by Angela Kim
This Week’s Top Story: Lead Up To Copenhagen
NY Times: Gloomy Negotiators End Bonn Climate Talks
The Guardian: UN’s climate chief warns of real risk of failure at climate change talks
United Nations: Bonn Climate Change Talks – August 2009
Reuters: INTERVIEW-Climate change fight seen costing $300 bln a year
More than 2,000 representatives met in Bonn, Germany for “informal” meetings dealing with the UN Climate Conference last week, August 10 – 14. Two more meetings are scheduled between now and December in Bangkok and Barcelona. This meeting began with trying to pair down a document that has inflated from 50-pages to 200-pages. The document is to be the successor of the Kyoto Protocol. Currently, it has about “2,000 bracketed statements highlighting areas of disagreement” according to the New York Times.
The meeting ended with representatives worrying an agreement may not be possible unless conversations accelerate according to The Guardian. In the article, Kim Castensen, head of WWF Clobal Climate Initiative, said, “”Delegates spent too much time arguing over procedures and technicalities. This is not the way to overcome mistrust between rich and poor nations.”
Yvo de Boer, head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat, told Reuters, “Over time, according to my own analysis, we are going to need $200 billion a year for mitigation and probably in the order of $100 billion a year for adaptation … from 2020 onwards.”
The message of urgency is getting louder as the conference in Copenhagen is getting closer.
Other Stories:
New Scientist: US To Map Carbon Sources in the Region
White House Press Release
Last week at the conclusion of the North American Leader’s Summit in Mexico, an announcement to create a “North American Carbon Atlas” was unveiled. The atlas will help find out the large carbon emitting industries and find areas for carbon capture and storage.
Slate/The Big Money: Corporations And What They Support
Corporations are supporting curbing greenhouse gas emissions but also supporting lobby groups that oppose it. What are the stakes? Why are they doing it?
Yale360: Kolbert Interviews Holdren
Elizanbeth Kolbert interviews John Holdren for Yale 360 about what the US has planned domestically and what’s in store for US interests in Copenhagen and beyond. You can also stream the full interview on the site.
Congressional Quarterly: Opposition to Climate Plan Awaits Obama
The Guardian: Oil lobby to fund campaign against Obama’s climate change strategy
A coalition of conservative groups called the Energy Citizens are kicking off rallies this week to decry cap and trade in swing states. A memo was leaked that the oil lobby group, American Petroleum Institute, will be funding the rallies.
Focus on: Council on Foreign Relations’ Crisis Guide
Council on Foreign Relations have published articles on climate change but recently they’ve also posted this interactive video site that has maximized their multi-media platform. They publish “Crisis Guides” on various subjects ranging from the economy to war. In this installment, they breakdown the climate change debate. Watch how they mix in video, slideshow, pop-up links pertaining to the story on their site during the video, and chapter breakdowns so users can pick and choose segments of interest.
