COP19 was a mess. I think it is perhaps necessary to let the course of events process a little bit before beginning to analyze the outcomes and impacts but as I get back to reality where the impending arrival of exams await, I fear not being able to do that in the best way I intend. However, there might not be all that much to say for COP19 - Kumi Naidoo simply calls it “a sham.” Despite the expectations civil society groups and NGOs continue to place in the UNFCCC to deliver much needed results, we continue to see marginal developments where radical changes need to take place. The lack of systems approach in how the Convention seeks to address climate change is difficult to understand. Yes, it is a monstrous challenge to examine but by reducing and compartmentalizing the problems, we are still stalled without a concrete roadmap to a 2015 climate agreement

With the failures of the...

Article written for Iron Warrior ; posted July 04, 2012

I cannot disagree with the general consensus that multilateralism has failed and the outcome document from the Rio+20 conference was not binding but rather a political declaration. From June 20-22, heads of states from around the world convened at Rio de Janeiro to share their thoughts on sustainable development and adopt the Rio+20 outcome text titled ‘The Future We Want’. 718 countries have made voluntary commitments at the Rio+20 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development. While hopes and expectations were ambiguous heading into this “historic opportunity to define pathways to a safer, greener, and prosperous world”, civil society members including NGOs, youth, and indigenous people did not feel the results were strong enough to address the increasingly difficult challenges we will be facing, especially developing...