It\’s Getting Hot In Here

And the Conference of the Parties begins…..

Last year, in Bali Indonesia, the nations of the world agreed to reach an agreement by 2009 to tackle climate change. By December 15th 2009, in Copenhagen Denmark, governments are expected to reach an agreement that  will holistically tackle not only the issues of emissions, but also the impacts to those most vulnerable. This coming Monday, in Poznan, Poland, the UN will meet again to advance the Bali Action Plan.

The Bali roadmap, which has become more like a treasure-hunt, brings many daunting challenges to Poznan. From tackling issues of deforestation in tropical forest, to insurance schemes to help countries recover from extreme climate change-related losses, Poznan is happening in the midst of global financial crisis that many countries are already using as a scape-goat for dumping climate goals and continuing the decades of inaction and unsustainable economic policies. The stakes are high, yet ideas are not flowing. The developed countries’ proposals on technology transfer and   finance for mitigation and adaptation are a carbon copy of the failed regulation mechanisms of modern history, yet somehow they are asking developing nations to take bold steps in order to achieve an agreement.

For something meaningful to come out of the agreement next year, Poznan must set a new path.

Rather that trying fixing our future on new-yet-dirty of the same fuels that have gotten us in trouble, we need a vision of a world where well-being is not coupled with greenhouse gases. There will be over 500 young people in Poznan, and they have been organizing for months. Over this weekend they will come together at Conference of Youth to finish their strategy, and over the next two weeks youth from across the planet will be contributing to itsgettinghotinhere.org, giving their perspective on the process and their suggestions for fixing the planet we will inherit. You can also contribute with your message by sharing your views with COP14 youth messaging team

The first week of the negotiations in Bonn has ended. It has been an interesting week, to say the least, with lots of interesting ideas on how to move forward on finance and technology transfer. One of the highlights was the discussion on investment and finance to address climate change on Thursday afternoon. These were some of the ideas put forward:

Barbados, speaking for small islands, proposed a new Adaptation fund for small islands which emphasis on insurance and technology fund.
Mexico proposed a world climate change fund on mitigation, adaptation and technology transfer, to which all countries would contribute according to greenhouse gas emissions, population and national income.
China proposed an approach for funding from developed countries as a percentage of their national income to be channeled by the UNFCCC. Continue reading ‘The Road to Copenhagen: Lots of ideas, no common vision’

The second session of the UN working group on long term cooperative action has started in Bonn, Germany. The working group (AWGLCA), created in Bali, is mandated to consider action needed to create the conditions for action on climate change–both to reduce emissions and adapt to unavoidable changes, adequate to the current understanding of the causes and science of climate change . This session will start looking at issues of investment flows, finance, and adaptation.

For the next two weeks, the UNFCCC will try to make progress on the many items listed and agreed in the Bali Action Plan –the outcome of the negotiations in Bali—, and the issues will get heated. The deadline for this new “action” is 2009, at the meeting in Copenhagen. This session in Bonn will be a forum for most substantive dialogue, ideas, proposals, and an overall (desperate) effort to go beyond programming and workshop planning into discussing the critical issues in regards to technology transfer and adaptation. enhanced conditions for a stable climate.
Members of SustainUS and CYCC are present at the meeting, and we hope to share with you occasional updates.

The typhoon season is technically over in South East Asia, which gives us some time to start thinking over what has happened over the past few months. A lot was learned during 2007 in the disaster management and disaster risk reduction field. Some events showed us that we are improving in how we respond to extreme weather events; some showed that there still a lot that we need to figure out. Vietnam, where I live, was affected by five typhoons in 2007, and some of the worst floods ever experienced in the history of the country.

In the midst of record-breaking statistics, one reality became evident to me. While much has improved in curbing the economic losses of disaster and the damage to national infrastructure, the vulnerable and most affected groups in every storm continue to be the poor and the marginalized. Issues of environmental justice continue to shock me in South East Asia, and sometimes I feel lost and discouraged. While I know this reality is not unique to South East Asia, the projections for the region are particularly worrisome. Asia, the most populated continent in the world, is already experiencing increased intensity of severe weather events with greater risk of flooding, particularly in megadeltas and coastal areas. This increased intensity is a deadly mix considering the growing pressure over natural resources, particularly freshwater supplies, and the unsustainable development patterns, especially land use.

Continue reading ‘The people behind the dike: concerns from the corners of Asia’

This year the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events in the developing world has set new records- though, setting new records for highest floods, most damage, most killed, etc, etc, seems to be common, and the media stops paying attention once the story becomes old. But for those affected, the real impacts of climate change are more than just another story on the news, and the urgency of action has a whole different meaning. When disasters hit, you realize how vulnerable we are and how little everything else matters. We often talk about the impacts of climate change, but not often we listen to those stories.

I write from central Vietnam. The provinces of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, and Ha Tinh were hit by a powerful typhoon two weeks ago, typhoon Lekima, and reconstruction is underway. People here are afraid. Lekima was the fifth typhoon to hit Vietnam this year. Farmers and villagers know that ‘more frequent and severe” weather events is not something on the IPCC reports, it is the reality killing their children. Lekima hit at the end of the harvesting season, and most crops are lost. We don’t really know what is going to happen after the food stocks run out in two months. For those communities that lost everything, the government and some NGOs have provided rice and instant noodles to fight hunger for the moment. But nobody knows how long it will take for thousands of people to recover their livelihoods. We have finished cleaning up the schools, so children can hopefully go back to school by next week- but most of the schools’ materials have been destroyed, and it will take weeks until new materials arrive. Meanwhile, the government is trying to assess how to deal with the damages to infrastructure and avoid having to request a loan from a global financial institution. While those polluting engage in rhetorical discussions over how to reduce their emissions, many countries in the developing world are paying for the consequences – ironically, many are having to get to loans from rich countries to pay for the cost of climate change. People here wonder when the next typhoon will hit, and wonder if there is any point in reconstruction.

Continue reading ‘Dispatches from the South: When Disasters Hit’

Although the Bush administration pledged to become a global leader in fighting climate change a few months ago, Mr. Bush is already failing to show the most basic skills (and manners) for global leadership. While most Heads of State of the world are gathering at the United Nations General Assembly this week to discuss how to combat climate change and create momentum for the upcoming meeting of the UNFCCC in Bali, Mr. Bush has decided not to attend. How does he plan to exercise global leadership when he refuses to engage in dialogue? That’s not clear to me. Refusing the invitation of the UN Secretary General is a sign of unwillingness to engage in constructive dialogue – but that’s not new to the administration. Instead, Mr. Bush has called 16 countries to a private meeting in Washington, DC to discuss his agenda on global warming. In order words, he has hand picked countries to come to the table, and said that the only way he will talk about global warming is if he sets the rules.

But to make things even worse, the little action on fighting climate change that Mr. Bush has available to is flawed. Last week, a report was published stressing the weaknesses and limited impact of the US Climate Change Science Program, particularly on informing decision-making (really? uninformed decision-making in the US?…nahhh). So, an uninformed president will try to show the 16 nations attending the private meeting how to solve the climate crisis. Perhaps it’s best to just let Mr. Bush play leader alone, and try to get the rest of the US to set the stage for real leadership in 2009. Hopefully, this ‘global leadership’ will not get on the way of the good spirit and willingness to speak of future action for stable climate uniting Heads of State in New York. The Heads of State gathered in New York should know that, regardless of what the Administration says, the emperor has no clothes.

A message from Erin Kenzie, of SustainUS:

The SustainUS Agents of Change program is now accepting applications for its delegation to the UN Climate Negotiations, COP13, happening in Bali this December. COP13 will determine the future of international policy on climate change, and youth must make their voices heard. The SustainUS delegation, comprised of key leaders in the youth climate movement, will have the unique opportunity to represent American (and US-based) youth at the COP. Delegates will work with each other and with international youth in advance of the conference to educate themselves, develop policy priorities, acquire skills in effective lobbying, and engage the broader youth population in a conversation about international climate policy.

Please download the application to learn more about this amazing opportunity or visit the SustainUS website for more information about our organization. The application deadline is June 17th!

The next meeting of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change/Kyoto Protocol will be taking place in Bali, Indonesia in December. Bali will determine the future international policy on climate change, and youth must make their voice heard. Between now and December, youth from across the globe will organize to bring a sense of urgency and rationality to the meeting. The future of the UNFCCC process is up for debate, and with it the future of international action to stop climate change. If the UNFCCC cannot respond to the urgent conclusions contained in the report of the IPCC, the ability of the international mechanism to respond to global challenges might become irrelevant.

Continue reading ‘The Road to Bali: So much at stake’

Science Magazine just published a peer-reviewed article with some scary findings. The southern ocean has slowed its natural process of carbon absorption. The reason: climate change and ozone depletion. The breakdown in efficiency of these sinks was a expected, but not for another 40 years.

Because of feed-back mechanisms, the decline of Antarctica’s Southern Ocean carbon sink means that atmospheric CO2 levels may be higher in future than predicted. Continue reading ‘The Oceans Have Had Enough’

The fifthteen session of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD-15) will meet at UN Headquarters in New York next week and youth will take the floor to lay out the future that we envision. As this implementation cycle, CSD-15 will review progress in the area of Energy for Sustainable Development; Industrial Development; Air pollution/ Atmosphere; and Climate Change.

In preparation, Youth climate leaders from around the world will converge on the Youth Energy Blast in New York on April 29, 2007 at Columbia University with the mission of sharing their skills and preparing for the 15th Session UN Commission on Sustainable Development (UNCSD-15). Continue reading ‘Youth prepare for climate and development negotiations’