Equity matters

~by Graham Reeder Today’s negotiations have almost exclusively been dedicated to the subject of equity. The Ad hoc Working Group on Long-term Cooperative Action, after spending most of yesterday squabbling over its agenda, got straight into holding their all-day workshop on equitable access to sustainable development. The word equity in the context of the negotiations decisions has its...

SBI opening plenary intervention

~Written by YOUNGO and delivered today by Graham Reeder at the opening plenary of the Subsidiary Body for Implementation. SBI intervention: Thank you chair.  My name is Graham and I am 21 years old. We would like to take this opportunity to address three pertinent issues on the SBI agenda. First, with regards to Article 6, we believe that education for sustainable development...

Bonn Intersessionals Kick off

~by Joe Perullo and Graham Reeder The sun is shining in the old capital of western Germany as the 36th session of the Subsidiary Bodies (Implementation and Scientific and Technical Advise) kick off on day 1 of the Bonn intersessionals. Intersessionals are smaller meetings than COPs, they are charged with getting the work done that the annual COPs agree to and preparing for the following year's...

A new era of Carbon Colonialism

by Graham Reeder Say goodbye to equity. That was the sour taste we were left with as the COP president gavelled through 'agreement' after 'agreement' at 5am on Sunday morning. I will let others describe the scene on that night, what I want to focus on is what I see as a new step in contemporary colonialism. The UNFCCC laid out several core principles when it was first written,...

Negotiating their forests

By Juan Carlos Soriano Every living person on this planet depends on forests for our survival, and the 60 million indigenous people who live in forests worldwide have been their primary guardians. An agreement on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) under the climate negotiations will affect the rights of indigenous peoples. Currently, the language of the...