One piece of insight to keep in mind always about the Clean Power Plan and the current Supreme Court stay is that the Supreme Court ruled in 2007 that the executive branch must act, using the authority of the Clean Air Act, to regulate excess greenhouse gas emissions. Another key insight to keep in mind is that the 1992 Climate Convention mandates avoiding dangerous anthropogenic … Continue reading Note on stay of Clean Power Plan
For the first 12 days of December, our team was on the ground in Paris for the COP21, engaging with peers, meeting with negotiators, publishing reports, interviewing participants, and working to support coalition efforts that would add smarter policies, actionable language and serious principles, to the Paris Agreement. During more than a year of planning for this work and defining our goals, I had the privilege of discussing on various occasions … Continue reading Getting Everything Right
The Paris Agreement (report on adoption) was formally adopted at 7:26 pm Paris time, on Saturday, December 12, by the Conference of the Parties. The Agreement was many years in the making. The Agreement now sets in motion a global process of accelerated climate action, for full implementation of the 1992 Convention’s mandate to “avoid dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system.” There are many breakthroughs … Continue reading The Paris Agreement is Adopted
Last week, the global climate negotiations got a shot in the arm, when two of the world’s leading industrialized economies—Germany and France—signed up to the 1.5ºC target for maximum global average temperature rise. Next, Canada and Australia also signed up, then the United States, China, and the European Union. A majority coalition now supports 1.5ºC becoming the upper limit for global average temperature rise. The lower temperature target, which is a … Continue reading Healthy Climate Workstream
It is the next to last day of the COP21, according to the official schedule. The French presidency of the COP says the draft Paris outcome will be finalized and approved by 6:00 pm tomorrow, the scheduled close of the conference. Everyone is anxious to see if crucial elements of serious climate action are re-inserted, after having been removed, or if key policy elements are … Continue reading ACCESS to the Future
Last week, the global climate negotiations got a shot in the arm, when two of the world’s leading industrialized economies—Germany and France—signed up to the 1.5ºC target for maximum global average temperature rise. The breakthrough means accelerated action and escalating ambition are more likely after the Paris talks. It also puts pressure on the world’s major powers to endorse a far stronger Paris outcome. Next, … Continue reading 1.5 degrees can drive global climate success
On the first day of the COP21, there was an unprecedented step forward on one of the toughest issues facing negotiators. The Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition is now part of the global policy-making environment. The Coalition includes governments, intergovernmental agencies, businesses and nonprofits, who all agree the world needs to be pricing carbon fairly, effectively and efficiently, as soon as possible. In a crucial step … Continue reading Carbon Pricing Leadership Coalition: 1st Major Success at COP21
The global climate negotiations are a landscape of highly refined vocabulary, experimental ideas, acronyms and jargon. Much of the terminology can seem impenetrable, but all of it goes toward facilitating the implementation of complex solutions to complex problems. One of the key words circulating in this environment is “ratcheting”, a reference to what is called a “ratchet mechanism”. What is a ratchet mechanism? The answer … Continue reading How to Ratchet Up Ambition
CLIMATE & BUSINESS LEADERS PUSH FOR SMARTER CLIMATE ACTION IN “LAST STOP BEFORE PARIS” On October 26th, a high-level Chatham House dialogue, convened by Partnership for Change and Citizens’ Climate Lobby as part of Minneapolis 2015—Climate Action—Last Stop Before Paris, brought together climate experts and business leaders to focus on how to accelerate development and deployment of low-carbon technologies and climate-smart business practices. The dialogue was co-chaired by Marilyn … Continue reading A Convenient Opportunity
Last week in Bonn, during the ADP 2.10 (the 10th Part of the 2nd Session of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Durban Platform for Enhanced Action), there was a general sense that too little progress is being made toward estabishing clear foundations for the text-specific negotations for the Paris agreement. There are many explanations for why, but one stands out as potentially the … Continue reading The Bonn Conundrum
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