Some things only work if you believe in them – the tooth fairy, Tinkerbell, the international banking system, and our ability to take meaningful action to prevent the worst impacts of potential climate change. When you stop believing in the tooth fairy, you don’t get money under your pillow if you lose a tooth. If […]
The Conferences of the Parties (COPs) are full of many different activities. Negotiations. There are official negotiations, of course, to fill out the operational details of the Paris Agreement. Some of the representatives of the various governments of the world are dedicated to these official meetings and making sure that a particular country’s point of […]
Today, I dived into the deep end of the public policy pool and listened to economists almost all day. My agenda for the day revolved around one main question: which public policy tool achieves the most carbon pollution reductions for the lowest cost – cap and trade or carbon tax? Economists from the Massachusetts Institute […]
State leaders from around the country converged today to send a clear message to the rest of the world that a significant portion of the United States is still committed to reaching the goals set forth in the Paris Agreement. A panel of governors and former governors spoke this morning. The most entertaining speaker was […]
COP23 Day 1: Arriving in Germany and getting oriented – with jet lag! A day of planes, trains, and buses I arrived at the Dusseldorf Airport in Germany today at 11 a.m. local time – 4 a.m. Minnesota (MN) time – after ten hours of air travel. Dusseldorf is in North Rhine Westphalia (NRW), a […]
I’m getting both excited and nervous about COP23 in Bonn. At COP21 in Paris in 2015, there was huge suspense over whether the world would finally come together and commit to global climate action. When the deal was reached in overtime, the attendees were elated. It was a thrill to be there; strangers were crying […]
Melissa Hortman is a member of Climate Generation’s Window Into COP23 program, a multi-sector delegation attending the United Nation Framework on Climate Change Convention’s 23rd Conference of the Parties (COP) in Bonn, Germany. Our delegates will observe sessions and interact with climate change policy negotiations across international leaders and stakeholders. Melissa Hortman, J.D., is a […]