US, equity and the elephants in the room

Blog Intro:  The issue of sharing the common atmospheric space has been at the core of discussions—the elephant in the room that we want to forget. It is what needs to be discussed for an effective climate regime, says Sunita Narain Indian top negotiator, R R Rashmi said yesterday at a side event we had organized on equity in climate negotiations that they could not use the word ‘equity’ in the final Durban Platform document because of the aversion to that word of a particular country. He said that they had to instead use the phrase, ‘under the convention’ meaning that future actions would be determined by the principles of the climate convention, which were based on equitably sharing of the world’s atmospheric space.

'We cannot sell the idea of equity back home,' says US negotiator

The US made it clear it is not on the same page on equity as the developing nations.

“We cannot sell the idea of equity back home”: US negotiator

India braces for cyclone Nilam

The deep depression at about 500 km south-southeast of Chennai in the Bay of Bengal has intensified into a cyclone. The cyclone, which has been named Nilam, is expected to cross Nagapattinam in north Tamil Nadu and Nellore in south Andhra Pradesh by October 31 evening.

Superstorm ‘Sandy’ tells us why the climate change denial must stop

I start this blog on climate politics as tropical superstorm Sandy expends its fury on the eastern coast of the US. The satellite imagery shows the movement of the gathering storm as it builds and breaks over land, bringing with it massive destruction and massive upheaval in the wealthiest and most powerful nation of the world. It speaks of the extraordinary power of nature and should leave us  both shocked, at the possibilities of destruction, and in awe of its sheer force. This is the shock and awe that we need to know more about.

Extreme weather and climate change

Hurricane Sandy is wreaking havoc in the US. For a country that hesitates to talk about climate change, the superstorm has forced it to brainstorm. Newspaper columns and social media posts have started to explore the link between climate change and the storm. Down To Earth has been reporting on extreme climate events and their links to climate change, including category five hurricane Katrina of 2005. A few selected articles:

Kolkata to host parallel AIDS conference after US denies entry to sex workers

Hurt at being denied visa by the US to attend the International AIDS conference, sex worker groups from 27 countries have decided to hold a parallel conference in Kolkata. The group includes 70 members from India. The 19th International AIDS conference is slated to be held between July 22 and July 27 in Washington DC.

China not pleased with US slapping import duty on solar panels

China has reacted sharply to the 30 per cent import duty slapped by the United States on Chinese solar cells and panels entering its market. It is a new development in the long-drawn trade battle between the United States and China. 

Almost half of doctors in US from lower-income countries

While India may be lavishly spending to nurture medical graduates, they turn up practicing in the US causing financial loss to the country, says a new study.  The study by researchers from Stanley Medical Research Institute in Maryland, US, compared the investments made by lower-income countries like India and the Philippines in training medical graduates with the financial losses the countries face when these graduates serve in other countries.

Massive solar storm reaches Earth

The largest solar storm in almost a decade swept over Earth on January 24.