EU Climate Chief on UN Summit: 'Whatever We Pledge Should Be Equally Binding'
With UN climate talks starting next week in Durban, South Africa, hopes remain for new momentum in the drive to reduce CO2 emissions. In an interview with SPIEGEL ONLINE, EU Climate Commissioner...
View ArticleUN Environment Chief : 'Climate Policy is Neither Futile Nor Defeated'
Achim Steiner, 50, executive director of the United Nations Environment Program, speaks to SPIEGEL about the current state of global climate negotiations ahead of the UN conference in Durban, South...
View ArticleClimate Change: UN Extreme Weather Report Triggers Storm of Protest
In mid-November, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published a special report on extreme weather events, such as hurricanes, floods and heat waves. But its emphasis on the uncertainty...
View ArticleGerman Environment Minister: 'Our Lifestyle Has Revolved Around a Dangerous...
In a SPIEGEL interview, German Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen, 46, discusses the United Nations climate summit in Durban, South Africa, the West's ecological deficit and the halting efforts for...
View ArticleAddressing Climate Change: 'Humankind Cannot Afford Negotiations Until 2020'
At the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Durban it is becoming apparent that, instead of making decisions, the global community intends to continue negotiating new climate goals until 2020....
View ArticleYoung Activists in Durban: Rebelling Against the Climate Change Dinosaurs
Climate change will affect young people the most, but they are grossly under-represented at UN climate negotiations in Durban. A group of students from China and the US, however, is trying to challenge...
View ArticleClimate Negotiations in Durban: Usual Suspects Continue to Block Emissions Deal
Progress has been made on providing aid to poor countries to help them deal with the effects of climate change. Beyond that, however, the summit in South Africa has produced little agreement. Several...
View ArticleThe World from Berlin: The Durban Climate Agreement 'Is Almost Useless'
The climate talks in Durban ended with an agreement to agree on a new agreement on emissions cuts in coming years. The outcome was hailed as historic by the organizers, but German commentators say the...
View ArticleLessons from Durban: How To Create a Successful UN Climate Summit
Once again, a UN climate summit has ended with limited results. In the end, the blockers and procrastinators prevailed. That's why the next global meeting must be transformed into a forum for mutual...
View ArticleThe World from Berlin: 'Canada Should Be Shunned for Kyoto Ignorance'
Canada is under fire for exiting the Kyoto Protocol just one day after UN climate talks ended with an agreement to extend the treaty. Putting financial interests ahead of environmental commitments is...
View ArticleLeading German Climate Expert: 'Kyoto Has Only Carrots and No Sticks'
Global carbon dioxide emissions are continuing to grow, but prospects for a worldwide climate policy were diminished even further in Durban, South Africa, this week. In an interview, environmental...
View ArticleSouth Pacific Islands Threatened by More than Just Rising Sea Levels
Environmentalist organizations have used images from South Pacific islands to illustrate the disastrous effects of rising sea levels. But a group of French researchers has found that the problem is...
View ArticleWidespread Criticism of Rio Environment Summit
Twenty years ago, the United Nations summit held in Rio de Janeiro paved the way for landmark agreements on the climate and the environment. This year's meeting, on the other hand, has been widely...
View ArticleRichard Branson Discusses Climate Change Business Opportunities
In an interview, British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson argues that climate change will only be taken seriously when companies can find ways to profit from it. The battle to prevent global warming,...
View ArticleNegotiation a Solution to Climate Change Is Destined for Failure
In the search for a negotiated agreement to combat global climate change, US domestic politics play an outsized role. But even if President Barack Obama unexpectedly pushes emissions reduction...
View ArticleClimate Summit in Doha: Four Reasons for Hope
Can the world's climate still be saved? Many have already given up hope due to steadily climbing emissions of CO2 and other greenhouse gases. But the battle has not yet been lost -- and there are...
View ArticleObama Disappoints Expectations of Climate Change Action at Doha Summit
President Obama's comments in the wake of the Hurricane Sandy disaster raised hopes across the world that the US was finally willing to act on climate change. But America's refusal to make concessions...
View ArticleLimits to Growth Author Dennis Meadows Says that Crisis Is Approaching
In 1972, environmental guru Dennis Meadows predicted in his seminal study "The Limits to Growth" that the world was heading toward an economic collapse. Forty years on, he tells SPIEGEL ONLINE that...
View ArticleTop Researchers Call for an End to United Nations Climate Summits
Massive UN climate summits have been held for years, but accomplished little. Believing there is almost no chance of securing a global deal on reducing emissions, experts now want to ditch the current...
View ArticlePoland Stands in the Way of European Global Warming Efforts
Poland is addicted to coal. That is the message the country has been sending both domestically and internationally as Warsaw prepares to host the global climate summit next year. In Europe, the Poles...
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