News: ‘Climate & Energy’ Archive
‘COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Danish conference hosts warned ministers on Tuesday to compromise at deadlocked global talks to salvage agreement on a new U.N. climate pact.’
via U.N. chief calls for compromise at climate talks | Reuters.
Copenhagen, Dec 15 2009.
Today star power was invoked to add additional momentum for an agreement in Copenhagen with the appearance of California’s movie star climate friendly governor. His jovial attitude was well received, obviously a welcome change of pace for those in the packed hall.
In a possible preemptive attempt to soften the blow from what could be a weak or even non-agreement conclusion to the COP 15 negotiations, Schwarzenegger redefined the meaning of success in Copenhagen, scaling dramatically back from the goal of a legally binding emissions reduction agreement to “the ability to think again”. He then pitched the idea of a U.N. climate summit for the region level which could be held in California.
“And perhaps the real success of Copenhagen is to give us the opportunity to think differently again. Perhaps the success comes in realizing that something different needs to be done and in fact is already being done. It is being done on the sub-national level. And I would ask the U.N. to convene a climate summit like Copenhagen, but for cities, for states, for provinces, and for regions. And would be more than happy to host such a summit in California – or anywhere else the U.N. wants to hold it, but I recommend strongly in California. People like coming to California, love our state.”
Copenhagen, Dec 15, 2009
There was a press conference today on Nigerian rainforests and REDD:
“More than 90% of Nigeria’s rainforest is gone. The remaining 10% of Nigeria’s rain forest is found in the south of Nigeria, and over half of what is left is only found in cross river states. The rate of deforestation across Nigeria as a whole but Southern Nigeria in particular, is 2% a year, and that is one of the highest rates of deforestation anywhere in the world. And I think over 55% of Nigeria’s carbon emissions come from deforestation, far outweighing Nigeria’s carbon emissions from transport or from industry or any other form, so REDD and addressing land use change is actually critical for Nigeria bringing down its emissions.”
“And I think, if the rate of deforestation continue unchecked, we could see the disappearance of cross river states rainforests within the next 10 to 15 years maximum. ”
“The overall size of the forest – about 800,000 hectares of tropical rainforest.”
Report by James George
‘COPENHAGEN — China and the United States were at an impasse on Monday at the United Nations climate change conference here over how compliance with any treaty could be monitored and verified.’
via China and U.S. Hit Strident Impasse at Climate Talks – NYTimes.com.
COPENHAGEN — New computer modeling suggests the Arctic Ocean may be nearly ice-free in the summertime as early as 2014, Al Gore said Monday at the U.N. climate conference. This new projection, following several years of dramatic retreat by polar sea ice, suggests that the ice cap may nearly vanish in the summer much sooner than the year 2030, as was forecast by a U.S. government agency eight months ago.
The Copenhagen Theme song (Secret of the Seasons) by John Ungerleider has been set to video clips from COP 15 and the Copenhagen climate march.
‘COPENHAGEN Reuters – African nations agreed to resume U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen on Monday after a half-day suspension, accusing rich countries of trying to kill the existing Kyoto Protocol.’
Copenhagen, Dec 13, 2009
Today, United States Secretary of Energy Steven Chu spoke in Copenhagen at Bright Green on alternative energy development and innovation.
Of note are his comments in support of nuclear power in part two beginning at 5:57 where he states that he believes the waste problem can be solved.
Partial Excerpt:
“I personally feel that nuclear power has to be part of the mix of the century because it is carbon free and it is baseload. I believe the nuclear reactors are much safer, the designs today.”
“So what are the issues? Are they going to be economical number one, and if they are designed properly we hope so. Are they going to be safe? The other thing is waste. I think the nuclear waste issue is a solvable problem, we know a lot more than the United States knew twenty five years ago…”
“To my mind the more serious problem which will require international cooperation is non-proliferation, once you have nuclear reactors, you could have, you have the option possibly of turning some of that into some bomb material, but, I think, again that is solvable.”
These comments contrasted sharply with comments by Dr. Helen Caldicott, who spoke inside the COP 15 and at the Copenhagen climate march the day earlier. Helen Caldicott stated that a nuclear reactor produces 250 kg of plutonium per year, and that 5 kg of plutonium is enough to produce a weapon.
Part 1:
Part 2:
Part 3:
‘COPENHAGEN – As police cracked down on climate protesters, church bells tolled 350 times Sunday to impress on the U.N. global warming conference a number that is gaining a following, but is also awash in contradictions.’
via The push for 350: Contradictions and carbon levels – Yahoo! News.
‘COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Police detained nearly 1,000 people in Copenhagen on Saturday during mass demonstrations to demand that negotiators at U.N. talks agree a strong treaty to fight global warming.’
via Nearly 1,000 held after Copenhagen climate rally | Reuters.