Climate Negotiations

China’s action on climate is often touted as decisive and admirable. But its human and environmental costs cannot be ignored.

Geoengineering proposals are already influencing plans to combat climate change more than we realise. But with such high stakes, a public debate is urgently needed.

An interview with co-leader and climate minister from the New Zealand Greens on their successes in government so far and the challenges that lie ahead.

This excellent analysis of COP 23 sheds valuable light on what climate talks achieved in 2017 and the many key details that remain unclear.

And so, the COP 21, the Paris talks on climate change which have been on everyone’s mind for the past 15 days are over but already registered in limbo for some. Will these talks really go down in history, as Hollande has repeatedly claimed?

Applause had already broken forth when the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, brought his gavel down. On Saturday, after two weeks of arduous climate negotiations in an old airport hangar at Le Bourget outside of Paris, the world had come to an agreement, thus concluding a process spanning decades and adopting the first truly global climate deal.

The EU submitted its contribution (INDC) to the global climate change agreement in March, which is due to be adopted in Paris in December. It is worth noting that the EU was the first of the major economies to present its offer for the Paris agreement. Nevertheless, the extent to which the offer paves the way to an ambitious climate deal in Paris is questionable indeed.

The European Union has to revive its alleged climate leadership, build up trust and confidence, and form coalitions in order to make the 2015 Climate Summit (COP21) in Paris a success. Together, the EU and Latin American and Caribbean countries make up almost one third of the parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. An alliance between Europe and Latin America could revive and lead the negotiations towards a fair and ambitious global climate deal in Paris.

Lima is currently hosting the 21st Conference of Parties (COP21), which runs from 30 November till 11 December 2015. There, at last, definite agreements should be made to fend off climate change. After the tragic failure of the Copenhagen climate summit (2009), observers see the Paris summit as the last chance.

Climate change is the biggest threat and the greatest challenge that our civilisation has ever faced and no single country is able to solve this problem on its own. This is why World leaders must urgently achieve an ambitious and binding agreement.