At the very last minute, 200 nations agreed to extend the Kyoto Protocol to 2020 while a successor to the legally binding agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions is re-worded by 2015. While many attendants of the UN climate talks in Doha believed the meeting to be a colossal failure, the addition of a Loss and Damage clause calling for developed nations to stockpile up to $10 billion per year up to 2020 is seen by some as a watershed moment for climate talks.

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Post tags: Climate Change, COP18, Doha, emissions cuts, environmental news, global warming, greenhouse gases, hot air, kyoto protocol, loss and damage mechanism, qatar

The 18th Conference of the Parties or COP18 ends today in colossal failure. Not only have the negotiations failed to produce any meaningful emissions cuts, but ‘Hot Air’ permits that allow countries like Poland and Russia to maintain their heavy industries may even result in more emissions. Talks have stalled for a host of reasons, though most developing nations blame rich countries like the United States, Canada and Japan for refusing to sign an interim successor agreement to the Kyoto Protocol that would bind them to emissions reductions.

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Post tags: Climate Change, COP18, Doha, emissions cuts, environmental news, global warming, greenhouse gases, hot air, kyoto protocol, loss and damage mechanism, qatar

The challenge of dividing the burden of reducing global carbon emissions is the main issue preventing world leaders from agreeing on a binding climate treaty. But this week at the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change in Doha, Qatar, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said that richer nations should take the lead on curbing emissions, saying that it is ”only fair and reasonable that the developed world should bear most of the responsibility” in reducing global emissions. Much of the climate problem has come from the industrialization of richer nations, he said, they are historically responsible for the damage to the environment.

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Post tags: ban ki-moon, canada, china, Climate Change, developed nations, Doha, Europe, greenhouse gasses, India, Japan, kyoto protocol, New Zealand, qatar, un framework convention on climate change, un secretary general, US

There is a lot hanging on the 18th session of the UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change currently being held in Doha, Qatar, but with many in the media predicting another Copenhagen, some in the Emirate have taken to the street to make their feelings heard.  On Saturday, over 800 people took part in a march for climate protection, believed to be the first demonstration of its kind to take place in Qatar.

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Post tags: climate change conference, climate change march, climate march, COP18, Doha, qatar, unfccc, UNFCCC (United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

The conversation at the COP18 climate change talks in Doha have taken on an urgency unseen in previous meetings, and this time the buzz is most heard among developing nations most likely to get burned by the effects of climate change. As more evidence pours in showing that global temperatures could rise by more than double the two degrees Celsius recommended by scientists and sea levels are rising faster than previously thought, the emphasis has switched from preventing climate change to coping with it. This sentiment is strongest among developing nations that are poorly equipped to handle the loss and damages that they are already experiencing and they are looking to rich nations – the polluters – to take responsibility.

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Post tags: Climate Change, climate change negotiations, climate change talks, COP18, Doha, Doha agreement, global warming, Loss and Damage, qatar, Rich nations, sea level rise

From March to September this year a staggering 4.47 million square miles of Arctic ice melted – that’s an area bigger than the United States. The U.N. World Meteorological Organization said this Arctic ice melt is one of the most extreme and record-breaking weather events of 2012. Yet delegates from nearly 200 countries meeting at the Doha Climate Change Conference can’t come to an agreement to collectively cut emissions to slow global warming.

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Post tags: arctic ice melt bigger than the united states, china, Climate Change, climate change taking place before our eyes, COP18, developing countries, Doha, Doha Climate Change Conference, eradicating poverty before reducing emissions, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, India, kyoto protocol extension to 2020, record-breaking weather events of 2012, UN climate change talks in Doha, un world meteorological organization, us refuses to sign binding emissions pact, wmo secretary general michael jarrud

A spokesperson for the United States at the 18th Conference of the Parties to the UNFCCC in Doha, Qatar cited the country’s investments in “fracking” as its contribution to the global goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Long vilified for failing to ratify the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which it initially signed, the U.S. was the biggest spewer of greenhouse gas emissions for many years until China took the lead. This is due in part to a widespread program to replace coal plants throughout the U.S. with shale gas, the extraction of which comes with its own environmental price.

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Post tags: china, climate talks, COP18, Doha, environmental news, fracking, global warming, greenhouse gas emissions, kyoto protocol, Middle East, qatar, UN, unfccc, usa

Last year, global CO2 emissions reached their highest levels in human history. With climate change affecting everything from weather patterns to satellite operation, governments and international organizations are becoming increasingly concerned over man’s influence over the environment. A report released by the World Bank this month titled “Turn Down the Heat” details the devastating impacts of a world in crisis. If current policies and trends continue, the planet could become an average of 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees Fahrenheit) hotter by the end of the century. This scenario would result in a “new normal” of extreme temperatures, massive flooding, and devastation among the poorest nations.

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Post tags: Climate Change, CO2, coal, developing nations, Doha, global warming, jim yong kim, libya, mediterranean, Middle East, NGO, north america, qatar, russia, South Africa, turn down the heat, un intergovernmental panel on climate change, united states, world bank

According to a report by the international Renewable Energy Industry Institute based in Germany, the total levels of global greenhouse gas emissions reached a record high last year at 34 billion tons. China led the pack with 8.9 billion tons, outpacing the United States at 6 billion tons. Nations around the world have pumped 800 million more tons of CO2 into the atmosphere than in 2010 and show no signs of slowing.

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Post tags: BP, china, CO2, Doha, germany, India, Japan, kyoto protocol, norbert allnoch, qatar, renewable energy industry institute, russia, un framework convention on climate change, unfcc, united states

Read the rest of Msheireb in Downtown Doha, Qatar Will Be the World’s Largest LEED-Certified Community When Completed

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Post tags: "leed", "solar energy", arabian architecture, Doha, eco design, Green Building, green design, leed certified, LEED gold, Middle East, Msheireb, Msheireb Properties, qatar, qatar green building, solar, sustainable design