not just government reps, big govs at that
. . . no, ASK EVERYONE –
where are we ?
where do we want to go ?
so, how do we get there ?
climate change
hanging on more & more to what was
scientists take us back before it’s all gone
Arks of the Apocalypse
fossil fuels – keep ’em down
. . . more 350.org happenings around the world
full of action happenings – stories – photos
CHECK THEM OUT – JOIN THEM WHERE YOU CAN
we have all known long lonliness
and have all learned – the only solution is love + love comes with community
~ dorothy day
sierra club daily ray of hope, dec 31, 2015
photo by dan weisz, mt lemmon, catalina mts, AZ
for real ? – whole countries disappearing ?
not just talk . . .
TAKE A GOOD LOOK AT SINKING MARSHALL ISLANDS – CLOSE IN
by ny times contributors coral davenport & josh haner
paris dispatch 2
Dear Jim,
I’m out in Paris as part of the team of Guardian correspondents covering the UN climate talks. Yesterday was the big set piece day for speeches by heads of state and government. They were meant to stick to 3 minutes each but of course many spoke for much longer and the speeches carried on well after dark. Barack Obama said the fact the talks were going ahead was an “ACT OF DEFIANCE” following the terrorist attacks 2 weeks ago.
Ban Ki-Moon, the UN secretary general, implored countries to come to a deal: “Please, let’s meet on the middle ground, show some flexibility and sense of compromise for the common good. We can’t go on like this. We can’t waste any further time.”
I spent the first two days talking to the heads of the MOST IMPORTANT DEVELOPING COUNTRY NEGOTIATING GROUPS and I must say they have rather more faith than I do that they will get a deal. Now that the leaders have jetted out, there are only three days of negotiations left before the politicians arrive and, boy, there are mountains to climb over cuts, long term goals, finance, equity, and the principle that the rich countries should act first and dig deeper because they are responsible for the historical emissions. My feeling now is that there will be a monster collision and rows in a few days time, but then all parties will come to their senses and realise that everyone has to compromise. It will be painful, but it’s the only chance of success.
John Vidal
Environmental Editor
Here’s today’s reading list:
*__FANTASY CLIMATE FOOTBALL: A FOOTY FAN’S GUIDE TO THE PARIS SUMMIT
*__ZUCkERBERG, GATES AND OTHER TECH TITANS FORM CLEAN ENERGY INVESTMENT COALITION
*__BARACK OBAMA: PARTS OF PARIS CLIMATE DEAL MUST CARRY LEGAL FORCE
*__4C RISE WILL HAVE DIRE EFFECT ON WORLD HUNGER, UN WARNS
*__PARIS TALKS: BEHIND THE SCENES – IN PICTURES
paris dispatch 1
happy to include guardian environment editor’s
daily notes from COP21 paris climate conference
adam vaughan, you sure keep us all onguard
Dear Jim,
We promised you last week that we’d send regular dispatches from the Paris climate talks. Here is our first from the desk, so to speak. At the email’s end you’ll find my recommended reading list.
I have spent the day editing and watching MORE THAN A HUNDRED WORLD LEADERS PROMISE THE EARTH ON CLIMATE CHANGE. From Barack Obama and Xi Jinping to the heads of tiny Pacific island states, they took the stage in Paris today to tell the world they would act. The rhetoric was lofty, planetary, grave.
“Here in Paris we will decide on the very future of the planet,” said FRANÇOIS HOLLANDE the president of France. “One of the enemies we will be fighting at this conference is cynicism – the presumption that we can’t do anything about climate change,” said US president, Barack Obama. The fact that the climate summit had gone ahead at all WAS AN ACT OF DEFIANCE AGAINST THE TERRORISTS BEHIND THE PARIS ATTACKS OF 13 NOVEMBER. he said. Others talked of ensuring the future of the human race, of leaving a safe planet for future generations. The fight against climate change was a fight for survival, several said.
The sheer number of heads of state in Paris – nearly 150 leaders – bodes well for any climate deal’s prospects. But whether today’s strong rhetoric translates into strong action remains to be seen.
From Tuesday the summit will switch down to the nitty gritty of negotiatiors trying to turn a 50-page text into a deal that 195 countries can agree on, in less that a fortnight. As UN SECRETARY GENERAL BAN KI-MOON put it, the time for brinkmanship is over. “We have never faced such a test. A political momentum like this may not come again.”
Adam Vaughan
Editor, THEGUARDIAN.COM/ENVIRONMENT
Want to find out more about the Paris climate talks? Here’s my essential reading list:
* __THE PARIS CLIMATE SUMMIT AT A GLANCE
* __FIONA HARVEY ON CHRISTIANA FIGUERES, THE WOMAN TASKED WITH SAVING THE WORLD
* __SUZANNE GOLDENBERG DELVES INTO THE TALKS’ COLOURFUL HISTORY
* __USE OUR DATA INTERACTIVE TO SEE WHICH COUNTRIES ARE DOING THE MOST IN THEIR CLIMATE PLANS
* __PARIS BY NUMBERS – FROM ONE NEGOTIATING TEXT TO 196 PARTIES
together at last, host tells us what’s up
paris climate summit: huge stakes, deep divides
agence france-presse, 11/22/2015
Still reeling from the worst terrorist attacks in French history, Paris will host nearly 140 world leaders gathering next week to spearhead a climate pact tasked with keeping Earth liveable for humanity.
US President Barack Obama on Sunday urged others to follow his example and come to the French capital to show that “a handful of killers does not stop the world from doing vital business.”
No heads of state or government backed out of the November 30 opening after jihadist assaults killed 130 people just over a week ago, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Saturday.
“On the contrary, some who had not yet responded have said they will come exactly because we cannot give in to terrorism,” he said.
Preoccupied by a recent spate of extremist attacks around the globe, world leaders will have their work cut out for them at the 12-day climate huddle.
The highly-anticipated conference is tasked with fixing a problem that threatens the very well-being of our species: global warming.
After six years of preparatory negotiations, the 195 nations gathering under the UN flag remain sharply divided on a raft of intertwined issues.
There are at least three battlegrounds where the talks could stumble. As always, the first is money.
In Copenhagen in 2009 — the last time countries sought to craft a universal climate pact and failed — it was agreed that poorer nations vulnerable to global warming impacts would receive $100 billion (94 billion euros) per year from 2020.
The money is to help them give up fossil fuels, and to shore up defences against climate-driven food scarcity, heat waves and storm damage.
International climate finance has grown steadily, reaching $62 billion in 2014, according to an estimate commissioned by the UN.
But developing nations want assurances that the flow of money will be recession-proof, come from public sources, and be earmarked for boosting resilience.
India’s environment and climate minister Prakash Javadekar told the Business Standard last week that “predictable, scalable and new finance” is a redline issue.
Along with many other developing countries, New Delhi’s pledge to engineer a massive switch to renewable energy is conditional on such aid.
Some 50 nations — home to a billion people — federated in the Climate Vulnerable Forum, meanwhile, are also pushing for funds for “loss and damage” from climate change impacts that can no longer be avoided.
Rich nations are willing to discuss the issue, but have drawn a line in the sand.
“The notion of so-called compensation or liability… is not a legitimate concept in this context and we would certainly not accept it in the agreement,” a US official told journalists in Paris ahead of the summit.
A second thorny issue is defining a long-term goal.
All nations have embraced the target of capping global warming at two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels. The world has already warmed 1 C.
Some 170 nations accounting for more than 90 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas output have filed carbon-cutting plans ahead of the Paris meeting.
But these voluntary commitments are not enough to get the job done, and place Earth on a dangerous 3 C trajectory.
There is no prospect of enhanced pledges right now.
“At this point, our goal will not change,” China’s climate negotiator, Xie Zhenhua, said last week. Other countries, including the United States, have said the same.
The challenge — and the yardstick for success in Paris — will be to agree on an action plan that eliminates the gap over time.
That could mean periodic reviews of national plans to ratchet up emissions reduction efforts.
But countries do not agree on how often reviews must be done, or an in-built obligation to ramp up carbon-cutting efforts.
A third sticking point is the agreement’s legal status.
The United States has consistently said it will not inscribe its emissions reduction targets — 26-28 percent from 2005 levels by 2025 — in a legally-binding international treaty.
At the same time, host country France has said the outcome must have legal force.
There has been some progress since Copenhagen, based on growing scientific evidence of the threat we face, and renewable energy becoming cheaper.
“We have stronger convergence on the broad contours of an agreement than we ever saw ahead of the Copenhagen conference,” said veteran climate analyst Elliot Diringer.
Still, finding middle ground will be tricky, and the planet will be watching.
Some 6,000 journalists have sought accreditation for the 12-day meeting, twice as many as can be accommodated.
Civil society groups, however, have been left out in the cold.
France, citing security fears, has cancelled mass rallies to press for urgent political action planned for November 29 and December 12 in Paris.
copyright 2015, agence france-presse
. . . so what can i do ?
pope francis convenes world’s mayors to discuss global warming
L’Osservatore Romano/Pool Photo via AP
” . . . francis intends to be a major player in spurring leaders to combat global warming, which he sees as inextricably linked to efforts to lift the plight of the world’s poor.
” this week, the vatican’s science committees will host two days of meetings with 50 mayors and governors from around the world; they will discuss ways to implement policies aimed at curbing greenhouse gas emissions, boosting resilience to climate extremes and eradicating poverty. ”
high up, taking needed stand at last SEE FULL ARTICLE – MASHABLE.COM 7/19/15
once we go under, scottop
what then should we call it ?
treading water article, p 107 – FL’s bill is coming due – national geographic magazine, february 2015
she moves me 