The Bonn Climate Change Conference (6-16 June) is designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in November this year. The conference will build on the positive outcome of last year’s UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, which finalized operational details of the Paris Agreement and identified work going forward, in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support – particularly finance – and loss and damage.
UN Climate Change on Twitter: twitter.com/UNFCCC
UN Climate Change on Instagram: instagram.com/UNclimatechange
UN Climate Change on Facebook: facebook.com/UNclimatechange
The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
In Conspiracy, Pipes argues that the fear of non-existent conspiracies has flourished down through the ages, and has sometimes had significant impact, causing coups and revolutions, bringing leaders including Lenin, Perón, Napoleon and Saddam Hussein into power, and driving Trujillo, the Gang of Four and James II of England from power.
Francis Fukuyama describes Conspiracy as a “fascinating account of conspiracy theories down through the ages, from Christian accusations against the Jews to contemporary African-American theorizing about a police conspiracy to frame O. J. Simpson and the CIA’s role in promoting the aids epidemic in urban ghettoes.”
A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation,[3][4][5] when other explanations are more probable.[3][6][7] The term has a negative connotation, implying that the appeal to a conspiracy is based on prejudice or insufficient evidence.[8] A conspiracy theory is not the same as a conspiracy; instead, it refers to a hypothesized conspiracy with specific characteristics, such as an opposition to the mainstream consensus among those people (such as scientists or historians) who are qualified to evaluate its accuracy.
Studies have linked belief in conspiracy theories to distrust of authority and political cynicism.[14][15][16] Some researchers suggest that conspiracist ideation—belief in conspiracy theories—may be psychologically harmful or pathological,[17][18] and that it is correlated with lower analytical thinking, low intelligence, psychological projection, paranoia, and Machiavellianism.[19] Psychologists usually attribute belief in conspiracy theories and finding a conspiracy where there is none to a number of psychopathological conditions such as paranoia, schizotypy, narcissism, and insecure attachment,[9] or to a form of cognitive bias called “illusory pattern perception”.[20][21] However, the current scientific consensus holds that most conspiracy theorists are not pathological, precisely because their beliefs ultimately rely on cognitive tendencies that are neurologically hardwired in the human species and probably have deep evolutionary origins, including natural inclinations towards anxiety and agency detection.
Historically, conspiracy theories have been closely linked to prejudice, propaganda, witch hunts, wars, and genocides. They are often strongly believed by the perpetrators of terrorist attacks, and were used as justification by Timothy McVeigh and Anders Breivik, as well as by governments such as Nazi Germany, the Soviet Union, and Turkey. AIDS denialism by the government of South Africa, motivated by conspiracy theories, caused an estimated 330,000 deaths from AIDS, QAnon and denialism about the 2020 United States presidential election results led to the 2021 United States Capitol attack, while belief in conspiracy theories about genetically modified foods led the government of Zambia to reject food aid during a famine, at a time when three million people in the country were suffering from hunger. Conspiracy theories are a significant obstacle to improvements in public health, encouraging opposition to vaccination and water fluoridation among others, and have been linked to outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases. Other effects of conspiracy theories include reduced trust in scientific evidence, radicalization and ideological reinforcement of extremist groups, and negative consequences for the economy.
Alex Jones referenced numerous conspiracy theories for convincing his supporters to endorse Ron Paul over Mitt Romney in the 2012 Republican Party presidential primaries and Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton in the 2016 United States presidential election.[ Into the 2020s, the QAnon conspiracy theory alleges that Trump is fighting against a deep-state cabal of child sex-abusing and Satan-worshipping Democrats.
Historian Kathryn S. Olmsted cites three reasons why Americans are prone to believing in government conspiracies theories:
Genuine government overreach and secrecy during the Cold War, such as Watergate, the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, Project MKUltra, and the CIA’s assassination attempts on Fidel Castro in collaboration with mobsters. Precedent set by official government-sanctioned conspiracy theories for propaganda, such as claims of German infiltration of the U.S. during World War II or the debunked claim that Saddam Hussein played a role in the 9/11 attacks. Distrust fostered by the government’s spying on and harassment of dissenters, such as the Sedition Act of 1918, COINTELPRO, and as part of various Red Scares.
The US diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics was not about lecturing China but about “standing up for human rights”, the US climate envoy has said.
John Kerry told Stephen Sackur, of BBC News’s Hardtalk programme, that addressing climate change was so important, it should be kept separate from other areas where there is tension in the relationship between Washington and Beijing.
The fragile unity shown in Glasgow last November is likely to be tested in Bonn as countries deal with the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the cost of living crisis.
Mr Kerry told the BBC that despite these drawbacks, “as a world we are still not moving fast enough,” to rein in the emissions of warming gases that are driving up temperatures.
“We can still win this battle,” the former senator said, but it will require a “wholesale elevation of effort by countries all around the world”.
Mr Kerry’s call was echoed by a leading Ukrainian scientist who urged delegates to speed up their transition away from fossil fuels.
Dr Svitana Krakovska said oil and gas were the “enablers of war”.
Today’s meeting in Bonn, which will last until the end of next week, is much smaller than COP26 and is mainly a technical negotiation.
It occurs halfway between the big conferences in Glasgow and COP27, to be held in Egypt.
The talks will be carried out by civil servants with limited political input and will review progress on a host of issues agreed in the Glasgow Climate Pact,
So how much progress on climate has been made since COP26
Bluntly, not a lot.
A BBC analysis shows that across a range of issues, very little has been achieved.
The world emerged from Glasgow into an energy crisis sparked by a rapid rise in the price of gas. This has been massively compounded by the Russian invasion of Ukraine and ongoing problems in global supply lines.
Prices for fossil energy have shot up dramatically as governments worry about security of supply.
As President Biden calls on Congress to enact new gun control measures, we go to Buffalo to speak with Cariol Horne, a racial justice advocate and former Buffalo police officer. She says the nation must address white supremacy, as well as gun control, following last month’s massacre in Buffalo, when a white supremacist attacked a grocery story, fatally shooting 10 people, all of whom were Black. “He victimized everyone in that community, even the people who arrived on the scene after it happened and watched the carnage that he left behind,” says Horne. “This is racist terrorism. We have to call it what it is.” Horne also talks about how she was fired from the Buffalo police force for stopping a white officer from choking a Black man who was handcuffed.
Party official Graham Brady says he has received enough letters from lawmakers demanding a vote on Johnson’s leadership to trigger one. That happens if 54 Tory lawmakers – 15% of the party’s group in the House of Commons – write to Brady. (June 6)
UN Climate Change on Twitter: twitter.com/UNFCCC
UN Climate Change on Instagram: instagram.com/UNclimatechange
UN Climate Change on Facebook: facebook.com/UNclimatechange
Watch more on the COP26 Channel: YouTube.com/COP26
The UN Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in Glasgow, United Kingdom is a crucial opportunity to achieve pivotal, transformational change in global climate policy and action. It is a credibility test for global efforts to address climate change and it is where Parties must make considerable progress to reach consensus on issues they have been discussing for several years. COP 26 comes against the background of widespread, rapid and intensifying climate change impacts, which are already impacting every region on Earth. Also, COP 26 comes against the background of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the urgent need to build back better for present future generations to ensure a safe future.
The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
The Bonn Climate Change Conference (6-16 June) is designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in November this year. The conference will build on the positive outcome of last year’s UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, which finalized operational details of the Paris Agreement and identified work going forward, in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support – particularly finance – and loss and damage.
UN Climate Change on Twitter: twitter.com/UNFCCC
UN Climate Change on Instagram: instagram.com/UNclimatechange
UN Climate Change on Facebook: facebook.com/UNclimatechange
The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
UN #ClimateChange: Opening Ceremony #BonnClimateConference (Part 2)
The Bonn Climate Change Conference (6-16 June) is designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference COP27 in November this year. The conference will build on the positive outcome of last year’s UN Climate Change Conference COP26 in Glasgow, which finalized operational details of the Paris Agreement and identified work going forward, in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support – particularly finance – and loss and damage.
UN Climate Change on Twitter: twitter.com/UNFCCC
UN Climate Change on Instagram: instagram.com/UNclimatechange
UN Climate Change on Facebook: facebook.com/UNclimatechange
The UNFCCC secretariat (UN Climate Change) is the United Nations entity tasked with supporting the global response to the threat of climate change. UNFCCC stands for United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. The Convention has near universal membership (197 Parties) and is the parent treaty of the 2015 Paris Agreement. The main aim of the Paris Agreement is to keep the global average temperature rise this century as close as possible to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. The UNFCCC is also the parent treaty of the 1997 Kyoto Protocol. The ultimate objective of all three agreements under the UNFCCC is to stabilize greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that will prevent dangerous human interference with the climate system, in a time frame which allows ecosystems to adapt naturally and enables sustainable development.
Welcome to Transition Studies. To prosper for very much longer on the changing Earth humankind will need to move beyond its current fossil-fueled civilization toward one that is sustained on recycled materials and renewable energy. This is not a trivial shift. It will require a major transition in all aspects of our lives.
This weblog explores the transition to a sustainable future on our finite planet. It provides links to current news, key documents from government sources and non-governmental organizations, as well as video documentaries about climate change, environmental ethics and environmental justice concerns.
The links are listed here to be used in whatever manner they may be helpful in public information campaigns, course preparation, teaching, letter-writing, lectures, class presentations, policy discussions, article writing, civic or Congressional hearings and citizen action campaigns, etc. For further information on this blog see: About this weblog. and How to use this weblog.
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