Loss and Damage from Climate Change-A human rights perspective

~graham reeder While climate change negotiations have stagnated over time due to a lack of political will, many are arguing that the diplomatic approach that the UNFCCC has taken to arriving at agreement—one where treaties and agreements are built out of what parties are willing to contribute or concede—does not do justice to the urgency and potency of the issues at hand. Some lawyers...

Has US given up on keeping warming below 2 degrees?

As we are now only 3 weeks away from crucial climate change negotiations in Bangkok (which will set the stage for this years 18th Conference of the Parties, in Doha), US Special Envoy on climate change - Todd Stern - has dropped a bit of a bomb during a speech at Dartmouth. Rather than stick to what the science demands, and limit global warming to 2 degrees celcius, Mr Stern is advocating for a...

Financing Adaptation: Who Will Pay?

by Nathan Thanki and Graham Reeder Given that we’re now experiencing another summer of bizarre weather events, including deadly heat waves, wildfires, and storms in the US, and increased chances of another El Nino year, many in the US are finally opening their eyes to what scientists have been telling them for years: climate change is real, but not only that, it is happening now. Climate...

Sustainable Development And The Political Treadmill Of No Will

By Julian Velez Rio+20 was supposed to renew political commitment to Sustainable Development (SD) and poverty eradication by integrating the social, economic and environmental “pillars,” or dimensions. It was a conference that was supposed to build on previous agreements to bring the Sustainable Development agenda to the next step. But the spotlight of the conference was taken by the...

The dreadful details: a blow by blow account of how COP17 ended

by nathan thanki A week later and everyone has returned to their respective homes, readying themselves for the festive season. The mainstream media has been content with the narrative of 'it was close but we saved the regime, and eventually we'll save the world' and has moved on to supposedly bigger concerns such as the Eurozone crisis, and what the best recipe for preparing the Christmas turkey...