By Stephen Leahy

CANCÚN, Dec 11, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – If success is measured by delaying difficult decisions, then the Cancún climate meeting succeeded by deferring crucial issues over financing and new targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to the next Conference of the Parties meeting a year from now in Durban, South Africa. Continue Reading

By Keya Acharya

CANCÚN, Mexico, Dec 9, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) An entire body of leaders, spearheaded by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, is now looking at REDD+ as a panacea to global warming with multiple benefits thrown in. Continue Reading

Felix Finkbeiner. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi

CANCÚN, Dec 9, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – While delegates, ministers and politicans struggle towards agreement on a climate change treaty in the conference rooms of the Moon Palace, a group of children are getting on with it outside, planting trees to save the planet. Continue Reading

Climate-driven changes in the water cycle will affect large regions of the world. Credit: Friedrich Böhringer/creative commons license

By Stephen Leahy

CANCÚN, Dec 8, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – As the world heats up, continents are drying up, with severe droughts forecast in the future. But negotiators at the climate summit here seem to have forgotten about water in their endless discussions over forests, carbon trading and finances. Continue Reading

The Epulu River flowing in DRC's Ituri Province. Credit: J Doremus/Wikicommons

By Rosebell Kagumire

CANCÚN, Dec 7, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – One of the stumbling blocks to finalising proposals to fund the conservation of forests in Africa is that some of the most ecologically – and commercially – valuable forests in Africa are in areas racked by conflict. Continue Reading

Protestors insisted on protection of the interests of indigenous people and peasant farmers. Credit: Mantoe Phakathi/IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi

CANCÚN, Dec 6, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – As ministers arrived for the second week of climate change negotiations in the Mexican resort city of Cancún, an estimated two thousand marchers took to the streets to oppose what they called a capitalist outcome of deliberations.

“We’re seeing a green capitalism here in Cancún, where rich countries are calling for solutions aimed at violating the rights of not only the environment but also of grassroots groups,” said Mary Lon Malig, from peasant farmers’ organisation La Via Campesina. Continue Reading

Wildlifers worry the Forest Rights Act will threaten India's last critical habitats, which include Ranthambore National Park in Rajasthan. Credit: Keya Acharya/IPS

Commentary by Keya Acharya

MEXICO CITY, Dec. 5, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) While the parlaying at the climate talks in Cancún broke for the weekend, a group of 155 legislators from 16 of the G20 major economies met in the Mexican Senate to discuss how to influence their countries’ ministers to agree to an international commitment that obligated them to pass national laws on climate action. Continue Reading

Farmers have a role to play in reducing emissions. Credit: Kristin Palitza/IPS

By Mantoe Phakathi*

CANCÚN, Dec 5, 2010, (IPS/TerraViva) – Global agriculture contributes in the region of 17 percent to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change, but according to the World Bank, climate smart agriculture techniques can both reduce emissions and meet the challenge of producing enough food for a growing world population. Continue Reading

A cloud forest in Costa Rica. Credit: Germán Miranda/IPS

By Keya Acharya

CANCÚN, Dec 4, 2010 (IPS/TerraViva) – Forest rights advocates and indigenous community organisations from India are adding their voices to what promises to become the newest division in the climate talks here: the inclusion of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation + in developing countries, or REDD+, as an agreement. Continue Reading

Indigenous coffee grower in Perú. Milagros Salazar/IPS

By Rosebell Kagumire

CANCÚN, Mexico, Dec 2, 2010 – (IPS/TerraViva) Conservation activists are calling for the recognition of women in any agreement on reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation. Continue Reading