adoptanegotiator.org » Environment minister

Is there grass on the other side?

Leela Raina — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:39:14 +0000

Its April and feels like just the same. No decisions. No ground breaking, earth shattering outcomes and again the exam season back at University of Delhi where all of us start to open our books.

While the govt is busy with appraisals of the budget and fighting the naxalites and the extradiction of Headley, the public is busy with IPL – the big cricket league. I do somewhat agree that we have better things to worry about in our country but that doesn’t mean that we don’t even send a complete team to the UNFCCC negotiations. This April , the meetings are attended by the following:

Vijay Sharma- MOEF ,- a proposed (apparently ) contender for the executive secretary
Jayant Moreshver Mauskar MOEF0
Rajiva Misra MOEA
Rajani Ranjan Rashmi MOEF
Amit Agrawal PMO
Ashok Kumar Embassy
VRS Rawat ICFRE

Where is my lead negotiator? Shyam Saran?

Shyam Sir has a thick cloud of controversy surrounding him because apparently he wanted to be promoted to the position of National Security Advisor to the Government of India but due to his clashes with Jai Ram Ramesh and the nuclear deal he once negotiated, going in for discussion in the parliament the NSA slot seems difficult. He has officially resigned as the special climate envoy.

Nonetheless , it was hard tracking you sir and probably I might need to go the Gym considering I won’t be running around a while to find you.

Where is the rest of the negotiating team?
R K Sethi ?
Dr Ghosh?
Ambassador Dasgupta?

Has the knowledge center of the Indian Delegation been bombed since Copenhagen for being a little more flexible than usual? Has Jai Ram Ramesh asserted himself to be the lead on the climate negotiations?
I will miss my favorite negotiators who I respect wholeheartedly for their knowledge and negotiating skills. I hope the new negotiating team would be able to live upto even half what these men in black were.
Of course our environment minister must have wanted to attend this meeting but he’s doing a swell job with PR and getting into any scandal and controversy that he possibly can , ranging from BT Brinjal to Environmental clearances for projects and tussles with other ministries.

But as far as the Copenhagen accord , there is no constructive debate going on , neither in the Parliament and neither in classrooms. All what is , is UNFCCC butchering and government bashing on one side and big publicity events like earth hour which was in the news because Chief Minister Shiela Dikshit left Big star Abhishek Bacchan’s video message out at the event.( can you believe that?)

Is all of this really worth it? 1000’s of us sobbing over a deal which wasn’t in our hands?

Is it really worth for leaders to fly on fancy jets , live in fancier hotels , waste some more carbon and still take 15 long years for a decision?

Is it worth it? and what value are you adding to this process?

Maybe we all play our parts in a small way, being an environmentalist shouldn’t only be about going living in a disaster prone area but using what you do best and linking it to saving the environment , even if it be jewellery making. After all you could always be a eco- friendly waste and recycled jewellery maker?

Its a new beginning , a new life and a whole new whole new field to discover…..

I hope what once was greener grass on the other side , won’t even be grass…. ,
and people realise that
there is NO other side…
There is only ONE side

The side of Solution.

Stop goofing around and get hold of our own act. DO your own bit. Individually , as a community and most importantly as your country.

will there be any grass left on the other side?

Environment Ministers met for a pre-COP meeting November 16th and 17th

Joshua Wiese — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:14:38 +0000

The Pre-COP gathered more than 40 Ministers in Copenhagen for talks on climate change before the COP15 in Copenhagen. After the meeting a press conference with Danish Minister for climate and energy Connie Hedegaard and UNFCCC Secretary for Climate Yvo De Boer was held.

PART ONE

PART TWO

PART THREE

PART FOUR

Back In Canada Things Are Starting To Shift In Ottawa

Adam MacIsaac — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:52:05 +0000

Since arriving back in Canada after the UNFCCC Bangkok meeting I found myself with grabbing two hours of sleep then catching an early morning train from Montreal to Ottawa to spend the week meeting with various MP’s to express my concern on Canada’s role through the UNFCCC process so far. With much excitement I had two meetings with Canada’s lead climate change negotiator Michael Martin in the short span of two days which also was followed up with meeting with the Canadian Environment Minister Jim Prentice. While the meetings with Michael Martin were more informal and had allowed for some updates from the Major Economies Forum which happened recently in London, the reported story of the G77 walk out in Bangkok and actually sharing some well wishes to Mr. Martin since the second meeting actually landed on his Birthday. Earlier on in the day the lead negotiator was present as a witness to the Bill C-311 committee who will decide if Canada will have ambitious emission reductions before the conference in Copenhagen or keep on their current path of week emission targets of 3% 1990 levels.

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.

EU environment and energy ministers meeting

Annika Oskarson — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 14:59:51 +0000

Just nu pågår ett möte med EU: s miljö- och energiministrar i Åre. Tyvärr hade varken jag eller Jonathan möjlighet att vara på plats och följa vad som händer, men jag tänkte ändå försöka ge en liten rapport om vad ministrarna pratar om uppe i den jämtländska fjällvärlden!

View from the mountain Åreskutan, next to where the meeting is being held.

Att både miljö och energiministrar möts samtidigt är lite ovanligt i EU-sammanhang, men anledningen till detta är enligt Carlgren det svenska ordförandeskapet vill försöka ta ett helhetsgrepp i klimat och energifrågorna. Huvudtemat för ministermötet i Åre är hur en eko-effektiv ekonomi ska etableras i Europa, för att möta både klimatkrisen och den finansiella krisen. Till grund för diskussionerna ligger en rapport som nyligen gavs ut av Stockholm Environment Institute.

Rapporten handlar just om behovet av att möta de kriser som världen för tillfället står inför, i form av utarmning av naturresurser, klimatrubbningar och en global ekonomisk kris med gemensamma åtgärder. Detta menar man är nödvändigt eftersom kriserna är nära sammanlänkade och inte kan lösas var och en för sig. Istället bör man satsa på åtgärder som bidrar till ökad energi effektivitet, t.ex. hållbar stadsplanering samt infrastrukturutveckling. Man bör också skapa incitament för ny teknologi och genomföra åtgärder för att sätta ett pris på koldioxidutsläpp. Rapporten pekar på hur omställningen till en eko-effektiv ekonomi inte bara kan bidra till att Europa behåller sin ledande ställning i klimatfrågan, utan även ger konkurrensfördelar internationellt sett.

Förutom att andas in den friska fjälluften och snacka om eko-effektiv ekonomi kommer såklart EU:s position i de internationella förhandlingarna också att diskuteras. Det låter dock inte som att man egentligen förväntar sig så mycket konkreta resultat på den fronten, mer än att kanske komma lite närmare varandra inom EU. Och samtidigt får Sverige och EU också kritik av en av författarna till rapporten från SEI, samt generalsekreteraren för EU:s miljöbyrå. De menar att EU: s internationella åtaganden inte är tillräckliga och kritiserar bland annat målet att minska utsläppen av växthusgaser med 50 % till 2050 för att det saknar vetenskaplig förankring och kommer att ge farliga konsekvenser.

Själv kan jag inte annat än hålla med. Ska en klimatsäker och rättvis överenskommelse nås i Köpenhamn senare i höst är det dags trycka på för mer ambitiösa förslag snart. Det är jättebra att man inom EU funderar över långsiktiga strategier och försöker att ha en helhetssyn på de problem vi nu står inför. Men det är också bråttom, och viktigt att de förslag man lägger fram räcker till för att lösa problemet.

Lyckas man inte med det lär det svenska kalfjället, den unika miljö där de ministrarna just nu befinner sig knappast finnas kvar särskilt länge till.