COP17 Final Outcome
This year’s UN climate conference – the longest to date – concluded in Durban at 6am Sunday morning after a second all night session of negotiating.
Blog
US Perspectives at COP17: Final Statements to the UN Plenary
Perspectives from a Youth Climate Leader and the U.S. Lead Negotiator, Todd Stern Abigail Borah, Middlebury College student delivered (unauthorized) remarks to the plenary on behalf of the American people just before Todd Stern, representing the U.S. State Department: “I am speaking on behalf of the United States of America because my negotiators cannot. The […]
What Happened?
As of 10:45pm on Saturday Dec. 10, 2011, the only big decision of the COP process was a recommendation by a working group that the next Kyoto commitment would be 8 years. They also suggested that the commitment would allow for a range of 20-40% reductions from 1990 levels by the major industrialized nations. Many […]
COP: The Final Countdown
Friday, December 9th: COP Exhaustion The conference was supposed to end on Friday, theoretically with an evening plenary session that began at 8 pm. However, the meeting only ran an hour, with little to no concrete accomplishments or timeframe for wrapping up the COP. So the COP continues on Saturday, but with much less energy […]
Final Reflection on COP 17: “A People United, Will Never Be Defeated”
“A People United, Will Never Be Defeated” One week ago in the big march and rally through the streets of Durban those words were echoed over and over along with many other chants as 7,000 activists from all over the world made their statement. Were the delegates and ministers from the 191 countries represented at […]
Winding Down and Gearing Up
COP 17 ends tomorrow, but for all the NGOs and Inter governmental organizations it only means that our work is just continuing. The context of that work however may be slightly different depending on what happens inside the Baobab Plenary Room today and tomorrow. A major discussion item is emission control and closing the gigaton […]
The Americas
The title is an acknowledgement that more than just the US is playing a role here at COP17. Some of the most vocal and straightforward public statements have been made by South American and Caribbean nations, including Venezuela, Bolivia, Colombia, and Grenada. These nations are not often shined upon by American media, and partly because […]
Global Day of Action in Durban
MN 350 banner in the march! On Saturday Dec. 3rd, a march of COP attendees and South Africans went through the city of Durban asking for action and progress in the negotiations. Ordinary people including peasant farmers and women from South African rural communities joined with people from around the world to make sure their […]
COP Negotiations: Information Overload
One half of the boards with side events, and that is only the listings for the next few days! View down one of the many rows of booths. My view from the back of the main plenary session. The COP negotiations are not quite as I expected. I guess I envisioned a group of like […]
Durban Climate Talks Begin
On November 28th, the 17th Conference of Parties (COP 17) to the United Nations’ Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) began in Durban, South Africa. The UN Climate Talks will span two weeks and include delegates from 194 countries but also hundreds of public interest organizations and thousands of activists from around the world will […]