Beyond the Negotiations

Lobbying Chronicles – Part III

Margherita Tommasini December 17, 2015 0 Comments

By Margherita Tommasini The lobbying tour, organized by Corporate Europe Observatory, took place on December 3rd 2015, with the goal of bringing the buildings of the Parisian business district La Dèfense to life: they are seats of power, where decisions are influenced, where lobbyists work and wield power. Read more about the tour and its first stop (Engie) at Lobbying Chronicles: Part I Read...

The WHAT after Paris?

Aura Silva Martinez December 16, 2015 0 Comments

By Aura Silva Martinez There were over 160 people sitting in layers around a big, wide circle at the Climate Coalition 21 assembly. An ongoing wave of comments, questions and answers was being thrown to a multitude of unresponsive chairs. This was an overwhelming experience for me, and despite being a somewhat inefficient space where having a real, meaningful conversation was significantly...

Oil, Gas and Coal, Back Up, Back Up!

Makiko Yoshida December 16, 2015 0 Comments

by Makiko Yoshida What the Paris Agreement has Failed to Achieve After four years of negotiations, the Paris Agreement was adopted under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) on December 12th. There are many reasons why many of us do not think that this agreement is sufficient to what the world needs despite what many media outlets have been reporting. Following the...

Should we COP out?

Hana Keegan December 14, 2015 0 Comments

By Hana Keegan Unlike in the halls of the COP21, there are no suits, placards or microphones in the undecorated room of the Climate Coalition 21 (CC21) meeting. Established in preparation for the climate conference, the CC21 is an international coalition of civil society organisations that each identify themselves as members of the climate justice movement. On Rue Voltaire, a quiet, grey street...

A Message Home to the US: What Actually Happened at COP21

Morgan Heckerd December 12, 2015 0 Comments

by Morgan Heckerd Over the past two weeks 196 governments have spent hours within consultation rooms and plenary halls in efforts of reaching an agreement. They are here in Paris because they know that the era of emissions need to come to an end. The urgency of climate change is no longer a concept that they can deny. But– the developed countries have fallen short in adopting the...