Sept 2014: People's Climate March, the UN climate conference, & Climate Week NYC

[Sigmetnow]

This Sunday, upwards of 100,000 people are expected to take to the streets of New York City in a worldwide climate protest that organizers say will be the largest and most diverse in history.

If these numbers prove correct, then the "People's Climate March" will likely mark the moment when global warming transitions from being a science and policy issue into a full-fledged social movement. Perhaps it will become as large as the gay rights and civil rights movements. But even if it doesn't, it could play a crucial part in changing the political environment on this seemingly intractable issue.

As a sign of the march’s import, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will “lock arms” with protesters in New York, a highly unusual step for a someone in his leadership position. The march is intended to help build the social movement while also prodding world leaders to make meaningful commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions when more than 120 of them gather at a U.N. Climate Summit that Ban is hosting on Tuesday.

@afreedma: Keep seeing signs for #PeoplesClimate march all over NYC. Why this event may be a really big deal: http://t.co/Y6VM8IMwuq

@insideclimate: Next week will be a big one for #climatechange activity and ICN will be there covering it. Here's our plan: http://t.co/m8E3cGY8CO

[Sigmetnow]

"The growing global momentum for carbon pricing in both the public and private sectors will be on full display next week at a United Nations leaders summit on climate change."
http://www.bna.com/un-climate-summit-n17179895075/

$24 Trillion Investor Group Calls for Carbon Price:
http://newsroom.unfccc.int/financial-flows/investors-call-for-climate-policy-leadership/

[viddaloo]

I must say I have low hopes for this mass event, turnout, effect or otherwise. People will always care more about their genitals and sexlife than stuff that really matters. People will care about their lawns being flooded, their cellars full of water etc. As it happens. Then they will move on and go on "thinking positively", because that's what they need in their personal life.

Thoughts about having sex with rescue workers etc will always be dominant in the human species when catastrophe breaks.

[Sigmetnow]

Interview with Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org.

Do you think that the events of the past few years—Hurricane Sandy, the shrinking Arctic ice cap, and drought in the American West—have awoken people to the looming problems of climate change?

I look at the places I know, and those kinds of events cause real change. In Vermont, where I come from, Hurricane Irene, in 2011, changed not only the physical landscape but the political landscape. The governor now talks incessantly about climate change—within a few hours, a rhetorical problem turned into a real one.

It’s not only a local thing. Metropolitan Manila was just shut down with hideous flooding. In Pakistan and Kashmir, too, they’re recovering from flooding. The people there know that this is an issue. The question is how to put enough pressure on the system. What we’re trying to do is add pressure into the system so that our leaders will feel the need to relieve it somehow, by doing some of the things that economists and scientists have been telling them to do.

http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/peoples-climate-march-interview-bill-mckibben

[viddaloo]

«Moment of Silence» just over  @ (live).

[Sigmetnow]

@350Europe: BREAKING: Official count just in from New York City.  We just smashed the record for largest climate march in US history. 310,000 PEOPLE!!

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/nyregion/new-york-city-climate-change-march.html

[Sigmetnow]

via Twitter:

Behind this banner stands the largest climate march ever. #peoplesclimate http://t.co/s7GTQLkwk4

@_michaelpoland_: Another aerial shot of #PeoplesClimate March NYC http://t.co/H3a8Yy9m4S

@timmcdonnell: Group passing 57th @ 6th now is all about oil drilling in the Amazon #PeoplesClimate http://t.co/tbbBBd5bLJ

@energyaction: Youth contingent fired up and ready to step off! #PeopleClimate http://t.co/1eozzN8MCe

@dbiello: NYC represent @ people's climate march. Hurricane Sandy survivors http://t.co/oQBYCrlPKE

@TarSandsSolns: We are here to tell Canada to march with the world toward #solutions! #PeoplesClimate #tarsands @Tzeporah http://t.co/q0YxcL4Cvp


And its not just in New York City. 

@EricHolthaus: Not just NYC, climate action all over the world today: RT @CleanNergyPhoto: #Melbourne rally attracts 30,000 people http://t.co/xtqFif9B1d

@EricHolthaus: UK: RT @_michaelpoland_: London #PeoplesClimate March is HUGE http://t.co/mCVZfhDyM8

@EricHolthaus: Netherlands: RT @Sustainable2050: Amsterdam #PeoplesClimate event is on! Thanks to @urgenda and @marjanminnesma ! http://t.co/cm3PQD8vsK

@EricHolthaus: Japan: RT @gpjen: Happy Friday! NGOs marched for "Nuclear Free, Carbon Free" in Tokyo, Japan.  #PeoplesClimate http://t.co/nQSyPr4I5X

@EricHolthaus: Indonesia: RT @Peoples_Climate: Another one from Jakarta, Indonesia today. #PeoplesClimate http://t.co/Y5FQcNwWTD

@EricHolthaus: Nepal: RT @climatebrad: Beautiful: @Peoples_Climate March in Kathmandu, Nepal via @sunilnpl #peoplesclimate #pcm http://t.co/ePc42qhj5o

@EricHolthaus: Turkey: RT @350ankara: #PeoplesClimate today in #Ankara!
#İklimLiderleri http://t.co/4BakuT2Ro8

@EricHolthaus: Tanzania RT @Peoples_Climate: Africa joins the crowd! Hundreds of students marched in Tanzania today. #PeoplesClimate http://t.co/KHi28IQ4sg

@EricHolthaus: Kenya: RT @NeilDMV: #PeoplesClimateMobilisation in #Nairobi, #Kenya. #PeoplesClimate http://t.co/E6s9caZmS7 http://t.co/S1LfCLF6BY

@EricHolthaus: Paris: RT @MarieYared: Le chanteur @patricemusic à fond pour la #marcheclimat ! #peoplesclimate http://t.co/y5TY6ccEOB

@EricHolthaus: Germany: RT @Momentum_UNFCCC: People form the shape of a heart at the #PeoplesClimate march in Cologne. http://t.co/TSpjMG4436

@EricHolthaus: Finland: RT @KallioJ: Thousands demand action in the senate square. #peoplesclimatemarchhelsinki #PeoplesClimate http://t.co/XrJM2cxG6A

@EricHolthaus: India: RT @freedomgirl2011: #PeoplesClimate Marchers demand "Action and Not Words" from leaders in New Delhi. http://t.co/gZ8Mqm43DG

[AbruptSLR]

I am encouraged by the scientists that marched in NYC as discussed at the following link:

http://peoplesclimate.org/scientists/

Hopefully, with enough of the public marching to fight climate change; soon more politicians will join the fight.

[Sigmetnow]

What the NYC march was like....

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140921/nyc-climate-march-tops-expectations

[Sigmetnow]

@Peoples_Climate: UPDATE: Final count from NYC march is 400,000! #PeoplesClimate #PeopleClimateMarch #ClimateMarch

This updated article (from Fox News?!!) mentions how the number was obtained.  (The article never states climate change is real, so I guess that makes it acceptable for Fox.)    
"New York climate march attracts nearly 400,000 people"
http://www.foxnews.com/science/2014/09/21/new-york-climate-march-attracts-over-310000-people/

[Sigmetnow]

The New Yorker: 
Largest Climate-Change March in History Unlikely to Convince Idiots
Satire by Andy Borowitz

http://www.newyorker.com/humor/borowitz-report/largest-climate-change-march-history-unlikely-convince-idiots

[AbruptSLR]

Unfortunately, the linked National Geographic article indicates that march, or no march, there is little chance of an effective, formal, legally binding treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol by December 2015:

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/1409021-united-nations-climate-change-summit-treaty/
 

[Sigmetnow]

Today, it's the Flood Wall Street protest in New York City.

After nearly 400,000 people turned out for a climate march in New York City on Sunday, activists are taking that momentum to protest in Lower Manhattan on Monday in what they’re calling Flood Wall Street. The slogan is “Stop capitalism. End the climate crisis,” and the goal is to “confront the root cause of the climate crisis – an economic system based on exploiting frontline communities, workers and natural resources.”

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2014/09/22/3570292/flood-wall-street/

[Sigmetnow]

Unfortunately, the linked National Geographic article indicates that march, or no march, there is little chance of an effective, formal, legally binding treaty to replace the Kyoto Protocol by December 2015:
...

I agree the likelihood of a strong binding agreement is uncomfortably dependent on the outcome of upcoming elections, among other things.  However, that does not mean no progress can be made while we wait for one.  Cities, states, and companies big and small are discovering it's to their advantage to go green, and the economic climate is clearly starting to tilt away from fossil fuels. 

It will be interesting to see what the biggest countries are willing to put on the table at the UN conference this week -- and, what level of popular outrage ensues if, indeed, it is not much.  Again: think elections....

[Sigmetnow]

The UN is expecting only modest results this week.

What the outcomes of the UN Climate Summit in New York mean for the UN climate process

The commitments made in New York on energy can play a central role in allowing countries to show greater ambition when agreeing their emission reduction pledges as part of the 2015 universal climate agreement, and when taking immediate climate action.

The commitments can help governments prepare their “Intended Nationally Determined Contributions” to the 2015 agreement and strengthen the participation of non-State actors in tackling climate change, which can be further advanced in Technical Expert Meetings under the UNFCCC.

Governments meeting under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change have this year been focusing on renewable energy and energy efficiency as a key area with high potential to curb greenhouse emissions.

At Technical Expert Meetings in Bonn in May, governments identified numerous options to promote energy efficiency and renewable energy, many of which are reflected in the commitments that will be made at the Summit.

http://newsroom.unfccc.int/clean-energy/un-climate-summit-what-to-expect-on-energy/

[viddaloo]

I must say I have low hopes for this mass event, turnout, effect or otherwise.

Sometimes it's cool to be wrong. This is definitely one of those times!



Download the Monday show: video.

[Sigmetnow]

The US secretary of state, John Kerry, promised to put climate change “front and center” of American diplomacy on Monday, raising expectations for this week’s United Nations climate summit.

A day before the first world leaders’ meeting on climate change in five years, Kerry said he would take it upon himself to make sure the international community steps up to deal with the threat.

“This is an enormous challenge, and this is why the United States is prepared to take the lead in order to bring other nations to the table,” Kerry said in remarks at the start of a week of climate-themed events in New York.

“As secretary of state, I promise you I am personally committed to making sure this is front and centre of all our diplomatic efforts.”

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/22/us-climate-change-john-kerry-un

[Sigmetnow]

A good summary of the steps needed to fight global warming, even absent an international agreement.

http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/218563-a-step-by-step-manual-to-halting-warming

[Sigmetnow]

Who has promised what:
http://mashable.com/2014/09/23/un-climate-summit-country-promises-map/

[Sigmetnow]

Text of President Obama's climate speech at the UN:
http://insideclimatenews.org/breaking-news/20140924/transcript-obamas-speech-climate-change-un

[Laurent]

Their two clear goals were focused on "carbon pricing" and "Climate Smart Agriculture." "Carbon pricing" is a new name used to promote carbon markets in a new, clever way: by combining candy and poison.

How Did Leaders Respond to the People's Climate March?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/pablo-erick-solon-romero-oroza/how-did-leaders-respond-t_b_5886914.html?utm_hp_ref=green&ir=Green

[Sigmetnow]

New York City Mayor de Blasio Commits to 80 Percent Reduction of Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2050, Starting with Sweeping Green Buildings Plan

http://www1.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/451-14/mayor-de-blasio-commits-80-percent-reduction-greenhouse-gas-emissions-2050-starting-with#/0

[Sigmetnow]

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr, Obama said, "There is such as a thing as being too late."

6 Climate Week stories that businesses can't afford to ignore:
http://www.greenbiz.com/blog/2014/09/26/6-climate-week-stories-businesses-cant-afford-ignore

[viddaloo]

Quoting Martin Luther King Jr, Obama said, "There is such as a thing as being too late."

Believing anything the corporate elite says about the climate collapse is IMO extremely hazardous and runs counter to any and all experience that we have with these types to this day. All they care about is avoiding the necessary regime change.

[Sigmetnow]

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's final summary of the UN Climate Summit.

http://newsroom.unfccc.int/unfccc-newsroom/un-climate-summit-ban-ki-moon-final-summary/

[Sigmetnow]

Big businesses climate momentum grows during Climate Week NYC.

"There were a lot of heads of state leading up to this [summit] that were very curious about what companies were going to say because they needed talking points for their speeches...so they could say, look, this isn't going to kill jobs, this is something that a lot of companies are behind, and this is, in a lot of cases, good for the economy," Metzger said.

He paraphrased comments from Ikea CEO Peter Agnefjall, who urged an audience of government leaders to act boldly on climate change, reassuring them, "You take that ambitious step, and we'll be there to support you. We'll be there behind you."

That kind of message, Metzger said, "helps a lot for those heads of state who feel like they're putting their neck out there with industry if they're going to regulate carbon or put a price on carbon."

http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20140929/big-business-climate-change-movement-grows-size-and-heft

[viddaloo]

Naomi Klein interview on Flood Wall Street and the birth of a new climate movement.

[Sigmetnow]

Great video recap of the People's Climate March and Flood Wall Street.