| Louisville Climate Action Network |
This page was
most recently
updated on
12 Dec 09.
most recently
updated on
12 Dec 09.
Reports from Copenhagen
| Wednesday, 09 Dec 09 |
It's heating up in Denmark.
Yesterday saw a dramatic development as a group of countries, led by the small island
state of Tuvalu, pushed for a clearer, more formal path to both bring the US into the
impose like commitments on the larger developing countries, such as China and India.
Drawing on parliamentary rules, Tuvalu's moves effectively caused the proceedings to
be suspended while the Conference leaders sought to negotiate a workable outcome.
What little credible news there is about the status of the informal negotiations indicates
that no way forward has yet been determined, or at least agreed to.
One key issue, already well in play well before yesterday's events relates to what type
of compliance mechanism should exist for the US. My understanding is that the US has
taken position that the following elements are imperative:
Many of the other key players want the US to be subject to the same, or very similar,
rules as the countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol and are subject to its
compliance mechanisms.
Various "blocs" of countries come together in different configurations around different
issues. The New York Times has a very nice piece that slices and dices the key blocs.
In Wednesday's side events, I saw a very good presentation on the effects of climate
change on coral reefs. Over the last few years, about 1/5th of the world’s coral reefs
have been killed or seriously damaged by ocean warming and acidification from climate
change. See the International Coral Reef Initiative.
About 500 million people in 80 countries are dependent on healthy coral reefs for their
sustenance, primarily food or tourism revenues.
I sat with a new member of South Africa’s Parliament. Neither of us was certain knew if
coral reefs exist off the coasts of SA. Googling confirmed the presence of an important
reef area off the northeastern coast, just below the boarder with Mozambique.
Coral reefs are considered the oceans’ rainforests: underwater classrooms, living
laboratories and nurseries (many species spawn in them). They are also islands' first
line of defense against oceanic storm surges, ocean waves and currents.
I listened to a very nice presentation by US Dept. of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. He
seems exceptionally well-informed on climate change issues. He is focusing DOI on
three key missions related to climate change and the resources that it manages:
He announced the creation of a new DOI office to foster and manage development of
wind energy off the Atlantic coast. He said there is the potential for a 1,000 gigawatts
of wind energy off our East Coast alone. (I believe he said that would be more than all
the energy currently used by the US.) Specifically, he indicated that there will be about
5,300 megawatts of wind energy either completed or underway off the East Coast by
the end of 2010.
Salazar also talked about smart grid development, and indicated 100 miles of new grid
would be built before 2011.
Rumors say that up to 30,000 German protesters will arrive by tomorrow or Saturday.
Apparently, there was a minor skirmish inside the hall yesterday. But I haven't seen
any obvious change in security measures. (I believe the Danish military numbers about
15,000 troops.)
The number of young people here seems to continue to grow in size, enthusiasm and
organizational savvy daily. Watching them do their thing has persuaded me that we
may be observing the emergence of a new species: Homo technomobilus. These
young, upwardly mobile and technologically astute humans seem to have undergone a
neural adaptation that makes them more amenable to the facile use of advanced
communications technology and more adaptable to international mobility. As they seem
drawn to each other I predict this new species will continue. Good thing. Survival of we
mere Homo sapiens seems a bit at risk.
Art Williams
Yesterday saw a dramatic development as a group of countries, led by the small island
state of Tuvalu, pushed for a clearer, more formal path to both bring the US into the
impose like commitments on the larger developing countries, such as China and India.
Drawing on parliamentary rules, Tuvalu's moves effectively caused the proceedings to
be suspended while the Conference leaders sought to negotiate a workable outcome.
What little credible news there is about the status of the informal negotiations indicates
that no way forward has yet been determined, or at least agreed to.
One key issue, already well in play well before yesterday's events relates to what type
of compliance mechanism should exist for the US. My understanding is that the US has
taken position that the following elements are imperative:
- Targets and timetables for reductions
- Accountability and transparency for measurement, reporting and verification of
reductions - Facilitative mechanisms to help countries that are not meeting goals—but for the
US, no mechanism that would impose penalties, either monetary or more
stringent future reductions
Many of the other key players want the US to be subject to the same, or very similar,
rules as the countries that have ratified the Kyoto Protocol and are subject to its
compliance mechanisms.
Various "blocs" of countries come together in different configurations around different
issues. The New York Times has a very nice piece that slices and dices the key blocs.
In Wednesday's side events, I saw a very good presentation on the effects of climate
change on coral reefs. Over the last few years, about 1/5th of the world’s coral reefs
have been killed or seriously damaged by ocean warming and acidification from climate
change. See the International Coral Reef Initiative.
About 500 million people in 80 countries are dependent on healthy coral reefs for their
sustenance, primarily food or tourism revenues.
I sat with a new member of South Africa’s Parliament. Neither of us was certain knew if
coral reefs exist off the coasts of SA. Googling confirmed the presence of an important
reef area off the northeastern coast, just below the boarder with Mozambique.
Coral reefs are considered the oceans’ rainforests: underwater classrooms, living
laboratories and nurseries (many species spawn in them). They are also islands' first
line of defense against oceanic storm surges, ocean waves and currents.
I listened to a very nice presentation by US Dept. of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. He
seems exceptionally well-informed on climate change issues. He is focusing DOI on
three key missions related to climate change and the resources that it manages:
- Developing renewable energy resources on federal lands (wind, solar,
geothermal) - Facilitating carbon capture and sequestration (more related to lands and forests
as carbon sinks, but also on subsurface sequestration of CO2 from power plants) - Climate adaptation (dealing with impacts to federal resources)
He announced the creation of a new DOI office to foster and manage development of
wind energy off the Atlantic coast. He said there is the potential for a 1,000 gigawatts
of wind energy off our East Coast alone. (I believe he said that would be more than all
the energy currently used by the US.) Specifically, he indicated that there will be about
5,300 megawatts of wind energy either completed or underway off the East Coast by
the end of 2010.
Salazar also talked about smart grid development, and indicated 100 miles of new grid
would be built before 2011.
Rumors say that up to 30,000 German protesters will arrive by tomorrow or Saturday.
Apparently, there was a minor skirmish inside the hall yesterday. But I haven't seen
any obvious change in security measures. (I believe the Danish military numbers about
15,000 troops.)
The number of young people here seems to continue to grow in size, enthusiasm and
organizational savvy daily. Watching them do their thing has persuaded me that we
may be observing the emergence of a new species: Homo technomobilus. These
young, upwardly mobile and technologically astute humans seem to have undergone a
neural adaptation that makes them more amenable to the facile use of advanced
communications technology and more adaptable to international mobility. As they seem
drawn to each other I predict this new species will continue. Good thing. Survival of we
mere Homo sapiens seems a bit at risk.
Art Williams
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |