WWF UK- Poznan climate change conference

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Poznan climate change conference

Crucial talks are taking place now on the future of our planet

The UN climate change talks in Poznan, Poland (1-12 December 2008) represent one of the last credible opportunities to forge a global deal – where nations agree to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases in time to prevent the most dangerous effects of climate change taking hold. Find out more about the Poznan conference and WWF's Poznan goals.

WWF-UK climate change team

More about the WWF-UK climate change team

Latest updates from Poznan

As Poznan closes, there's all to do in Copenhagen: 13/12/08; It's over. Such was the lack of occasion, it took a few moments after the President of the COP announced the close of the Poznan Climate Change Conference for delegates to join in some rather unenthusiastic applause. After two weeks of patchy progress, COP14 seemed to fizzle out, leaving us all picking through scraps for anything that could be described as an 'outcome'. Throughout the past year, developing countries have aimed at advancing the process with clear statements and constructive ... read more about 'As Poznan closes, there's all to do in Copenhagen'; Posted by Keith Allott on 13/12/08 2:30 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Blinking into the night: 12/12/08; As I write this, I'm receiving a number of mails about people blinking. It's not just COP fatigue - though undoubtedly that must play a part when it gets to 10:30 pm with no sure sign of an end to the whole process - but is a sign that decisions are finally, slowly being taken. And it seems that it's the 'Annex 1' group (referring to those most industrialised countries listed in Annex 1 of the Kyoto Protocol) who are blinking first, conceding a number of key issues to other negotiating ... read more about 'Blinking into the night'; Posted by Owen Gibbons on 12/12/08 10:00 PM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Yvo signals he's a Bob Marley fan: 12/12/08; You can tell the Ministers are in town. Of the many indicators, groups of large, short-haired men with ear-pieces walking around is one of the most noticeable. But the increase in NGO actions is another, and one that might seem slightly less intimidating... or so you might think. On my arrival at the conference venue today, I almost mustered a small amount of sympathy for the Environment Ministers who have arrived for the 'high level segment' of the COP. Having myself arrived on Friday - ... read more about 'Yvo signals he's a Bob Marley fan'; Posted by Owen Gibbons on 12/12/08 9:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
REDD negotiations: 11/12/08; Negotiations on REDD have been extensive - ending with a 14 hour marathon session on Tuesday for those delegates trying to hammer out some sort of text to agree on. One of the main issues being discussed was the reference to indigenous peoples and local communities - something that WWF had been pushing to have included ... so what did we get? Well there's a couple of sentences but rights was apparently a step too far for those negotiating - some say that it fell outside their focus which ... read more about 'REDD negotiations'; Posted by Emily Brickell on 11/12/08 10:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Heroes and villains: 11/12/08; Feeling tired and depressed about Poznan and package mess. The overall picture of this COP is one of very little movement and a strong sense of frustration that nothing very significant is happening. Yesterday, the Chinese delegation expressed their deep disappointment in very strong words and went as far to say that preparations were underway for “the great escape from Copenhagen”, and that we must prove to ourselves and to the world that we remain committed to Copenhagen. Most ... read more about 'Heroes and villains'; Posted by Keith Allott on 11/12/08 9:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Step up Ed!: 10/12/08; Wednesday morning, and the UN talks are reaching the home straight. Ministers arrive in Poznan today for the so-called "high-level" segment of the talks, and the hope is that they will inject some much-needed ambition and urgency into the sluggish negotiations. In particular, we're hoping that Ed Miliband, the UK's new Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, will step up to the plate. Mr Miliband has made a promising start since he took up the reins in September, notably ... read more about 'Step up Ed!'; Posted by Keith Allott on 10/12/08 9:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Patches of progress: 08/12/08; Despite there being no negotiations today, the work pace remains high, at least among the NGOs. The mid-point strategy meeting of the Climate Action Network - attended by well over 200 representatives from a huge range of NGOs large and small - provided an opportunity to reflect on how the negotiations are progressing on all of the various issues. I was particularly struck by how focussed and disciplined the whole process was. The plenary was provided with succinct updates on the key sticking ... read more about 'Patches of progress'; Posted by Owen Gibbons on 08/12/08 9:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Party time: 07/12/08; Having rolled up to my first Climate Change Conference on the Friday of the first week, I fear many of my policy colleagues suspected I had timed my arrival deliberately to coincide with the infamous ‘NGO party’ which, legend has it, is an immovable feast of the middle weekend of any COP. Of course, this is only partly true - my tardy arrival was more due to having spent a few days in Brussels on Thursday and Friday for a joint action aimed at influencing the EU Environment ... read more about 'Party time'; Posted by Owen Gibbons on 07/12/08 12:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Negotiations are proceeding at a pitifully slow pace: 06/12/08; Arriving part-way through a UN climate conference, as I did on Thursday morning, is a disorienting experience. Small practicalities like working out where a meeting room is, how to get photocopies produced, or how to say "thank you" in Polish can take up a frustrating amount of one’s time and energy. But the real reason we’re here is the negotiations - and as a late arrival it is impossible not to be daunted by the labyrinthine complexity of the UN processes, and the ... read more about 'Negotiations are proceeding at a pitifully slow pace'; Posted by Keith Allott on 06/12/08 10:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Youth climate action: 05/12/08; The last days have been extremely intense here at the UN talks in Poland. As youth, we've realised how central the EU Energy and Climate Package is to the global decision made through the UN. Whatever targets and principles the EU sets in this legislation - that will be the precedent for every single other country around the negotiating table. Essentially, if the EU agreement is weak, it is going to be incredibly difficult to get to a strong, equitable Global Deal next year. ... read more about 'Youth climate action'; Posted by Casper ter Kuile on 05/12/08 10:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Coping with the impacts: 05/12/08; Thursday and the pace is speeding up as the talks move from general discussions about the desire to tackle climate change towards specific targets for global and national level emissions reductions. Increasingly high in the agenda of all parties is the issue of support for dealing with the inevitable impacts of climate change. If we stay on our current business as usual pathway of high and growing rates of green house gas emissions we risk facing a range of catastrophic climate change impacts. ... read more about 'Coping with the impacts'; Posted by Kit Vaughan on 05/12/08 9:30 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Rising sea level: 04/12/08; The latest science suggests that the IPCC’s AR4 predictions of potential sea-level rise – 0.18–0.59m by 2100 – may be much too low. In a side-event on Tuesday evening, Prof. Stefan Rahmstorf, of the Potsdam Institute, presented evidence showing that, owing to new understanding of the process governing the melting of glaciers, the figures are likely to be more than twice previous estimates – with a risk of seas rising well over a metre. These results are supported ... read more about 'Rising sea level'; Posted by Kit Vaughan on 04/12/08 9:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Forests on the agenda: 04/12/08; Wednesday morning saw forests on the agenda in a session which had a substantial discussion on how to encourage developing countries to reduce emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD) in the post-2012 agreement. The idea was initially proposed in 2005 by a group of forested countries, led by Papua New Guinea. And since then, it has received support from developed and developing countries alike in recognition of the importance in reducing emissions from forests if we are to ... read more about 'Forests on the agenda'; Posted by Emily Brickell on 04/12/08 9:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Puzzle of missing ‘finance package’: 02/12/08; One huge piece of the puzzle that is painfully obviously missing is the ‘finance package’. Translated out of negotiation-speak, that means we’re lacking any credible proposals from the richest, most polluting countries for how they will pay to help poorer countries develop in a cleaner way and to adapt where possible to the climate change impacts that are already inevitable. Without some concrete offers on the table, it’s hard to move forward. The Bali meeting last ... read more about 'Puzzle of missing ‘finance package’'; Posted by Peter Lockley on 02/12/08 12:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Young people at the conference: 01/12/08; We prepared, practiced, negotiated, decided, acted, networked and generally worked extremely hard to get ready for Monday when the official UNFCCC negotiations begin. The amount of organising was phenomenal - over the next two weeks, there will be over 500 young people at the negotiations, from over 55 countries - quite a job to bring together! It even seemed like that in a period of 48 hours, we were able to work together in a way that our governments haven’t been able to since they ... read more about 'Young people at the conference'; Posted by Casper ter Kuile on 01/12/08 12:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (0)
Sunday night – relative calm before a storm: 30/11/08; Tonight is the last chance to get some proper sleep. The train journey over Friday night wasn’t too bad, or not for me and Emily, who are both under six foot: Kit, who is very tall, suffered a bit. The three of us are all ‘issue leads’ in the WWF International team: Kit on Adaptation, Emily on Forests, and Pete on Bunkers (aviation and shipping). So we all had presentations to prepare on the train for the WWF meeting on Saturday, and later Pete managed to drift off while ... read more about 'Sunday night – relative calm before a storm'; Posted by Peter Lockley on 30/11/08 10:00 PM; Permalink; Comments (0)
WWF climate change ambassador arrives in Poznan: 28/11/08; Thankfully, I'm not alone here. Among the 10,000 other people descending on the city this fortnight are fifteen passionate and intelligent young people from all over the UK, and together we make up the first ever UK Youth Delegation. We've been preparing for months, with young people from all over the world, for these talks - to make sure that we can effectively tell the story of what is actually happening here and put real pressure on leaders to ensure a strong and equitable global ... read more about 'WWF climate change ambassador arrives in Poznan'; Posted by Casper ter Kuile on 28/11/08 12:00 AM; Permalink; Comments (1)