whose weaknesses, including non-universal participation and inadequate emission targets, are well known. Short of revolution, I do not believe alternative international political processes exist at this late date to enable nations to cooperatively and successfully reduce emissions. Kyoto and a possible successor beginning to be negotiated now in Bali provide the basis and mechanisms for binding emission cuts that can be tightened... This essay discusses how increasingly the international climate focus has become financial trickery rather than...

A

A

At an early meeting of the Youth Caucus at COP13, someone mentioned the need to respect the UN process. We had to make sure that the demonstrations that were taking place didn’t mention disrespect for the UNFCCC. It hadn’t really occurred to me before; I never saw a reason to not value the process by which the delegates were gathering, negotiating, and making decisions. But after a full week of attending plenary sessions and contact groups I can see why the process can be frustrating. I sat in a session about Carbon Capture and Storage last Thursday that exemplified the kind of frustration I think they were referring to. After 45 minutes of discussing how the discussion should take place, the facilitator noted that time was up and dismissed the meeting. Seriously? I was reasonably...

A

A

A

“Halo, halo” from Kuta Bali! The Australian Youth Climate Coalition has officially landed in beautiful Bali, Indonesia, on the verge of the steepest learning curves of our lives. We will attempt to navigate our way through 2 weeks of UN climate change negotiations at COP13, the conference where the Bali Mandate – that is, the future of our planet - will be decided upon. After months of phone-link-ups, the ‘AYCC Delegation to Bali’ finally came together for the first time 2 days ago. Still struggling to realign our perceptions of our phone-link-up friends with their actual physical selves, we are over the moon to finally be together. Now our adventure has officially begun – the team is together, we’ve traipsed through crowded market streets to find our little Kuta bungalows,...

A

Excerpts from recent Earth Meanders essay by Dr. Glen Barry:To avoid run-away abrupt climate change, all nations must embrace equitable, ambitious and urgent emission cuts in BaliThe rich are richer and the poor, poorer -- even as the Earth they share shrivels and dies. Billions live a life of misery on a dollar or two a day, as a sizeable minority enjoys creature comforts fit for kings of old, and a relative few with more wealth then entire nations live in unimagined splendor... Humanity is well along the path of cutting and burning ourselves to oblivion. The combined filth from centuries of burning fossil fuels and clearing native vegetation -- primitive practices that continue to this day -- is causing the climate and global ecology to not only change, but collapse...There is perhaps...

A