COP refugee stranded in Paris: Talks make some progress
I spent quite a bit of time in Copenhagen airport today, waiting for the snow to clear. There is a very interesting display by Vestas (a large solar wind producer) and Lego to demonstrate the power of natural energy. At the center of the display a 3 meter moving Lego windmill has been constructed. Around it are several rather neat displays that show the potential of wind power. Apparently, a single turbine repays its investment in 9 months. If you haven’t left Copenhagen yet, it is in terminal 2. The surrounding displays have moving Lego scenes of daily activity. There is a mountain factory, a state of the art house, a boat installing solar installations, a ski resort and a building topped by a hot water pool, all powered by the wind (in this case you have to blow into a device to start the electricity production). As you can see from the picture, European swimwear shares in the environmental ethic–less is more.
As for the COP, I missed the details in my travel travails, but Air France is good to its stranded passengers and I am in a rather nice hotel suite enjoying BBC news. It seems today saw some progress. The developed countries have committed to an 18% reduction target, but there is still discussion of whether or not developing countries will make targets of their own. The 2 degree temperature rise target has not yet been reduced, and a number of developing countries are demanding a $200 billion per year in funding. The US has offered to leverage $100 billion by 2020, but this depends on what the emissions cuts developing countries, particularly China agree to. Key US players including Secretary Clinton and Senator Kerry are lobbying for some action from the US. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister, He Yafei encouraged the move, saying the financial issue is important.” Secretary Clinton has prepared a major funding plan for developing countries, ‘It is no secret that we have lost precious time in these past few days. We can’t continue to let this be about us and them. The President is planning on coming tomorrow, obviously we hope there is something for him to come for.’ UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown offered his own sentiments, ‘In these few days in Copenhagen, which will be blessed or blamed for generations to come, we cannot let the politics of narrow self interests prevent our chance of survival,’ UN SecBan Ki-moon, remained optimistic ‘I believe we can seal a deal still in Copenhagen.’
I hope there is more progress tomorrow, both for the COP and my own journey to Atlanta.
Cheers,
Janelle
Janelle Knox-Hayes
Georgia Tech Climate Policy 
Fantastic work. I think COP has been a major disappoint, and there was definitely a sense from your postings that world political leaders are unwilling to make the commitments necessary to stave off the worst effects of climate change. While the planet doesn’t care, we’re making a good effort and ending our civilization as we know it, and our inability to act is deeply saddening.
I agree with Jarrod. The two things I will take away from COP15 are:
– less believe in a UN based solution (I deplore it, but I find it hard to keep up the faith) and inversely proportionate believe that civil society will have to drive this.
– the realisation (and I am probably slow here) that whatever will be the next step forward will have to happen within the restraints of of a world with multiple super powers. I don’t think the end game in Copenhagen had the faintest thing to do with saving the planet. It reminded me more of the cold war to be honest.
Astute observations be Anders. I particularly like the Cold War reference. The U.S. had a period of supremacy, and could have moved on the issue had the domestic political will been there. But it wasn’t, and now the odds of success have dropped dramatically, particularity when you factor in China. Chinese leaders, and the public, have a tendency to see the world in zero-sum terms. That we must somehow get the Chinese on board is extremely depressing (and unlikely).
And thanks for the blog!