Copenhagen

Will Obama Save the World?

By ecoscott on 12/16/09 11:58pm
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President ObamaPresident ObamaWhen Superman needed to go from Clark Kent to the Man of Steel so he could save the world one more time, all he needed to do was find the nearest telephone booth and in a flash he went from nerdy guy to flying, invincible superhero. Copenhagen kind of needs Obama to do something along those lines- but you can’t do that in the age of cell phones! Obama is on his way to Copenhagen and nothing short of a gigantic S on his chest will change the outcome of the summit that seems lined with kryptonite and full of forces, both diabolical and strategic. Lots of good intentions with lots of politics leading on a green, leafy road to nowhere. The summit is, for lack of a better cliché, lost in the woods.

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Japan Draws New Lines Around Copenhagen

By ecoscott on 9/5/09 3:59pm
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DPJ on the Road to CopenhagenDPJ on the Road to CopenhagenWith Copenhagen less than 100 days away, nations around the world are scrambling to define their positions, make the outlines of what their demands will be and dig their heels in around important issues- and no one wants to be left behind. The new government in Japan is no exception.

Last weekend Japan voted the untested Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) who took over for the sitting party that had been in power for more than 50 years. While they of course cannot change any of the commitments in place, but they are showing that they can play politics with the best of them out there.

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Politics as Unusual in Asia

By ecoscott on 9/1/09 10:57am
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Map of East AsiaMap of East AsiaOver the weekend Japan made an historic change in its governing- after over 50 years of virtually uninterrupted power, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) was ousted by the most powerful political tool of all- a democratic vote. Changing a 5 decade ruling party is big- and so is North Korea sending a diplomatic delegation to China. Both are happening as this first week of September gets underway.

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Climate Change Politics: Congress and the U.N.

By ecoscott on 8/15/09 3:25pm
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U.N. BuildingU.N. BuildingJonathan Pershing, head of the U.S. delegation at U.N. climate talks, told Reuters that trade wars don’t seem plausible because of all the economic possibilities and opportunities that will result from clean energy developments.

"I think there will be questions about whether other countries are adequately acting. And there's going to be a question about competitiveness. But I wouldn't think there will be a trade war. It doesn't seem plausible.”

Doesn’t seem plausible? In the current economic climate that is gripping the world, who gets what development opportunities could be as contentious and debated as ever. The idea that this time around everyone will get an equal piece of the development pie is equally as implausible from my point of view.

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Are U.S. businesses too big to fail while island nations too small to care about?

By ecoscott on 7/11/09 2:12pm
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islandislandThis week’s G8 summit has been less than inspirational. The expected battles over numbers and responsibility are no shocker, but the emerging in vs. out crowd in who and what will be taken into account when the chips are down is revealing.

The Alliance of Small Island States is a UN-based group of 42 island countries. In some ways, small island countries have the most to worry about with climate change issues. Rising ocean levels threaten to take away much of their coastline, create extreme weather conditions, and in extreme cases completely flood over their island, like I wrote about for the Carteret Islands.

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