I've been so jazzed by the coup d'état in the House of Representatives (see last two posts below plus this from early this month) that I've neglected some other big stories. There are some great ones out there.
GHG Cap in the UK , MPs pass landmark climate change bill is the story from AFP. Parliament is mandating an 80% reduction from 1990 levels. This is the target that President-Elect Obama and environmental leaders in the Congress are seeking. Not incidentally, the story reports that "Climate change minister Joan Ruddock said she had recently spoken to officials in the US Congress and they had praised the way British lawmakers worked together on such an important issue." Ruddock heads the brand new Department of Energy and Climate Change.
The implications for this include the notion that Britain and the US, along with others, may go to Copenhagen next year very well prepared to negotiate serious GHG reductions for the international community as a whole. The upcoming Conference of the Parties in Poland will be a critical stepping stone to the meetings in Copenhagen in December of 2009.
Canada , Meanwhile in another key realm of the British Commonwealth, and a G7 country to boot , not to forget, the call has come out, finally, for a cap-and-trade regime. Even better, Canada wants to create a single North American system. See this from Reuters. The Western Climate Initiative already includes four Canadian provinces as partners and one as an observer. In addition, six Mexican states are observers. (See the lists.)
It makes sense, given the existence of NAFTA and the groundbreaking work of the WCI that a full North American compact come into being. Again, as with the British, should this take shape prior to Copenhagen, it'll be another convincing argument for a robust international agreement.
Macedonia , This small proud country, one of the former Yugoslavian states, made a bold statement this week. Macedonians Plant Six Million Trees In Single Day is the scoop, also from Reuters' consistently excellent PlanetArk newsfeed. Opera singer Boris Trajanov initiated this superb investment in his country's future and wants to expand the project to other Balkan countries. He said: "If Macedonia, a country of two million people, can plant six million trees, we can only imagine how many trees can be planted in other, bigger countries." Bravissimo!
UNFCCC , The Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, Yvo de Boer, has lauded Barack Obama's recent remarks supporting strong energy and climate change legislation. (See November 18 just below.) In talking to, once again, Reuters, de Boer said of Obama's remarks: "I think that will have a very positive influence on the negotiations. He indicated that he intends to show national and international leadership. I think that that statement will be seen as a huge signal of encouragement to the international community." See the whole story here.
This is another instance of how the world is embracing the change in tone on international issues, from the world economy to energy and the environment, as we transition from the last days of the present administration to Obama's. You've been seeing this in the international press consistently from Election Day.
