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August 2009 – emissions reduction targets and IPCC

Climate talks and sucessor to the Kyoto Protocol

Every month between August and December, when the international climate change process hopes to finalise a successor to the Kyoto Protocol in Copenhagen, will see official meetings of some kind. In August, it is a set of informal talks near United Nations Framework Convention headquarters in Bonn, scheduled for mid-month. Though the nature of the talks mean that no formal agreement will emerge, many insiders believe the low-pressure environment in Bonn could be a catalyst for some significant movement in national agendas. Stay tuned.

Causes of global warming

With the climate, it seems like everything moves in increments. Minor changes in human activity over the course of generations have combined to raise the level of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, for example. But it is easy to forget that the solution to the problem is an incremental process as well.

The last few weeks gave us proof of that. The highly touted climate change negotiations within the G8 context and the Major Economies Forum held on the sidelines of the G8 disappointed those waiting for dramatic progress. But there’s no doubt that some steps were made. G8 countries agreed to aspiration targets set for a generation from now, in 2050. The agreement to keep global warming to under 2 degrees Celsius at least showed that they considered it a priority. Only time will tell how important these steps are.

IPCC assessment report

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is another example of incremental process. There is no doubt that the IPCC does important work: earning a share of the Nobel Peace Prize two years ago is proof of that. Its assessment reports provide a scientific basis for climate change policies.

The next report is not due out until 2014, but work is well underway. IPCC chairman Rajendra Pachauri spoke with Climate-Change.tv on the sidelines of the IPCC’s Venice scoping meetings to explain the process as he is involved in it. Click on the link to the right to take a look.