Bali talks

Bali party: one hell of a hangover

By Richard on 17/12/2007
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Bali aftermath 2

We've all been there. You're at the party of a lifetime, getting down in a stylish and decorous manner, making eyes at someone across the room. Next thing you know, it's five hours later, you've woken in a pool of vomit and your hosts are looking at you with eyes that flit from hatred to pity and back again.

So it was for the Americans at Bali. Most of the delegates were partying responsibly, but rumours abounded that the Americans overdid it. A lot. So while the other representatives returned home with their tans topped up, the Americans woke on Sunday morning with foggy heads and a dim memory of having signed something. Something bad...

Who invited the US to the Bali party?

By Richard on 14/12/2007
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US at Bali Party

It all started so well. 10,000 people jetted off to Bali for two weeks of sun, sea and partying. But as the days passed, one nation's representatives began acting up.

The problems started when James Connaughton, the senior US negotiator in Bali, declined to go on an afternoon sightseeing tour, and spent the time drinking heavily with the rest of the US delegation at the poolside bar. When the party returned they found the Americans passed out on the sun-loungers.

Climate change: someone else's mess

By Richard on 10/12/2007
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China = polluter

Just what they didn't want you to notice: a new report, out this week to co-incide with the Bali party, points out that contrary to Government figures, UK emissions have risen by up to 19%.

The report, by a team of economists led by Dieter Helm at Oxford University, examined the UK's emissions by consumption, not production, and also included emissions from international aviation and shipping. Their findings make a mockery of the Government's efforts to spin our CO2 impact; our official report to the UN, which ignored these sectors, reports a 15% decrease in emissions.

Climate march: wet but determined

By Richard on 09/12/2007
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PS in Whitehall

We came, we marched, we got a bit wet and we ended up in the pub.

The weather was against us, but still a few thousand people turned out, calling for radical cuts in CO2, and action, not words, from Government. Marches took place in 50 cities around the world, including one in Bali itself.

The Bali talks aren't going to see any binding targets or international agreements - that will come later - but we can't afford to make the mistake of relying on Government to act. Time is running out, and we must make it clear that if the Government won't make the changes we need, we'll keep taking action until they do.

Climate march aviation bloc

By Richard on 03/12/2007
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Climate change costs lives

Coming to the march this Saturday? Think airport expansion is not your cup of tea? Then why not hang out with Plane Stupid and the combined force of Airport Watch and Climate Camp in the anti-aviation bloc.

The march, organised by the Campaign Against Climate Change, is designed to coincide with the international climate party in Bali. Meet 12pm in Victoria Park (near the Houses of Parliament) then stroll about to the US Embassy.

The anti-aviation bloc is easily identified by the presence of large banners extolling the problems with aviation, a series of smaller banners decrying local airport expansion, and a few people in Plane Stupid t-shirts loafing about.

Corporate extremists hijack international Bali party to discuss climate change

By Paddy on 30/11/2007
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Steve Bell - climate change

A radical fringe of corporate citizens, including BAA, British Airways and easyJet, has threatened to disrupt the international talks on climate change in Bali.

The group calling themselves, Corporate Leaders Group on Climate Change (CLGCC) has ominously promised that it will 'hand deliver' the 'the Bali Communique' to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, despite the high security measures surrounding him. The communique demands that emission reduction targets should be guided primarily by science rather than political or economic motivations - a radical departure from the current position of growth at all costs.