CheckTheWeather

From a post by Naomi Klein on The Nation:

A video interview by The Uptake, with African poet and activist Nnimmo Bassey about Obama on climate.  Read Naomi Klein’s article about her discussion with Bassey here.

And tomorrow, African Parliamentarians and members of African Civil Society groups will be joined by representatives from US civil rights and environmental justice NGOs at a press conference in Copenhagen to make an urgent appeal to US President Barak Obama calling for leadership on the issue of climate justice. The Pan African Climate Justice Alliance, an alliance of civil society organizations in 43 countries across Africa will issue an urgent appeal to Obama as he prepares to receive the Nobel Peace Prize tonight in Norway. ChecktheWeather’s own Kari Fulton will be representing!
For those of you in Copenhagen:
WHERE:Asger Jorn, NGO Press Conference Room, Bella Center, Copenhagen, Denmark
WHEN: 8:30 a.m. Thursday, December 10, 2009

On Day 2 of UNFCCC COP 15 in Copenhagen, a major wave of reactions was caused by the ‘leak’ of a draft proposal written by Denmark, US and other developed countries. The proposal, written and negotiated by only a few select rich countries and largely leaving out any voice from the Global South, has been deemed unfair and dangerous.  You can read the full text and read more background information on the proposal at the Guardian, click here.

Here are some immediate reactions to the text:
–A press release statement from over 25 civil society groups of the Global South: “They are an attack on the democratic processes of UN negotiations. And they are an affront to the interest of small and poor countries in the negotiations.”
–Friends of the Earth: “grossly unfair and a non-starter”
–International Rivers: “The end result is lots of offsets, few real emission reductions.”

A video from NTV Kenya on protests held at the Bella Center in reaction to the proposal.  Also check out ChecktheWeather contributor Kari Fulton’s account of the protests here.

From theRoot.com:

Developing countries at the Climate Change Summit want to be heard—and compensated.

By Dayo Olopade

It isn’t often that Russians climb in bed with Rwandans. Yet, as the much-hyped United Nations climate summit convenes in Copenhagen this week, 56 world newspapers unites against the growing threat of catastrophic climate change. An editorial urging global action to deflect the worst effects of fossil fuel dependence appeared in major news outlets, including ones in Moscow and Kigali—and in 10 other newspapers published from the African continent. “This should not be a fight between the rich world and the poor world, or between east and west,” the text, originally drafted by the Guardian UK, read. “Climate change affects everyone, and must be solved by everyone.”

Read the rest of the article at TheRoot.com.