December 2010 Blog Posts (30)

Research concludes that Fox News leaves its viewers significantly misinformed about climate change, while a leaked internal memo suggests the channel has actively deceived its viewers about the subject.

Read the rest of this post at Under the Banyan.

In the recent Regional Climate Change Adaptation Knowledge Platform (http://bit.ly/9rCs7C ) 21-22 October 2010 in Bangkok, a civil society representative from Bangladesh highlighted that, “the NGOs in Bangladesh are flooded with Climate Adaptation Funds”. This statement is an indication that availability and access to adaptation funds is less of an issue for this country and that the more important issue is the careful monitoring of the use of such fund and…

Many of us celebrated Mountain Day on 11 December 2010. Our congratulations to all of you on this occasion, with the hope that we all could highlight the vital and omni-connectedness of Mountains around the world. We feel that, mountains and its communities will be recognized important as well as vulnerable on various fronts. We have covered the ongoing events around the world on this occasion at:…

GenderCC-Women for Climate Justice at the end of COP 16



As COP 16 comes to a close, we go home ignoring Ixchel and all other goddesses of reason and undoing the tapestry that could have protected us from either an extremely hot or cold future. "Let not the perfect be the enemy of the good" has been an oft-repeated statement yet the outcome of COP 16 is not even good enough.



True, that a Green Climate Fund has been established. There was also an agreement on the…

I am still in shock. Have we witnessed the change of UN rules here in Cancun?

How is consensus not unanimity? Imagine the reaction if the US

objected to consensus. It was the developed countries that first introduced the consensus mode because they were concerned that with numbers, developing countries could overrule them in a vote. And now

consensus is re-defined.

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Press Release…

In 1933 Winston Churchill looked over the horizon from England and saw a dreadful future forming. Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Party was on the rise and flexing its militaristic muscles. But when Churchill tried to warn his country he was ignored and mocked.

Six long years passed and the threat grew ever larger but still Churchill’s warnings went unheeded, until the reality bit and the world was at war.

The parallels with climate change are curious and chilling...…

The Women's Caucus decided not to come out with a statement on REDD.



Just a background: Early last week, a campaign, Women in REDD was launched by two or three international groups. But as the days went on, there has been a perception that the Women's Caucus is supporting REDD, thus the Caucus decided to come out with a document. The document below went through an exhaustive process. It is also important to note that the 9 am meetings of the Women's Caucus have always been open…

SUBODH GAUTAM

The U.S. President Barrack Obama told Bangladesh's Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina:…

I was interviewed by a Norwegian reporter in the evening of December 7. Her last question, which she asked every interviewee, was "explain to me why do you think that we need a climate deal as soon as possible". The question itself is somewhat problematic because it presumes the position that “we need a climate deal as soon as possible”. What is worse for Cancun, no deal or bad deal?



As someone also working on agriculture, I have witnessed…

Press Advisory

December 6, 2010

Contact: Ben Lilliston, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, ben@iatp.org, in Cancun: 9981085510

Agriculture on the wrong track in climate talks…

In 2040 two billion more people will be living in the world’s cities. Forum for the Future’s new report calls on cities to take action now to radically reengineer their transport infrastructure so that it is fit for the challenges of the future.



Megacities on the move sets out six “solutions for sustainable mobility” – principles which should guide the actions cities take now. It gives examples of where these are already being put into practice,…

GSMA Launches Mobile Energy Efficiency

Network Benchmarking Service…

Yesterday, I attended the launch of Burundi’s second National Communications on Climate Change - a report on the steps a country is taking or envisage undertaking to implement the UNFCCC (Articles 4.1 and 12).



In accordance with the principle of "common but differentiated responsibilities" enshrined in this Convention, the required contents of these national…

How can bamboo reduce vulnerability to climate change, while providing income for local communities?



As negotiators struggle to break the north-south deadlock on climate change action, the International Network for Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) has pointed to the important role bamboo can play in reducing the vulnerability of developing country communities to the impacts of climate change, while providing a reliable and sustainable…

Capacity building is an ongoing process through which individuals, groups, organizations and societies enhance their ability to identify and meet development challenges like climate change.



Climate resilient development is about communities resisting, absorbing and recovering from the effects of hazards in a timely and efficient…