Bali to Copenhagen: the climate countdown

Home to IIED's climate change negotiations work in the run up United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen (COP15). Includes video updates, background documents, micro-blog, briefings and opinion papers, and details of the Development and Climate Days events.

For a summary of the negotiations and outcomes see COP 15 - Review and analysis, by Saleemul Huq, Achala Chandani and Simon Anderson

A revealing insight into what happened when 193 governments tried – and failed – to agree a global deal to tackle climate change can be seen in our documentary The Climate Game and the World’s Poor.

Calendar

Copenhagen blog

Climate worlds: Copenhagen cosmology

Submitted by Barbara Kiser on Tue, 15/12/2009 - 16:14

A vast blue box dropped onto a tabletop: this is the Koncerthuset, where IIED’s Development and Climate Days came to a close yesterday.

Action stations: vulnerable countries and the talks

Submitted by Barbara Kiser on Tue, 15/12/2009 - 07:36

Day 4 of Development and Climate Days: Mitigation, Finance and the Private Sector

Tracking the changes: Teresa Fogelberg takes the climate train

Submitted by Barbara Kiser on Mon, 14/12/2009 - 09:27

Thousands of people make up a COP, from campaigners, lobbyists, negotiators and journalists to NGO and UN staff, presidents and ministers.

Our focus

Least Developed Countries

Least Developed Countries (LDCs) are by definition the poorest nations in the world. Currently there are a total of 50 LDCs, with roughly 65% located in Africa. A number of LDCs are additionally recognised as Small Island Developing States (SIDS) whose low-lying geographical location increases their vulnerability to impacts of climate change such as sea level rise and tropical storms.

Economics and equity of Adaptation

Our focus is primarily on the economics of adaptation, providing decision makers with tools and options for effective adaptation. Our economics work seeks to provide decision-support with information researched and collated from working with our partners from these changing environments.

REDD: Protecting climate, forests and livelihoods

Deforestation is a global issue. Beyond its destructive impacts on biodiversity and the livelihoods of forest-dependent people, it is a major driver of climate change and accounts for roughly a fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. The bulk of carbon dioxide emissions come from deforestation in just seven tropical countries, including Brazil and Indonesia.

REDD — 'reducing emissions from deforestation and degradation' — could offer a way forward, as IIED's growing body of REDD research and reports reflects.

Development and Climate Days

Development and Climate Days is an annual side event taking place alongside the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)

Individuals and organisations interested in development and climate related issues get together to share the latest knowledge and experience in development and climate change

Draft agenda of activities

Film festival

The Development and Climate Film Festival provides a platform for amateur and independent film-makers from around the world to showcase short films on issues relating to climate change. They raise awareness, share ideas, and convey important messages in a creative and engaging way.

IIED/PANOS film festival entry

Afloat: Bangladesh adapts to climate change

'In the nighttime we are sleeping, but we are all afraid of big storms, because then we might all die. There is water everywhere. We are in the middle.’

Background

Saleemul Huq, IIED Senior Researcher, demystifies key climate change terms and processes. You'll find an accessible round-up of the most authoritative climate science, the hottest issues on the negotiating table and a veteran's view of the political processes as we head towards COP15 where the most crucial climate agreement of our times, a successor to the Kyoto Protocol, will be decided.

Further links and resources

Climate Change

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