USA v China

by nathan thanki The USA wants to be treated the same as China when it comes to responsibility for tackling climate change. Many environmental NGOs, in the increasingly panicked calls for climate action now, are also prone to saying things like "well of course the emerged economies of Brazil, India and China must also be obliged to reduce emissions." This plays quite well into...

El Color de la Economía

por Khristian Méndez // Tendemos a adherir la palabra “Verde” al nombre de productos para caracterizarlos como(de) “Ecológicos” o más amigables con el medio ambiente, y promoverlos como tales. Esta verdad aplica también a la Economía Verde. La idea de una “Economía Verde” fue creada como respuesta a la crisis ambiental que muchas personas e instituciones alrededor del mundo aún...

Over-rolled by Giants

~ Jane Nurse The first week of the Intersessionals in Bonn has seen a ferocious fight over the agenda of the ADP and an even more hotheaded haggling over the chair and vice-chair positions of the ADP. India on behalf of the Asia-Pacific group has laid claim to the chair long after the deadline for nominee submissions and after WEOG as well as GruLAC submitted their candidates. In this battle for...

Media Messaging: The silent, subtle art of loudmouthing the innocent

by Anjali Appadurai If there's one lesson we learned loud and clear at this COP, it was how important a role the media plays in determining the world's perception of the dangerous game being played out in the negotiating rooms. Throughout the COP, misguided messaging was a huge obstacle to a united civil society front. We saw a multitude of messaging angles on each major issue within the...

Negotiations drag onwards..

by Samuli Sinisalo The ministerial consultations went on last night. The announcement after 11pm was that no plenaries will convene before 10am on Saturday. It is no about 4pm on Saturday, and no negotiations have begun. Consultations continue. The situation is too unclear to give a comprehensive update at the moment. But, I have come across the transcript of a speech held by the minister of...