Climate Change
Public Panel “FrankenPlanet or Climate Salvation?: The Governance of Geo-Engineering”
CANCELLED DUE TO WEATHER Warm Front or Deep Freeze? International Climate Policy in 2011
Los Cabos and Climate Change: The Art of the Possible
Advocates all want to get their pet topic discussed at the G20. Economic and financial crisis issues will dominate. Employment and commodity price volatility are next in line. Development, corruption, tax havens and anti-money laundering, drug trafficking and transnational crime, protecting the marine environment and resuscitating trade negotiations will all compete for attention. Climate change will receive very little agenda time.
Reports of Cheap Oil's Death Are Not Greatly Exaggerated
With new sources and methods of global petroleum production coming on stream — shale fracking, ultra-deepwater drilling and new fields in Africa, to name a few — some energy analysts have argued that reports of the death of cheap oil have been greatly exaggerated. In this week's CIGI Interview, Thomas Homer-Dixon takes issue with these "oil optimists," saying that the petroleum our global economy can afford to consume is indeed running out, and that we need to be much more aggressive in developing alternative energy sources.
Our peak oil premium
CIGI Chair of Global System Thomas Homer-Dixon writes on "Our peak oil premium." He argues that we're much closer to an oil peak than most people acknowledge.
UN Panel Calls for Integration of Environment into International Economic Reforms
A quarter of a century ago, the Brundtland Commission outlined the concept of sustainable development for the first time. It began its rather sobering report with the memorable phrase, “The Earth is one but the world is not,” to describe the interactions between the world’s environmental and economic and political systems. Sustainable development was to provide a new paradigm for economic growth, social equality and environmental sustainability.
Global Sustainability: Pursuing the Elusive Prize
As the world’s political and business leaders head home from the World Economic Forum in Davos, it is right asking which of the world’s toughest challenges were identified, let alone solved, on the “Magic Mountain.” Timely, then, that today the UN launches the report of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability.
Searching for Disruption, Sustainability and Transformation at Davos
Heads of state and leading figures from business and academia gather this week in Davos, Switzerland to “shape global, regional and industry agendas,” as part of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) annual meeting. With this year’s conference entitled "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models," we talk to WEF Sustainability Adviser and CIGI Senior Visiting Fellow Simon Zadek on what the forum’s unique composition can offer in terms of economic recovery and a move toward green growth.
Public panel opens CIGI conference on scientific policy implications for geoengineering
CIGI is hosting the public panel Geoengineering Our Climate: Science, Ethics and Governance, from 5:30 to 7 pm, Wednesday, January 18, 2012 at Ottawa’s Lord Elgin Hotel (details below)
CIGI Experts Predict Global Governance Challenges for 2012
This week, CIGI experts David Runnalls, Eric Helleiner, Gregory Chin and Mark Sedra share their thoughts on what 2012 will bring in terms of environment and energy, the global economy, global development and global security challenges.
Climate Negotiations After Cop 17: The Likelihood of Meaningful Action
Throughout two decades of climate negotiations, diplomats have invoked the phrase “common but differentiated responsibilities” — CBDR — as shorthand for the idea that while all countries need to take action on climate change, their actual responsibilities will differ, depending on how developed they are.
Analysis: Canada's Kyoto withdrawal began when Bush bolted
CIGI Distinguished Fellow Paul Heinbecker comments on Canada's withdrawal from the Kyoto protocol and says "how do we now tell other people that they have to live by the next [climate change agreement] if we pull out of the first one?"
Climate summit was a pathetic exercise in deceit
In an op-ed to The Globe and Mail, CIGI Chair of Global Systems Thomas Homer-Dixon writes that "dealing with climate change is a prerequisite for prosperity this century – for all people on this planet."
Environment minister expects new climate deal by 2015
In a CBC News story, CIGI Distinguished Fellow Paul Heinbecker, who led the Canadian delegation to the 1997 Kyoto talks, describes the Durban agreement on climate change as significant.
CIGI special report outlines global climate governance challenges beyond COP17 and 2012
A sustained effort is required to reframe the global climate debate beyond 2012 in terms of economic opportunities and mutual benefits, a new special report issued by The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) concludes.
In austere times, world needs a climate change 'Plan B'
"What's needed is a Plan B that gets us beyond having to choose between the unlikely and the insufficient. It has to address the problem at scale, rapidly," CIGI Senior Visiting Fellow Simon Zadek argues in making the case for green, inclusive economies.
Taking Global Climate Governance Beyond 2012: Reflections on CIGI '10
This report reflects on the insights generated during the October 2010 international conference held at CIGI, CIGI ’10: Climate of Action, and considers what it would take to establish robust international climate cooperation.
CIGI Experts Offer Dire Predictions for COP 17 in Durban
CIGI experts Kathryn Hochstetler, Thomas Homer-Dixon and David Runnalls discuss their predictions for COP 17 in Durban, South Africa.
CIGI experts available for comment on COP17
Looking for expert commentary on the 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)? CIGI will have experts available from Durban, South Africa, as well as offsite via video link.
Sir David King on Science and International Governance
In this week's Inside the Issues, Director of the Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment, Sir David King, talks with Inside the Issues about science and how it interacts with global political forces.