This year’s UN climate negotiations in Durban are now entering the final stages. Heads of State and Ministers are giving short sharp speeches. Ambassadors and senior diplomats are discussing bottom lines and compromises. Environment groups are following the twists and turns, planning their next moves. Against the backdrop of the current food crisis in East […]
Our Climate Tracker Clancy Moore chats to Rev Tafue Lusama, who is in Durban for the COP17 Climate Negotiations to ensure the voice of the people of Tuvalu is heard.
Reverend Tafue Lusama knows a thing or two about the urgency to tackle climate change. Living in Tuvalu, he has seen the climate changing over the last twenty years. Rising sea levels, storm surges and ocean acidification have had devastating impacts of people’s culture, livelihoods and ability to grow food. A few months ago, Tafue […]
The climate negotiations in Durban are stuttering. There is little progress on agreement on the emission reductions needed to keep warming below 2 degrees. There is also a rumbling debate about how to fill the Green Climate Fund. We need you to urge our leaders along the path to a sustainable planet. Together with Oxfam’s […]
Dark, humid, noisy and little ventilation. This is the location of the Australian Government offices here at the UN climate talks. It is also where on Wednesday morning, some colleagues and I had the chance to meet with Australia’s Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet. Although this was a very short meeting, […]
The Nescafe factory in Panjang, Indonesia, has fired almost two thirds of the SBNIB union membership. According to the IUF the workers were fired after a breakdown in negotiations over wages. The Nescafe workers had struggled for five years before finally gaining recognition for their independent trade union in March this year. After such a […]
Addressing the UN Climate Summit in Durban, South Africa on behalf of Climate Action Network (a global coalition of climate organistions), I was excited, a little nervous and keen to play my part. This is what I said: Thank you Madame Chair. I am speaking on behalf of the Climate Action Network. We’d like to […]
The biggest spike in global greenhouse gas emission in recorded history occurred last year. After a brief easing of emissions in 2009, generally accredited to the global financial crisis, a lift in economic activity produced a staggering 564 million more tons of CO2 in 2010, beating the previous year’s output by 6%. That’s according to […]
“A camel is a horse made by committee and the Green Climate Fund needs to come out of the blocks like a race horse and start helping poor people”. This was the comment from Singapore in the opening negotiation session on the Green Climate Fund late Thursday at the UN Climate Summit in Durban, South […]
The climate negotiations currently underway in South Africa are particularly interesting for Australia, as we are attending with a carbon emissions tax in place. I met with Louise Hand, Australia’s Ambassador at the UN Climate talks in Durban to discuss the position Australia is taking at COP 17. This gave her the opportunity to outline […]
