The Durban Platform: a political analysis
Sergio Abranches
Why the Durban Platform is a political breakthrough, but a dismal outcome in the light of climate science? More »
Scientists forecast crops that adapt to changing weather
Crops that can cope with sudden fluctuations in the weather could be developed, thanks to recent discoveries about the survival mechanisms of plants. Scientists at the University of Edinburgh studying how tiny algae renew old or damaged cell proteins say their findings could be useful in developing crops suited to climates in which weather changes quickly. More »
IPCC comments on the Durban Platform
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which provides policy-makers with the current state of climate science, has issued today a statement on the Durban outcome. It shows concern about the decision to “adopt a universal legal agreement on climate change as soon as possible, but not later than 2015, to be adopted and come into force from 2020.” The Durban agreement reinstates the decision to review the Copenhagen/Cancun pledges to reduce emissions in the light of the IPCC next report, to be released in 2013. The IPCC has been asked what impact these agreements will have on global warming. More »
Trees are dying in the Sahel and climate change is to blame Berkeley study says
Trees are dying in the Sahel, a region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. More »
COP17 shows political progress but still fail to meet climate science requirements
Sergio Abranches, from Durban
The documents still circulating at COP17 show notable political progress, but fall short of adequately meeting the risks already pointed out by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change — IPCC — fourth assessment of climate science. They are still under discussion, and final decision may still be significantly different. It is likely, however, they will keep the general thrust of the documents. More »
Satisfacing though insufficient deals in Brussels and Durban
Sergio Abranches, from Durban
The European Union seems to be doing better in the Climate Summit than it did at the Financial Summit in Brussels last night. While in Durban, the EU is likely to get its proposal for a roadmap to a post-2020 comprehensive legal agreement on climate change, in Brussels it failed to agree to Treaty changes deemed necessary to prevent a fiscal and financial meltdown. More »