Cancun Climate Talks Enter Stretch Run

Cancun climate talks surmount key stumbling block
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon headed to Cancun to offer a personal push in the Final Four days of the 194-nation conference.CANCUN, Mexico -- Talks in Mexico on a global climate agreement appeared Tuesday to get past a key stumbling block after China showed flexibility on allowing international verification of its efforts. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon headed to the beach resort of Cancun to offer a personal push in the Final Four days of the 194-nation conference, where a positive atm...

U.N. climate talks move into decisive phase
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — U.N. climate talks moved into their decisive week Monday with the agenda dominated by future cuts in Carbon Emissions and keeping countries honest about their actions to control Global Warming. Government ministers arrived in force to begin applying political muscle to negotiations that in the past week have narrowed some disputes, but which are likely to leave the toughest decisions for the final hours of the 193-nation conference on Friday. Delegates were feeling pre...

A warning at climate talks: Glacier melt speeding up
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — The lives and livelihoods of people in South Asia are at "high risk" as Global Warming melts Glaciers in the Himalayas, sending floods crashing down from overloaded mountain lakes and depriving farmers of steady water sources, U.N. and other international experts reported Friday. Worldwide, "since the beginning of the 1980s, the rate of ice loss has increased substantially in many regions, concurrent with an increase in global mean air temperatures," the U.N. Environme...

UN climate talks move into decisive phase
CANCUN, Mexico - U.N. climate talks moved into their decisive week Monday with the agenda dominated by future cuts in Carbon Emissions and keeping countries honest about their actions to control Global Warming. Government ministers arrived in force to begin applying political muscle to negotiations that in the past week have narrowed some disputes, but which are likely to leave the toughest decisions for the final hours of the 193-nation conference on Friday. Delegates were feeling pressur...

Tough UN climate talks move into decisive week
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) — U.N. climate talks moved into their decisive week Monday with the agenda dominated by future cuts in Carbon Emissions and keeping countries honest about their actions to control Global Warming. Government ministers arrived in force to begin applying political muscle to negotiations that in the past week have narrowed some disputes, but which are likely to leave the toughest decisions for the final hours of the 193-nation conference on Friday. Delegates were feeling pre...

If Cancun Climate Talks Falter, Blame the US
The most recent round of United Nations-led Climate Change negotiations began this week in Cancun, and although international expectations are muted this year, the stakes are still high. As Mother Jones‘ Kate Sheppard explains,"The 2010 meeting could make or break the future of global negotiations.” This is the sixteenth Conference of the Parties, convened by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). After the tepid results of last year’s conferen...

Climate summit in Cancun intent on progress
Cancun, MEXICO - The U.N.-sponsored climate talks, which began here a week ago, entered a new phase Monday, as delegates and high-ranking ministers from nearly 200 countries settled into vast, sunless meeting rooms, intent on restoring the credibility of a process aimed at slowing Global Warming. While last year's climate talks in Copenhagen produced little despite attracting more than 100 heads of state, some experts suggested this wonkish two-week meeting in a resort better known for colleg...

Guarded hope at UN climate talks
The United Nations has pointed to progress in one track of negotiations on Climate Change, but questions persisted on whether the talks in Mexico can take concrete steps toward a new treaty. The 194-nation talks at the Caribbean resort city of Cancun were trying to finalize a general statement on the world's long-term action against climate change as envoys arrived for the main thrust of talks starting Tuesday. But with few expecting a full-fledged climate treaty anytime soon, the UN-led negotia...

Guarded hope at UN climate talks
Negotiators on Climate Change were raising their hopes Monday after signs of modest progress in Mexico, but a dispute over the future of the Kyoto Protocol threatened to derail momentum. The 194-nation talks at the Caribbean resort city of Cancun were trying to finalize a general statement on the world's long-term action against Climate Change as envoys arrived for the main thrust of talks starting Tuesday. But with few expecting a full-fledged climate treaty anytime soon, the UN-led negotiation...

Guarded hope at U.N. climate talks
CANCUN, Mexico -- Negotiators on Climate Change were raising their hopes Sunday after signs of modest progress in Mexico, but a dispute over the future of the Kyoto Protocol threatened to derail momentum. The 194-nation talks at the Caribbean resort city of Cancun were trying to finalize a general statement on the world's long-term action against Climate Change as envoys arrived for the main thrust of talks starting Tuesday. But with few expecting a full-fledged climate treaty anytime soon, the ...

IEA director calls for action at Cancun
Published: Dec. 7, 2010 at 10:03 AM Cancun, Mexico, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- There is no time to waste in finding a comprehensive environmental solution because the tab for green energy is rising, the IEA director said from Mexico. International Energy Agency Executive Director Nobuo Tanaka said world leaders needed to find the political will during climate talks in Mexico to advance the agenda beyond vague commitments reached at last year's summit in Denmark. "Despite the positive steps taken last year ...

More nations may pledge carbon limits at UN talks
** CORRECTS NATURE OF THE EVENT ** Members of the group World Wildlife Fund stand around a map made of candles during an event to make a call for a strong deal to leaders joined at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Cancun, Mexico, Sunday, Dec. 5, 2010. The slow-moving U.N. talks on combating Global Warming took a step forward with revised for a $100-billion-a-year climate aid fund and other issues for debate by the world's environment ministers this week. More countries are expect...

More Nations May Pledge Carbon Limits at UN Talks
CANCUN, Mexico -- More countries are expected this week to pledge specific actions to limit Carbon Emissions over the next decade, in what would be very good news for arduous negotiations on a climate-change agreement, host country Mexico said. As the talks began their second and final week Monday, delegates said the 193-nation conference was moving toward decisions on practical steps to help countries fight Global Warming, especially developing nations under severe threat from changing climate ...

Bolivia Alleges U.S 'Blackmail' At Climate Change Negotiations
Should the rights over water resources be returned to the S'gor state govt? Cancun, Mexico, 7 DECEMBER, 2010: Bolivia alleged that the United States was using "Blackmail" tactics at Climate Change negotiations to force other countries to accept its position. "We are not sold to anyone. We are not bought. We are not scared," Bolivia's Ambassador to the United Nations Pablo Solon told reporters at a press briefing here. Solon said that the integrity of the negotiations at the current Cancun 16th U...

WRI Climate Solution Proposal at Cancun Gets Approval From Nicolas Stern
One problem besetting climate negotiations, both at Copenhagen and at Cancun, is a lack of trust. This is because there has been no consistent metric by which to measure progress globally. Each nation provides their own monitoring and reporting. The solution, just launched this week at the Cancun climate talks by the World Resources Institute (WRI), is an independent network that will track countries’ progress toward cutting emissions and providing climate finance, by convening independent...

Cancun Climate Change Quote of the Day
The Guardian is reporting that the Indian environment minister rebuked rich countries here at the U.N. Climate Change conference for failing to keep their promises to deliver $30 billion in climate aid to poor country by 2012. As the Guardian reports: [Minister Jairam Ramesh] said: "The grand bargain at Copenhagen was President Obama telling the four heads of state: do you agree on transparency in return for money which can start flowing to vulnerable countries? The question is: has the money s...

Cancun climate talks: Island states plead for survival
Among the delegates from 190 nations wrestling over international climate agreements in Cancun this week, there is nary a hint of the skepticism over Global Warming that has surfaced in the U.S. Congress, where oil, coal and other industrial interests have battled Climate Legislation to a standstill. Floods in Pakistan, fires in Russia, typhoons in Vietnam, drought in Mexico -- every nation seems to have a tale of climate-related woe.  The most vulnerable nations include the small island s...

Experts: Glacier melt speeds up, risking lives
CANCUN, Mexico — The lives and livelihoods of people in South Asia are at "high risk" as Global Warming melts Glaciers in the Himalayas, sending floods crashing down from overloaded mountain lakes and depriving farmers of steady water sources, U.N. and other international experts reported. Worldwide, "since the beginning of the 1980s, the rate of ice loss has increased substantially in many regions, concurrent with an increase in global mean air temperatures," the U.N. Environment Program ...

Is There a Plan B for Cancun?
The United States framed the agenda for the Cancun climate talks last month when it called for a “balanced” outcome from the negotiations. By that, it meant that it wanted to see progress on all key elements of the Copenhagen Accord. Most countries accepted that as a guiding principle for the talks, even if they were skeptical of its wisdom. But after eight days, with tensions remaining over transparency rules and the future of the Kyoto Protocol, it is unclear......

Political Climate Cant Stop Climate Change Initiatives
       AFL-CIO Industrial Union Council Director Bob Baugh is a member of a global union delegation led by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) attending the new round of United Nations Climate Change negotiations in Cancun, Mexico. This is the second of a series of blogs on the talks. Read the first blog here. Congress’s failure to pass Climate Change Legislation and the election of a conservative majority in the next House have led many delegates from o

Chinese cities can be model for low carbon
Published: Dec. 7, 2010 at 2:54 PM Cancun, Mexico, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The low carbon growth successes of some of China's largest and fastest-growing cities can serve as a model for other cities worldwide to reduce Greenhouse Gases, says a new report. The report by the Climate Group outlines how China's city governments have developed low carbon strategies, including rolling out industrial and domestic Energy Efficiency measures, investing in low carbon transport projects and promoting urban renewab...

Experts: Glacier melt speeds up, risking lives
CANCUN, Mexico (AP) - United Nations and other international experts say the lives and livelihoods of people in South Asia are at "high risk" as Global Warming melts Glaciers in the Himalayas. The glacier melt is sending floods crashing down from overloaded mountain lakes and depriving farmers of steady sources of water. The U.N. Environment Program says that worldwide, "since the beginning of the 1980s, the rate of ice loss has increased substantially in many regions, concurrent with an increa...

Guarded hope at UN climate talks (AFP)
Cancun, Mexico (AFP) – The United Nations has pointed to progress in one track of negotiations on Climate Change, but questions persisted on whether the talks in Mexico can take concrete steps toward a new treaty. The 194-nation talks at the Caribbean resort city of Cancun were trying to finalize a general statement on the world's long-term action against climate change as envoys arrived for the main thrust of talks starting Tuesday. But with few expecting a full-fledged climate trea...

Guarded hope at UN climate talks
The United Nations has pointed to progress in one track of negotiations on Climate Change, but questions persisted on whether the talks in Mexico can take concrete steps toward a new treaty. The 194-nation talks at the Caribbean resort city of Cancun were trying to finalize a general statement on the world's long-term action against climate change as envoys arrived for the main thrust of talks starting Tuesday. But with few expecting a full-fledged climate treaty anytime soon, the UN-led negot...

On Climate Treaties and Christmas Trees
CANCÚN, Mexico - On Monday night, Michael Zammit Cutajar, one of the most important figures in two decades of negotiations aimed at a global agreement to avoid dangerous Climate Change, issued a gentle warning to delegates, officials and other attendees attending a discussion I moderated on social impacts of climate change: Keep track of the difference between a climate treaty and a Christmas Tree. Here’s what the process of decorating a tree looks like: . Zammit Cutajar hopes this wo...