Climate Change

Map of Climate Change Hotspots

Will A River Still Run Through It? Around the world, climate change is melting glaciers that feed major rivers, contributing to drought-induced hydroelectricity blackouts, and threatening the water supply and river resources of billions of people. As major rivers worldwide experience dramatic changes in flow due to dams, their natural ability to adjust to and absorb disturbances decreases. Rather than being part of the solution, dirty dams are too often a big part of the problem. Here we present a some key climate change impacts that threaten the world’s rivers and the people who depend on

Water Justice at Copenhagen (or Lack Thereof)

Daniel Bachhuber On the final day of the COP15 climate negotiations at Copenhagen, leaders have reportedly reached a final deal, though one that insufficiently deals with emissions reduction targets, timelines, accountability, compliance, and the question of who's responsible for adaptation and mitigation action and funding. Water justice - the belief that every human being deserves the right to access clean water to meet their basic needs - is another issue that has largely been glossed over by delegates these past two weeks. Over at the Klimaforum, global water activists attempted

Offsets and the Rich/Poor Divide

International Rivers' Payal Parekh gives an update on the current status of the climate negotiations at Copenhagen's COP15. Developed countries continue to avoid taking strong targets, raising tensions between rich and poor countries on the third-to-last day of the negotiations. News on offsets and the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) are mixed and constantly changing.

As Negotiations Drag, Subnational Leaders Step Up

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California addressing the 194-nation U.N. climate talks
Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California addressing the 194-nation U.N. climate talks United Nations As the clock winds down, and countries are nowhere near an agreement, subnational leaders from Canada, Nigeria, France and Algeria, led by California's "Gubernator," announced today in a press conference at Bella that they plan to advance the concept of a new regional coalition to fast track the results of the Copenhagen negotiations. Already, California is engaged in the Western Climate Initiative and has underway its own cap-and-trade program (which, good news, recentl

Crunch Time in Copenhagen

Flood for Climate Justice
Flood for Climate Justice http://www.dr.dk/Nyheder/Billedserier/2009/12/12212940.htm Week Two of the COP15 in Copenhagen opens with the arrival of over 110 ministers and soon their heads of state - i.e. crunch time for the negotiations. This is also leading to incredibly long lines at the entrance and limits to the number of NGO members being admitted. With the arrival of high-level officials, there's increasing concern among civil society that officials may end up greenwashing the outcome, i.e. making pretty speeches even if a weak agreement is reached. The offsets loopholes in parti

Demonstrations for Youth, Climate Justice, and Mountains

To see what civil society is saying about various countries, check out the Fossil of the Day Awards, which awards the top three countries who perform the worst during the UN climate negotiations. Daily video summaries of the negotiations. More live videos from Copenhagen, covering interviews and actions. Follow the events live on Twitter. 

The "Danish Text"

Wednesday, December 9, 2009
This is a copy of the "Danish Text," which was a draft political agreement that was leaked by Lumumba Di-Aping, a Sudanese chairman of the G77, during the 2009 Copenhagen climate summit.

All Eyes On Copenhagen

Governments and civil society from the world over will be converging on Copenhagen, December 2009
The UN Climate Change Conference is in Copenhagen from December 7-18, 2009 Governments and civil society from the world over will be converging on Copenhagen, December 2009 Climate Action Network For months, governments, lobbyists, and civil society have been gearing up for the "big one," and now it's finally here - the UN climate conference in wintry Copenhagen. Governments are meeting in the Danish capital to negotiate what is to follow the "first commitment period" of the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out at the end of 2012. Unfortunately, many industrialized country governments have been

Acting Up for Climate Change

A “swoop” of activists outside the European Climate Exchange, October 2009.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
From World Rivers Review December 2009 A “swoop” of activists outside the European Climate Exchange, October 2009. Mike Russell I was a bit puzzled earlier this month when the new intern in our office - a conscientious sort - didn't show up to work all week. It all made sense when I finally got a call from her saying that she had just gotten out of police custody after having spent two nights camped high up on a smoke stack on a coal-fired power station in Oxford. As far as not coming to work excuses go, it's pretty water-tight. It's been a busy year for climate activis

Dollars and Sense Needed to Fix Climate

Jyoti Mhapsekar heads a women’s waste-pickers co-op in India. Recycling waste is one of the cheapest ways to reduce emissions.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Making Climate Finance Transformational From World Rivers Review December 2009 Jyoti Mhapsekar heads a women’s waste-pickers co-op in India. Recycling waste is one of the cheapest ways to reduce emissions. Anne Larracas/GAIA Jyoti Mhapsekar has ideas on low-cost ways to reduce the world's carbon burden. As president of the Parisar Vikas women's waste-pickers cooperative in Mumbai, India, and a climate activist, she has first-hand experience in an industry that is not only one of the cheapest ways to reduce emissions, but also helps reduce poverty in developing countries. But the

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