Policy Update #5: Untying Copenhagen’s “Gordian Knot” [viewed]
Attending the Barcelona climate talks earlier this month reminded me of the legendary Gordian Knot. According to the ancient Greeks, the Gordian Knot was a large rope wrapped around a post so many times it was impossible to unravel. So complex was the knot that it was not even possible to find the ends of the rope or start untying it. Legend told that the person who freed the knot and solved the puzzle would eventually unite the world.
23 November 2009: The UNFCCC Secretariat has released the second interim report (FCCC/SBI/2009/14) of the Global Environment Facility (GEF) on the progress made in carrying out the Poznan Strategic Programme on Technology Transfer.
23 November 2009: The UN Development Programme (UNDP) and the World Health Organization (WHO), with the support of the International Energy Agency (IEA), have released a new report titled "The Energy Access Situation in Developing Countries: A Review Focusing on the Least Developed Countries and Sub-Saharan Africa." The report indicates that over 1.5 billion people currently lack access to electricity.
23 November 2009: Speaking at the opening of the 26th session of the Assembly of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), IMO Secretary-General Efthimios E. Mitropoulos reviewed the work of the organization in the previous biennium, highlighting progress on a package of technical and operational measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from international shipping.
23 November 2009: The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has released the 2008 Greenhouse Gas Bulletin, which provides information on the state of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere using global observations through 2008.
23 November 2009: EU Environment Ministers gathered at an extra meeting of the Environment Council on 23 November 2009, in Brussels, Belgium, to undertake a final review of the EU position ahead of the climate change conference in Copenhagen in December.
23 November 2009: The International Forum on Energy Efficiency in Housing, under the aegis of the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), is taking place in Vienna, Austria, from 23-25 November 2009, to consider a draft action plan for improving buildings' energy efficiency performance in the UNECE region.
20 November 2009: The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) has announced the establishment of an online tool, the "Global Framework on Aviation and Alternative Fuels" (GRAAF), which will be used to communicate best practices, future ICAO member State activities, and other information regarding the development and implementation of alternative fuels for aviation worldwide.
