Prospecting for new fossil fuel has to end if the world is to meet its commitments to curb climate change The most important number in the world of climate action is ZERO: that is how many new fossil fuel projects world leaders can approve and still keep the promises they made under the Paris Climate…
It’s time for the world’s largest national fund to stop profiting from climate destruction It is no longer conceivable to speak about climate change in abstract terms. The reality is stark with news of extreme weather events making the headlines almost daily. Unfortunately these disasters have given contemporary society a cruel feel of what may…
by Hoda Baraka and Melanie Mattauch On the occasion of Global Divestment Day, a message that the climate movement is alive and well. People around the world are fighting for an economy that serves rather than hinders action on climate change. Government inaction, in what culminated in the fiasco of the 2009 Copenhagen climate conference, has…
To change everything, we need everyone. This September, world leaders are coming to New York City to talk about how to address the climate crisis. This is a crucial moment; we’re at a crossroads. We can and must change course by building a new economy through efforts to reconceive corporations and redefine economic progress. We…
“It does not cost the world to save the planet” — Ottmar Edenhofer, co-chair of the IPCC Working Group III The Working Group III contribution to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fifth Assessment Report released yesterday provides a comprehensive assessment of all relevant options for mitigating climate change through limiting or preventing greenhouse gas emissions,…
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) launched its latest report earlier today in Yokohama, Japan, which deals with the risk to society due to climate change and how to manage this risk. The main conclusion from the report is that climate change is already having sweeping effects on every continent and throughout the world’s oceans.…
Although the Middle East contributes relatively little to greenhouse gas emissions on a global level, several studies have shown that the region is extremely vulnerable to the effects of climate change. These effects include severe droughts, water shortages, and flooding in coastal areas. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) published a report last year entitled…
The UN Climate Change Conference–recently held in Cancun, Mexico–delivered what is considered to be a balanced package of decisions in the form of the ‘Cancun Agreements’ to serve as a foundation for future talks. After serious concerns about the longevity of the UN multilateral system since the fiasco in Copenhagen in 2009, many are now…
As 2010 comes to an end, Al-Masry Al-Youm takes a look at the main environmental news–both local and international–for this year. Climate Change: The year kicked off with turbulence for the climate change agenda. Firstly, the fiasco of the Copenhagen summit, held in December 2009, left many around the world wondering if there was room…
It’s been one year since the world witnessed the fiasco that was the Copenhagen Summit. At that event, some 120 world leaders were supposed to have arrived at a new climate deal but ended up instead with a non-binding agreement, the so-called Copenhagen Accord–a spectacular failure to deliver on promises of a post-Kyoto agreement to roll…
Hoda Baraka 