It has not received much visibility in the press, but there is actually a climate summit going on at the UN today. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has been under increasing pressure due to his lackluster leadership at the helm of the world organization, as evidenced in a leaked report prepared by one of the most stalwart supporters of the UN.
Damning Report For UN Secretary-General
The report highlighted Ki-moon’s poor leadership in most challenges facing the globe and the global organization and did not mince words.
(Link to full report in English – you’ll need to scroll down 2-3 times)
However, Ki-moon has insisted he is pushing forward his agenda, in particular regarding climate change and the upcoming main summit in Copenhagen in a few weeks (Climate Change Conference – 7 – 18 December 2009). Hopes for real achievements in Copenhagen had been in a decline since few and only feeble commitments have been made by the nations that really count over the last year. This was Ki-moon’s opportunity to show that he has the initiative.
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Some hopes were therefore attached to the summit this week, since the preparations for Copenhagen needed an injection of positive news.
So – how does it look?
China makes its first commitment to climate change targets
Well, that’s a good sign – no?
Maybe it is, but it does not really mean anything other than that the rate of pollution may not increase as fast as previously…
President Obama also made positive sounding remarks, but will have an uphill battle in actually winning constructive and lasting legislation.
Chinese president Hu Jintao today broke new ground in his nation’s action on climate change, but failed to deliver measures that would significantly stir up the stagnant negotiations towards an international treaty to fight global warming.
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A few moments before, US President Barack Obama had spoken strongly on the need to act on global warming but offered no new proposals that could jumpstart stalled talks on a UN climate pact. He faces severe opposition at home against proposed laws to cut US emissions.
[…]Observers had hoped the United States and China — the world’s biggest polluters — would inject momentum, just over two months before 190 nations gather in Copenhagen aiming to complete a climate treaty.
Moon, who called the unprecedented meeting, said talks were moving too slowly. “Failure to reach broad agreement in Copenhagen would be morally inexcusable, economically short-sighted and politically unwise,” Ban said.
I am increasingly pessimistic – the conference in December will achieve very little.
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the only certainty is climate change!
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."No doubt!
Arctic ice 3rd lowest recorded
Of course, the climate change deniers will interpret this to mean that climate change has been called off – failing to see the significance of trends…
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A German company, the Beluga Group of Bremen, has a ship poised to make what appears to be the first such trip, an 8,000-mile shortcut compared with alternate routes. The “Arctic Rush” is on.
One of the company’s 66 ships, the 12,700-ton Beluga Fraternity, designed for a mix of ice and open seas, picked up equipment in Ulsan, South Korea, on July 23 and arrived in Vladivostok on the 25th. Its destination is the docks in Novyy Port, a Siberian outpost. And after that, if conditions permit, it will head to Antwerp or Rotterdam, marking what company officials say would be the first time a vessel has crossed from Asia to Europe through the Arctic on a commercial passage.
Era of Trans-Arctic Shipping Nigh
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."it’s all a scam, don’t ya know?
Global warming has made Arctic summers hottest for 2,000 years…the polar ice blanket has thinned by more than 40% since 2004
…with satellite pictures…ocean surface temperature warmest on record.
just natural cycles, eh?
the potential opening of the NW passage and it’s increaed usage means more environmental degradation and increased potential for disasters on the scale of the exon valdez, or worse, of, heretofore, prisitine marine habitats, but there’s money to be made, so sit down and stfu.
/snark
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The world’s first shark sanctuary will protect the declining fish in waters off the tiny island republic of Palau, the country’s president Johnson Toriboing said today.
“I believe the physical well-being and beauty of sharks reflects the well-being of the ocean. It is my honor and opportunity to tell the world to join me to protect these species, which are on the brink of extinction.”
Sharks are increasingly under threat as the demand for shark-fin soup–a delicacy in many Asian countries–has risen worldwide.
“The need to save the ocean and save sharks far outweighs the need to enjoy bowls of soup,” Toriboing said.
An estimated 130 rare shark and stingray species live in or pass through Palau’s waters, including great hammerheads, oceanic whitetips, and leopard sharks.
(Photos: “Vast New Ocean Refuge Home to Huge Crab, Coral“)
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."