The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, will be held from November 29 to 10 December 2010, and it includes the sixteenth Conference of the Parties (COP 16) and the sixth Conference of the Parties serving as the Meeting of the Parties to the Kyoto Protocol (CMP 6), among other regular climate meetings (see link).
This 12-day conference kicks off tomorrow, when delegates the world over will talk about climate financial aid, energy, deforestation, and attempt to forge a path to a comprehensive, international climate deal. Among the key objectives is focusing on the climate impact on developing countries, and pointedly launching a "Green Fund" as a primary source for aid to poor countries that suffer the brunt of climate change, as promised at Copenhagen. The need is expected to reach $100 billion by 2020.
Our own boatsie is reporting from the ground in Cancun for tcktcktck. Be sure to follow her tweets.
You can find the overview schedule on this .pdf. In the absence of having the richest countries on board for an agreement to cap their emissions, the conference is still moving toward more positive ground. In particular, this conference will focus on giving a platform to the poorest nations. As world leaders criticize the rich, one of the goals of this conference is to actually take steps to address the problems that climate change creates for most of the people in the world -- that aren't rich.
In fact, the Climate Action Group says that the US should stay out of these talks entirely:
"The U.S. has been the 800-pound gorilla in the room at climate negotiations," said Eric Carlson, President, Carbonfund.org. "As the largest global emitter per capita with enormous entourages at the meetings, all attention goes toward the U.S.," he said. The country should not make agreements that it can’t stand by, said the organization. "It's like Lucy pulling the football away from Charlie Brown. The world needs to wise up and move the ball to a different field," said Carlson.
Carlson sees the urgency of now, and insists that the key to solving our carbon emissions problems is making the market transformation from carbon-intensive fossil fuels to zero-emissions clean energy. The US clearly hasn't embraced that fact -- so Carlson thinks they should get out of the way in Cancun.
Clearly there are many problems on the path toward dialing back climate change. China is the focus of a lot of climate change rifts, in particular because they are trying to protect their right to develop. The biggest problem is the bottem line -- coal is cheap. Clean technology is expensive. As China and India and other developing countries modernize, we have to create a clean energy technology that is sustainable and cheap. But that's a topic for another conference -- it's just a shame that we aren't talking about it now...
Although, EU says they may unveil CO2 credit curb plan in Cancun. Keep an eye peeled.
But climate scientists are getting tough about anti-science hype. It is clear that climate denial in the US presents a huge obstacle for the rest of the world, and it's up to us to stand behind the climate experts that are speaking out against denial propoganda.
Please do follow this conference -- and post many diaries about topics that interest you. A lot of video from the plenary talks will be posted online, although I'm not sure yet where. Details will be posted at eKos earthship as they come in -- and we expect that our great writers at Daily Kos will fill the right hand column with thier insights. Come one, come all.
Please add the tags tcktcktck, DailyCancun, and eKos.
The technology that presents the biggest threat against our climate hasn't yet been built -- it's up to us to change the course.
More from Climate Change News Roundup, and BillLaurelMD. Then, even more from Climate Change News Roundup:
Fossil Foolishness
- Thank You, Global Warming! Mother Jones reports on the antics of Tom Borelli, a former Phillip Morris exec who is waging a lonely war on the corporations trying to tackle climate change.
Energy, Technology, Business, and Economic Impacts
- Green tech sector advances, despite failure of climate bill. While the collapse of climate legislation in Congress was a setback for some green businesses, many others are moving ahead with projects to develop renewable energy. One major reason: The clean-tech sector is rapidly growing worldwide, and U.S. companies don’t want to be left behind.
- 2009 carbon emissions fall smaller than expected. If you're hungry for something that hard economic times hasn't affected, you've got one here. Emissions were expected to fall because of the recession, but they didn't so much. The report states that emissions in 2009 dropped only 1.9%, and will soon again be rising at 3% per year.
Climate Change in US Politics and Abroad
- New EPA rules for carbon storage. The Obama administration is imposing new rules to protect drinking water and track the amount of carbon dioxide stored underground by 'clean coal' technology.
- Climate pledges fall short, says UN. A UN report predicts that the current promises countries have made to control carbon emissions will see temperatures rise by up to 4C by the end of the century.
Water, Natural Resources, Health, and EcoJustice
- The Warming of Antartica: A Citidel of Ice Begins to Melt. "The question now, as humanity pours greenhouse gases into the atmosphere at an accelerating rate, is not whether Antarctica will begin to warm in earnest, but how rapidly. The melting of Antarctica’s northernmost region — the Antarctic Peninsula — is already well underway, representing the first breach in an enormous citadel of cold that holds 90 percent of the world’s ice."