Sergio Abranches
G20′s Finance ministers and Central Bank governors met last week, February 25-26 in Mexico City to discuss global economic troubles. In their communiqué they have conceded a few words to the green economy, and to disaster risk management. Should we see it as a sign that there is hope they’ll someday get smarter?
Sergio Abranches
The last official preparatory meeting to the Climate Change Convention in Durban is taking place in Panama, since last Saturday. Negotiators will attempt to arrive at feasible drafts to be tabled at the next session of the Climate Convention, COP17, in Durban, South Africa. The signs are that an agreement on the core issues deadlocking conversations is unlikely to happen. More »
Sergio Abranches
The last official preparatory meeting before COP17, in Durban, South Africa, has started yesterday in Bonn pointing to more problems than solutions. Christiana Figueres, top UN climate official, warned the parties about the risk of inaction, but realistically acknowledged that there will likely be very few substantial decisions in Durban. She finally admitted that there is not enough time left to approve the text for a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol. A regulatory gap is already unavoidable. More »
Sérgio Abranches
Investments in clean energy were the least harmed by the subprime and global financial crises. In Asia and Europe they’ve only decelerated in 2009, to resume a faster passe in 2010. In the Americas they’ve declined, but less than investment in other sectors of the economy. In the U.S. they’ve become a focal point of the recovery program. More »
Sergio Abranches
Who can influence the most climate change policies? Top economic policy-makers or environmental authorities? In any country of the world, economic policy-makers have far more power to lead us to a low carbon economy, than environmental policy-makers, both public and private. Hence the silence of Finance ministers on climate change is far more meaningful than the eloquence of environment ministers. More »
Sergio Abranches
The leaders of the G20 have pledged that they “will spare no effort to reach a balanced and successful outcome in Cancun.” Will this really come through? More »
