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News: ‘Events & Conferences’ Archive

Obama's remarks to the United Nations Climate Conference

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

See video link

Obama spoke before the United Nations Climate Conference today, reaffirming his commitment to strong action on climate change, and calling for coordinated international efforts and an agreement in Copenhagen,

“Each of us must do what we can when we can to grow our economies without endangering our planet — and we must all do it together. We must seize the opportunity to make Copenhagen a significant step forward in the global fight against climate change.”

The President clearly acknowledged the historical responsibility of the developed nations for existing green house gas emissions, even mentioning the United States by name, while adding, “But those rapidly-growing developing nations that will produce nearly all the growth in global carbon emissions in the decades ahead must do their part as well.”

“What we are seeking, after all, is not simply an agreement to limit greenhouse gas emissions. We seek an agreement that will allow all nations to grow and raise living standards without endangering the planet. By developing and disseminating clean technology and sharing our know-how, we can help developing nations leap-frog dirty energy technologies and reduce dangerous emissions.”

U.N. Climate Conference Opens With Call for Unity – NYTimes.com

Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009

‘UNITED NATIONS — Some 100 heads of state gathered at the United Nations on Tuesday for an unprecedented daylong conference on combating climate change, which President Obama and other leaders acknowledged was a difficult issue to agree on but was crucial for the future health of the planet.’

via U.N. Climate Conference Opens With Call for Unity – NYTimes.com.

UN tackles climate change effects | BBC NEWS

Monday, August 31st, 2009

‘The World Climate Conference [in Geneva] will look at ways to help countries cope with the effects of climate change, such as an increase in floods and drought.’

via BBC NEWS | Europe | UN tackles climate change effects.

Intersolar North America postscripts: Multigigawatt-scale PV needs a million trained hands – Photovoltaics International

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

‘The successful arrival of solar’s gigawatt/terawatt future depends on a ever-more-challenging combination of cost cutting and technology enhancement, with a large portion of public policy behavior modification thrown in. But there’s another piece of the GW/TW scaling puzzle that sometimes gets left out of the conversation—the need for a large, well-trained workforce to do the thousands and thousands of jobs that will sprout up across the photovoltaic production and system value chain.’

via Intersolar North America postscripts: Multigigawatt-scale PV needs a million trained hands – Photovoltaics International.

Copenhagen Climate Congress Synthesis Report Released

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

The Copenhagen Climate Congress Synthesis Report from the meetings this year in Denmark March 10-12 has now been published. It was launched at a press conference in Bruxelles, Belgium, on June 18, 2009, where it was handed over to the host of COP-15, the Danish Prime Minister Rasmussen. Download the Synthesis Report here (pdf).

Video: Ivaneide Bandeiras on the Rio Madeira Hydroelectric Dam Complex

Tuesday, June 9th, 2009

Part 1

This video features Ivaneide Bandeiras of Kaninde.org.br speaking (Portuguese with English subtitles) at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil on the Rio Madeira hydroelectric dam complex being developed as part of IIRSA in South America and the impacts on on local indigenous populations.

Part 2

China Cleantech Business Forum

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2009

‘On July 7-8, 2009, China Entrepreneurs will present, “The China Cleantech Business Forum” at the world’s famous Shangri-La Kerry Centre in Beijing, China. This forum will gather executives, entrepreneurs, investors, and international business professionals from various sectors of the cleantech industry to listen to cleantech experts discuss key topics for succeeding, investing, and understanding the cleantech industry.’

via China Cleantech Business Forum.

Dan Kammen's plenary address at the Copenhagen Climate Congress

Thursday, May 14th, 2009

Dan KammenVideo of Obama campaign advisor and IPCC coordinating lead author Dan Kammen’s plenary address before the Copenhagen Climate Congress (March 11, 2009), where he argues for urgent action to mitigate climate change through several approaches, including energy efficiency, energy grid infrastructure improvements, and setting a price of carbon.

UC Berkeley Professor Dan Kammen calls for a cost of carbon

Tuesday, May 5th, 2009

Video of Professor Dan Kammen speaking before the Copenhagen Climate Congress (March 11, 2009), where he argues that it is more important that some mechanism of carbon cost is quickly implemented than for the world to loose more time debating over which cost mechanism is best (cap and trade, cap and dividend, or a carbon tax).

Projections for Climate Change go from Bad to Worse, Scientists Report

Friday, April 3rd, 2009

Report from the Copenhagen Climate Congress:
‘COPENHAGEN—Meeting 2 years after the most recent report of the authoritative Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), some 2000 scientists delivered a consistent if not unequivocal message here last week on the state of Earth’s warming climate. “The worst case IPCC projections, or even worse, are being realized,” said the event’s co-chair, University of Copenhagen biological oceanographer Katherine Richardson. Emissions are soaring, projections of sea level rise are higher than expected, and climate impacts around the world are appearing with increasing frequency, she told delegates in the opening session of the 3-day meeting.’