G20Voice » Emily Gertz

Climate protesters hit the streets in Pittsburgh during G20 meeting

Emily Gertz — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:33:34 +0000

Young activists from the Avaaz Action Factory joined the mass “People’s March” into downtown Pittsburgh on Friday afternoon, not far from the site of the G20 Summit, after holding their own climate-focused march in the morning. Their Twitter-friendly slogan is “G20 Climate FAIL,” criticizing what they say has been a lack of action toward a global climate treaty. …see photos and read more at Grist…

G20 cans fossil-fuel subsidies, but fails to make other climate-conserving moves

Emily Gertz — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:31:12 +0000

On Friday afternoon, President Barack Obama formally announced that the world’s 20 major developed and developing nations had agreed to gradually eliminate fossil-fuel subsidies. It was the only climate-specific policy directive to come out of the Group of 20 (G20) Summit in Pittsburgh, and it fell far short in the view of climate activists, who were hoping for a firm proposal on “climate finance”—G20 aid to poor nations for help in adapting to and mitigating climate change. …read more at Grist…

Climate at the G20: White House briefs bloggers on climate discussions

Emily Gertz — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:29:52 +0000

Climate activists were underwhelmed by what came out of this week’s Group of 20 summit in Pittsburgh in the way of formal climate change commitments.
True, the heads of state of the 20 leading developed and developing economies agreed to phase out fossil fuel subsidies “in the medium term.” But they couldn’t come to a consensus on climate finance — aid from richer nations to poorer, directed at adapting to and mitigating the impacts of global warming. …read more at Change.org …

Actor Djimon Hounsou wants to show the human costs of climate change

Emily Gertz — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:27:46 +0000

Actor Djimon Hounsou is just as snacky in real life as he was on the big screen in Blood Diamond, The Island, and Gladiator. Better yet, he’s also a climate activist and humanitarian. As a global ambassador for the aid and development group Oxfam, Hounsou has traveled in sub-Saharan Africa and seen the direct links between climate change and human suffering. …read more at Grist…

SurvivaBall: Your individual climate-change adaptation strategy

Emily Gertz — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 20:26:39 +0000

The world’s most upstanding corporate citizens, like Halliburton, Monsanto, and ExxonMobil, take climate change seriously. It’s a serious opportunity for profit. That’s why, in addition to spending millions to perpetuate the energy, environmental, and subsidy policies that sustain their ongoing operations, they’ve created this “gated community for one” — the SurvivaBall. …read more at Grist…

China steals Climate Week spotlight, but U.S. still in the hot seat

Emily Gertz — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:14:39 +0000

The U.S. was given a starring role at the United Nations Climate Summit on Tuesday, but China stole the show.

President Barack Obama had pride of place on the agenda, as the first head of state to speak to the gathered world leaders, ministers, and climate negotiators. His speech, which was warmly received, offered rhetorically forceful yet wholly general commentary about the huge risks posed by climate change and the need for action. Obama said nothing specific about what his nation was prepared to commit to in order to slash its emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases. Most of the speeches by other heads of state charted the same safe territory…read more at Grist…

Boxer, Kerry will introduce Senate climate bill next week

Emily Gertz — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:12:15 +0000

Last night at Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum, Teresa Heinz read a message from her husband, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), that set the gala crowd to cheering: He and Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) will introduce a climate bill in the Senate next Wednesday….read more at Grist…

Climate at the G20: Obama to press cuts in fossil fuel subsidies

Emily Gertz — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:15:12 +0000

After three days of an all-climate schedule in New York City, featuring Tuesday’s all-day United Nations Climate Summit, I’m now in Pittsburgh to cover the meeting of the Group of 20 (G20) major economies. My thanks to Grist and G20Voice for helping me to be here. Given that the heads of state chewed over global warming at the United Nations Climate Summit on Tuesday, where will climate figure into tomorrow’s G20 agenda of meetings? …read more…