unfccc
Briefing paper: the road to COP16
13/06/10 12:50
WWF-International and
GermanWatch have put together a briefing paper
assessing the state of global adaptation
discussions and the road forward to COP16:
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A Cold Controversy: Himalayan Glaciers
05/01/10 16:17
A controversy has
been brewing over glaciers and climate change,
especially the glaciers of the Himalayas and the
Tibetan plateau, a vast region that spans India,
Pakistan, Bhutan, Nepal, the Tibetan region of
China, and other parts of China too. The conflict
began last November after the Indian
government produced a report on their part
of the Himalayas, focusing on how the leading
edges of their glaciers (called the
snout) have been trending over the
past century or so. Were the snouts advancing?
Retreating? Using many lines of evidence, the
report stated that the snouts of their glaciers
were mostly retreating, but some were advancing.
The most important conclusion of the report was
that the movement of the snouts did not seem to
be related to climate change.
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Video: Red Eyes in Copenhagen: Adaptation at COP15
27/12/09 08:26
Red Eyes in
Copenhagen: Climate Adaptation at COP15
7 mins, December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
In December 2009, representatives of 192 nations met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international climate change agreement. Most of these efforts focused on climate mitigation — reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in order to slow down the rate of climate change. These results received widespread analysis. But there were also heated if less publicized negotiations to help the poor and vulnerable of the world adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. Filmed within hours of the conclusion of the Copenhagen Accord on 19 December 2009, this film shows the sleep-deprived thoughts of WWF staff about the impacts and efficacy of the Accord for international climate adaptation policy. These staff have worked on these issues for many years.
7 minutes, produced and directed by John Matthews. Read More...
7 mins, December 2009, Copenhagen, Denmark
In December 2009, representatives of 192 nations met in Copenhagen, Denmark, to negotiate a new international climate change agreement. Most of these efforts focused on climate mitigation — reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases in order to slow down the rate of climate change. These results received widespread analysis. But there were also heated if less publicized negotiations to help the poor and vulnerable of the world adapt to the negative impacts of climate change. Filmed within hours of the conclusion of the Copenhagen Accord on 19 December 2009, this film shows the sleep-deprived thoughts of WWF staff about the impacts and efficacy of the Accord for international climate adaptation policy. These staff have worked on these issues for many years.
7 minutes, produced and directed by John Matthews. Read More...
A Final COP Postcard: The Longest Day
21/12/09 08:07
The COP is finally
over, and I’ve had about 36 hours to begin to
absorb its truths and promises. Written so soon
after the negotiations have ended, I have no doubt
my reflections will achieve at best a facile and
tenuous first draft of history (or a poor excuse
for journalism). But I must write something to
describe where climate adaptation — our efforts to
prepare ourselves and other species for the coming
climate — is headed since the conclusion of the
Copenhagen sessions.
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Video: More Water Asks at the COP
17/12/09 06:47
Quick update: a video
on the UNFCCC COP15 site of me speaking
last week on
water and climate from an event sponsored by the
Global Water Partnership, Stakeholders Forum,
and the Stockholm International Water Institute.
3 mins, UNFCCC official footage. In case the
link doesn’t work, you can find the entire
event here. Read More...
Joining the Strands at the COP
16/12/09 09:15
My interest in
knitting probably marks me as one of the more
visibly peculiar members of the WWF delegation to
the COP, but knitting is a great asset in a
high-stress setting. Some of the oldest knitting in
the world was found in bogs in this part of
northern Europe — perhaps five or six thousand
years old. Knitting is essentially the ability of
taking a single length of yarn and looping it back
against itself in order to make fabric and
clothing. It was a simple, brilliant invention. And
it can be quite beautiful. The idea of taking
strands of yarn and creating something new,
functional, and strong is a calming image as I
listen to the needles clicking in my room.
Especially given how the COP has been developing.
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Video: The Language of Climate Change Is the Language of Water
14/12/09 04:04
At a recent event
sponsored by TERI and the Yale School of Forestry,
WWF-US CEO Carter Roberts spoke to a small
distinguished group in Denmark’s Kronborg Castle
about the vulnerability of freshwater species and
ecosystems — and communities and their livelihoods
— to climate change. His key message: the language
of climate change is the language of water. Listen
to the language of climate change. This message has
largely been missing from current discussions about
how to prioritize climate change adaptation
actions. This
video was produced over the weekend
from the event. 5 mins. Read More...
Video: Voices on water, biodiversity, and COP15
14/12/09 00:35
The Dutch government
and its environmental assessment
agency organized a great series of
events over two weeks here at the COP on climate
adaptation issues. If you’re interested in
water, it would be hard to leave the Holland
Climate House. I’m involved in a total of four
side events there, with one remaining. A
video was produced from
one of the events I participated in last week
focusing on water, climate adaptation, and
biodiversity issues in the negotiations
(background material on the event itself is
described here). Some nice quotes from a
wide range of people!
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Teenage Angst at the COP: At the Hinge
14/12/09 00:02
A week of prelude is
over. The real work has begun in Copenhagen.
Last week was intense, fast paced, and frantic. Most people here are profoundly exhausted. But we’re at the hinge now. Negotiation teams are shifting from delaying and positioning to taking firm and often oppositional stands. More senior level staff are engaging in the government delegations — and more loudly. The hinge of the week has turned.
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Last week was intense, fast paced, and frantic. Most people here are profoundly exhausted. But we’re at the hinge now. Negotiation teams are shifting from delaying and positioning to taking firm and often oppositional stands. More senior level staff are engaging in the government delegations — and more loudly. The hinge of the week has turned.
Read More...
Asks for the COP: More Water, Please!
08/12/09 04:06
Much of the practice
of creating climate resilient, sustainable water
management is already well known and described in
policy statements such as the Dublin Principles of
1992, The Hague Ministerial Declaration on Water
Security of 2002, the Brisbane Declaration of 2007,
the Nairobi Statement on Land and Water Management
for Adaptation to Climate Change of 2009, and the
Stockholm Message to Copenhagen of 2009. I stand
proudly with these documents and their authors. A
comprehensive international agreement to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions and the rate of climate
change is essential. But as we approach
international efforts to reduce the negative
impacts of climate change, especially the COP15, I
ask negotiators and policymakers to focus their
efforts on climate adaptation on these principles:
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Trust: Why We're Here in Copenhagen
08/12/09 03:55
Copenhagen is very
open city. For instance, it’s really rare to see a
bike in a stand that’s been locked. This is
amazing, given the actual number of bicycles here
in Copenhagen. There are counters at some of the
major intersections that show the number of bikes
that have passed by that day, and walking past one
of these counters around noon I saw that over
10,000 bikes had passed. And this is in weather
that has been hovering around freezing, very windy,
and extremely wet for the past week.
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Arrivals: The Beginning of Copenhagen
07/12/09 00:04
My first morning in
Copenhagen, and I haven’t yet seen the light. Most
of our delegation is staying in a hostel that a
reviewer wondered if this is what a prison might
look like if it had been designed by Ikea. It’s
actually not that bad — I’ve stayed in much worse.
And the beginning of a long stay in any place far
from home always focuses on securing essentials and
dealing with practicalities: unpacking, making sure
you have the right plugs for your electronics, and
laundry. Read
More...
The Watery Road to Copenhagen: Video Interviews from World Water Week
26/08/09 05:38
The water community
gathered in Stockholm, Sweden, in August 2009 to
discuss emerging and critical issues, and adapting
to climate change was easily one of the most
prominent topics discussed. Part of this prominence
comes from the international climate change
discussions that will occur in Copenhagen, Denmark,
in December 2009. Here, a group of rapporteurs was
asked by the World Water Week staff with SIWI
to interview conference
attendees about what they expect,
if anything, will
come out of the Copenhagen negotiations relevant
to water, their home countries, and their
families. 8.25 min. Read More...
The Watery Road to Copenhagen: Podcast with Three Groups
18/08/09 06:58
Lets take two
scenarios. On the 18th of December, the world
walks away with a new global deal on climate
change. The agreement includes progressive
emission targets for rich countries, nationally
appropriate mitigation strategies for developing
countries, financing for adaptation and a good
institutional framework. Alternatively, on the 18th
December the negotiations finally break down, no
deal is struck and world leaders walk away with
nothing. In our second breakfast roundtable
we tackle the implications of the UNFCCC
negotiations on international water management
policy. Listen in here.
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Guest Blog: An Urgent Update and Message on Waxman-Markey
24/06/09 14:38
The Road to Copenhagen 1: Setting the Agenda in Bonn
03/06/09 09:50
The next stage in the process leading up to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change Copenhagen meeting (usually referred to as a “cop” or council or consultation of the signatory parties) began this week in Bonn, Germany. I’m not able to attend, but the process is important and I’ve been receiving almost hourly updates from colleagues there. You can see some of their progress and concerns on a video blog in order to get an idea of what being there is like. The most obvious issues are US climate mitigation policy, such as the Waxman/Markey bill (discussed in previous entries). But climate adaptation finance — the “adaptation fund” — is showing up a big second topic as well. Some background on adaptation finance was covered as well in previous entries here indirectly and here for more general issues. However, a “side event” has been planned to continue the process associated with the Nairobi Guiding Principles for freshwater adaptation and the water sector. What are those goals? And why does Bonn matter? Read More...
