COP15 Database

Category: Policy

About John Zillman, Australian Meteorologist and Former President of the WMO

June 19, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Dr. John W. Zillman is an Australian meteorologist, and former President of the World Meteorological Organization (1995-2003) and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE). Zillman also served on the Bureau of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) for 20 years. The IPCC itself originated from proposals at the Tenth Congress of the WMO in May 1987 in Geneva. Zillman notes of that meeting:

Several Directors of National Meteorological Services, especially from developing countries, called on WMO to establish a mechanism that would enable them to respond authoritatively to the increasingly frequent requirements to brief their Governments and national communities on the reality or otherwise of the threat of global warming as a result of increasing atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases. For the most part, Governments, at that stage, were reacting to sensationalised media coverage of predictions of future climate change promulgated by a number of individual scientists and climate modelling groups, as well as the then recently released report of the Brundtland Commission on “Our Common Future” (The World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987) which had dramatically lifted the profile of enhanced greenhouse warming as a threat to the future of the planet.

Since its formation, Zillman has contributed to the work of the IPCC and provided critical analysis of the IPCC assessment reports.

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About Claire Spoors, British Activist

June 6, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Claire Spoors was an activist at COP-15 with the group Global Witness, an organization which seeks to “expose the corrupt exploitation of natural resources and international trade systems, to drive campaigns that end impunity, resource-linked conflict, and human rights and environmental abuses.” At COP-15 she spoke with us about what it would take to successfully implement REDD programs; her group, Global Witness, has recently issued a report (June 3, 2010), which warns that corruption could undermine the success of these programs, and when she spoke with us in December, she made similar points. One of the key points made by the June 3rd report is that:

“REDD investment offers an unprecedented opportunity to reform forest management and prevent irreversible climate change. Up to 20% of global emissions come from deforestation and forest degradation, and REDD offers the potential both to reduce emissions and drive sustainable economic development in forest-rich economies.”

REDD programs’ inclusion in the Copenhagen Accord was, from the opinion of our research team, one of the principal advancements made this December. Ms. Spoors’ interview segments should, however, prove important to a dialogue on the recent funds pledged to REDD programs in the way of $4 billion; she preemptively warned that funding could do little to stave deforestation if governance and accountability were not improved.

Want videos featuring this interviewee? Claire Spoors Videos

Bruce Hewitson on Research and Policy as Necessarily Separate at COP-15

April 28, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Hewitson_research policy at COP

Question asked: How do researchers and policy-makers interact at the COP?

Hewitson’s answer: Hewitson states that scientists were necessarily divorced from the political presence by the time of Copenhagen; he felt the political process was already complicated and the necessary science informing the negotiation had already been done. Copenhagen, he said, was not about the interaction of scientists and politicians, but instead was, for scientists, about working with other scientists and organizations that focused on issues of adaptation and response work.

Want to learn more about this interviewee? About Bruce Hewitson

Want more videos featuring this interviewee? Bruce Hewitson Videos

At COP-15, Bruce Hewitson was a South African climatologist working with the Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG).

Bruce Hewitson on Regional Climate Modeling in Africa

April 28, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Hewitson_research

Question asked: What area of research do you work in and how does it relate to the COP?

Hewitson’s answer: Hewitson focused mainly on regional climate projections in Africa. He did not feel that it directly tied into the political process, but that his presence added visibility of Africa’s issues to other scientists in attendance at the COP.

Want to learn more about this interviewee? About Bruce Hewitson

Want more videos featuring this interviewee? Bruce Hewitson Videos

At COP-15, Bruce Hewitson was a South African climatologist working with the Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG).

Bruce Hewitson on Ethics vs. National Interest

April 28, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Hewitson_ethical vs practical

Question asked: do ethical interests gain ground in the negotiations or are practical interests more directly addressed?

Hewitson’s answer: Hewitson comments that countries almost exclusively favor their national interests to altruism. He notes that certain groups, such as the European Union, have made altruistic sacrifices (by my colleague, Brett Shollenberger’s, best definition: actions that are not economically, socially, or politically beneficial to a nation in the short term, with the exclusion of intergovernmental social and political interaction). Hewitson argues, however, that altruism is the only way to achieve intergenerational equity. He feels that the United States’ target of 17% reductions relative to 2005 levels by 2020 is inequitable (to put it nicely).

Want to learn more about this interviewee? About Bruce Hewitson

Want more videos featuring this interviewee? Bruce Hewitson Videos

At COP-15, Bruce Hewitson was a South African climatologist working with the Climate Systems Analysis Group (CSAG).

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