Archive by category | Climate Policy

Costa Rican to become new UN climate chief

Cross-posted from Quirin Schiermeier on The Great Beyond Christiana Figueres, a Costa Rican climate diplomacy expert, is to become the new head of the United Nations (UN) Framework Convention of Climate Change. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to confirm her appointment later in the week, the BBC reports. Figueres, daughter of former Costa Rican president Jose Figueres Ferrer, has been involved in the international climate negotiation process since 1995. The UN’s outgoing climate chief, Yvo de Boer of the Netherlands, announced in February to step down on July 1 after nearly four years in office. The run-off has been  … Read more

New, ‘relentlessly pragmatic’ approach to climate change needed?

New, ‘relentlessly pragmatic’ approach to climate change needed?

Cross-posted from Daniel Cressey on The Great Beyond The collapse of UN-led international efforts to combat climate change means a new approach that is “politically attractive and relentlessly pragmatic” is required, according to a new report. The 14 authors of a new report on climate policy describe themselves as “an eclectic group of academics, analysts and energy policy advocates”. They say the Kyoto Protocol style approach “crashed” last year with the perceived failure of the Copenhagen meeting. A new approach, focusing on human dignity, is required, they argue in their ‘Hartwell Paper’ – named after the house in Buckinghamshire where  … Read more

Testing geoengineering: a catch 22

Guest contribution by Mason Inman Governments are starting to take a look at geoengineering — planetary-scale projects to cool the planet. No longer in the realm of science fiction, this is something that many are calling to regulate — and soon. The technique that has geoengineering proponents most excited, and geoengineering critics most worried, are proposals to shoot sulphate aerosols into the stratosphere. These tiny particles, like those that large volcanoes spew into the air, can cool the planet. ‘Natural experiments’, such as the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991, show that this works. At a hearing this month of  … Read more

Can technology save the world?

“57109091Whatever happens at the Copenhagen climate summit this December the world still desperately needs an action plan for reducing carbon emissions. Two opinion articles in Nature this week look beyond the diplomatic bargaining over emissions targets to the new energy technologies needed to actually achieve emissions reductions.  Read more

China commits to ‘carbon intensity’ reduction

China commits to ‘carbon intensity’ reduction

Daniel Cressey; cross-posted from The Great Beyond China has announced it will reduce its carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP by between 40 and 45% of 2005 levels by 2020. “Appropriate handling of the climate change issue is of vital interest to China’s social and economic development and people’s fundamental interests, as well as the welfare of all the people in the world and the world’s long-term development,” says the country’s State Council (Xinhua). The Chinese announcement came barely hours after US President Barack Obama announced he would put a 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 offer on the  … Read more