Latest United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change Stories

The sluggish global economy could actually have benefits for reducing the amount of greenhouse gas emissions by 3 percent this year, according to a report from the International Energy Agency on Tuesday.IEA economist Fatih Birol told reporters that the 3 percent drop from the previous year would represent the largest in 40 years. Traditionally, global greenhouse gas emissions have risen by 3 percent each year.The announcement comes as part of the IEA's World Energy Outlook report, being...

PITTSBURGH, Sept. 25 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement from Samuel A. Worthington, InterAction President and CEO: "Although we are encouraged by the tone of urgency regarding climate change by the world's leaders both today at the G20 and earlier this week at the UN General Assembly, we have long passed the point of rhetoric and instead must begin the process of putting concrete commitments on the table. Dismantling the log jam that is preventing progress within the UN...

COPENHAGEN and NEW YORK, September 22 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark, on behalf of the Danish government as hosts of the UN Climate Change Conference 2009 (COP15), today announced a new collaboration with the global internet company Google. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090922/360553 ) The aim of the collaboration is to increase global engagement in climate change in the run-up to and during COP15 in Copenhagen in December. The...

Just one day after the president of Maldives declared his country would not be attending the UN climate change summit in Copenhagen, Denmark announced plans to help the struggling nation."We can't go to Copenhagen because we don't have the money," President Mohamed Nasheed told reporters on Monday.The Maldives is key to the equation because a 2007 report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change found that a rise in sea levels by 7.2 to 23.2 inches by 2100 would be...

The new global climate treaty, set to be agreed upon by the end of the year, needs strong commitments from wealthier nations to making drastic cuts in CO2 emissions by 2020.Without these , it "would defeat the whole purpose of the Copenhagen agreement," Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) told AFP in an phone interview.There has been a number of differing opinions on how deep the cuts should be, and the longer the topic is...

According to a UN official, the United States has undergone a change of opinion on climate change and is now on a path toward "strong climate action.""The mood is completely different now... There's a sense that the country's on the move toward strong climate action," said Michael Zammit Cutajar, chairman for the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) working group.Last month, the US House of Representatives approved a bill that aims to shift the US economy to run on...

Just months before world leaders are scheduled to meet to devise a new international treaty on climate change, a research team led by Princeton University scientists has developed a new way of dividing responsibility for carbon emissions among countries.The approach is so fair, according to its creators, that they are hoping it will win the support of both developed and developing nations, whose leaders have been at odds for years over perceived inequalities in previous proposals.The method...

On Tuesday, Denmark said negotiations on a new global climate deal were going "too slowly" and that the process needed to speed up in order to be prepared for the crucial UN summit less than six months away. "It is time for a frank and open dialogue so the participating countries can make clear their positions, their concerns," said Danish Climate Minister Connie Hedegaard.The United Nations is hoping to finish negotiations in Copenhagen by December for a new global...

The U.S. summoned environment ministers from the world's largest polluters to meet in Mexico today to expedite a key United Nations climate accord. The U.S. and China, the most industrialized nations, are listed as the greatest environmental offenders. The Major Economies Forum's (MEF) objective is to assist in forming a new agreement to mitigate greenhouse gases that will ultimately be replacing the Kyoto Protocol upon its expiration in 2012.The Kyoto Protocol is a UN international...

According to science academies from across the globe, rich and developing nations need to lead the transition to a low-carbon economy to help fight the effects of climate change. In the message, which was sent to the Group of Eight industrialized nations and leaders of developing Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, the group of science academies said stopping this environmental challenge should be coupled with efforts to strengthen the global economy."The need to find...