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EcoChamber in Copenhagen: The emerging "climate dictatorship"

emily hunter

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — It is our lives being decided here in Copenhagen, and we are being shut out or brutally silenced from the negotiations. This is not an international negotiation, but a climate dictatorship in the making. Wednesday, thousands of activists who attempted to hold a “people’s assembly” in front of the conference centre were […] More »

Stop Everything #13: Beyond Copenhagen: It's the institutions, stupid

rebecca mcneil

A lot of stock has been put into the current International Climate Change Conference. Not only a stake in our future, and the world as we know it continuing to exist, but our national identity—how we deal with international conflict, how we assist other countries needing a hand, and when we choose to exert a […] More »

EcoChamber in Copenhagen: "This conference will probably be wrecked."

emily hunter

COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — The thread is being pulled on the climate talks here in Copenhagen, and the whole show is beginning to unravel. There are really several different conferences happening, and the cracks are showing. The developing world has been so outraged by the proceedings in Copenhagen that the G77 leader, Lumumba Stanislaus Di-Aping, walked […] More »

Stop Everything #12: Reports from "Flopenhagen" — "Hope is dead"

darcy higgins

Nearing mid-December, I arise to Toronto’s first snowfall—though to my Christmasy disappointment, an unimpressive slop of wet snow and rain greeted the city’s drivers and transit riders with delays and headaches. The symptoms are similar for citizens rallying in Copenhagen this week, though for different reasons. An annual Christmas letter from relatives proved that November […] More »

EcoChamber in Copenhagen: Are we signing a global suicide pact?

emily hunter

[Editor’s note: Emily Hunter is in Copenhagen, Denmark for the next two weeks covering the Copenhagen Climate Summit, and will be sending us updates about what’s going on. Check back daily for her updates.] COPENHAGEN, DENMARK — The negotiations have begun over our climate future here in Copenhagen. Global leaders may decide in the next […] More »

Stop Everything #11: Last Chance, Canada: Pump up the Volume

rebecca mcneil

“For those who claim a deal in Copenhagen is impossible, they are simply wrong.” – – Achim Steiner, Director, United Nations Environment Programs Yesterday marked the beginning of the International Climate Change discussions in Copenhagen. More than any other previous international agreements, so much emphasis has been put on this particular forum as it is widely […] More »

Friday FTW: Greenpeace billboards show world leaders the future, and it's not pretty

kim hart macneill

Greenpeace predicts world leaders will be making a big apology in 11 years if they don’t step up at the Copenhagen climate summit next week. A new line of giant ads in the Copenhagen airport features Harper, Obama, and 6 other serious looking, digitally aged world leaders saying, “I’m sorry. We could have stopped catastrophic […] More »

Stop Everything #10: An open letter to the Copenhagen climate delegates

darcy higgins

I came out of Tuesday night’s Munk Debate on Climate Change feeling kind of funny. Given that NASA scientists and others tell us we have about seven years to cap global greenhouse gas emissions before “runaway climate change”—and the next couple weeks may establish whether that happens or not—it strikes me that a debate about […] More »

Stop Everything #9: Leaky emails and "climategate" don't change the basics

rebecca mcneil

The results from a recent study seems to perfectly illustrate Canada’s increasing confusion on climate change. While Canadians agreed that “climate change is the planet’s defining crisis”, when given a list of arguments used on either side of the climate change debate, there was a surprising amount of belief that both arguments held some truth. […] More »

Stop Everything #7: Canadians feel embarassed by our lack of climate action

rebecca mcneil

To me, our Canadian identity has always seemed deeply rooted in our belief that as a country we do the “right thing.” We assumed for years that we were the moral compass of the globe and could do no wrong. But from where I’m standing, that reputation is being dragged through the mud and plenty […] More »

Stop Everything #6: How can we make climate change a Conservative issue?

darcy higgins

Over 1,000 people attended an indoor rally in Victoria this week with high profile speakers from the environmental community discussing the Canadian Government’s approach at Copenhagen. The international day of action on Copenhagen brought perhaps its best attended Canadian event to Vancouver. Downtown Toronto now has an annual rally organized in time for the international […] More »