Bonn Climate Talks Part 2: Arriving in Germany
I arrived yesterday in Bonn, Germany and began working right away, despite the jetlag.Part of the day was spent in a strategic planning exercise with other environmental groups, but the main focus of...
View ArticleBonn Climate Talks Part 3: No Clarity on Forestry Negotiations
On day one of the Bonn Climate Talks, there is no clarity on what will unfold within the forestry negotiations.Depending on who you talk to the rules are a done deal, there's time to fix them, there's...
View ArticleBonn Climate Talks Part 4: Chorus to close loophole grows
Everything seemed to change today. Whereas yesterday it felt very unclear whether we would have the chance to close the logging loophole, today I feel much more confident.A number of important things...
View ArticleBonn Climate Talks Part 5: LULU Chefs Decry Logging Loopholes
Participants in the climate change negotiations were greeted this morning by the "LULU Chefs," who were demanding that the logging loophole be closed in the negotiations on LULUCF (Land use, land-use...
View ArticleBonn Climate Talks Part 6: Shake-up in LULUCF Negotiations
Today was a dramatic and busy day in the forestry negotiations. We spent much of the day talking to delegates about the proposal to review developed countries' emissions reference levels (the source of...
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Bonn Climate Talks Part 7: Continuing to Fight for the Forests
The forestry negotiations came back into the open on Saturday in a public session. Two main events occurred: The Group of 77 (G77) and China (a negotiating bloc of developing countries and China)...
View ArticleBonn Climate Talks Part 8: The Chorus Grows
On Day 7 of the talks, the chorus is steadily growing to transform the forestry accounting framework with a goal to reduce emissions. The following countries have now all made public statements in...
View ArticleBonn Climate Talks: Part 9 The Games Continue
I am back home in Canada, but the work continues in Bonn to close the logging loophole!The campaign got two major boosts yesterday. The first was an article covering this scandal by John Vidal of The...
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Bonn Climate Talks: Part 10 - Where from here?
Though the cough I earned with much hand-shaking and long hours of campaigning persists, the Bonn Climate Talks themselves have wrapped up.The forestry issues were not resolved in Bonn as some had...
View ArticleMinding the Accounting Gap in Bonn
I am once again in Bonn at a UN Climate Conference, struggling alongside my colleagues to make forests in developed countries part of the solution rather than part of the problem.The good news is that...
View ArticlePolitical Heat Not Reaching Forestry Negotiators
The political heat was turned on the logging loophole at the UN Climate Talks this week in Bonn, but those negotiating the loophole appeared unfazed.The negotiations were framed with a statement by the...
View ArticleA Consensus View on Forests, Peatlands and Climate
This month the Forestry Chronicle printed the article Maintaining the role of Canada's forests and peatlands in climate regulation. The article is exciting for two reasons. First, it lays out a clear...
View ArticleForestry Negotiations in Tianjin China: Rolling towards the abyss!
Day 3 of the Tianjin Climate Talks has already past and the Great Fire Wall of China has kept me from posting before now. This post is being made through a friend back in Canada who kindly offered to...
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Denim Protest
I left the suit at the hotel and came to the conference centre in jeans and t-shirt today as a small gesture of personal protest against the dirty forest deal that is being made here in Tianjin. The...
View ArticleSigns of Hope
I don't know if it was the jeans but the winds shifted a bit in the forestry negotiations today. Glimmers of hope have started to shine on what was starting to look like a pretty bleak outcome to these...
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Last Chance: The Road to Cancun
I am back home in beautiful Ottawa looking out my window at the colours that make autumn so special in Canada. This beauty is in sharp relief to the thick smog the bus drove through on the way to the...
View ArticleClearest Explanation of the Logging Loophole proposed by developed countries
This is my communications masterpiece - a crystal clear explanation of how developed countries are trying to increase their logging emissions with impunity from a global climate agreement!
View ArticleLogistics at Cancun Climate Talks Reflect Commitment to Reduce Emissions
The Cancun climate talks kicked off today. One of the venues is a brand-new convention centre. The other is an upscale golf course and spa. Both have bone-chilling AC (and wide open doors). The many...
View ArticleProspects Grim in Cancun
It's end of day 3 in Cancun. As always, it's been a frenzied three days. The negotiations began along the well-worn path of the last year: developed countries refining the new rules and processes they...
View ArticleWhet Your Appetite Post
I'm sitting at the computer pool outside the last scheduled closed session of negotiations on accounting rules for land use, land-use change and forestry.The time is ticking for these negotiators who...
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