Much of the political chatter across Europe this morning is about the prospect of ex-British Prime Minister Tony Blair becoming the new President of the European Council, if and when the Lisbon Treaty is ratified by all Member States. But behind the scenes at today’s Brussels Summit a huge political row is raging over not … Read More
Copenhagen Conference
Forest Agreement is “Fundamentally Flawed”
There will be many twists and turns in the run up to Copenhagen. Most people believe that there will not be a comprehensive climate agreement in December, or if there is, it will be so compromised it will not solve the problem. But what if the agreement actively makes things worse? According to the Independent … Read More
Get Ready to Join 350
Are you ready for Saturday’s International day of climate action? The campaign organisation 350.org is calling on people around the world to organize an action this Saturday on October 24. What started out eighteen months ago as a idea promoted by author/climate-change activist Bill McKibben and a few students, 350.org has gone global. The Web-based … Read More
Brown: “For the planet there is no Plan B”
Gordon Brown may be a dead-man walking when it comes to domestic politics in the UK. But the old man still believes he can pack a punch on the international scene, whether it be the financial or climate crisis. Addressing the Major Economies Forum in London today, he used most undiplomatic language in predicting that … Read More
Police Use Anti-Terror Laws Against Climate Activists
Tomorrow is the “Great Climate Swoop” where hundreds of climate activists will demonstrate against E.ON’s Ratcliffe-on-Soar in Nottingham. It is a protest aimed at raising the issue of climate change in the run up to the Copenhagen Summit in December. But the planned protest has caused a strong backlash from the Police. Already there are … Read More
Rich should “rise to the challenge rather than race to the bottom”
For all the people who dared to dream that some kind of deal could be realised at Copenhagen comes the cold reality that time is basically running out. Fast. And there is less than sixty days to go. The Bangkok talks have ended in failure. The gap between what is needed and what the current … Read More
Senate Bill Will not be Signed before Copenhagen
So the cracks have become a widening chasm. Amongst the grinding deadlock of the climate talks is the growing realism that President Obama faces not just one public humiliation in Copenhagen but two. All in a space of just over three months. Fresh from his defeat over the Olympics, he now faces going to the … Read More
US Action on Climate Dismissed as “Measly”
66 days to go and the heat is being turned up on America and other industrialised nations in the pre-Copenhagen talks. Less than 24 hours after Democrats announced their plans for a climate bill in the Senate, the initiative was dismissed by the Indians.
Chances of Climate Deal Are “Pie in the Sky”
The good news is that President Obama is going to Copenhagen. The bad news is that he is going on a whirlwind trip to lobby the International Olympic Committee on behalf of Chicago’s bid to host the 2016 Games. Its got nothing to do with climate change.
Expect Catastrophic Warming in Your Life-Time …
A 4 C rise and counting. By 2060. That is the message from the UK Met Office in a study prepared for the British Government. Unless there is a radical action on carbon emissions, a catastrophic four degree rise in centigrade (7.2 F) could happen in many people’s live-times. That is five decades before most … Read More