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MIT COP-21

Students in MIT ESD.S30 blogging about climate change and COP-21

International shipping and aviation remain the elephants in the room at COP21

The Paris agreement of Dec 12, 2015 will most likely go down in history as a major tipping point in the fight against climate change. It is…
Go to the profile of Patricia Levi
Patricia Levi
Dec 14, 2015

COP21 Reflection: energy efficiency at COP21

In my initial observations of COP21 discussions on Twitter, blogs, and news feeds, energy efficiency seemed to get brushed under the rug…
Go to the profile of Danielle L Wilson
Danielle L Wilson
Dec 14, 2015

COP21 Mini Reflection: celebrity faces and voices important for sparking discussion on climate…

How do you get the general public to care about climate change? Scientists, policy wonks, and other climate experts alike seem to believe…
Go to the profile of Danielle L Wilson
Danielle L Wilson
Dec 12, 2015
At the end of COP 21: Looking at the scoreboard, looking forward

At the end of COP 21: Looking at the scoreboard, looking forward

According to the Climate Interactive Scoreboard, the proposed action in the December 12, 2015 draft of the climate agreement would result…
Go to the profile of Samantha Houston
Samantha Houston
Dec 12, 2015

Draft Agreement Gives Hope for Future

When I woke up this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find out a draft agreement had been released in Paris. As I am writing, Parties…
Go to the profile of Abigail Regitsky
Abigail Regitsky
Dec 12, 2015
“Indaba Solutions to Climate Change”: Reflections on the Plenary of December 7th, 2015

“Indaba Solutions to Climate Change”: Reflections on the Plenary of December 7th, 2015

People may feel curious about how COP21 is organized in order to facilitate the negotiations of over 190 countries. One important method is…
Go to the profile of Tao Feng
Tao Feng
Dec 12, 2015
“Not Totally Happy”

“Not Totally Happy”

I woke up this morning hoping to sit down to read (and write about) a new global climate change deal… but there still isn’t one. The deal…
Go to the profile of J.R. Norman
J.R. Norman
Dec 12, 2015
What a bracket!

What a bracket!

As negotiators pulled their third consecutive sleepless night in Paris, those of us watching remotely—and indeed members of civil society…
Go to the profile of Paul Natsuo Kishimoto
Paul Natsuo Kishimoto
Dec 12, 2015
Seeing as I spent most of my watch slot feeling intense secondhand embarrassment for a man who…

Seeing as I spent most of my watch slot feeling intense secondhand embarrassment for a man who…

On December 9, members of the CCAC met during the Paris COP21 talks to agree on a goal to accelerate reductions of SLCPs over the next five…
Go to the profile of Catherine Wilka
Catherine Wilka
Dec 12, 2015

Reflections in the 11th Hour of COP21

I’ve been delaying writing this “Negotiations Update” for a few days, since it seems every time the Comité de Paris meets we come…
Go to the profile of Daniel Rothenberg
Daniel Rothenberg
Dec 11, 2015
Lost and damaged in translation

Lost and damaged in translation

Activists will converge tomorrow on the grave of the unknown soldier in Paris to commemorate past and future victims of climate change…
Go to the profile of Daniel Gallagher
Daniel Gallagher
Dec 11, 2015

Amid disagreements, climate finance remains a key ingredient for success

Currently climate finance remains one of the key unresolved issues in the draft text (as of 12/11/15). Developing countries are demanding…
Go to the profile of Elise Harrington
Elise Harrington
Dec 11, 2015

Climate goals and negotiations

Going into the final hours of COP21 in Paris, the feeling on the floor, filtered through twitter, reminds the end of a long road trip. It…
Go to the profile of charles.gertler
charles.gertler
Dec 11, 2015

Big Data, Big Stakes: a Stocktake of COP21

The MIT ESD.S30 class has been hard at work sifting through massive amounts of information from Twitter, live streams, news articles, and…
Go to the profile of Katie Mulvaney
Katie Mulvaney
Dec 11, 2015
The profound under-representation of women at COP21 — and the striking implications

The profound under-representation of women at COP21 — and the striking implications

On Tuesday morning, I was thrilled to wake up long before the sun rose so I could listen to the happenings in Paris live. I decided to tune…
Go to the profile of Emily Shorin
Emily Shorin
Dec 10, 2015

Money Troubles: Mechanisms on Financing Continue to be Contentious

With COP21 running into its penultimate day, proceedings are moving at a fast pace. The plenary 1 session today afternoon involved…
Go to the profile of Arun Singh
Arun Singh
Dec 10, 2015
Reflections on COP 21, or Why I’m Cautiously Optimistic

Reflections on COP 21, or Why I’m Cautiously Optimistic

Although the Paris Climate Change Conference ends tomorrow, I’m cautiously hopeful for a positive outcome in the form of a binding…
Go to the profile of Seamus J. Bann
Seamus J. Bann
Dec 10, 2015
Negotiations update : Dec 10th

Negotiations update : Dec 10th

As of this Thursday morning, the negotiations in Paris seem to be moving at a faster pace. On Wednesday, December 9th, a new draft text was…
Go to the profile of Guillaume Chossière
Guillaume Chossière
Dec 10, 2015

Degrees of binding; and bound by degrees

In the public debate around the UNFCCC’s COP21/CMP11 in Paris, the words “legally binding” are spoken often, yet not always well…
Go to the profile of Paul Natsuo Kishimoto
Paul Natsuo Kishimoto
Dec 9, 2015
Engulfed in flames, Indonesia must curb deforestation to limit its emissions

Engulfed in flames, Indonesia must curb deforestation to limit its emissions

Housing the world’s fourth largest population and being one of the top ten greenhouse gas emitters, due largely to deforestation and…
Go to the profile of Abigail Regitsky
Abigail Regitsky
Dec 7, 2015
COP21 Update: Relevance of Carbon Pricing and Faith Group Contributions to Climate Change…

COP21 Update: Relevance of Carbon Pricing and Faith Group Contributions to Climate Change…

The morning session of this past Friday held two strikingly different, yet in many ways similar, sessions related to addressing climate…
Go to the profile of Mahsa Nami
Mahsa Nami
Dec 7, 2015

COP21 on Day 6: Following the Bioenergy Update Session and the Role of EU in the Negotiations

On a beautiful Saturday morning in the unusually balmy Boston weather, I grabbed my laptop and headed up to the roof-deck of my building to…
Go to the profile of Sami Khan
Sami Khan
Dec 7, 2015
The Growing Push for Divestment

The Growing Push for Divestment

As Billy skillfully recounted, the third day of COP21 opened with conflict, as China and the European Union clashed over the potential…
Go to the profile of Elizabeth Berg
Elizabeth Berg
Dec 6, 2015
Equity, Responsibility, and Feasibility: India and Climate Change

Equity, Responsibility, and Feasibility: India and Climate Change

The congregation of leaders from over 190 countries in Paris to attempt to achieve a “legally binding and universal agreement on climate”…
Go to the profile of Arun Singh
Arun Singh
Dec 4, 2015
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