Contact John Parnell in Doha if you have any comments or a story you’d like to share.
By John Parnell
RTCC in Doha
-Contact us by email or twitter!
-Those on the ground in Qatar can also visit the Climate Change Studio in Hall 4, a collaboration between the UNFCCC and RTCC. Contact the Secretariat to request an interview.
– Jon Snow: Has the ‘North’ learned anything since Copenhagen?.
– Gender day: Making the link between women’s health and climate change.
– Qatar: Qatar emissions pledge could soothe climate talks tension.
Today’s headlines:
IPCC: The main plenary has just heard from Rajendra Pachauri, head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) provides the negotiations with the science on which to base their decisions. He said the thousands of scientists working on the report deserved the support of governments during the talks adding that the IPCC’s voice “may not be as loud as it once was, but is certainly clearer”, a reference to the increasing scope and detail of its next report.
COP19 Host: Warsaw, Poland has just been confirmed as the next host of the UN climate change negotiations. The choice is unlikely to be less controversial than Doha, given the county’s strong coal lobby and reputation for stalling progress in the EU. The summit will be held in the city’s football stadium, a headline writer’s dream. Hopefully the choice won’t prove to be an own-goal…
UNFCCC: The UN’s climate change agency announced an official tie-up with the World Economic Forum to develop ways to promote successful private-public finance initiatives. UNFCCC chief Christiana Figueres described the potential for partnerships to address current investment levels that she described as “far too low”.
Emission pledges: Kazakhstan submitted a new emission reduction pledge under the Kyoto Protocol. It will cut by 10% compared to 1990 levels by 2020. Australia announced a goal of 0.5% by 2020 earlier in the week. One delegate said: “It could have been worse, there were rumours they’d propose only a small increase!”
Overheard: A little insight to the language of the talks and its followers.
Woman: “Are you a birthing ground?”
Man: “I just don’t know what that means.”
Later today:
–Youth groups continue their first actions in and around the talks following a silent protest at the entrance today
-Chinese negotiator Su Wei to give a press briefing
RTCC at COP18:
Other News:
Worldwide: Sea levels are rising 60% faster than previous UN projections, a new study has found. The report warns that low-lying areas from Miami to the Maldives could be under threat from such a rise. It was issued during the UN talks in Qatar and also warned that temperatures were creeping higher in line with UN scenarios. (Reuters)
US: President Obama signed a bill yesterday shielding US airlines from paying for the carbon emitted from their airlines’ flights into and out of Europe, despite a recent move by the EU to suspend the proposed measure till next autumn. (Reuters)
Sport: This week, Nike will start selling what is being hailed as the most environmentally friendly football boot – the new GS 2 boot. Warn by Chelsea player Eden Hazard, the boot is the latest product of Nike’s to be made from recycled and sustainable materials and will have the price tag of £250 a pair. (Business Green)