News: September 2009
09.28.2009
UN warns leaders time running out for climate deal
(The Associated Press) The United Nations on Monday warned world leaders they have only 70 days to reach a new deal to limit global warming, while environmentalists pointed to the deadly floods in the Philippines to illustrate the already devastating impact of climate change.
09.27.2009
Climate Week: Check the Highlight Reel
(NRDC Switchboard) The G-20 meeting will conclude later today here in Pittsburgh, but we can say already that for climate policy, this has not been a quiet week in Lake Wobegon. Here's my highlight reel for the week:
09.26.2009
G20 Leaders Agree, Broadly, on Climate Change
(Time) Environmental groups hoping for concrete action on climate change were left disappointed by talks at the Group of 20 summit on Friday. Although world leaders managed to forge some agreement on global warming — despite news of Iran's secret nuclear facility eclipsing most of the discussion at the Pittsburgh summit — greens said little of substance was actually achieved.
09.26.2009
Climate Week Raises Consciousness, but Negotiations Fall Short
(ABC News) Climate Week has officially ended. From Sept. 21 to 25 there was a whirlwind of events in more than 100 cities around the world including a high level climate summit at the United Nations Tuesday with more than 100 heads of state.
09.25.2009
More Businesses Disclosing Carbon Profiles
(New York Times) According to the most recent data from the Carbon Disclosure Project, an independent nonprofit that gathers voluntary information regarding carbon emissions from more than 2,000 companies around the globe, more companies than ever are making carbon planning part of standard practice. Roughly 52 percent of respondents to the organization’s survey describe programs to reduce emissions, up from 32 percent a year ago, according to the C.D.P.’s latest report — released amid the fanfare of Climate Week in New York City.
09.23.2009
Climate Week: Don’t Celebrate Too Soon
(Newsweek) This is Climate Week here in New York City, so if you have been swept up in the excitement over
Hugh Jackman's lending his celebrity to the cause of averting a catastrophic greenhouse effect ("people in developing countries have contributed the least to climate change and are suffering the most from it," he said at Monday's opening ceremony at the New York Public Library), or President Obama's speech at the United Nations Tuesday warning of “irreversible catastrophe" if the nations of the world do not cut carbon emissions, you might feel optimistic that the nations of the world will get their acts together enough to produce a climate treaty to succeed the Kyoto Protocol.
09.23.2009
Resurgent Environmentalism = More Movies
(New York Times) This fall, a raft of environmentally-themed films, from all perspectives, are premiering, and several are tying their launch to Climate Week N.Y.C., which is holding events around New York City this week.
These include “Fuel,” a documentary about American oil consumption, and “The Age of Stupid,” which takes aim at what its creators consider the nation’s environmentally destructive ways.09.23.2009
Women on Front Lines of Climate Week
(IPS News) Women's voices remain highly underrepresented in the climate change debate, say international civil society leaders attending events taking place around the United Nations Climate Summit Tuesday. The summit was attended by 146 national delegations, of which only seven were headed by women. On the eve of the meet, the head of Oxfam in Britain, Barbara Stocking, noted that "once again, women find themselves left out of the negotiations on issues that affect them most".
09.23.2009
A Wind Shift Coming in the Global-Warming Debate?
(Time) As leaders from around the world descended on New York City this week for the U.N. General Assembly, traffic followed. Police closed off arteries throughout Manhattan's well-heeled East Side for security reasons, leaving taxis, delivery trucks and confused tourists stranded along Park Avenue. It's just another September in New York.
09.22.2009
Climate Change Is on the Map, and in the Spotlight
(New York Times) The map depicts the familiar jigsaw borders of the five boroughs. As huge sections of the city coastline appear submerged by swaths of blue, questions flash across the screen: Where do we go during a flood? After a flood, where do we live?
As the map, part of a small exhibit bear Battery Park, provoked those decidedly local questions, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was alongside top officials from the United States, China and India on Monday as he kicked off Climate Week NYC, the highest-level conference ever held on climate change.09.22.2009
In Pictures, Climate Week in New York
(The Guardian) With just 75 days until the Copenhagen summit, more than 100 heads of state are gathering for a
one-day climate summit alongside the UN's annual general assembly meeting in New York this week. At the same time, Climate Week is offering a whole range of activities for people to make their voices heard on global warming - including street theatre, film premieres, music, rallies, and discussions. Click here to view pictures.
09.22.2009
UN climate summit puts China, India in spotlight
(The Associated Press) The highest-level conference yet on climate change opened Tuesday with 100 world leaders gathering at the United Nations to try to jump-start stalled negotiations toward a global climate pact.
09.22.2009
Outside the Ivory Tower of the UN... Recap of Monday & Tuesday's Climate Week Announcements
(Treehugger) If you weren't following along, this morning was the main official diplomatic show of Climate Week NY°C, the UN Summit on Climate Change -- but a number of other important developments and statements were made that didn't figure into the carefully worded statements by heads of state. Here are some of those:
09.22.2009
Climate Week kicks off with warning from hoax New York Post
(The Guardian) If today's UN conclave on climate change does not push world leaders to act, maybe the banner headline "we're screwed" on fake copies of a New York tabloid will.
09.22.2009
Proposals Lag Behind Promises on Climate
(New York Times) World leaders gathered here for a global summit meeting on climate change made modest proposals on Tuesday for combating the problem, underscoring the way domestic political battles still trump what United Nations officials had hoped would be a sense of global urgency.
09.22.2009
The Real Green New Deal
(The Guardian) The former prime minister of the United Kingdom Tony Blair attends the 2009 Climate Week NYC kick-off at The New York Public Library in New York City.
The economic case for action on climate change is becoming ever more powerful. Essentially, recent research shows that if nations act together to reduce carbon emissions, costs of action fall and new opportunities for jobs and growth rise. There will be upfront investment but this should not be all about government money.09.22.2009
Sneaking a Peek at the Climate Summit Playbook
(The Atlantic) Today, nearly a hundred world leaders are meeting in New York for the U.N. Climate Change Summit. Impressive though this gathering may seem--especially when placed in the context of Climate Week NYC, an events line-up featuring everyone from Ban Ki-Moon to Harrison Ford--it is a mere glimpse of what this December's U.N. Climate Conference in Copenhagen holds.
09.22.2009
Climate Week Versus Fashion Week
(PSFK) September 13th marked the beginning of “Mercedes Benz Week” in New York; September 20th marks the end of Fashion Week and the start of New York Climate Week – “Climate Week NYC” – an event organized by a partnership that includes The Climate Group, the UN, the UN Foundation, the City of New York, the Government of Denmark, Tck Tck Tck Campaign, and The Carbon Disclosure Project.
09.21.2009
Taking Stock of New York for ‘Climate Week’
(New York Times) This week environmentalists, business executives, global leaders and even filmmakers are descending on New York City as it hosts two major events: the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, and Climate Week N.Y.C., billed as a run-up to the international climate meeting in Copenhagen in December, where delegates from around the globe will try to hammer out a new agreement to address global warming.
09.21.2009
Climate Week Is Key Stop on Road to Copenhagen
(Huffington Post - Rep. Ed Markey) This week, leaders from around the world will gather in New York and Pittsburgh for "Climate Week" with a keen eye on the home team. Key meetings at the United Nations and the G-20 Summit will set the table for the Copenhagen conference -- just over 70 days away -- where a potential international agreement to fight climate change (or global warming pollution) hangs in the balance.
09.21.2009
Notes of Urgency at ‘Climate Week’ Kick-Off
(New York Times) Climate Week N.Y.C., billed as a precursor to December’s global meeting in Copenhagen to negotiate a climate treaty, kicked off on an urgent note.
“Remember, we cannot press the undo button if the climate gets out of hand,” said Connie Hedegaard, Denmark’s climate and energy minister, who urged immediate action.
Todd Stern, the United States’s special envoy for climate change, delivered a dose of realism, noting the difficulties ahead (challenges also described by my colleagues John Broder and James Kanter in an article on Monday).09.21.2009
China and the U.S. Could Fix Climate -- If Leaders Let Them: Duke Energy CEO at Climate Week NY°C
(Treehugger) Chinese and American companies are eager to find ways to cooperate and work with each others' country, provided their governments support them, Jim Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy, said at a Climate Week NY°C panel discussion on China-US energy issues today. He was sitting next to Sen. John Kerry, who is leading the push in the Senate to pass climate legislation.
09.21.2009
"Climate Week" and My Talks With China's Top Negotiator
(Huffington Post - Frances Beinecke, NRDC) Climate Week has begun, and as foreign dignitaries descend on the United Nations and the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting, I think most of the world's nations will be singing a shared refrain: it is time for the United States to take action on global warming.
09.21.2009
Islands warn of extinction at Climate Week
(AFP) As world leaders gather for key climate talks here, small island nations Monday warned they were running out of time with rising seas threatening to wipe them off the map.
Spread across the Earth's oceans, the planet's tiniest members grouped together in the Alliance of Small Islands States (AOSIS) are hoping to make their voices heard 100 days before UN-hosted climate talks in Copenhagen.09.21.2009
Costs of climate change deal would drop with truly global agreement, says report
(The Guardian) A truly global climate change deal — with full collaboration from the developed and developing world — would dramatically reduce the costs of dealing with global warming and moving to a clean energy economy, said a new study published today by the influential Climate Group.
09.21.2009
NYC's First Climate Week Coincides With UN General Assembly
(WNYC) The first ever New York City Climate Week kicks off today. It's timed to coincide with a summit of world leaders at the United Nations. It begins with what activists are calling a Global Wake Up Call. At exactly 18 minutes past noon today, bells and alarm clocks around the city will go off. The timing is symbolic, says Calum Grieve of the group The Climate Group.
09.21.2009
Climate Week In New York–U.S. Must Catch Up To The International Community
(Talk Radio News Service) New York City gears up for a busy week on climate, poverty, health pandemics, nuclear disarmament and conflict and peace negotiations. Over 100 world leaders from Russia, China, India, Iran and other developed and developing nations will gather at the UN’s Climate Summit and General Assembly, the Clinton Global Initiative and other smaller forums organized throughout the city.
09.21.2009
Wake Up Call: Interview with the Global Campaign for Climate Action
(Triple Pundit) Something amazing is happening. This week in NYC, Climate Week is in progress, with leaders from 90 countries gathering for a United Nations-organized event focused on climate change. And there, along with 1000 events in 100 countries on September 21st, an unprecedented alliance of people and groups will be gathering for a truly global “Wake Up Call” to world leaders as part of the TckTckTck campaign.
09.21.2009
Obama to shift focus to climate change
(LA Times) After months of almost single-minded focus on healthcare, President Obama is about to shift the White House spotlight to global warming -- first with a speech to the United Nations in New York on Tuesday, then later in the week at the G-20 economic conference in Pittsburgh.
09.21.2009
Hugh Jackman at the Climate Week NYC Opening Ceremony
(New York Magazine) In celebration of Climate Week, kicking off in New York today, Vulture hero Hugh Jackman took time away from his grueling rehearsal schedule for Broadway's A Steady Rain to speak at a U.N. press conference on green living: "To be fair, as an actor, this is not something I'm very accustomed to, and probably about twelve months ago this kind of event would have maybe overwhelmed me a bit," he told reporters.
09.21.2009
Ban Ki-moon, Tony Blair and The Climate Group launch Climate Week NY°C
(Press Release) United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon; Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Rt Hon Tony Blair; The Climate Group CEO Steve Howard are taking part in the Climate Week NY°C opening ceremony today.
Lead climate change negotiators from the U.S., China, India and Denmark: U.S. Special Envoy for Climate Change Todd Stern; Director General of Climate Change Department of National Development and Reform Commission, People’s Republic of China, Su Wei; Indian Minister of State for Environment and Forests Jairam Ramesh and Denmark’s Minister for Climate and Energy Connie Hedegaard will also participate.09.20.2009
U.S. Reluctance on Climate Change Persists
(New York Times) Last Tuesday, Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat and majority leader of the U.S. Senate, was asked by a reporter to appraise the odds that Congress, in the throes of debating health care changes, would manage to pass climate legislation in 2009 — including provisions for an emissions cap-and-trade plan.
09.20.2009
Climate Week kicks off in New York with bigwigs and big hopes
(Grist) The year so many met so often to talk so much about the perilous state of the climate—and as of September, accomplished so little. Will this week be the charm? During several different international meetings this year, nations have been getting into position for this December’s international climate treaty talks in Copenhagen.
09.20.2009
Bring the Noize: Making a Racket at Climate Change Week
At 12:18 pm on Monday, September 21, people around the world will kick-off Global Climate Change Week in New York City by making some noise, ringing a bell, banging a gong, clanging cymbals, hollering, etc. to urge leaders to take bold action. Mark your calendars. As the UN Assembly meets, 9/21-26, in preparation for COP15, concern mounts that the political quagmire will mean a repeat of Kyoto's negligible results. Is it make it or break it? Here are ways to give a shout out.
09.18.2009
World Vision Ambassador Hugh Jackman Calls for Pro-Poor Climate Change Deal in Copenhagen
(Reuters) World Vision is emphasizing that a global agreement in Copenhagen must include adequate funding for the poor to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change. Such funding should help poor communities prepare for climate-related disasters, adopt conservation farming techniques, protect water sources and more.
Jackman and World Vision Australia chief executive Tim Costello visited Ethiopia and Cambodia in the past year, looking at the factors affecting global poverty.
09.18.2009
Climate Week NYC is Here! Take Part in These Great Events
(Treehugger) It may seem like the world of government climate change discussion operate on a whole other plane of existence, but this week there are a whole bunch of activities at which you can make your voice heard -- It's time for Climate Week! Though events are planned in more than 100 cities around the world, coinciding with the United Nations' High Level Summit on Climate Change. But since NYC is where the talks are, that's where the big action's at. The 'Week' officially starts on Monday, but events start in earnest tomorrow. There's a full event listing on the Climate Week NY°C website, but here are some highlights...
09.18.2009
India challenges US by agreeing to impose limits on carbon emissions
(Times Online) India wrong-footed the United States and other rich nations yesterday by agreeing for the first time to set numerical targets for curbing its greenhouse gas emissions. The move added to pressure on the Obama Administration to deliver on its own climate change pledges even as senior Democrats warned that US legislation may face severe delays.
09.17.2009
World's Largest Film Premiere Spanning Six Continents, More than 50 Countries and Uniting Nearly One Million People Worldwide for Climate Change Reform on Monday, September 21
(Reuters) An unprecedented global film event, the eco-premiere of the critically hailed documentary THE AGE OF STUPID will be broadcast live from New York City's World Financial Center on Monday, September 21 to more than 700 locations in over 50 countries simultaneously, uniting nearly one million people for climate change reform during Climate Week NYC, setting a new Guinness World Record for the largest single screen shared audience experience ever.
09.17.2009
A Week of Decisive Climate Discussions
(COP 15) Pressure is mounting for a climate negotiation breakthrough in what has been dubbed "Climate Week", which kicks off in Washington on Thursday and Friday with a ministerial-level gathering of the world's 17 largest carbon polluters.
09.16.2009
Attempts to shape climate bill in full swing
(The Associated Press) Industry, economic and environmental groups are making a final push to influence a climate bill that may go before the Senate within weeks.
Investors managing more than $13 trillion in assets called for new global emissions laws Wednesday, illustrating how the issue has divided even groups that traditionally have opposed new curbs.09.16.2009
Actor Hugh Jackman to participate in Climate Week NY°C Opening Ceremony, September 21st
(Press Release) Actor and World Vision Ambassador Hugh Jackman has joined forces with The Climate Group, Mayor Bloomberg, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to support Climate Week NY°C, a week-long series of events being held throughout New York City from September 20-26 that will address the urgent need for action on climate change.
09.16.2009
Week of meetings could make or break climate effort
(AFP) Key meetings unfolding in Washington, New York and Pittsburgh in the coming week may determine whether a two-year effort to combat climate change will triumph or be written off as a flop of historic dimensions.
Negotiations under the UN flag are tasked with delivering a treaty in Copenhagen in December to curb the heat-trapping emissions that drive global warming and help poor countries most threatened by drought, flood and rising sea levels.
09.14.2009
Climate bill politics are heating up
(LA Times) After months of promoting President Obama's climate plan as a vehicle to create millions of clean-energy jobs, supporters of the legislation are increasingly pushing another strategy -- its benefits for national security.
09.14.2009
The Climate Group Announces HP's Sponsorship of Climate Week NYC
(Reuters) The Climate Group announced today that HP will serve as the Premier Sponsor of Climate Week NYC, a week-long series of events being held throughout New York City from September 20-26 that will address the urgent need for action on climate change.
09.11.2009
Clean energy future has humble beginnings
Humble, established technologies including natural gas and energy efficiency are top picks to lead a clean energy race through 2020, policymakers and senior executives told Reuters this week.
09.8.2009
Prospects for UN climate deal brighter-de Boer
Prospects for a new U.N. climate pact in Copenhagen have brightened but negotiations must speed up to meet a December deadline, the head of the U.N. Climate Change Secretariat said on Tuesday.
Yvo de Boer said moves by countries including Japan, China and India to curb greenhouse gases had helped the 190-nation talks in recent weeks despite disappointing progress on financing the fight against climate change by the Group of 20.
09.8.2009
Greenland dialogue moves to New York
With only three months left before the climate conference COP15 in Copenhagen, the Danish Minister for Climate and Energy, Connie Hedegaard, has invited a number of influential climate and environment politicians to New York on September 19 and 20.
The purpose is to maintain momentum in the international climate negotiations. The meeting continues Hedegaard's annual, informal climate summit, known as the Greenland dialogue that provides an informal setting for ministers to debate openly the most pressing issues up to COP15 in Copenhagen.
09.8.2009
China, US could sign climate deal
The US and China are likely to sign an agreement to combat climate change during President Barack Obama's visit to Beijing in November, Washington senator Maria Cantwell said on Friday.
This, and US ambassador to China Jon Huntsman's remark that he was impressed by Beijing's green efforts prompted Chinese analysts to say that the Obama administration wanted to cooperate with China in fighting climate change.
09.3.2009
Climate-Summit Agreement Still Far Off
Friday marked 100 days before the beginning of this year's U.N. climate-change summit, to be held in Copenhagen, which is emerging as the world's last good chance to craft a new global-warming deal. With time running out, global negotiators still seem far apart, and there's a growing fear that the world could fumble the opportunity.
09.3.2009
"Age of Stupid" World Premiere to Kick Off Climate Week NYC With Live Broadcast in NY
Kicking off Climate Week NYC on Monday, September 21, The Age of Stupid -- an eco-documentary film we've previewed here and reviewed here -- will premiere globally and open nationwide in the U.S. in a solar-powered cinema tent at the World Financial Center in New York. The event will broadcast live via satellite to over 700 cinemas in 40 countries and include a green carpet pre-show, the film screening, and a live panel discussion with Kofi Annon, Gillian Anderson, star of the film Pete Postlethwaite and the film’s director Franny Armstrong.
