12 June 2015, Renew Economy, Negotiators told to hit accelerator as climate talks inch forward: Against a backdrop of real world momentum for climate action, the latest round of UN climate talks wrapped up today in Bonn, delivering some progress on the road to a meaningful climate deal in Paris but with widespread demands for negotiators to “pick up the pace” in the coming months….Pressure is now on governments to “make more rapid progress” and “make the necessary, bold decisions in the coming months that will ensure historic international action on climate change”. With business leaders, major investors, faith groups, youth networks, trade unions, and frontline communities all adding to the momentum demanding and driving the transition away from fossil fuels and towards a future powered by renewables, the message to governments is clear: “The transition to a low carbon world is speeding up. Countries can either ride that wave or be washed away by it.”… Read More
Category Archives: Global Action Inaction
12 June 2015, The Carbon Brief, Letting the fox into the chicken coop! UN welcomes oil groups’ help to fight global warming: The UN will accept an unusual offer from six of Europe’s largest oil and gas groups to help it fight global warming as countries work on sealing a new international climate change agreement due in December. The proposal from companies including Royal Dutch Shell and Britain’s BP was “very, very welcome”, the UN’s top climate official, Christiana Figueres, told the Financial Times. Chief executives of the six companies wrote to Figueres in May saying they wanted to help countries devise a global carbon-pricing system ahead of the climate agreement. The move laid bare a transatlantic rift between some of the world’s largest energy groups, after US oil producers, Chevron and ExxonMobil, declined to join. Pilita Clark, Financial Times Read More here
11 June 2015, Common Dreams: As Bonn Climate Talks Conclude, Another Failure for Planet Earth, Humanity. Developed countries criticized for being unwilling to buck fossil fuel industry and make necessary transition to renewable energy sources. As ten days of UN-sponsored climate talks came to end in Bonn, Germany on Thursday morning, global campaigners demanding far-reaching solutions to the crisis of a warming planet expressed dissatisfaction on multiple levels, charging that the continued foot-dragging of governments is sentencing future generations to unparalleled catastrophe even as scientists issue grave new warnings about the dangers of inaction. Speaking on behalf of Friends of the Earth, Lucy Cadena, the group’s climate justice and energy coordinator, said the among the deepest frustrations is that while solutions are available to stave off the worst impacts of climate change, Bonn has once again proven that leaders from the most developed countries are unwilling to buck the fossil fuel industry and make the urgent transition to renewable energy sources. Read More here
11 June 2015, Carbon Brief, In depth: Trust high but progress slow at UN climate talks in Bonn: Diplomats have completed the latest round of UN talks on climate change, intended to whittle down a draft text into something that could form the basis of a UN climate agreement this December. Negotiators managed to cut down the sprawling text, which they agreed in Geneva earlier this year – a 90-page document containing all the views of all countries. After two weeks of negotiations, the text now stands at 85 pages, or 2,730 words shorter than before. The final deal signed in Paris is expected to come in at around 15 pages, which gives some indication of the scale of work needed over the next six months, if the summit is to be a success…. Nonetheless, the rush of nationally determined pledges that many expected would be offered in Bonn failed to emerge, with just Morocco and Ethiopia coming forward with new targets to cut their emissions after 2020. Bonn also finalised rules on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD+), preparing the way for progress on the ground. The conclusion was one of the few landmark moments to emerge during the session: discussions on deforestation have stretched on for the past ten years…. Read More here