Convention on Biological Diversity – COP 12. Pyeongchang, South Korea

by Michelle Pazmiño // A drum performance at the Opening Ceremony marked the first day of what is going to be a series of meetings where representatives of different Parties negotiate the present and future of earth’s biodiversity: the 12th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity. Self-evident, this means intense work, hours of being seated at the plenary room,...

10 things that are wrong with this approach to “equity”

Ever since our own Anjali Appadurai stood before world leaders at the 2011 Durban climate talks to demand “equity now,” echoing a longstanding demand of climate justice movements across the world, there has been an increasing use of the word in discussions on international climate change policy. The idea of equity is contested, as everyone from social movement leaders to former Heads of State...

We Need to Talk About Adaptation

by khristian méndez // As the President of Guatemala walked out the room, the First National Congress on Climate Change came to an end. Behind the President, Otto Pérez Molina, came a parade of political figures: the Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources, the President of the Guatemalan Congress, a German Ambassador, and several other local and political authorities. Of course, they...

Before you go (or decide not to go) to the PreCOP in Venezuela, consider this

by Adrian Fernandez Jauregui About a week ago, I got an email from an European friend who is part of the European Youth Climate Movement. My friend was sharing his frustrations and concerns regarding the views of many Western organisations and media outlets with regards to the upcoming preCOP in Caracas, a big climate gathering organised by the Venezuelan government to bring social movements,...

The way here and the way forward: negotiating a new climate agreement

by nathan thanki At the end of an unseasonably warm week in Bonn, the sun set on yet another round of UNFCCC (climate change) negotiations. The session, quieter than the end of year COP (Conference of the Parties) jamboree, has only dealt with one negotiating track—the "ADP." The ADP, or Ad-hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action (there's a reason we use acronyms), is a...