cop15

The Human Bee Pollinator: People in a Beeless World?

February 14, 2010

It’s well known by now that much of the action at the failed climate talks in Copenhagen happened outside the convention center. From clashes with police to activists being banned from talks, some of the action was confrontational. But there was also a gigantic sha…Read the full story on TreeHugger

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World’s Nations Set Emissions Reduction Targets: Who’s Pledging What?

February 1, 2010

Photo via FBUSD

As you’re likely aware, the COP15 meeting in Copenhagen ended with a whimper–in lieu of any binding agreement, nations signed onto the Copenhagen Accord. Which basically meant signing a statement of intent–and nations were to pledge voluntary greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and submit them by the end of January. Well, it’s February now. Let’s take a look at the nations around the world who’ve pledged to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and what their targets are. …Read the full story on TreeHugger

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US’s 17% Emissions Reduction Pledge: It’s Official! Or At Least, “Formal”

January 29, 2010

Photo via DC Streets Blog

The Obama administration formally made its pledge to reduce emissions in the United States 17% below 2005 by 2020 levels yesterday. This is in accordance to the pledge he put forth at the Copenhagen talks, and is intended to help strengthen the chances of obtaining a global agreement. Of course, the pledge can’t truly be called official because that dallying governing body that starts with an “S” and ends in an “enate” hasn’t yet passed a clean energy and jobs bill needed to guarantee such a …Read the full story on TreeHugger

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World Social Forum – Day 2: “Rich Nations, Clean Your Mess!”

January 26, 2010

lula speech photo Photos: Stephen Messenger

Noted political leaders and intellectual met today to discuss a range of topics on the second day of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. Although the venues were scattered throughout the city and the issues ranged from economic injustice to looming environmental catastrophes, the antagonist at each was shared–Capitalism. But the highlight of today’s Forum was a visit from Brazil’s President Lula, who delivered a rousing speech articulating much of what was discussed earlier in the day, vowing that Brazil is prepared to take the lead on Green reform–and that other nations, particularly the world…Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Can One Middle School Student Change the World?

January 25, 2010

good middle school students climate change photo
Image credit: Good

Children, the saying goes, are the future. In a middle school in New Hampshire, Good shows, that future is looking bright….Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Keep Track of Nations’ Copenhagen Accord Commitments with US Climate Action Network

January 21, 2010

USCAN copenhagen accord chart

With ten days to go before countries have to submit their plans for reducing emissions and signing onto the thoroughly non-binding, it was the best we could do, trust us, Copenhagen Accord, none of the world’s major economies have actually done so. The United Nations has indicated that the Jan 31 deadline is now flexible–”soft” was the word the UN’s Yvo de Boer used. None of which sounds particularly promising to me. However, if you want to keep track of which nati…Read the full story on TreeHugger

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What Governments Can’t Do, Nike and IBM can.

January 20, 2010

Why it matters:
Despite the lack of groundbreaking climate action inside the Bella Center, outside NGOs, developing nations, and (most surprisingly) corporations were putting their heads together to develop new, effective strategies in the battle against climate change.
Recap:
For a lot of [...]

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Key Nations to Meet as Copenhagen Accord Deadline Looms

January 13, 2010

nations meeting in new delhi photo

Despite the disappointment felt in the wake of COP15 last month, which ended with less than 30 of the 192 nations present pledging to sign the resulting agreement, representatives from Brazil, China, India, and <a href="http://www.tree…Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Barack Obama and the UNFCCC

January 12, 2010

Image credit: Good

The reaction to the COP15 conference has ranged from optimistic to desperate, but, mostly, the reaction has been one of uncertainty. If anything, the conference served to generate a lot of questions.

Good focuses on a few of them and asks…Read the full story on TreeHugger

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Germany Stands Up For Science – Maintains 40% by 2020 Emissions Reductions Pledge

January 12, 2010

wind turbine photo
photo: Jason via flickr

Some nations are already backpeddling on greenhouse gas reduction commitments in the wake of Copenhagen, but not Germany. According to Reuters the world’s sixth largest carbon emitter will be standing by its target of 40% emission reductions by 2020, regardless of what other nations do:…Read the full story on TreeHugger