The programme is named after what is now believed to the safe level in parts per million (ppm) of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This finding is based on the work of James Hansen and his team in a paper titled “Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim” available at http://arxiv.org/abs/0804.1126
Just before the start of the historic UN climate talks open in Copenhagen, UK civil society will come together and encircle the Houses of Parliament. They will demand that the UK and Europe do much, much more than they have pledged so far as part of a fair and effective climate agreement in Copenhagen. We speak to the director of the Stop Climate Chaos coalition, Ashok Sinha, about The Wave and other events they have planned for December 5th and about theirpolicyplatform. The SCC brings together over 100 organisations with a combined membership of around 11 million people – one in six of the population.
On 16th December thousands of activists will attempt to take over the United Nations climate summit in Copenhagen for a day and set the agenda. In contrast to many of the false solutions in play at the talks, protestors will advance a common sense agenda based on the principles of Climate Justice. We speak to Chris Kitchen who has been helping to organise the mass mobilisations with the Climate Justice Action coalition about the week of actions that has been planned. We also speak to Camp for Climate Action legal advisor Frances Wright about the legal context for the protests. CJA’s common platform includes:
leaving fossil fuels in the ground
socialising and decentralising energy
relocalising our food production
recognising and repaying ecological and climate debt
As the UN climate talks end in Barcelona, the prospects for getting a fair deal which will be strong enough to stop catastrophic climate change are looking slim. In response, a handful of courageous people have started a hunger strike for Climate Justice. The second half of this programme is an extended edit from the press conference at which Anna Keenan and Sara Svenson announced the start of the Climate Justice Fast in Barcelona on 6 November. It leaves us speechless…
In the first half of the programme we take a look at some of the ways that the poor majority world is disadvantaged in the UN climate talks and at some of the dirty tactics employed by the rich world. The South African delegation reminds us what everyone agreed to under the Bali Roadmap in 2007 and why the rich world seems intent on reneging on that. And in extracts from the UNFCCC’s final press conference, General Secretary Yvo de Boer gives his expectations on the Copenhagen deal in relation to whether it will be legally binding (no, but maybe we can tie that up next year) and whether it will be informed by the latest science (no chance).
Our half-time report on the UN climate talks in Barcelona is told in the words of the poor majority world participants. The story of the African Group’s stand at the talks is told in their own words.
As Europe stands accused of blocking the protection of intact natural forests and introducing logging-friendly language into the UN draft climate deal, we take a look at some of the key components that need to be in an effective deal for saving the world’s forests.
As Nathaniel Dyer of the Rainforest Foundation UK explains, saving forests is about a lot more than simply throwing money at the problem. To get the UN forestry talks back on track we need to recognise that land rights, good governance and managing demand are also critical. And payment for forest protection should come from public funds rather than carbon markets.
