Climate Change

World leaders are convening in Paris this week for COP21, the 2015 U.N. Climate Change Conference, in hopes of reaching an agreement on how to slow global warming. Although momentum toward clean energy and reduced greenhouse gas emissions has increased around the world, a real shift will require more coordination, better-enforced legal frameworks and a renewed focus on innovation. All of the articles linked below are free for nonsubscribers until Dec. 17. What’s at Stake in Paris? In Climate Talks, as in Syria, Half-Measures Must Do for France’s HollandeFrom managing security measures following the Paris attacks of Nov. 13 to [...]

In the wake of this month’s terrorist attacks in Paris, French President Francois Hollande has cast himself as a fierce war leader, promising to take revenge on the self-declared Islamic State for the atrocities. Yet while he has ratcheted up airstrikes in Syria, he also needs to strike some major diplomatic bargains to shore up France’s global position. Last week, the French president was in both Washington and Moscow trying to secure a global deal on the Syrian war. Now he is back in Paris to kick off final talks on a potentially even trickier international agreement over climate change. [...]

Global efforts to mitigate the impacts of climate change are ramping up ahead of the 21st Session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, known as COP21, to be held in Paris later this year. Although Latin America accounts for only 5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions, many countries in the region have taken leading roles in global mitigation efforts. Brazil was host to the initial 1992 Earth Summit that led to the framework convention, and continues to be a major participant in climate change mitigation efforts, most notably in reducing [...]