Region: International
Loss and Damage
A deeper dive into the top issue at COP27
As I noted in my last post, this year’s conference of the parties to the climate treaties (COP27) became pretty much a single-issue conference, focused on adaptation and the associated needs for finance – in particular on the urgent need for financial assistance to support adaptation in the Global South, and the lamentable record of …
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CONTINUE READINGA Celebration of Energy Efficiency?
A different perspective on a familiar holiday.
When you think about it, the Hanukkah story is, in a funny way, about a miraculous increase in energy efficiency. An energy resource (olive oil) that was supposed to supply only enough energy for one night’s worth of light was able to supply light for eight nights. That’s an eightfold improvement in energy efficiency, akin …
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CONTINUE READINGNot The Winds Of Change We Wanted
Bombay’s recent air quality crisis shows us our future
For several years, India’s capital of Delhi has been synonymous with awful air quality: just living there is the equivalent of smoking nearly 2,000 cigarettes a year. So it shocked me when the Indian Express reported that last week, Bombay’s air was even worse than Delhi’s. Delhi’s AQI last week was an abysmal 263; but …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Contributor Laurel Hunt: Egypt’s Corals Get a Seat at the Table at COP27
The region’s coral reefs are a precious resource under threat, but they also exhibit exceptional thermal tolerance to heat stress
Laurel Hunt (UCLA JD ’23) attended COP27 as a member of the UCLA Emmett Institute delegation. This is her fifth UN Climate meeting. This year, she moderated two panels on coral reefs and risk mapping. She is the former Executive Director of Los Angeles’ regional climate collaborative and an international city-to-city climate network. As global climate leaders edged toward …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Sleepwalking COP
Thoughts on COP27, this year’s climate conference
It’s two weeks since the end of this year’s annual Conference of the Parties to the international climate treaties, COP27, held in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. You might have noticed an odd vagueness in accounts of this year’s COP. These annual meetings are huge media events — understandably, since they are the highest-level international event on …
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CONTINUE READINGShould China Pay Climate Reparations?
‘Yes’ under some reparation theories, ‘no’ under others.
At the international negotiating session in Egypt, demands for climate reparations — “Loss and Damage” in UN lingo — were front and center. The debate was focused on the obligations of developed countries. But there was another issue percolating in the background: Does China, the world’s largest carbon emitter, have an obligation to compensate poorer …
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CONTINUE READINGGlobal ZEV Infrastructure Innovations Accelerating Transportation Decarbonization
New CLEE/TDA report offers case studies from California, Rotterdam, British Columbia, Portugal, Costa Rica and Ghana
Last month at COP 27 in Egypt, CLEE partnered with the Transport Decarbonisation Alliance (TDA) to release a brief with six case studies of jurisdictions supporting the zero-emission vehicle market and installation of charging infrastructure. We at CLEE (including my co-authors Shruti Sarode and Ethan Elkind) worked with leading practitioners from around the globe to …
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CONTINUE READINGSubnational Solutions to Deforestation on Display at COP27
A recap of Sharm el-Sheikh from the Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force
The Governors’ Climate and Forests Task Force (GCF Task Force) participated in the 27th Conference of the Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt during the second week of the conference (November 14-18, 2022). There were high-level talks, bilateral partnership discussions, celebrations, and re-engagement with the Brazilian President-elect Luiz Inácio …
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CONTINUE READINGGuest Contributor Veronika Bagi: Loss and Damage Finance Now! Or Not?
A view from inside the COP27 loss and damage negotiations
Veronika Bagi (UCLA LLM ’23) attended COP27 as a member of the UCLA Emmett Institute delegation and as an Expert Member of the Hungarian delegation. She writes here in her personal capacity. The 27th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP27) in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, ended last Sunday, …
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CONTINUE READINGWildfires and the Grid
Wildfires are huge problem in California. Maybe we can learn from those on the other end of the Pacific.
California and Australia are 8000 miles apart, but it turns out they have similar wildfire problems. And in both cases, the electric grid and climate change are part of the equation. The problems in California and the rest of the West are familiar to many readers. Though they don’t necessarily get much attention in the …
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