How ethics underpins all of the UNFCCC decisions “If ninety-eight doctors say my son is ill and needs medication, and two say ‘No, he doesn’t he is fine.’ I will go with the ninety-eight. It’s common sense – the same with global warming. We go with the majority, the large majority.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor […]
As week number two unfolds, the “big guns” are arriving at the COP15 meetings — to inspire people, to create consensus, and — as everyone hopes — to lead. Featured speakers include Wangari Maathai, heads of all the Amazon Basin states, John Kerry, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Desmond Tutu, Al Gore, Tony Blair and ultimately, Barrack Obama, […]
Bellona Foundation, a premier environmental solutions-based organization headquartered in Norway, hosted a boat trip to view the windmills outside of Copenhagen on Sunday, December 13. This day was otherwise a “day off” for media, NGOs, and other conference participants. Heading out to sea with a fleeting view of sunshine and below-freezing winds, we braved the […]
Environmental Solution #3 – Engaging Youth Intellect and Enthusiasm The youth are in Copenhagen in awesome and enthusiastic forces! Girls scouts, California activists, Midwestern voices, university environmental clubs, and organized youth demonstrators are all in Copenhagen asking for “Planet not Profit.” I caught up with Alec Loorz, Lynne Cherry and Gary Braasch – organizers of […]
“We will restore science to its rightful place.” — President Barack Obama, 2009 : : : : : In 2007, the National Academy of Sciences identified six critical environmental science issues that will drive twenty-first century America. These topics impact local and national economy as well as ecology, and their solutions will significantly enhance our […]
Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, biodiversity chair for the Heinz Center for Science, Economics, and the Environment (and honorary directory of the TREE Foundation headquartered in Sarasota, Florida) recently wrote about his scientific views of climate change in relation to the Copenhagen climate change meetings. This clear and concise editorial encapsulates the salient points about Planet Earth […]
Saturday, December 12 marks the halfway point for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meetings (UNFCCC) in Copenhagen, Denmark. At the COP working meetings this morning, the representative from Tuvalu tearfully commented to the President of COP, “Our future is in your hands, Madame President.” He was referring to the fact that his […]
Many participants at COP15 (and others around the world) feel convinced that the value of ecosystems – if calculated in the accounting for business and technology – could provide a new metric that would naturally regulate carbon emissions. Ecosystem-based Adaptation (EbA) integrates the use of biodiversity and ecosystem services into an overall strategy to help […]
The UNFCCC meetings (otherwise known at COP15) are held at the Bella Center, just outside of Copenhagen. The public transport is ideal and should be the envy of every American — frequent trains and an excellent bus system connect this conference center with the center of town and all other periphery. The conference center itself […]
While Ministers mingled and Bureaucrats bungled, the solution to the climate change conundrum was sitting unnoticed just outside the meeting room doors. If we citizens are to take responsibility for our consumption and its impacts on our life support systems by mid century, this can not be a top down solution, rather a bottom up […]
