Greenpeace International Representative Kumi Naidoo on the Failure of COP 18 (Video)

Kumi Naidoo from Greenpeace gives a brief at the end of the COP 18 negotiations in Doha. As he reviews in this video, the science is clear, we must act now! It will cost 60 billion to clean up after Hurricane Sandy but delegates are reluctant to pony up the same amount of money for climate change finance. Sandy is but one extreme weather event and these events will become much more frequent in a world ravaged by climate change.

Why We Did Not Make More Progress at COP 18: A Short History of Climate Change Negotiations (Video)

This amusing, albeit grotesquely simplified summary of the history of climate change negotiations illustrates why a binding agreement on climate change has proven so illusive.

Achievements of COP 18: The Doha Climate Gateway

 At the UN Climate Change Conference in Doha, Qatar (COP18/CMP8), governments have taken the next essential step in the global response to climate change. Countries have successfully launched a new commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol, agreed a firm timetable to adopt a universal climate agreement by 2015 and agreed a path to raise necessary ambition to respond to climate change. They also endorsed the completion of new institutions and agreed ways and means to deliver scaled-up climate finance and technology to developing countries.

COP 18 Debate -Targets, Problems, Solutions (Video)

COP 18 Update: Developing Countries Blame Wealthy Nations for their Unwillingness to Compromise (Video)

This video addresses the slow pace of negotiations and the need for action at Doha. The United States negotiators and other developed nations have been described as "stumbling blocks" to a global agreement. Developing countries decry the lack of willingness to compromise from wealthy nations.

Plea for Action at COP 18 by the Delegate from the Philippines (Video)

At the COP 18 climate talks in Doha, Naderev M Sano head of climate change in Philippines, delivered a powerful address that is being heard around the world. As he spoke the death toll from Typhoon Bopha in the Philippines was at more than 500 people, an almost equal number were still missing and more than 300,000 Filipinos had lost their homes.

Addressing the main plenary in Doha Sano said: "An important backdrop for my delegation is the profound impacts of climate change that we are already confronting. As we sit here, every single hour, even as we vacillate and procrastinate here, the death toll is rising" he said.

COP 18: Bridging the Gulf Between Science and Reality

In theory the slew of recent climate studies should inspire the delegates that have assembled for the 18th Conference of the Parties (COP 18). In practice the 194 nations that are meeting in Doha, Qatar, are getting bogged down by the same old arguments.

A Short History of the UNFCCC Conference of the Parties (COP)

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC or FCCC) is an international environmental treaty negotiated at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED). The UNFCCC was opened for signature on May 9, 1992, after an Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee produced the text of the Framework Convention as a report following its meeting in New York from April 30 to May 9, 1992. It entered into force on March 21, 1994. As of December 2012, UNFCCC has 194 parties.

Yvo de Boer's Comments and Predictions Post COP 17

Ex U.N. climate chief Yvo de Boer had some very positive things to say about last year's climate talks. As we are getting into the final stretch of COP 18 it is interesting to look back on COP 17 in Durban. On January 6, 2012, Environmental Leader published an article detailing de Boer's views.

The former executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change said that Durban sent a strong message to business that the world’s governments are serious about tackling climate change. He said that the Durban climate talks indicate that it is time for businesses to start preparing for a low-carbon economy. He also said that market-based mechanisms such as carbon trading will continue and he further expected that there will be clear reporting guidelines on GHG emissions.

COP 18: WBCSD on Establishing a Global Carbon Market

Recently the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) resurfaced work that it undertook back at the start of the Long-term Cooperative Action (LCA). The discussion on LCA includes a broad range of issues including the Green Climate Fund (GCF), the Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA), the New Market Mechanism (NMM) and more recently, the Framework for Various Approaches (FVA).

The WBCSD has published a paper entitled “Establishing a Global Carbon Market,” it looks at how the substance of the Kyoto Protocol carbon market can be applied much more broadly to an evolving world of various approaches.

COP 18: The History of Carbon and Respective Responsibilities

There are massive disparities between the developed and developing world that compound the issue of emissions reduction at COP 18 and beyond. Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution CO2 has increased about 41 percent. Research from climate scientists indicates that we need to act now to reduce emissions. The temperature of the planet has already increased about 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit since 1850 and our current trajectory will warm the planet well beyond safe upper limits. However, if we are to make progress on global emissions reductions we will need to address the respective responsibilities of the developed and developing world.

Figueres on COP 18: We Need Domestic Legislation

Before we get an international consensus on a binding treaty under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change we will need to see domestic legislation. Almost 200 Nations have convened for COP 18, but on its own these efforts are inadequate. Those assembled in Doha, Qatar will not deliver the immediate results we need. The modest agenda this year means that no new emissions targets will be set and little progress is expected on a protocol that is supposed to be concluded in 2015 and take effect in 2020. The rate at which emissions are growing means we cannot wait for 2020. A number of studies indicate that are nearing tipping points from which we will not be able to recover.

Doha Progress Update by Christiana Figueres on 30 November 2012 (Video)

UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres briefs the press on progress in the negotiations at the Doha Climate Change Conference.

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COP 18: Major Issues, Flooding in the UK, What We Have Achieved on Climate Change and the US Position (Video)
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Christiana Figueres on the Objectives of COP 18 (Video)

Addressing the media on the opening day of the Doha Climate Change Conference, UNFCCC Executive Secretary, Christiana Figueres, outlined the objectives of the conference, including a renewed commitment under the Kyoto Protocol.

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COP 18: The History of Carbon and Respective Responsibilities
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Doha progress update by Christiana Figueres on 30 November 2012 (Video)
COP 18: Major Issues, Flooding in the UK, What We Have Achieved on Climate Change and the US Position (Video)
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COP 18: Major Issues, Flooding in the UK, What We Have Achieved on Climate Change and the US Position (Video)

The IPCC COP 18 Climate Change Conference has started in Qatar. There are three major issues that must be addressed, the first is renewal of the Kyoto Protocol, the second is the issues between the developed and the developing world, and the third is climate finance. The American Government will not endorse the Kyoto Agreement. Considering Hurricane Sandy and other extreme weather events, the US position on climate change and carbon emission reductions is ignorant and ultimately harmful to the World.

Related Articles
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COP 18: The History of Carbon and Respective Responsibilities
COP 18: WBCSD on Establishing a Global Carbon Market
Figueres on COP 18: We Need Domestic Legislation
COP 18 Drivers of Deforestation (Video)
Doha progress update by Christiana Figueres on 30 November 2012 (Video)
Christiana Figueres on the Objectives of COP 18 (Video)
US Climate Change Policy: Hurricane Sandy, Drought and Rising Sea Levels (Video)