Thanks for posting this, Roger. All this week, Democracy Now
(www.democracynow.org) is broadcasting from Bonn, Germany. Today,
Wednesday, has some excellent discussion and questions, especially for
the American(Trump) representatives. Amy Goodman also visited what is
left of a forest. Only about 10% remains, and the coal mining company
plans to cut the remaining trees. This open mine is as large an area
as the city of Washington D.C. Forest protectors have built tree
houses and are camping out in the forest, attempting to force the
mining company to shut down plans to expand.
On a personal note, I am embarrassed over the wishy washy efforts of
American spokespersons in attempting to dance around direct questions.
Carl Jarvis
On 11/15/17, Roger Loran Bailey <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
https://socialistaction.org/2017/11/14/bonn-talks-underway-scientists-see-grim-future-for-climate/
Bonn talks underway; scientists see grim future for climate
/ 23 hours ago
Nov. 2017 Germany coal
Nov. 5 protest in Germany’s coalfields.
By MICHAEL SCHREIBER
At the same time that Donald Trump was gallivanting around Asia, with
objectives that included arming Japan with U.S. missiles and cajoling
China into the plan to isolate North Korea, other heads of state were in
Bonn, Germany, for the 23rd annual “Conference of the Parties” (COP23)
UN-sponsored climate talks. The two weeks of discussions, Nov. 6-17,
were aimed at negotiating ways to implement the goals of the 2015 Paris
Climate Accord.
As the conference opened, the World Meteorological Organization released
data showing that 2017 is apparently the hottest non-Niño year on
record, and is expected to join the two previous years as the three
hottest in modern history.
Several days earlier, scientists with the U.S. Global Change Research
Program published a report with similar conclusions. They affirmed from
“thousands” of scientific studies that human activity is likely to be
the cause of the steady increase in global temperatures. The amount of
CO2 in the atmosphere (over 400 ppm) is at a concentration unsurpassed
in the last three million years, when global temperatures and sea level
were significantly higher than today—and the concentration is still rising.
The report presented a grim prognosis for the future, in which the
Atlantic coast of the United States could be swamped by rising seas and
regularly battered by heavy storms. The report predicted heat waves
becoming common, an increase in forest fires in the American West, and
drastically reduced water resources with possible chronic drought in the
United States by the end of the 21st century. Worldwide sea levels could
continue to rise for centuries to come, as the ice sheets and glaciers
melt.
The chairman of the Bonn conference, Fiji Prime Minister Voreqe “Frank”
Bainimarama, opened the sessions with greetings “from one of the most
climate-vulnerable regions on earth” and called on the delegates to
“make the Paris Accord work.”
“The need for urgency is obvious,” he said, referring to the tremendous
hurricanes, floods, droughts, and forest fires of the last year and
more. “Our world is in distress from the extreme weather events caused
by climate change.”
It musn’t be overlooked, however, that the goals agreed to in Paris were
far from sufficient to keep rising temperatures from reaching even more
catastrophic levels. Even if the current pledges for cuts in carbon
emissions were attained, they would still mean at least 3C of global
warming above pre-industrial levels—which would likely result in rising
seas that inundate island and coastal areas, widespread drought and crop
failures, famine and mass migrations, tremendous loss of species, and
countless other tragic and unchecked consequences.
The Bonn conference is entrusted with creating a mechanism to achieve
the objectives of the Paris Accord, while leaving space for those goals
to be raised higher. But success, even on limited terms, is not assured.
On the first day of the conference, less developed countries, led by
India, questioned whether the wealthier countries could be trusted,
since they had failed to meet many of their pledges to reduce carbon
emissions made at earlier COPs.
And in turn, some wealthier and more developed countries have been
complaining of initiatives requiring them to contribute $100 billion a
year to help poorer nations deal with the effects of climate change.
Since Trump announced that the U.S. is pulling out of the Climate
Accord, it is not clear whether the U.S. will contribute at all to the
fund for poorer nations.
The United States, the world’s second largest polluter, sent an official
delegation to the talks, although their agenda seemed ridiculously out
of sync with the professed goals of the conference. The U.S. said that
it planned to use the venue to promote American energy resources,
particularly fossil fuels, as a way that poorer countries could meet
their energy needs.
The U.S. presentation was called “The Role of Cleaner and More Efficient
Fossil Fuels and Nuclear Power in Climate Mitigation.” Speakers from
Peabody Energy, a coal company; NuScale Power, and nuclear engineering
firm; and Tellurian, a liquefied natural gas exporter, were on the program.
Plans by the Trump administration, and other world leaders, to sell more
fossil fuels on the world market were given a loud rebuke by German
climate activists. Just a day before the opening of the COP23
conference, about 4500 protesters, some holding signs reading “system
change, not climate change,” gathered in the Rhineland coalfields in
Germany.
“Germany’s lignite mines are among the biggest coal mines in the world,”
Zane Sikulu, a Climate Warrior from Tonga, said in a statement. “If we
don’t shut them down, we have no chance as Pacific Islanders. We’re here
to protect our land, our culture, and our identities as Pacific people.”
Janna Aljets, a spokesperson for the environmental alliance Ende
Gelände, which helped organize the action, said in a statement: “On the
international stage, politicians and corporations present themselves as
climate saviors, while a few miles away, the climate is literally being
burned,”
“Fossil fuels must stay in the ground,” Aljets added. “We are here at
the scene of destruction to send out a clear signal for climate justice.”
Share this:
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
18Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)18
Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
November 14, 2017 in Environment. Tags: climate
Related posts
Paris climate talks produce hot air
Hurricane disaster in Puerto Rico: U.S. aid is slow and insufficient
Real climate action demanded in Paris
Post navigation
← Social democracy at the ballot box: DSA & the Democrats
Hilton hotel workers in Stamford, Conn., demand a union! →
Get Involved!
Donate to help support our work
Get email updates
Join Socialist Action
Newspaper Archives
Newspaper Archives Select Month November 2017 (7) October 2017 (16)
September 2017 (15) August 2017 (16) July 2017 (17) June 2017 (16)
May 2017 (17) April 2017 (14) March 2017 (13) February 2017 (19)
January 2017 (13) December 2016 (12) November 2016 (19) October 2016
(12) September 2016 (10) August 2016 (10) July 2016 (14) June 2016
(14) May 2016 (9) April 2016 (12) March 2016 (14) February 2016 (8)
January 2016 (11) December 2015 (11) November 2015 (9) October 2015
(8) September 2015 (10) August 2015 (7) July 2015 (13) June 2015 (9)
May 2015 (10) April 2015 (12) March 2015 (9) February 2015 (11)
January 2015 (10) December 2014 (12) November 2014 (11) October 2014
(9) September 2014 (6) August 2014 (10) July 2014 (11) June 2014
(10) May 2014 (11) April 2014 (10) March 2014 (9) February 2014 (11)
January 2014 (11) December 2013 (10) November 2013 (11) October 2013
(17) September 2013 (13) August 2013 (10) July 2013 (11) June 2013
(15) May 2013 (14) April 2013 (14) March 2013 (12) February 2013
(10) January 2013 (17) December 2012 (7) November 2012 (8) October
2012 (19) September 2012 (2) August 2012 (27) July 2012 (18) June
2012 (3) May 2012 (19) April 2012 (14) March 2012 (17) February
2012 (19) January 2012 (17) December 2011 (3) November 2011 (33)
October 2011 (14) September 2011 (13) August 2011 (34) July 2011
(24) June 2011 (19) May 2011 (19) April 2011 (15) March 2011 (15)
February 2011 (15) January 2011 (15) December 2010 (17) November
2010 (1) October 2010 (6) September 2010 (3) August 2010 (8) July
2010 (7) June 2010 (2) May 2010 (9) April 2010 (3) March 2010 (8)
February 2010 (3) January 2010 (9) December 2009 (6) November 2009
(5) October 2009 (16) September 2009 (3) August 2009 (2) July 2009
(5) June 2009 (2) May 2009 (7) April 2009 (6) March 2009 (16)
February 2009 (9) January 2009 (10) December 2008 (11) November 2008
(8) October 2008 (16) September 2008 (14) August 2008 (18) July 2008
(12) June 2008 (3) May 2008 (2) April 2008 (3) March 2008 (14)
February 2008 (11) January 2008 (11) December 2007 (8) November 2007
(1) July 2007 (1) June 2007 (1) April 2007 (1) March 2007 (1)
February 2007 (3) December 2006 (11) November 2006 (11) October 2006
(13) September 2006 (15) August 2006 (11) July 2006 (18) June 2006
(7) May 2006 (14) April 2006 (6) March 2006 (14) February 2006 (5)
January 2006 (2) December 2005 (9) November 2005 (8) October 2005
(13) September 2005 (12) August 2005 (9) July 2005 (16) June 2005
(16) May 2005 (16) April 2005 (12) March 2005 (14) February 2005
(19) January 2005 (15) December 2004 (14) November 2002 (17) October
2002 (19) September 2002 (22) August 2002 (21) July 2002 (15) May
2002 (21) April 2002 (21) February 2002 (15) January 2002 (15)
December 2001 (17) October 2001 (24) September 2001 (18) July 2001
(19) June 2001 (18) October 2000 (17) September 2000 (21) August
2000 (19) July 2000 (16) June 2000 (26) May 2000 (21) April 2000
(22) March 2000 (28) February 2000 (18) January 2000 (20) December
1999 (20) November 1999 (26) October 1999 (25) September 1999 (18)
August 1999 (40) July 1999 (38) June 1999 (24) May 1999 (27) April
1999 (25) March 1999 (26) February 1999 (29) January 1999 (24) July
1998 (12)
Search
View socialistactionusa’s profile on Facebook
View SocialistActUS’s profile on Twitter
View SocialistActionCT’s profile on YouTube
Subscribe to Our Newspaper
Upcoming Events
No upcoming events
Category Cloud
Actions & Protest Africa Anti-War Arts & Culture Black Liberation Canada
Caribbean Civil Liberties Cuba East Asia Economy Education & Schools
Elections En Español Environment Europe Immigration Indigenous Rights
International Labor Latin America Latino Civil Liberties Marxist Theory
& History Middle East Police & FBI Prisons South Asia Trump / U.S.
Government Uncategorized Women's Liberation
View Calendar
Blog at WordPress.com.
Follow
