CITES COP 16: Opening and Plenary, Happy 40th, CITES!

by guest blogger The opening ceremony was quite a spectacle. To summarize very briefly and quite paraphrased: Prince William: "We can reverse these trends. We can make a difference" (via video chat) Oystein Stokersen (Chair of CITES Standing Committee): "Must involve communities dependent on resources being managed in a sustainable manner" Achim Steiner (UNEP Executive Director): "It is easy...

CITES COP 16: Shark Press Conference

by guest blogger This morning, the European Union held a press conference to discuss the marine proposals to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora (CITES)--recommendations to list a number of shark species and manta rays under Appendix II. What is CITES? The primary goal of CITES is to regulate international wildlife trade of species and to protect them...

Earth in Brackets is reporting from CITES COP16

Earth in Brackets is reporting from CITES COP16! Follow us here as well as on facebook and twitter for information on the negotiations on the international trade in endangered species! Parties are coming together to discuss proposals on issues concerning transport of musical instruments (often made from rare woods), the international trade in timber, and  proposals on the statuses of sharks,...

On the way to the Rally

By Katie O'Brien I'm currently writing this post from my phone in a van on the way to the rally against the flow-reversal of the Portland-Montreal Pipeline. Thirty COA students are heading down, quite a few of whom are involved with Earth in Brackets. In the weeks since Doha, I have been trying to think of how to bring international climate justice issues into the dialogues and campaigns of...

No surprise, Connie: Doha was a failure

This is a response to European Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard’s article entitled "Why the Doha climate conference was a success." It is soon to be available on New York Times dotearth blog.  By Anjali Appadurai and Nathan Thanki Connie Hedegaard doesn’t respond to our tweets. She ignores us in the halls of UN climate talks. So when we read her in the...