Climate and Energy

Did the agreements that came out of the December 2015 COP 21 in Paris really hold any meaningful weight?

The consumption of meat and animal by-products is something we take largely for granted. Up until two years ago, I was a blind omnivore, consuming more than my fair share of factory farmed meat and dairy and never once thinking about where the food I ate came from, or the resounding impact it had upon so many levels of society and industry. In the aftermath of COP21, it is time to examine the shady nature of one of the most environmentally degrading industries in the game.

And so, the COP 21, the Paris talks on climate change which have been on everyone’s mind for the past 15 days are over but already registered in limbo for some. Will these talks really go down in history, as Hollande has repeatedly claimed?

Applause had already broken forth when the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Laurent Fabius, brought his gavel down. On Saturday, after two weeks of arduous climate negotiations in an old airport hangar at Le Bourget outside of Paris, the world had come to an agreement, thus concluding a process spanning decades and adopting the first truly global climate deal.

Bigger cities, more wealth and increasingly complex products demand more metallic ores. This is also true for the transition towards sustainable energy.

International environmental policies focus on safeguarding renewable natural resources. Little attention, however, is paid, to the much more difficult problem of non-renewable natural resources, such as metallic ores and phosphate. A survey of the dilemmas.

The response of the EU to the arrival ‘en masse’ of refugees in need of a safe haven has left much to be desired, and some leaders have used the issue of security threats as an excuse to avoid taking up their responsibilities to provide humanitarian assistance. But until European leaders and citizens join the dots between the complex but interlinked issues of migration and climate change, a secure environment will remain out of reach for all of us. An interview with Bodil Valero, Green MEP for Sweden.

The EU cannot be a credible leader on climate change when its decision makers are aware of the risks and the alternatives available, yet still refuse to take the actions needed. How much longer can we wait for politicians to catch up to the mood among civil society? An interview with Dutch Green MEP Bas Eickhout.

Climate action has come to a political standstill, and in spite of mass mobilisation efforts, the general public still have not grasped the urgency of the situation. Will it really take something drastic to bring about real change? As more people begin to ask this question, some stop waiting for the answer and take control: by bringing climate change to the courtroom.

Climate Express has set out to make sure a mass mobilisation is present in Paris, to keep the pressure on the negotiators and leaders during the climate conference. But can this form of collective movement really affect the outcome of the COP21? An interview with Laurien Spruyt from the campaign.