This the first in a trial series
Unsurprisingly, the biggest story in environment and Greenpeace news this week has been the disappointing outcome of the COP15 summit as major NGOs are turning focus on Mexico in 2010. Only US media seems careful to judge the summit as harshly as the European Press.
There are some interesting new names for the Copenhagen summit floating around in the media. Which was first Hopenhagen is now Flopenhagen or Brokenhagen in French media.
L'Express reports that the last two weeks have seen "45000 accreditations, 12 days of negotiations and 46,200 tonnes of carbon only to lead to "a crime against humanity" the major NGOs have turned to Mexico in 2010, are angry after the flop of Copenhagen." Kumi Naidoo was quoted saying, The Copenhagen Accord has "holes so big you could cross them with the Air Force One!"
According to Reuters and AFP, China is happy with the outcome at Copenhagen stating that China flexed its growing political muscle to seal a compromise climate deal that protected its national sovereignty. Meanwhile UK's Ed Miliband is receiving media coverage for accusing China of having "hijacked" the conference, by opposing an agreement providing a legal constraint on reducing CO2 emissions.
Gordon Brown is pointing fingers as well, blaming China and America’s lack of “ambition” for the failure of the Copenhagen climate change summit. Brown, angry at the failure of the talks, warned that never again could “a handful of nations” hold the rest “to ransom.”
"Despite all the efforts China has made at home to tackle climate change, Copenhagen is an opportunity missed for China, to demonstrate that China could be proactive and responsible player on this crucial issue," said Ailun Yang.
There was some coverage in Mexican media on the Greenpeace action in Mexico City. Activists protested in Chapultepec Lake, enacting a future disaster scenario for Mexico after the failure of the COP15. The scenario depicted what would happen in case of sea level rise with half-sunk cars and activist standing waist-deep in water holding a banner that read, " Politicians: You failed. Now solve your climate disaster". While this action made for a great photo-op, for some reason, no visuals accompanied the stories in online media.
Spanish speaking media is reporting widely on GP Spain director Juan Lopez de Uralde as he is one of the four Greenpeace activists face spending Christmas in a Copenhagen jail. GP Spain assured the public that he's doing well.
Likewise, Dutch media is reporting on fellow activist Joris Thijssen and in Norway, even the Green Party was appalled by the arrest of Norwegian activist Nora Christiansen and called on the Norwegian government to put pressure on Danish authorities to release the activists. Juan Lopez de Uralde, Nora Christiansen, Christian Schmutz and Joris Thijssen were arrested after
they gatecrashed the royal gala dinner for heads of state. On Saturday night, GP held a vigil outside the prison, pointing out that the activists will be separated from their children for Christmas. This was picked up by AFP and AP and received strong international coverage.
Also in Dutch media, Greenpeace has achieved a victory in the fight against the growing of genetically engineered crops. The Council of State in The Hague recently destroyed the permit issued by the Minister of Vrom to Pioneer Hi-Bred granting the holding of field trials with genetically modified corn, genmaïs.
In India, Greenpeace on Monday said the Indian Government should not enact the proposed Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill as it was "discriminatory' and would let foreign suppliers go scot-free. The union cabinet had passed the text of the draft bill last month, which will cap the liability of the operator at Rs.300 crore, while the maximum amount of liability for each nuclear incident has been fixed at about Rs.2,208 crore. The government would have to pay the rest of the compensation if damages were calculated at over Rs.300 crore.
Non-Greenpeace Environment News:
AFP reports that the world’s oceans are becoming noisier due to pollution, with potentially harmful effects for whales, dolphins and other marine life, US scientists said in a study published on Sunday. Low-frequency sound in the ocean is produced by natural phenomena such as rain, waves and marine life, and by human activities such as sonar systems, shipping and construction. This received strong international coverage.
Bad news coming out of the Pacific, as levels of the climate warming methane gas have begun to rise again in the Southern Hemisphere as measured at Wellington's Baring Head. Atmospheric methane increased by 0.7 percent over the two-year period 2007-08, a change it called globally significant news. That is about 35 times more than all the methane produced by New Zealand livestock each year.