The Tragedy of the Least Developed Countries

by Graham Reeder and Nathan Thanki While there are more controversial and contentious issues regarding financing for adaptation (the report on the GCF today in COP plenary, or the report from the Adaptation Fund Board to CMP plenary), there are some interesting discussions going on elsewhere. For example, in yesterday’s continued opening plenary of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation,...

worried about the next COP already…

-Nathan Thanki It was just announced in the AWG-LCA (Ad-hoc working group for long-term cooperative action) that COP18 is going to be in...wait for it...Qatar! What are the chances of the Emir, Hamad Bin Khalifa al Than, allowing for any loud and large civil society presence? What are the chances that a Qatari COP-Presidency keeps the process open to all? What hopes could we have (and, of course,...

Post-2012 Climate Regime: How Much Worse Can it Get?

by Trudi Zundel The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol will end in 2012. In anticipation of that ending, Parties have been discussing what form the new UNFCCC commitments will take. The first item on the table: will there be a second commitment of the Kyoto Protocol? Developed and developing countries have fundamentally different hopes for a Durban outcome. Developed countries are...

Canada’s Idea of a Christmas Present: Backing Out of the Kyoto Protocol

~Graham Reeder Recent information from CTV (a Canadian news agency) is showing that Canada is planning to formally back out of the Kyoto Protocol. Canada, along with Japan and Russia have been saying for a year that they do not want to make any new commitments to the Kyoto Protocol (KP) after this year, but backing out altogether places Canada in the same position as the US. This is part of a...

(The Lack of) High Hopes for Durban

by Samuli Sinisalo On Monday the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change convenes for two weeks in Durban, South Africa. This is the 17th annual Conference of Parties, where parties come together to fulfill the framework convention. As the negotiations grow ever more technical and complex, it is good to keep in mind that the ultimate goal of the convetion is to stabilize the green...