Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




CLIMATE SCIENCE
U.N. touts climate change talks progress
by Staff Writers
Bangkok (UPI) Sep 6, 2012


disclaimer: image is for illustration purposes only

The United Nations said progress was made at the latest climate talks in Bangkok.

The talks, which concluded Wednesday, were intended to prepare the way for major climate change meetings Nov. 26-Dec 7, in Doha, Qatar.

"There are still some tough political decisions ahead but we now have a positive momentum and a greater sense of convergence that will stimulate higher-level political discussions ahead of Doha and set a faster pace of work once this year's conference begins," Christiana Figueres, executive secretary of the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, said in a statement Wednesday.

Major topics covered in the Bangkok meeting included extending and amending the 1997 greenhouse-gas limiting Kyoto Protocol and delivering a road map for a new legally binding climate treaty, which is to be agreed upon by 2015 and go into effect by 2020.

The United Nations said specific objectives for Doha were set at the Bangkok meeting. Among the goals is triggering a new phase of climate action and filling in the gaps in the international policy response to climate change.

Progress was also made, the United Nations says, in areas including the financing mechanism to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and identifying points in which negotiating groups might require additional decisions to reach an agreement in Doha.

But many observers say the Bangkok talks produced few concrete results.

None of the 190 nations participating in the talks made a fresh commitment regarding emissions, reports Energy and Environment Management News, adding that U.S. negotiators "stunned" delegates when they called for any new climate treaty to be "flexible" and "dynamic" rather than legally binding.

The Union of Concerned Scientists said that while progress was made in Bangkok, "big differences must be resolved in the next few months if countries are going to keep their promises to effectively deal with climate change."

"Countries should work to ensure that the Doha climate summit delivers real progress, and restores momentum to our collective efforts to limit climate change," UCS Director of Strategy and Policy Alden Meyer said in a statement.

"This isn't Las Vegas. What happens in Doha won't stay in Doha -- a failure to act would negatively affect people, economies and ecosystems all over the world," Meyer said.

During the meeting, the United Nations released a report stating that a number of rich nations, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Africa and South Korea wouldn't meet pledges made at Copenhagen in 2009 to cut greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade.

Even if all nations meet existing pledges, the report says, greenhouse gas emissions will reach 50 billion-55 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, or 20 percent in excess of the level needed to try to keep global temperature increases below 2 degrees Celsius.

.


Related Links
Climate Science News - Modeling, Mitigation Adaptation






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle








CLIMATE SCIENCE
Global climate talks make headway: UN
Bangkok (AFP) Sept 5, 2012
The United Nations on Wednesday hailed "concrete progress" at week-long climate talks in Bangkok, but environmental campaigners warned much faster action was needed to combat global warming. The informal negotiations aimed to prepare for a November 26-December 7 ministerial meeting under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Doha - a stepping stone towards a worldwide em ... read more


CLIMATE SCIENCE
NASA's GRAIL Moon Twins Begin Extended Mission Science

Flags at half mast across US for Armstrong funeral

Walls of Lunar Crater May Hold Patchy Ice, LRO Radar Finds

Russia's moonshot hope 'not a dream'

CLIMATE SCIENCE
NASA's Mars rover parked to test robotic arm

Curiosity Has a Photo Day

Marks of Laser Exam on Martian Soil

Opportunity Drives And Images Rock Outcrop

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Space-age food served up with seeds of success

Africa eyes joint space agency

Africa needs own space agency: Sudan's Bashir

Moles, crabs and Moon dust: DLR at the ILA Space Pavilion

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Tiangong Orbit Change Signals Likely Date for Shenzhou 10

China Focus: Timeline for China's space research revealed

China eyes next lunar landing as US scales back

China unveils ambitious space projects

CLIMATE SCIENCE
ISS crew complete space station repair

Crew Wraps Up Preparations for Wednesday's Spacewalk

Building MLM Under Way at Khrunichev

Astronauts Complete Second Expedition 32 Spacewalk

CLIMATE SCIENCE
First-Stage Fuel Loaded; Launch Weather Forecast Improves

NASA launches mission to explore radiation belts

ISRO to score 100 with a cooperative mission Sep 9

NASA Administrator Announces New Commercial Crew And Cargo Milestones

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Birth of a planet

A Hot Potential Habitable Exoplanet around Gliese 163

NASA's Kepler Discovers Multiple Planets Orbiting a Pair of Stars

How Old are the First Planets?

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Amazon takes on iPad with new Kindle Fire tablet

US judge OKs partial settlement in e-book case

Empire-style computers? Frenchman takes PCs to lap of luxury

Google-Microsoft field smartphones to take on iPhone 5




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement