This is not where we wanted to be at the end of the meeting, I assure you. It certainly isn’t where we need to be in order to prevent islands from going under and other unimaginable impacts.Kieren Keke, Foreign Minister of Nauru • Speaking on the agreement at a UN conference in Qatar today to extend provisions of the Kyoto Protocol on climate change through 2020. This may sound hopeful on its face, but the agreement is far short of of the level of coordination needed to impact the changing climate, as it only covers about 15% of global emissions. Canada, Russia, New Zealand, and Japan (where, notably, Kyoto is located) all opted out of the deal. A major sticking point in the negotiations — how new emissions standards would impact wealthy, industrialized nations versus developing ones, and securing funding from the richer states to help the poorer meet those marks. The conference reaffirmed a pledge to come to a global treaty by 2015, a lofty goal considering the competing interests involved, and also not a delay anybody like the minister quoted above wants to consider. For tiny islands like Nauru or Kiribati, the climate change debate isn’t just academic. source
In a time of constraints, in a time of crisis, in a time of tough budgets, people are saying that charity starts at home, that we cannot deal with something noble but medium and long-term like the environment.Angel Gurria, chief of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development • Discussing the stumbling inaction by the global community in adequately addressing the issue of climate change. 194 nations are currently convened in Durban, South Africa for a major conference on climate change, one which strives to reach agreements on carbon control to continue the process begun by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol; the EU has said they will not renew their emissions reduction standards unless measures are adopted so that all countries (most importantly the United States and China, the world’s worst polluters) must hold to certain emissions standards as well. This has caused turmoil in the discussions, as many less developed nations insist they haven’t been to blame for the surge in carbon to date, and thus shouldn’t be penalized as they now strive to industrialize. source (via • follow)
Copyright 2009-2013 Ernie Smith • Ask us stuff! • E-mail us • Follow us on Twitter • Follow us on Facebook
