The governments of the world’s top two greenhouse gases emitters, United States and China, agreed Wednesday to tighten pollution standards on heavy trucks, increase energy efficiency in transport, buildings and industry, and a number of other initiatives to curb greenhouse-gas emissions. More »
Sergio Abranches
After a week of informal conversations in Bangkok, Thailand, negotiators already know what stumbling blocks they will face on the way towards a successful meeting of the parties to the Climate Convention, COP18, in Doha, Qatar, November 26 to December 7. Most of the obstacles come from an old quarrel between the US and Europe, on the one side, and China, India and Brazil, on the other, on the meaning of the principle of common but differentiated obligations under the Climate Convention. More »
Sergio Abranches
Rio+20’s agenda is very broad, and delegates will have very little time to deal with all the issues. Negotiators have lost several weeks quarreling over almost every paragraph of a draft of resolutions to end up with 80 messy pages, 75% of which bracketed, i.e. undecided. More »
Sergio Abranches
Why the Durban Platform is a political breakthrough, but a dismal outcome in the light of climate science? More »
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 »
Sergio Abranches
As the first segment of COP17 comes to an inconclusive closing, negotiators are adding the bits and pieces coming out of their talks to figure out where they stand. They are working to narrow down the options to be presented to the ministers for further deliberation during the political segment, starting on Monday. More »
