The word outside the closed negotiations rooms is that various positions were being held strongly dealing with positioning of fossil fuel phase out as part of the Global Stock Taking assessment; nationally determined contributions (NDC) derived from the Paris Agreement and is also associated with GST; financing mechanisms related to the various funds related to mitigation, adaptation, and loss-and-damages. These issues were seen as major points of contention…
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The Opening session provided a recap and an update of the status of various policy statements and working papers being managed for decision by the UNFCCC. A number of issues were unresolved during the first week and being revisited during the second week of the conference.
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I joined a hardy group of over 200 participants who persevered to participate in a full day workshop discussion called ‘The Development and Climate Day’ to informally discuss the links between climate change and development. This event was organized in partnership by the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Anticipation Hub, the Climate Emergency Collaboration Group, the Climate Justice Resilience Fund (CJRF), the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the World Bank.
Read More Blog Post by Malika El Mazhad Dec. 4, Day 5 of COP28 and we are nearing the end of the first week. I have a deep appreciation for the traditional performances from the many different indigenous peoples represented here at COP, but they travel here with important and urgent messages from their communities. Indigenous peoples, rights, land, and traditions are…
Blog author: Malika El Mazhad Dec. 2-3 Day 3 of COP28 and I dedicated today to learn more about the youth action movement by visiting the Youth Pavilion. Banners, artwork, music, and lots of young people sitting on the floor with their laptops, or gathered in breakout rooms debating, discussing, and sharing their knowledge, experiences, and current projects. It was a…
Today, December 1, was the first say of the World Climate Action Summit (WCAS) where world leaders descend on COP28 and the conference, country pavilions, and side events are in full swing.
“Do most of your members know about the Nagoya Protocol**?” This question appeared on a survey distributed to representatives from an array of professional societies in the social and life sciences, all of whom were about to attend a workshop on “The Shifting Landscape of International Biological Research” that ESA organized in 2017. A primary goal of this workshop was…
In a congressional briefing yesterday on “Hurricanes and Oil: Managing Risk Now,” Rowan Douglas, Managing Director of the Willis Research Network’s (Willis Re) Global Analytics Division, was unable to see the screen his fellow panelists were using for their presentations. He did, however, have a perfect view of the audience. During one particular presentation, he witnessed everyone’s “eyes getting as big as saucers,” as he put it.
In areas of the world where local people rely on subsistence agriculture, ecosystem degradation can threaten the lives and resilience of the community. On China’s Loess Plateau in Linxia County, Gansu, this was exactly the case for some time. Though this area was once incredibly fertile, decades of farming and grazing resulted in desertification, erosion and landslides—communities eventually became caught in a cycle of degradation. When agricultural productivity slowed, an increase in poverty, disease and hunger ensued.