10 things that are wrong with this approach to “equity”

Ever since our own Anjali Appadurai stood before world leaders at the 2011 Durban climate talks to demand “equity now,” echoing a longstanding demand of climate justice movements across the world, there has been an increasing use of the word in discussions on international climate change policy. The idea of equity is contested, as everyone from social movement leaders to former Heads of State...

Social PreCOP: the youth take the floor and the mesas begin

by nathan thanki Work at the social preCOP in Venezuela has finally begun on the process to prepare a declarative document reflecting the demands of social movements in relation to climate change and the international process. Following a day of presentations from local governments—including the Mayor of Nantes and the Governor of Caracas—day two, called “Youth Take the Floor” began with...

Changing the System, Not the Climate: July Social PreCOP begins

by nathan thanki Greetings from Las Islas Margaritas, the site of the first ever social preCOP on climate change. Over the past few years on this website you may have read many dispatches, reports, polemics, and laments from the prefabricated halls of various UN climate change negotiations. We have watched and written as the process to negotiate a new global climate treaty (or whatever) was...

Before you go (or decide not to go) to the PreCOP in Venezuela, consider this

by Adrian Fernandez Jauregui About a week ago, I got an email from an European friend who is part of the European Youth Climate Movement. My friend was sharing his frustrations and concerns regarding the views of many Western organisations and media outlets with regards to the upcoming preCOP in Caracas, a big climate gathering organised by the Venezuelan government to bring social movements,...

US submits views on future climate agreement

by nathan thanki Since the Durban round of UN climate talks in 2011, governments have been struggling towards an eventual global agreement to address climate change (ideally, some say they're just negotiating the establishment of more markets). The negotiation process, named the "ADP" (the D stands for Durban) is mandated to conclude in Paris in December 2015 with some kind of outcome. The exact...