| A service (1-18 December 2009) alerting readers to key policy documents and perspectives, with a special emphasis on agriculture and climate change, brought to you by Mr Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General, COMESA and Chairman of FANRPAN Board of Governors |
| Alert: COP15 - 10 December 2009 |
| Share | Subscribe | Unsubscribe |
|
|
Copenhagen talks break down as developing nations split over ‘Tuvalu’ protocol The Guardian Copenhagen: Negotiations at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen dramatically broke down today after developing countries split between those who favour a new protocol and others who want to continue with the legally binding Kyoto agreement. The crisis, partly precipitated by revelations yesterday that the host country Denmark had proposed a text which could have seen the death of the Kyoto protocol, threatens to divide the powerful G77 plus China group of 130 developing countries... No ‘pass’ for developing countries in next climate treaty, says US envoy New York Times Copenhagen: The top US climate negotiator stressed today that the next international global warming agreement must include major commitments from a suite of fast-growing countries; otherwise, greenhouse gas emissions will go up too fast to solve the problem. "If you care about the science -- and we do -- there's no way to solve this problem by giving the major developing countries a pass," State Department envoy Todd Stern told reporters during the third day of UN climate talks here.... Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after ‘Danish text’ leak The Guardian Copenhagen: The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations... Surya P Sethi: A bad deal is worse than no deal Times of India New Delhi: The cat is out of the bag. However, the leaked political draft agreement crafted by the Danes holds few surprises. There is nothing in the draft that was not known before. Indeed the direction has been obvious since the G-8 meeting in L'Aquila. The desire for a new agreement that negates historical responsibility, diluting obligations to provide finance and technology, dividing the developing world into new categories, requiring peaking of emissions by the more developed developing countries, and the review of domestic actions by international standards - all these have been on the table for some time... BASIC fissures in G-77; 2 Indian negotiators set to join team India Today Mumbai: As the historic climate summit got underway here, fissures were evident on the draft treaty circulated among a big group of developing nations by India and three other countries. The Least Developed Countries and the Alliance of Small Island States, whose very existence is threatened by the impact of climate change, voiced reservations on the draft prepared by Brazil, South Africa, India and China (BASIC) with strong provisions on aspects mitigation and financing... Bangladesh seeks 15% of any UN climate fund BBC Copenhagen: Bangladesh says it will ask for at least 15% of any money which rich countries pledge to help developing nations cope with climate change. Environment Minister Hasan Mahmud said Bangladesh was entitled to a big share of the money because it was the country most vulnerable to climate change... Copenhagen: What does it mean for Botswana? Mmegi Gaborone: The UN Copenhagen Climate Change Conference is a rare meeting where the parties that are attending all agree weeks prior to the meeting that they will fail to achieve their stated objective, that is to conclude a legally binding treaty that will limit green house gas (GHG) emissions. The organisers have succeeded in dampening expectations but what is generally hoped for now is the outline of an agreement with the legal treaty completed within a year... Botswana wants $143 million a year to fight climate change AFP Gaborone: Botswana needs 143 million dollars a year in aid to fight climate change, mainly to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its coal-powered plants, the environment minister said Wednesday. “As a country which depends more on thermal power, we need safer technologies to reduce emissions from coal-fired power stations,” Kitso Mokaila said on local radio before departing for UN climate talks in Copenhagen... African local government declaration on climate change ICLEI Africa Copenhagen: African local governments have declared their shared commitment to bold and up-scaled local action against climate change across the continent. They stated that local governments will be the leaders that take the initiative in defining a new future where community resilience, social justice and environmental sustainability are foremost on the agenda... Brazil rejects 2050 climate target without 2020 goal Reuters AlertNet Copenhagen: Brazil's climate change ambassador said on Tuesday that the country will not sign up for a long-term goal of halving global emissions by 2050 unless rich nations take on tougher mid-term targets for 2020. The Danish hosts of Dec. 7-18 talks in Copenhagen see agreement to halve emissions as a core part of a deal, meant to provide the outline of a new climate treaty to be finalised next year... Trade and climate change: a New Zealand negotiator's perspective Voxy London: Over the next two weeks at Copenhagen, starting at official level, and culminating with the arrival of some one hundred Heads of Government, including both the British and New Zealand Prime Ministers, we hope to see the shape of an agreement emerge to counter the threat of anthropogenic induced climate change for what is called the ‘second commitment period’, which is set to begin on 1 January 2013... Climate change costs a lot Irin Copenhagen: In the past 18 years 11,000 extreme events have claimed the lives of 600,000 people and cost US$1.7 trillion across the globe, said the Climate Risk Index 2010, released in Copenhagen at the UN climate change conference. The index, produced by Germanwatch, a North-South watchdog initiative, called for more money in the next three years to help developing countries adapt to the unfolding impact of climate change, and underlined the challenge facing humanitarian aid agencies to raise funds for rendering assistance... A Dow Jones Index for climate change Irin Copenhagen: Confused by the various datasets on sea level rise, global temperature, Arctic sea ice melt and the level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Help is at hand. The International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP), a research network of 10,000 scientists, has taken these four key indicators to develop the world's first climate change index as a useful tool for policy-makers, launched at the UN climate change talks in Copenhagen... Freeland: It's time to talk about human rights in the climate debate Sydney Morning Herald Sydney: It is clear that climate change is having an effect on the lives of many people. Even though there may still be areas of disagreement among states, the scientific community and some politicians as to these precise effects (and the mitigating action needed), all agree that some form of legal regulation is necessary... |
|
Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN)
Africa-wide Civil Society Climate Change Initiative for Policy Dialogues - ACCID
PDF version, click here.  FANRPAN appreciates any comments you might have on this digest: feedback@africaclimatesolution.org To subscribe: subscribe@africaclimatesolution.org |
|
|
|
ACCID website: www.africaclimatesolution.org |