UPDATE: The video embed doesn’t seem to work very well. So here’s the link.

Couple of noteworthy quotes:

“If you care about the science — and we do — there’s no way to solve this problem by giving the major developing countries a pass…We’re not talking about the same kind of need for actions from the vast majority of developing countries. But the major ones, it’s going to be absolutely essential.”

“”But emissions are emissions. You’ve just got to do the math. It’s not a matter of politics or morality or anything else. It’s
just math. And you cannot get the kind of reductions you need globally if China is not a major player in this. That’s the reality.”

And in audio, a more in depth discussion (still very BASIC) on the topic)

Download this audio as an MP3
India is on the brink of a precarious situation about how to bring consensus in the G 77 and China to push for a draft text agreement to substitute the current darft text proposed by the presidency – the Danish Government. Apart from being highly inappropriate of the Danish presidency in Shyam Saran’s words to preempt the agreement , it is really wierd for all of us who are tracking the negotiations to see the state of play shaping up.

With the ministerial meeting coming up ,it would be interesting to see the way the dynamics of teh negotiations change from negotiators to politicians pushing forward the stance. In a meeting with Shyam Saran and Indian journalist a lot of these questions were addressed and a recording I took has been added.

Please do listen and give your comments on:

1. whether you feel India’s negotiating atctic of bringing a parallel text is a good way of coming to an outcome or;

2. how effective will this be in building / breaking the G77 and China?
Share your comments and speak with your negotiators through this blog, remember I am here to represent all those who can’t be here physically!

PS : Most of my negotiators will read this so write a comment!

I recorded his short but very succicent speech which also clears the air on a lot of so called Indian statement shifts:

Download

He has also mentioned in brief what he expects from Copenhagen.

With having a fully packed week it would seem like the obvious thing to do would be to relax on the weekend to allow for some time to reflect on the busy week since returning to Canada, but that would not actually be possible with the largest Canadian youth gathering happening in Ottawa, Ontario. Power Shift Canada will begin today and run until Monday bringing over 1,000 youth from all of the provinces and territories in Canada providing workshops, flash mobs, entertainment and of course the 350.org International Day of Action on October 24th.

There will be many opportunities for Canadian youth to learn more about the issue of climate change, how the UNFCCC process works, what Canada’s current position means for creating an ambitious, fair and legally binding outcome in Copenhagen and or course just a lot of general fun. Be sure to keep your eyes open online for all the content that will be created this this weekends event in Ottawa.

Sandrine Bélier, députée Européen Europe Ecologie

Sandrine Bélier, députée européen, élue sur les listes Europe Ecologie nous a accordé ce soir une rapide interview téléphonique pour nous expliquer où en étaient les travaux de la commission environnement du Parlement Européen. Les nouvelles sont plus qu’encourageantes. Deux votes sont en effet intervenus aujourd’hui, un premier concernant les objectifs de réduction des émissions pour le Parlement Européen et un second concernant le financement de l’adaptation aux changements climatiques.

Elle pense même que nous pouvons espérer un objectif de réduction de 30% des émissions de CO2 à l’horizon 2020 pour le Parlement Européen, ce qui d’une certaine manière viendrait mettre la “pression” sur la position prise lors du vote du Paquet Energie Climat en insistant sur l’objectif le plus haut de la fourchette.

Vous pouvez écouter un extrait de la conversation (25 secondes) relatif à cet objectif de 30% :

Et ici, la totalité de la conversation (9 min) :

Si vous souhaitez télécharger l’interview, cliquez ici : www.archive.org.

“Our people are already suffering devastating impacts and losses at the current 0.8 degrees Celsius (°C) of warming – coastal erosion, coral bleaching, salty drinking water, flooding, and more intense cyclones and hurricanes.  Should we, leaders of the most vulnerable and exposed countries, be asking our people to sign onto significantly greater degrees of misery and livelihood insecurity, essentially becoming climate change guinea pigs? The limit must be 1.5°C to stay alive!”

Later that evening, President Nasheed joined Mary Robinson of Realizing Rights: the Ethical Globalization Initiative to talk about the impacts of climate change on small island states, and how taking global action to address climate change is a matter of survival for millions of people around the world.

Mrs. Tasneem Essop | photo: iisd.ca

Download Audio (4.58MB | 11:25 | mp3)

Tasneem Essop, International Climate Policy Advocate at WWF South Africa, joins Adopt a Negotiator for a check in on the major events taking place in the United States over the next week leading up to the Bangkok climate negotiations.

Mrs. Essop served as Provincial Minister of Environment, Planning and Economic Development for the Western Cape in South Africa before joining WWF.

Mrs. Essop goes through the list of key events, including:

• the Major Economies Forum that was held in Washington over the last two days;
• Environment Ministers from around the world will gather in Northeastern New York as part of an discussion called the Greenland Dialogs;
• the Alliance of Small Island States host a day-long climate summit on Monday; UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon hosts a high-level summit on Climate Change Tuesday;
• a G8 Summit will follow that;
• and world leaders gather in Pittsburgh for the G20 summit on Thursday and Friday – where announcements on climate finance are hoped for as part of the outcome.

If you’re in New York on Sunday, September 20th, join the TckTckTck campaign in kicking off the Global Wake-up Call in Central Park.

If you’re not in New York, find out what’s going on in your city at www.tcktcktc.org/wakeup.

Dan Howells (top left) with the Trackers in Bonn. photo:Robert vanWaarden

Download Audio (2.91MB | 7:16 | mp3)

Dan Howells, of the Climate Action Network, joined one of our recent team calls to brief trackers on the importance of a number of September events  on the road to Copenhagen.

With the next round of climate negotiations approaching this September,  Howells shares his perspective on the most important opportunities for you to take action:

September 21st:
THE GLOBAL WAKE-UP CALL

and some of the most important events to watch:

September 22nd: Heads of State Summit on Climate Change at the United Nations in New York City

September 23rd – 24th: G20 Summit in Pittsburgh

Find out more about Global Wake-up Call events near you: