Category: COP12

A not-so-small problem

COA Admin November 16, 2006 0 Comments
by Sarah In a side event about deforestatrion this morning, researchers from the Woods Hole Research Institute talked about the science of emissions from tropical deforestation. I was disappointed that they did not go into specifics of monitoring procedures and how they got their numbers, but the message was clear: deforestation is a major source of greenhouse gas emissions (mostly carbon...

COP12: The last two days, a plea for action

COA Admin November 16, 2006 0 Comments
by Juan Decisions of different working groups are being forwarded to the supreme body of the convention, the Conference of the Parties (COP) for final approval. Most of the decisions are fancy words plastered on paper, and the ytouth delegation refuses to let minister leave Nairobi without hearing our concerns. These mediocre decisions will affect us, it is our future they are negotiating. For...

Post-2012 & AWG Conclusion: Many words, little meaning

COA Admin November 16, 2006 0 Comments
by Virginie Last Tuesday evening, the Ad Hoc Working Group on Further Commitments (AWG) convened for the 3rd and last time of the Nairobi negotiations. Created under Article 3.9 of the Kyoto Protocol, the AWG was set up in order to discuss further commitments by Annex I parties (industrialized nations) for the post-2012 second commitment period—Since the Kyoto Protocol is to be effective from...

Emission Targets: please finish your sentences

COA Admin November 16, 2006 0 Comments
by Juan The 12th Conference of the Parties of the UNFCCC has shown the different ways in which numbers can be manipulated to comply with the Kyoto. Canada, for example, conveniently has spoken of achieving 60% reductions by 2050. The number alone will place Canada as a leader in meeting Kyoto-and-beyond targets, but they omitted the rest of the sentence. 60% reductions using a 2003 baseline, that...

Thank You Denmark!!!

COA Admin November 15, 2006 0 Comments
by Matthew Two rounds of applause concluded Denmark’s Minister for the Environment and Nordic Cooperation, Connie Hedegaard, at her high-level speech today. Finally somebody said what we all were thinking, and more. Connie started off her speech with a question: “Does anybody here think that Climate Change is not a problem?” Silence followed. Then another question: “Does anybody think...