Trees are dying in the Sahel, a region in Africa south of the Sahara Desert, and human-caused climate change is to blame, according to a new study led by a scientist at the University of California, Berkeley. More »

Sergio Abranches

COP17 in Durban is braced to start dealing with a deadlocked agenda. Negotiators will have to find a middle ground to prevent the talks to collapse and wreck the United Nation’s architecture for climate change policy and politics. More »

Sérgio Abranches

A document from the State Council released today spells out Beijing’s views on domestic climate change policies and the Chinese government’s expectations and demands regarding COP17’s negotiations. More »

The Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) countries may become a good example of how to deal politically with deadlocking issues. At their summit in Honolulu last week,they agreed to reduce import tariffs to boost trade in products that cut fossil fuel use and reduce pollution.  More »

Sergio Abranches

The BASIC countries have adopted a unified position ahead of Durban as their official negotiating stance. It points to the continuation of deadlocks on major issues that frustrated the official preparatory meetings this year. More »

Two new standards were published this week for businesses to measure, manage, and report their greenhouse gas emissions. The guidelines, jointly developed by the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), were launched under the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, an “international accounting tool for government and business leaders to understand, quantify, and manage greenhouse gas emissions”. More »