Article by Guest Contributor: Joelle Westlund With the closing of the 16th Conference of Parties convention, participants have shelved their decision making until the COP17 in South Africa. Developing countries have left the conferences with reasonable promised support from developed countries and the additional challenge of resisting Japan’s stance on future agreements. Developing countries did [...]

Article by Guest Contributor: Veronika Shirokova COP16 saw a modest advancement in negotiations on Technology Transfer, guided by a framework established during an earlier meeting in New Delhi. Participants agreed upon the preliminary structure of a Technology Mechanism, creating a Technology Executive Committee (TEC) and a Climate Technology Centre and Network (CTCN). The TEC will [...]

Article by Guest Contributor: Joelle Westlund A week into the climate talks in Cancun, developing countries seem to be witnessing a regression in commitments to the mitigation of climate change. The contention over the continuation of the Kyoto Protocol has now increased with Japan’s new stance. On December 3, 2010, Japan joined Canada, Russia, and the [...]

Article by: Ruth Brandt The first week of the COP16 has come and gone, with barely a mention of REDD+ in the official negotiations. Some delegates attribute this to the fact that the REDD+ negotiating text is one of the more advanced ones, and that negotiators either want to bring other texts to a comparable [...]

By Guest Contributor: Natalie Antonowicz During the first week of the Cancun Conference, several main and side events were held regarding the Clean Development Mechanism and Joint Implementation (CDM/JI). Attendees included not only the parties to the COP, but also observer organizations, and other intergovernmental organizations. The majority of these events focused on the future [...]

Article by Guest Contributor: Elizabeth Anderson This week on UNFCCC Young and Future Generations Day in Cancun, young people across Britain set out a demand that their needs should be reflected in energy policy for the UK, by the prioritisation of renewable energy plants in capital investment.  A report to the UK Department for Energy [...]

Article by Guest Contributor: Colleen Marie Gibson On day two of COP16, the Japanese delegation announced that it does not intend to extend the existing Kyoto protocol.  The protocol was enacted in Japan on 21 March 1994, and began its reporting period of the framework from 2008-2012. There are over 194 countries participating in the [...]

Article by Guest Contributor: Natalie Antonowicz Held in Kiribati from 9 to 10 November, the Tawara Climate Change Conference produced the Ambo Declaration, which was signed by Australia, Brazil, China, Cuba, Fiji, Japan, Kiribati, Maldives, Marshall Island, New Zealand, Solomon Islands and Tonga. Although Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States also attended the [...]

Article by Guest Contributor: Natalie Antonowicz Launched in 2008, The UN’s Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation programme aims to enable developing countries to reduce rates of deforestation via financial stimulation. Updated to REDD+, the program now encompasses conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. The program currently maintains nine [...]

Article by Guest Contributor: Ren Hui Yoong One of the most significant issues that world leaders will attempt to deal with at Cancun is the agreement on specific carbon emission reduction targets, particularly for Annex I developed countries, as part of a legally binding climate change treaty. This is of particular importance as the current [...]