Climate Change - Copenhagen and beyond
Submitted by Chloe Stables on Thu, 10/09/2009 - 13:04
The United Nations Climate Change Conference will take place from 15 to 18 Dec 2009 in Copenhagen.
"What consequences can we expect, and what can we do? Many of the effects of global warming have been well-documented. It is the precise extent that is difficult to predict." from the Official website: http://en.cop15.dk/.
This is a pivotal week in the run up to Copenhagen and the quest for a global climate deal - world leaders meet at the UN in New York and a G20 summit in Pittsburgh. Rumours are circulating that China and India are to unveil bold measures that will put pressure back on President Obama.
The UN climate chief, Yvo de Boer, said today that he expects China's president, Hu Jintao, to announce a series of new measures tomorrow that would put the country well ahead of America in dealing with climate change. Meanwhile, India's environment minister, Jairam Ramesh, told the Guardian his government planned to make "aggressive" cuts in India's emissions.
Could this be the breakthrough we've been waiting for? On the home front both the Climate Wave (http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/the-wave) and 10:10 campaigns (http://www.1010uk.org/) have been steadily building profile, and the Third Sector Taskforce on climate change (http://blogs.defra.gov.uk/3rd-sector/) is due to report in the Autumn but it would be great to hear what else VCS organisations are planning in the run up to December?
It’s great to see campaigns such as 10:10 really beginning to gain momentum as we near December...Involve ran the UK’s World Wide Views on Climate Change event which was a global democratic deliberation, held in 38 countries giving over 4,000 citizens the opportunity to communicate their positions on issues central to the negotiations in Copenhagen.
It was a fantastic day and the results across the globe are fascinating. The official event report is currently being worked on and will be ready soon so keep a look out. To find out more about the UK event click here, to visit the global WWV site click here, and to find out more about Involve click here
Barack Obama has acknowledged that time has run out to secure a binding climate deal at Copenhagen and has began moving towards a two-stage process that would delay a legal pact until next year at the earliest. I wonder how this will affect campaign groups such as 10:10 and the Wave?
I know Stop Climate Chaos were planning a number of events (details below) and I wonder if there will be a surge of support following the recent announcements about the talks?
The Wave
Feeder events: http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/full-schedule-for-the-wave
Wave dance - instruction video etc: http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/wave-dance
How people can help spread the word: http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/how-can-i-get-involved
General info & logistics: http://www.stopclimatechaos.org/the-wave
We're now so so close to The Wave, and it feels like it's going to be massive!
At Stop Climate Chaos, we've been getting a real feeling that we need to counteract the lack of ambition from politicians by making sure there are loads of people out on the streets on Saturday. We've been hearing so many inspiring stories about people mobilising around the country, that it seems like most people are determined not to let the politicians get them down.
So I hope everyone who cares at all about climate change can come out on Saturday, rain or shine, and show the world - by dancing, waving, shouting and, most importantly, coming together - that we want world leaders to get some ambition and stop climate chaos.
I hope to see lots od NVCO volunteers there!
Well, wonderful Copenhagan has come and gone, and in the words of Elvis, 'there's no action'.
Expect serious efforts to be made when the evidence is so overwhelming... that there's no point in doing anything anyway (argument from futility?).
Sorry, CopenhagEn...
Hi Joe, thanks for your comments. Have you seen the video of the Big response? a project which helped four UK charities explore how climate change is likely to affect their work, delivered by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Global Action Plan and Green Alliance. What do you think of this initiative?
So, how is 'climate change' going to affect our work? What happened to 'global warming?' I'm intrigued, please explain.
Hi Paul
I think the reason that people tend to talk more about climate change these days rather than global warming is because we’re likely to see a lot of different effects from the increasing carbon levels across the globe, as well as rising temperatures. There’s a summary of the weather patterns and other effects we’ll be facing in the UK on this page: www.ncvo-vol.org.uk/advice-support/climate-change/in-the-uk
Because climate change will affect everybody, NCVO put this information together to help organisations to think about what these trends could mean for those they support.
Of course, you’ll know your cause better than we do, so it’s important for each organisation to decide for themselves how important the impact is likely to be for their work, and what they should do about it.
But as lots of charities exist to support vulnerable groups such as the elderly or disabled people, things like frequent flooding, heat waves and knock-on effects such as new health risks could have major implications for future demands on services. Part of NCVO’s job is to point out important trends like these so that organisations can prepare for the future.
Hi Kate,
I'm afraid your views fall outside of current science - there is no established CO2/global warming link to natural weather events/disasters. The IPCC only quoted one non-peer reviewed study in support of a link - also used by Stern - and the author has now complained that his work was misrepresented.
The world hasn't warmed during the 21st century, and we are missing 0.2C of projected warming despite a 29% increase in global man-made CO2 emissions.
The cold is the greatest risk to health - hence the much hyped heatwave of 2003 is blamed for 2000 UK excess deaths, whereas excess winter deaths in the UK vary between 20,000 to 40,000 each year depending on the severity of the winter.