Copenhagen: World leaders ‘face public fury’ if agreement proves impossible
Copenhagen: World leaders ‘face public fury’ if agreement proves impossible
Miliband warns heads not to stall on technicalities as some progress is made between the biggest polluters US and China
Suzanne Goldenberg, Jonathan Watts and John Vidal in Copenhagen
- The Guardian, Thursday 17 December 2009
- Article history
Ed Miliband speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Copenhagen summit. Photograph: Bob Strong/Reuters
World leaders arriving at the Copenhagen climate change summit today and tomorrow face public “fury” if they fail to inject crucial new momentum into the talks, according to climate secretary Ed Miliband.
Talks resumed late last night following many hours of delay as negotiators wrangled over the form a treaty to fight global warming should take. “People will find it extraordinary that this conference is being stalled on points of order,” said Miliband. “People will be rightly furious if agreement is not possible.”
Clean coal locked out of funding
Clean coal locked out of funding
- From: The Australian
- December 17, 2009
THE Australian government’s project of trying to make coal less polluting by capturing and storing its carbon emissions has been dealt an expensive blow at the climate summit.
The UN conference refused to include clean coal technology in its main program for channelling money to clean fuel projects, locking carbon capture and storage out of potentially billions of dollars of funding.
Australian officials said they still hoped that Climate Change Minister Penny Wong could get CCS into the funding program in the final rounds of ministerial talks in Copenhagen but its rejection yesterday by long-time opponent Brazil makes that an uphill struggle.
Further to IPCC 9m Sea-level rise prediction
It is not good policy, when so much depends on it, to assume that glaciers will melt slowly. Past evidence is that this can happen quickly, at least within 12 months on one occasion. Wise people (who pay for personal insurance) should consider the risk: if it were to happen quickly, then please read the following, which appeared in FOOTPRINTS 38 in August:
IPCC forecasts 9m sea-level rise if temperatures meet 2C threshold
IPCC forecasts 9m sea-level rise if temperatures meet 2C threshold
Hundreds of millions of people around the world would be affected as low low-lying coastal areas became inundated, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report warns
- guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 16 December 2009 18.05 GMT
- Article history
A villager walks on an embankment as trees are submerged in the river water at Lahiripur in India. Scientists have warned of alarming rise in temperatures. Photograph: Bikas Das/AP
Global sea levels could rise by up to 9m in the next few hundred years, even if the world manages to stabilise average temperatures to 2C above pre-industrial levels, according to a new study.
In this scenario, hundreds of millions of people around the world would be affected as low low-lying coastal areas became inundated. New Orleans would be lost to the sea, much of southern Florida and Bangladesh and most of the Netherlands.
The Australian runs a smear campaign against Tuvalu negotiator
Hi all, The Australian today runs a front page smear story on the amazing Tuvalunegotiator Ian Fry. His home has been staked out by them, his wife andneighbour intimidated. Ian has been a tireless worker for Tuvalu 11 years. Working endless tohelp the small state push for better global action on climate change. Letters to Continue Reading →
Penny Wong jeered, Hugo Chavez cheered
Penny Wong jeered, Hugo Chavez cheered
- From: The Australian
- December 17, 2009
THE Copenhagen climate summit was pretty much summed up in the high-level segment yesterday when Penny Wongs speech was interrupted by whistles and chanting and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez got a standing ovation.
The Australian climate change minister may not be the world’s greatest orator but she had some sensible things to say when she stood up on behalf of the so-called “umbrella group” of developed countries, including Australia, Canada, Japan, Norway, Iceland and Ukraine.