COP-out at Copenhagen

The fair, ambitious and legally binding agreement to tackle climate change, which was scheduled to be finalised at the recently concluded UNFCCC Climate Change Conference (COP) in Copenhagen, did not materialise.

This latest of 15 Climate Change COPs was mandated to agree a new global climate deal under the UNFCCC umbrella, to address emission reductions and adaptation to climate change. But with some of the 192 participating governments negotiating with each other away from the main conference proceedings, acrimonious disputes about the legal shape of a new treaty ate up trust and patience, and above all, time.

Into the heart of the climate debate

Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly news magazine of the world's largest scientific society, has published a major analysis of the divisive issues at the heart of the debate over global warming and climate change.

The article appears at the conclusion of the much-publicised United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, which sought to seal a comprehensive international agreement on dealing with global warming. An embargoed text is available to journalists upon request.

Copenhagen Climate Summit comes to chaotic end

Historic opportunity to avert climate chaos squandered in Copenhagen

Greenpeace strongly condemned the arrogance of the heads of state from the world's most powerful countries for presenting a 'take it or leave' deal to the Copenhagen Climate Summit. Whilst en route to the airport they claimed the deal was done, it was not. All they left was chaos and confusion in their wake.

Copenhagen Accord a step in right direction, but insufficient

World leaders in Copenhagen have taken a first and useful step to slow the course of climate change – a threat that is already affecting people, ecosystems and biodiversity in many parts of the world. A global legally binding climate change treaty must be the next step.

Although the Copenhagen Accord goes some way to address some of the critical issues that have been on negotiators' agenda for the past two years, such as a financing package of USD100 billion per year by 2020 to assist developing countries to adapt to climate change and to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases, others remained unsolved.

Copenhagen Accord: Half-baked text and unclear substance

The UN climate talks in Copenhagen were inches away from total failure and ended with an outcome far too weak to tackle dangerous climate change, WWF said.

"Copenhagen was at the brink of failure due to poor leadership combined with an unconvincing level of ambition", said Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative. "Well meant but half-hearted pledges to protect our planet from dangerous climate change are simply not sufficient to address a crisis that calls for completely new ways of collaboration across rich and poor countries."

Cornellians work to predict climate change

As Yogi Berra said, prediction is hard – especially about the future. The computer models scientists use to predict climate change are always works in progress.

In a sort of cosmic reality competition, 20 groups around the world are developing new models they plan to submit for review under the auspices of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the international body whose recommendations are being considered at the U.N. Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Three modelling groups are based in the United States, and Cornell researchers are involved in one of them.

Current emissions reductions add up to dangerous climate change

Photo:Stefan Wernli/WikimediaA confidential UNFCC secretariat analysis confirms that current emissions reductions pledges by developed and some emerging economies leaves the world on track to global warming of at best three degrees warming – and probably more.

"The stark message for world leaders at Copenhagen is that the proposals on the table - especially from industrialised countries – fall far short of what the world needs," said Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK.

Domino effect needed: Leaders can still save Copenhagen

Leaders arriving to sign a Copenhagen climate agreement and finding that they now need to salvage it need to take a global rather than national approach to the numerous outstanding issues, WWF said.

"It looks like The Copenhagen Climate Summit could have made it through the valley of death", said Kim Carstensen, Leader of WWF's Global Climate Initiative."It's encouraging that some new offers are starting to hit the table. Now is the time for Heads of States to show their leadership skills.

Voice of the people crucial in fight against climate change

As the lights were turned back on at the conclusion of the special Earth Hour Copenhagen, Vijay Nambiar, the Chief of Staff of the Secretary General UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, "Climate change may be bigger than each of us but it is not bigger than
all of us."

The citizens of the UN climate summit host city turned off their lights for an hour in a special Earth Hour which recalled the global event in March of this year in which hundreds of millions of people from 88 countries and 4000 cities and towns Voted Earth for decisive action on climate change.

WWF welcomes new financing proposals, but long-term finance still needed

As talks heat up in Copenhagen, several countries put forward additional fast-start financing proposals to help broker a deal, but the important missing component remains long-term finance. Today, Japanese Environment Minister Sakihito Ozawa announced USD15 billion for fast start funding by 2012, under the Hatoyama Initiative.

Earlier in, Australia, France, Japan, Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States announced that they will commit USD3.5 billion of public finance to reduce emissions from deforestation in developing countries (REDD).

North American indigenous peoples demand more in Copenhagen

As the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) winds down, thousands of people marched in the streets today to "reclaim power" from the UN process they say is not good enough. Indigenous Peoples led a march from inside the official venue of the climate negotiations, to stand in solidarity with the rest of civil society in demanding climate justice.

Over the past two weeks, indigenous peoples have been working to ensure all potential climate policies and actions that come out of the negotiations, ensure recognition of and respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and local communities. Specifically, indigenous peoples have lobbied for the incorporation of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) into climate policy. Although some would see the mention of the UNDRIP in the text of the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) a small success, many feel it is a slap in the face of indigenous peoples.

Bowman creates graphic translation of climate change data

Advises institutions on delivering climate change findings to public

Tom Bowman, an expert in communicating scientific issues to the public and president of Bowman Global Change, has developed a series of graphics that translate key figures from the fourth Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report for public audiences. These new graphics provide non-experts access to the authentic scientific information they need to make informed decisions about climate change risks and opportunities.

Climate victims fight back

Photo:Horst 74/WikimediaSmall island state challenges future of Czech coal plant

The Czech Ministry of Environment publicly confirmed that it has received a request from the Federated States of Micronesia for a transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) of its biggest coal-fired power plant, Prunerov. This is the first time that current or future climate victims could legally influence a foreign industry by arguing that it endangers them due to greenhouse gas emissions.

Emissions cut of 40% below 1990 levels by 2020 needed for industrial countries for 2 degree C limit

Authors of the landmark 2009 climate report "The Copenhagen Diagnosis" estimate that by 2020 industrial nations must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by around 40% below 1990 levels to secure a decent chance of avoiding dangerous human interference with the climate system.

The Copenhagen Diagnosis authors used IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) projections as well as post-AR4 analysis to estimate that emissions reductions of around 40% from industrial nations are needed to make it likely to keep global warming below 2°C.

UN publishes results of two years of climate talks

The official outcome of two years of climate negotiations was released at the UN climate talks in Copenhagen.

The results of discussions in two parallel negotiating tracks showed some progress on the detail but left all the big questions unanswered, including what legal form the agreement in Copenhagen will take, the scale of the climate finance package, and the level of rich country emissions reductions.

Climate change undermining human rights on an unprecedented scale

Photo:OxfamIn 2009 over 1.5 million people joined the hearings to testify on climate change.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson, former UN Commissioner for Human Rights, delivered a global verdict on the human cost of climate change. The judgment was passed at the world's first international climate hearing, hosted by Oxfam International during Humanitarian Day at the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Small emissions reductions, large loopholes add up to world on way to disaster

Photo:National Geographic Stock/ Sarah Leen / WWFPledges for emissions reductions now on the table from developed nations at the Copenhagen climate change conference could be lost in loopholes being built into an agreement, WWF warned.

"It is possible for developed nations to spin their way out of real emissions reductions, but they can't spin their way out of climate catastrophe," said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF's global climate initiative."That is the track we are on if the industrialised world's find ways to increase emissions while saying they are reducing them through creative accounting which allows us to not count emissions, count them twice or count them in strange ways."

Don't hold REDD hostage in Copenhagen: IUCN

After good progress in week one concerns remain that a deal on REDD-plus could yet stall on a small number of unresolved issues, or could be sacrificed because of the lack of progress in other areas of the bigger deal, says IUCN.

"Don't hold REDD hostage to the current impasse in the negotiations," says Stewart Maginnis, Director of IUCN's Environment and Development Group. "If we are going to stabilise atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases by 2020 we urgently need REDD-plus up and running as soon as possible."

"Don't get distracted," WWF urges ministers

Ministers arriving for the high level segment of the UN climate summit in Copenhagen are being urged to not get distracted from a goal of preserving the world from climate catastrophe.

WWF called on ministers to adopt a shared vision where the rise in average global temperature rise was limited to below two degrees and stabilises at 1.5 degrees. "To minimise the risk of overshooting two degrees, WWF believes any measures decided at this conference should be subjected to a science review finishing no later than 2015," said Kim Carstensen, leader of WWF's global climate initiative.

Solar energy: Key solution to CO2 challenges in the developing world

Intense debate at COP15 centres on the challenge of reducing CO₂ emissions in developing countries without limiting their economic growth and ability to make life better for their citizens. EPIA (the European Photovoltaic Industry Association) is in Copenhagen to make the case that solar provides the opportunity for developing countries to leapfrog traditional energy dependence on fossil fuel to producing clean energy.

"Solar energy offers a decentralised solution, easily adapted to poor infrastructures and ready for an expanded energy access to meet fast growing demand," says EPIA's Vice-president, Murray Cameron.