France, Germany, and the United Kingdom have simultaneously launched a call for the European Union (EU) to commit to a larger reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 2020. In recent months, the EU has weathered economic troubles. But the current plan for increased energy cuts is being billed as a bid to help economic recovery [...]

Author: Maša Kovi? The G77+China group of states is the largest negotiating bloc at the COP15 in Copenhagen. It currently consists of 130 developing countries and was established in 1964 to promote the collective economic interests of the developing countries and increase their negotiating powers within the United Nations. The G77 countries and China as a [...]

Author: Nyla Sarwar The high level segment of the 15th Conference of Parties (COP 15) opened this morning, with over 110 heads of State arriving at the Bella Centre – adding political pressure to finalise an agreement in the remaining 3 days of the conference. Australian Minister for Climate Change & Water, Penny Wong, made [...]

Author: Nyla Sarwar An ambitious and positive draft text presented at the UN climate summit has failed to impress developing countries, who argue that more finance is needed to support their low carbon development and adaptation in some of the most vulnerable nations. The so-called “long-term action plan text” believed to be much more positive [...]

Up until now, global climate negotiations between the G20 countries have taken place within a context of economic expansion, although growth rates have varied between countries. But with the financial crisis, the economic realities have changed dramatically. For 2009, the IMF projects that overall global economic growth will contract, with growth in advanced economies going [...]