Road to Copenhagen: Is a 'politically-binding' agreement worthless or a path to progress?

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:01:37 GMT

photo: quinn.anya on flickr From all I can gather, the actual on-paper negotiations are moving this week, progressing in some way towards some kind of agreement. (We'll get to what kind of agreement soon.) But we wouldn't have much way of knowing, since proceedings largely disappeared behind closed doors this week. I've been told by plenty of folks--including two former US negotiators--that I shouldn't complain about the lack of access, because it's the closed-door meetings where things really get done. Still, it's frustrating that an institution that prides itself on openness seems to operate best through closed meetings. The American delegation does seem more confident at this stage that there's an agreement out there to be achieved.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Road to Copenhagen: No Senate Bill Before Copenhagen, What's Next?

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:14:35 GMT

photo: Perrimoon on flickr Well that's settled. There won't be a Senate bill before Copenhagen. Which means a lot of things: the US won't have concrete numbers on mitigation targets and finance commitments before COP15 convenes; the difficult job of the American negotiators just got even harder; the international community has even more cause to accuse the US of coming up short; the chances of a fair, ambitious and binding deal coming out of Copenhagen have taken a serious blow; and finally, any hope for the talks to succeed depends on a dramatic shift in how the State Department approaches the negotiations.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Road to Copenhagen: Waiting for America

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:31:30 GMT

photo: adopt a negotiator via flickr As the last round of "intersessional" climate talks before Copenhagen opened yesterday in Barcelona, all eyes were looking in the same direction they were when we left Bangkok three weeks earlier: at the United States. Without American numbers on mitigation (or emissions reductions) and finance (for developing nations to build their own clean energy economies, and also to adapt to the impacts of climate change), any real forward progress in the talks is just about impossible. "We need a clear target from the United States in Copenhagen," urged Yvo de Boer, who's charged with steering this UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change) process to some kind of December resolution." "That is an essential component of the puzzle." The problem is that the U.S. isn't putting anything out there. At least not yet. Not while the Kerry-Boxer bill limps through Senate subcommittees back on Capital Hill.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Artists-Scientists Join Forces in Arctic Climate Expedition

Sat, 22 Sep 2007 18:10:56 GMT

This week, a 100-year old Dutch schooner packed with artists and oceanographic researchers (and a handful of media reps, including yours truly) will set sail from the island of Spitsbergen (roughly 500 miles north of Norway) to traverse the 78th parallel and then down the coast of eastern Greenland. Besides the unique collection of crew members, this voyage is noteworthy for another, very significant reason: this route has never before been navigable, having been frozen for ages. (And we're talking geological ages.) The expedition is part of the Cape Farewell program, started by London-based artist and sailor David Buckland, with a mission to raise awareness about climate change by sailing to the front lines of the issue, and giving artists full access to the advanced--and potentially quite important--research being conducted there. (We've covered past Cape Farewell expeditions in 2005 and 2006.) The basic idea is that artists, as society's most creative communicators, are able to present the issue to the public in ways much more engaging than scientific papers. ... Read the full story on TreeHugger

TreeHugger Welcomes Guest-Writer Ben Jervey

Sat, 01 Sep 2007 12:25:15 GMT

Ben Jervey is a freelance writer, environmental consultant, and ecopreneur who has been working towards a more sustainable life in New York City for years. He recently released a book to help others do the same--The Big Green Apple: Your Guide to Eco-Friendly Living in New York City. Mr. Jervey writes regularly about environmental issues for National Geographic's "The Green Guide," Good Magazine, NRDC's ItsYourNature.org, and Worldchanging, and has also contributed to Men's Journal, The New York Daily News, Men's Vogue, and many other online and print publications. Mr. Jervey is a founder of Evolvist.com, an online directory and resource for smarter, sustainable urban living. He works at times for Solar One, a non-profit renewable energy, arts and education center committed to inspiring New Yorkers to become more environmentally-aware urban citizens. Before moving to The Big Apple, he lived in Vermont, working in carpentry and lumber salvage after graduating from Middlebury College, where his interest in urban environmental issues began. He sat on the school's Environmental Council and studied Environmental Studies,Literature, and Geography, eventually presenting a thesis on Green Cities, a concern that brought him to Curitiba, Brazil-the "ecological capital of the world"-where he spent months researching and working with the municipal planning board, gathering urban ecological solutions and ideas from this model green city. A bicycle enthusiast, Ben has ridden across the United States and through much of Europe.... Read the full story on TreeHugger

Recent Posts by TreeHugger's Benjamin Jervey

Road to Copenhagen: Is a 'politically-binding' agreement worthless or a path to progress?

Road to Copenhagen: No Senate Bill Before Copenhagen, What's Next?

Road to Copenhagen: Waiting for America

Artists-Scientists Join Forces in Arctic Climate Expedition

TreeHugger Welcomes Guest-Writer Ben Jervey