Canada to pull out of Kyoto Protocol

http://adoptanegotiator.org/2011/11/29/the-daily-tck-3/
The Adopt a Negotiator Project
tracking international efforts to deal with climate change
The Daily Tck for Tuesday, 29 Nov
By Paul Horsman On November 29, 2011

The US (with the help of Saudi Arabia) opened a can of worms by blocking the report of the Transitional Committee of the Green Climate Fund. We need to see what the US will do tomorrow when the report is presented. Yesterday the US and Saudi Arabia were joined by another ‘Friend of the Climate’ – Canada who supported the US concerns. With ‘friends’ like this! …. well you know the rest.

The WMO has just launched this preliminary statement about the world climate in 2011 that shows the findings on 2011 were consistent with climate models.

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Understanding the COP17 UN Climate Talks - in 3 minutes
Uploaded by OneWorldTV on Nov 22, 2011

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Day 1 at the UN Climate Talks in Durban: Floods Outside, The Big Issues Inside COP17
OneWorldTV
Nov 28, 2011

Not ideal, as they've pushed the difficult decisions down the road when they really can't afford to be, but at least everyone's still on the same page that something must be done.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... A_facebook
Climate Talks Consensus: All Countries Should Cut Greenhouse Gas Emissions--In Future
In a frantic late night rush, a plan to come up with a plan for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions of all countries passed muster at the UN's annual climate negotiations
By David Biello | December 11, 2011

DURBAN, South Africa—For the first time, all major nations—developed and developing—have agreed to a roadmap that would combat climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions via an "outcome with legal force" that would not come into effect before 2020. The 194 countries negotiating here also agreed that such a universal plan must be completed by 2015 at the latest.

Ultimately, it took the most interested parties—the U.S., E.U., India, China and others—huddling on the floor of the plenary to strike a deal, largely by blurring the exact wording of what this new, potentially global effort might in fact be.

http://www.truth-out.org/climate-deal-s ... 1323619055
Climate Deal Struck in Durban; Critics Say It Falls Short
Sunday 11 December 2011
by: John M. Broder

Durban, South Africa - Two weeks of contentious United Nations talks over climate change concluded Sunday morning with an agreement by more than 190 nations to work toward a future treaty that would require all countries to reduce emissions that contribute to global warming.

The result, coming as the sun rose after nearly 72 hours of continuous wrangling, marked a tentative but important step toward the dismantling of a 20-year-old system that requires advanced industrialized nations to cut emissions while allowing developing countries — including the economic powerhouses China, India and Brazil — to escape binding commitments. The deal renews the Kyoto Protocol, the fraying 1997 emissions agreement that sets different terms for advanced and developing countries, for several more years. But it also begins a process for replacing it with something that treats all nations equally.

http://motherjones.com/blue-marble/2011/12/durban-deal
A Durban Deal
—By Kate Sheppard
| Sat Dec. 10, 2011

The decision puts world leaders on a path to a negotiating a legal agreement beginning in 2015 and managed to avoid a total disaster, but still leaves a number of questions open.

In some ways, the agreement is better than many had expected heading into Durban. The US, China, India and a few other countries had been reluctant to commit to a timeline for a legal agreement, while the European Union and small island nations were insistent that one be laid out.

http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-cli ... dmark.html
Durban climate deal leaves difficult road ahead
December 11, 2011 by Richard Ingham

Rich countries that were leading emitters back in 1997 -- when the Kyoto Protocol was signed as a framework accord -- are now the minority emitters. The Durban Package will, for the first time, bring all greenhouse-gas users into a common legal regime under the UN flag, in the aim of cranking the carbon combat into higher gear. This is what makes the Durban deal special.

Coal, oil and gas are the backbone of the energy supplies today. Improving energy efficiency and switching to cleaner, renewable sources carries a cost that belt-tightening governments may resist.

Also destined to haunt the 2015 negotiations are fundamental questions of who, what and how. In the coming years, the sound of the advancing juggernaut will become ever louder. To reach the UN's 2 C (3.6 F) target, emissions which are currently rocketing skyward must fall by 8.5 percent annually by 2020 compared with 2010 and then continue to retreat each year, according to two newly published studies.