Tag Archives: COP 26

As Climate Summit Ends, Activists Say ‘Hollowed-Out’ Deal Leaves 1.5°C Goal ‘On Life Support’

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Critics also warn that “COP26 will be remembered as a betrayal of Global South countries—abandoned to the climate crisis with no money for the energy transition, adaptation, or loss and damage.”

By Jessica Corbett.  Published 11-13-2021 by Common Dreams

COP26 president Alok Sharma. Photo: Bank of England/flickr/CC

Faced with new research showing a significant gap between current commitments to cut planet-heating emissions and the Paris agreement’s 1.5°C target, negotiators from nearly 200 countries on Saturday struck a deal that critics say falls short of what is needed to tackle the climate emergency.

The agreement came out of COP26, the United Nations climate summit in Glasgow, Scotland that was scheduled to wrap up Friday. As talks spilled over into Saturday, global campaigners expressed frustration with what they called “a clear betrayal by rich nations.” Continue reading →

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Climate Coalition Demands Biden Halt ‘Outrageous’ Offshore Drilling Auction—Largest in US History

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The proposed lease sale, said over 250 groups in a joint letter, “shockingly offers more area than the Trump administration initially proposed.”

By Brett Wilkins.  Published 11-10-2021 by Common Dreams.

Offshore oil rig off Catalina Island. Ohoto: arbyreed/flickr/CC

As the Biden administration prepares to auction off more than 80 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for fossil fuel extraction, over 250 advocacy groups published an open letter on Wednesday imploring U.S. President Joe Biden to cancel the sale and fulfill his promises of bold climate action.

At least 267 organizations, including 36 representing Gulf of Mexico communities, sent the letter to Biden, who just last week promised the world at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Scotland—also known as COP26—that the United States will be “leading by the power of our example” in the fight against the planetary emergency. Continue reading →

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Fossil Fuel Lobbyists Have Larger Presence at COP26 Than Any Single Country: Report

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“COP26 is being sold as the place to raise ambition, but it’s crawling with fossil fuel lobbyists whose only ambition is to stay in business.”

By Jake Johnson.  Published 11-8-2021 by Common Dreams

Glasgow Green – march for the climate on November 6, 2021. Photo: The Left/flickr/CC

A coalition of watchdog groups estimated Monday that fossil fuel industry representatives have a larger presence at COP26 than officials from any single country, a finding that further intensified environmentalists’ concerns about the legitimacy of the high-stakes climate summit.

After pouring over a 1,600-page United Nations list of approved COP26 attendees, the coalition led by Global Witness published an analysis showing that at least 503 fossil fuel lobbyists have been admitted to the summit in Glasgow, Scotland. Continue reading →

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More Than 100,000 Take to Streets on Global Day of Action for Climate Justice

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“We can either intensify the crisis to the point of no return, or lay the foundations for a just world where everyone’s needs are met.”

By Kenny Stancil   Published 11-6-2021 by Common Dreams

More than 100,000 people marched through Glasgow, Scotland on Saturday, November 6, 2021 to demand that governments move from climate inaction to climate justice Photo: COP26 Coalition/Twitter

As diplomats from wealthy countries continue to say “blah, blah, blah” at COP26, over 100,000 people growing increasingly impatient with empty promises and inaction marched through Glasgow on Saturday, with thousands more hitting the streets in cities around the world during roughly 300 simultaneous demonstrations on a Global Day of Action for Climate Justice.

“Many thousands of people took to the streets today on every continent demanding that governments move from climate inaction to climate justice,” Asad Rehman, a spokesperson for the COP26 Coalition, said in a statement. “We won’t tolerate warm words and long-term targets anymore, we want action now.” Continue reading →

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Lawyers for Landmark Kids Climate Suit Cut Off Talks With Biden DOJ

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“When will our government act like the global leaders they claim to be and let these youth be heard?”

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams.  Published 11-1-2021

A young person holds a sign in support of the youth climate plaintiffs. (Photo: Charles Edward Miller/CC BY-SA 2.0)

Lawyers representing a group of young people in a landmark climate lawsuit said Monday that settlement discussions with the U.S. Department of Justice ended without resolution and that they’re now eagerly awaiting a trial date to argue that the nation’s fossil fuel-based energy system violates the youths’ constitutional rights.

First filed in 2015 at the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, Juliana v. United States says the federal government’s actions allowing continued fossil fuel exploitation directly contributed to the climate crisis, thus violating the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property, the public trust, and equal protection of the law. Continue reading →

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What is COP26? Here’s how global climate negotiations work and what’s expected from the Glasgow summit

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U.N. climate summits bring together representatives of almost every country.
UNFCCC

Shelley Inglis, University of Dayton

Over two weeks in November, world leaders and national negotiators will meet in Scotland to discuss what to do about climate change. It’s a complex process that can be hard to make sense of from the outside, but it’s how international law and institutions help solve problems that no single country can fix on its own.

I worked for the United Nations for several years as a law and policy adviser and have been involved in international negotiations. Here’s what’s happening behind closed doors and why people are concerned that COP26 might not meet its goals. Continue reading →

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‘Embarrassing’: US Absent as World Joins Together to Protect Biodiversity

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“It reinforces the notion that the U.S. is a fair-weather partner when it comes to environmental conservation, including issues of climate change,” said one critic.

By Kenny Stancil, staff writer for Common Dreams.  Published 10-15-2021

Monarch butterfly on swamp milkweed in Michigan. Photo by Jim Hudgins/USFWS

As the United Nations Biodiversity Conference wrapped up Friday, critics are once again pointing to the glaring absence of the United States from negotiations to strengthen an international treaty to restore and protect the variety of life on Earth that has been ratified by every country except the U.S.

The U.S. did send a team to this week’s meeting, which was hosted by China and attended in-person and virtually because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic—a crisis that has highlighted the need to reform humanity’s relationship with nature. Continue reading →

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Over 70,000 March in Brussels to Demand Green New Deal, Urgent Climate Action

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“What do we do when we destroy the planet?” asked one demonstrator. “We have nothing else.”

By Common Dreams.  Published 10-10-2021

An estimated 70,000 or more protesters took part in a demonstration against climate change in Brussels, on October 10, 2021, ahead of the COP26 climate summit. Photo: European Youth Forum/Twitter

Tens of thousands of people marched through the streets of Brussels on Sunday to demand Belgium’s elected leaders and others from around the world finally dispense with proclamations, broken promises, and half-measures and instead “act” on the climate emergency.

With the U.N. climate conference (COP26) set for next month in Glasgow, the estimated 70,000 or more people who took part in the march offered a dramatic show of force for the nation’s climate movement. Continue reading →

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#UprootTheSystem: Climate Movement Readies Another Global Strike

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Youth activists are demanding not only climate action but also equitable Covid-19 vaccine distribution.

By Andrea Germanos, staff writer for Common Dreams. Published 9-21-

Climate activists are set to hold events worldwide on Friday, September 24, 2021, as part of the latest global climate strike. (Image: fridaysforfuture.org)

Young climate activists including Greta Thunberg are gearing up for another global strike on Friday when they’ll demand that world leaders “uproot the system” to create a just future for all.

“Time and time again the leaders today show that they do not care about the future, at least their actions don’t reflect it,” Thunberg said at a press conference Monday. Continue reading →

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