COP-17 finally came to a close Sunday morning, Nov. 20, 2022

The world has failed to reach an agreement to phase out fossil fuels after marathon UN climate talks were “stonewalled” by a number of oil-producing nations.

Negotiators from nearly 200 countries at the COP27 UN climate summit in Egypt took the historic step of agreeing to set up a “loss and damage” fund meant to help vulnerable countries cope with climate disasters and agreed the globe needs to cut greenhouse gas emissions nearly in half by 2030.

The agreement also reaffirmed the goal of keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

However, an attempt to address the biggest source of the planet warming emissions that are causing the climate crisis ended in a fiasco after a number of nations, including China and Saudi Arabia, blocked a key proposal to phase out all fossil fuels, not just coal.

UU demonstrators marching (unknown venue)

Addressing the summit early on Sunday morning, the European Union’s Climate Chief Frans Timmermans said the EU was “disappointed” with the final outcome of the summit.

“What we have in front of us is not enough of a step forward for people and planet … we should have done much more,” Timmermans said.

Victory for climate crisis victims

The agreement to help the world’s most vulnerable countries deal with loss and damage represents a breakthrough, however, in what has been a contentious negotiation process.

It marks the first time countries and groups, including longtime holdouts like the United States and the EU, have agreed to establish a fund for nations vulnerable to climate disasters made worse by pollution disproportionately produced by wealthy, industrialized nations.

Negotiators and non-governmental organizations observing the talks praised the deal as a significant achievement, after developing nations and small island countries banded together to amplify pressure.

The creation of the fund also became one of the key demands of activists attending the summit. Unlike in previous years, when huge protests and loud calls for action become part of the event, demonstrations were muted this year.

Protests are rare and mostly illegal in Egypt and the Egyptian government put strict limits on protesters attending the conference.

Still, the biggest protest of the summit saw hundreds of activists marching through the venue last weekend, demanding climate payments. On Friday, 10-year-old Ghanian activist Nakeeyat Dramani received a standing ovation in the plenary after calling on the delegates to “have a heart and do the math.”

Sean Gallup/Getty Image

The fund will focus on what can be done to support loss and damage resources, but it does not include liability or compensation provisions, a senior Biden administration official told CNN.

Reaching the agreement was not easy. The summit was originally scheduled to end on Friday, but went well into overtime with negotiators still trying to hammer out the details as the conference venue was being dismantled around them.

The US and other developed nations have long sought to avoid such provisions that could open them up to legal liability and lawsuits from other countries. And in previous public remarks, US Climate Envoy John Kerry had said loss and damage was not the same thing as climate reparations. (Kerry was quaranteened since Friday when he tested positive for COVID 19. He continued to communicate by phone.)

“‘Reparations’ is not a word or a term that has been used in this context,” Kerry said on a recent call with reporters earlier this month. He added: “We have always said that it is imperative for the developed world to help the developing world to deal with the impacts of climate.”

Details on how the fund would operate remain murky. The text leaves a lot of questions on when it will be finalized and become operational, and how exactly it would be funded. The text also mentions a transitional committee that will help nail down those details, but doesn’t set specific future deadlines.

And while climate experts celebrated the win, they also noted the uncertainty going forward.

“This loss and damage fund will be a lifeline for poor families whose houses are destroyed, farmers whose fields are ruined, and islanders forced from their ancestral homes,” World Resources Institute CEO Ani Dasgupta said. “At the same time, developing countries are leaving Egypt without clear assurances about how the loss and damage fund will be overseen.”

An outcome on a fund came this year in large part because the G77 bloc of developing nations stayed unified, exerting increased leverage on loss and damage than in past years, climate experts said.

“They needed to be together to force the conversation we’re having now,” Nisha Krishnan, resilience director for World Resources Institute Africa told reporters. “The coalition has held because of this conviction that we did need to stay together to deliver this – and to push the conversation.”

For many, the fund represents a hard-fought years-long victory, pushed over the finish line by the global attention given to climate disasters such as Pakistan’s devastating flooding this summer.

“It was like a big buildup,” former US climate envoy Todd Stern told CNN. “This has been around for quite a while and it’s getting all the more aggravating to vulnerable countries because there’s still not a lot of money getting put into it. As we can see the actual disaster impacts of climate change are getting more and more intense.”

Excerpts from: CNN COP-27 Summit

Our lawmakers have a goddess looking over their work

Hail Columbia...aka the goddess standing on top of our capitol building in DC...

The dome is topped with a 20-foot statue of a woman holding a sword and a laurel wreath, known as Freedom Triumphant in War and Peace, or sometimes, Armed Freedom.

See here for more info...
https://www.aoc.gov/explore-capitol.../art/statue-freedom

Climate Trace to track every big source of greenhouse emissions

 Well Al Gore has come through again. He went to COP-27 and talked, in an interview with All Things Considered, about a new way that everyone can tell what level of CO2 different industries are producing.

It's a map from satellite images. Of the world. Including China etc.

Al Gore helped launch a global emissions tracker that keeps big polluters honest

November 14, 20225:18 AM ET 

Heard on All Things Considered 

(Treehugger edition) 

Twitter

In the fight to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, one of the longstanding challenges has been figuring out who is exactly producing them and how much.

Now, a new global tracker is helping to make clear exactly where major greenhouse gas emissions are originating. Created by the nonprofit Climate Trace, the interactive map uses a combination of satellites, sensors and machine learning to measure the top polluters worldwide.

It observes how much greenhouse gases — carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide — are being emitted at specific locations, such as power plants and oil refineries. Former Vice President Al Gore, who is a founding member of the initiative, said it is meant to serve as a more reliable and accurate alternative to companies self-reporting their emissions estimates.

"Cheating is impossible with this artificial intelligence method, because they would have to somehow falsify multiple sets of data," he told NPR's Michel Martin on All Things Considered.

Gore recently returned from Egypt where world leaders have been convening to discuss the climate crisis at the annual U.N. climate conference, also known as COP27.

He believes the tracker will help countries stick to their pledges to reach net-zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.

Climate Trace wants to track nearly every big source of greenhouse emissions

The emissions tool employs over 300 satellites; sensors on land, planes and ships; as well as artificial intelligence to build models of emission estimates.

Right now, it tracks about 72,000 of the highest emitting greenhouse gas sources. That includes every power plant, large ship and large plane in the entire world, Gore said.

And that's just the beginning. By next year, Gore hopes to be tracking millions of major emitting sites.

"We will have essentially all of them," he said.

Gore said 75% of the world's greenhouse emissions come from countries that have made pledges to become carbon-neutral by 2050. "Now that they know exactly where it's coming from, they have tools that will enable them to reduce their emissions," he told NPR.

He added that the database, which is free and accessible online, can help inform countries about how much pollution is being emitted by the companies they are working with or considering working with.

It is not enough for companies to self-report, he said. For instance, Climate Trace found that the oil and gas industry has been significantly underreporting its emissions.

"We found their emissions are three times higher than they have been telling the United Nations," Gore said.

In the U.S. specifically, oil and gas producers have underreported how much methane they've been releasing, recent research suggests.

That doesn't mean companies were intentionally cheating, Gore added. However, he said underreporting prevents governments and the public from staying on track with their net-zero pledge.

Six regional governments in Mexico, Europe and Africa have already entered into working agreements for using the tool, Gore said.

Gore remains optimistic about the climate future

The world is generally off track from its goal of cutting emissions that drive climate change, but Gore said he's been impressed by recent efforts around the globe to address the issue.

In the U.S., Gore pointed to the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes over $360 billion to tackle climate change and incentivizes consumers to make greener choices. Gore described the law as "the biggest climate legislation in the history of the world."

He also praised Australia for voting in a new government that pledged to shift away from coal and Brazil for electing a new president who vowed to stop destroying the Amazon.

"So there's great danger, but there is hope," Gore said. "If we can summon the will to act."

More on Climate Change

From the Global Earth Repair Summit, 10/23/22: Indigenous Wisdom Panel

Led by Ilarion Merculieff, from Alaska, the panel included indigenous people from Canada, the US, Colombia, New Zealand, Africa, Peru, and more. Some highlights follow. (There's more, I'm just including a few paragraphs here.)

"Elders say that indigenous systems will heal the Earth. A big ceremony 

in union will allow energy to travel to all hearts…a global gathering

for global healing and transformation. Search inside for our answers; go
to the roots/the ancestors. Listen to the mountains, the wind, the
earth, the fire; call the Spirits and receive answers. Ancestors speak
through trees, wind, water in symbols and signals which we must learn to
read. Open the eyes of the heart-–hear the words of Mother Earth.

Quantum physics is about vibrational fields. There is a negative
vibration of capitalism and colonialism. Align with positive vibrations
of nature and spirit via ceremonies. Don’t wait for governments to
change or lead, they won’t act fast enough to avert climate chaos, so
we must act ourselves.

First people elders are gathering with one intention, embodied, with
help from the Spirit world. Universally, we have freedom to choose. The
Spirit world cannot help us unless we ask. Achieve harmony with
existence, then get powerful answers!

Re-indigenizing our colonized minds: heal ourselves (it’s unselfish).
Restore balance, listen to Mother Earth, return to authentic selves.
Natural disasters are caused by un-expressed human emotions. Mother
Earth is black in her fertile soils, feeding us. Yet we fear darkness.

Four prior worlds were destroyed by humans; only first peoples survived.
We need barter, trade, sharing, healing songs and healing herbs. Create
alternative economies. We must prepare for hard times, humans have
little time left to act."

Simple relaxation of shoulders

 An old friend gave me this, another old friend who now leads Feldenkrais. Just thought I'd like to share it with you. I sure felt better after listening/looking to this.

Carol Lessinger 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dmz5sy9gw8c&t=9s

Kurt Vonnegut, born Nov 11, 1922

 Kurt Vonnegut was disappointed in America. "I'm sorry that America isn't a greater success than it is," he told me in 1991. "Because we're so wealthy and we really could have done almost anything. And we've done so very little in comparison to what we might have done in creating an ideal society."

Vonnegut, who died in 2007 at the age of 84, would have turned 100 today. He was born in Indianapolis on Nov. 11, 1922, Armistice Day. The late author wrote satirical and darkly humorous novels that won him a cult-like following with the youth culture of the 1960s — but his work remains relevant today.

In 1987, he told me he was determined to write about war without romanticizing it. "My own feeling is that Civilization ended in World War I, and we're still trying to recover from that," he said. "Much of the blame is the malarkey that artists have created to glorify war — romantic pictures of battle, and of the dead and men in uniform and all that. And I did not want to have that story told again."

Four years later, shortly after the first Gulf War, Vonnegut was saddened by what he saw in America. "We have become such a pitiless people," he said. "And I think it's TV that's done it to us. When I went to war in World War II, we had two fears: One was we would be killed, the other was that we might have to kill somebody. And now killing is 'whoopee.' It does not seem much anymore. To my generation, it still seemed like an extraordinary thing to do, to kill."

Vonnegut wrote novels about the irrationality of governments and the senseless destruction of war. His work was informed by his experience in World War II when he was a 22-year-old soldier captured by the Germans in the Battle of the Bulge.

How Vonnegut spoke to 'young people who care'

Vonnegut's writing questioned the motives of governments and institutions. And that has always resonated with young people, says Charles J. Shields, author of the 2011 biography, And So it Goes: Kurt Vonnegut: A Life.

"When I look at faces of young people holding up signs, protesting a Supreme Court decision, or calling for reform, espousing a cause, I see Vonnegutians," Shields says. "What Vonnegut has to say to a young person now has not changed, but has the same effect as it did on young people who were facing the War in Vietnam. A government at the time that seemed indifferent to what the populace wanted. So as long as there are young people who care, Vonnegut will matter."

Shields believes Vonnegut is particularly relevant at this moment in history. "As I think we've come to understand, what's happening in Ukraine is very much like World War II," he explains. "It's the same abject desire for conquest. It's the same overrunning of boundaries and ignoring people's wants, needs and culture. War is fought at different times, but so often it involves the same issues, and so often has the same demeaning effect on humanity."

He was horrified by the senseless waste of war

Vonnegut's breakthrough to millions of readers came in 1963, with his fourth novel, Cat's Cradle — about a secret military experiment, called "Ice Nine," that leads to the destruction of civilization.

But his most striking anti-war statement came six years later and was quickly adapted by Hollywood. Slaughterhouse-Five depicts the firebombing of Dresden by Allied warplanes in 1945. The city was reduced to rubble. More than 20,000 civilians were killed.

Like the novel's hero, Vonnegut was an American POW, imprisoned in a Dresden Slaughterhouse during the air raid. Afterward, he was forced to remove decaying bodies from flooded basements around the city. Vonnegut said the experience left an indelible impression.

"The destruction of Dresden was my first experience with really fantastic waste," he recalled. "To burn down a habitable city — and a beautiful one at that. And so I was simply impressed by the wastefulness, the terrible wastefulness, the meaninglessness of war."

Vonnegut wrote 14 novels, along with a handful of story collections, plays and non-fiction works. His fiction has been reissued in a four-volume set by the Library of America. In 1991, he said he'd always have an audience because his books say: "Hey, you're not alone."

by TOM VITALE on NPR

Thank you to those whose candidates lost

 This is pretty much an appreciation for all that hard work.  Many hours by volunteers, as well as donations which paid for ads...did not go to waste. 

Here's the same message from Robert Hubbell (newsletter available free on line.)

Among all the hopeful news and “unexpected” victories, we must not forget that many of our friends and colleagues are in mourning and shock over losses by their candidates. I have heard from readers in North Carolina, Florida, and Texas, who feel shell-shocked and (for the moment) disillusioned and helpless. They backed outstanding candidates like Beto O’Rourke, Val Demings, and Cheri Beasley. (And let’s not forget supporters of Tim Ryan in Ohio.) If you know anyone who lives in a red state or is devastated by an irrational result, reach out to them. Assure them that they aren’t forgotten and their efforts matter. Their efforts are seeding the ground for future victories, even though that future may seem distant and contingent.

          The week before the election, I published a newsletter titled “No effort is wasted.” In the newsletter, I wrote that  

our efforts cannot be measured only by whether our candidates win or lose. In evaluating our efforts, we must ask two additional questions: First, what would have happened if we had not put in the effort to affect the outcome? Second, how many new voters did our efforts bring into the lifeblood of democracy?

[I]f our efforts bring new voters into the democratic process, that is a long-term win without regard to short-term outcomes. Building democracy is a slow, accretive process. Our goal is to bring as many new voters into the process as possible. If we can do that, we will win—it is only a matter of time.

          So, for those readers whose candidates lost, the real measure of success is whether we fortified the foundations of democracy by bringing new voters to the polls. We did that on November 8th, which is why it was a “good day for democracy.” Every member of the resistance who contributed to that “good day” should be proud and grateful.

This is a time to rest and regroup. Many more opportunities are on the horizon. 

Robert also said:

As lessons begin to emerge from the midterms, it appears Americans rejected not only election deniers but also the GOP assault on democracy. As noted in Vox,

But the fact that high-profile election deniers did poorly in competitive races, often worse than comparable non-denier Republicans, suggests there may be something else going on here: that maybe, just maybe, a significant swath of the American public is punishing the Republican Party for running candidates who sought to turn against democracy itself.

          If true, that is the most important outcome of the 2022 midterms by far. If Americans reject those who seek to destroy democracy, there is plenty of room for spirited debate and strongly held disagreement between the parties. But if democracy itself is under attack, partisan debates become proxies for coups.

And also this...

 Victor Shi has been reporting on Twitter (@VictorShi2020),

data confirms 18-29-year-olds voted for Democrats more than “any other” age group yesterday. Young people literally prevented a Red Wave & saved Democrats. Full stop. If you know a young voter, please thank them.

Good news

 

Sometimes good news sneaks in between the big boldfaced type headlines.

 MedPage Today (Nov 10, 2022) published this:

The World Health Organization said the 9,400 COVID-related deaths reported globally last week represent a drop of 90% compared with last February, when weekly deaths surpassed 75,000. (CBS News)

I feel bad about 9,400 COVID related deaths...that's still a lot of families impacted by the pandemic, but what a difference from just 9 months ago.

I'm happy for those of us who have survived too, who had it, endured it, and now thrive!

Joyful in a sinking ship

Sunday, first day of Eastern Standard Time

 Well, democracy may be sinking from the battering of MAGA-hatted fools who listen to lying tricksters. (I voted, all my friends voted, and we are pessimistically hopeful.)

But when I woke up this morning, I first did the "thankful for this day" routine.

Said I to myself "This is the last day of my life, whether it goes another day, week, month, year or decade. I am glad for it."

After that, and getting used to the skin I was in, gravity greeting my feet again on the side of the bed, I looked around and saw that I had become a butterfly, as I left my chrysilis and picked up the dirty clothes I'd flung on the floor last night. 

So here I've flown, my first flight of the day, to sip the nectar of coffee, and look at the laptop of beautiful messages. I breathe a deep breath, and smell something not quite pleasant. Maybe time for shower and breakfast...then on with my human life  tasks of the day.

I'll meet many other butterflies today when I go to church. I'll smile at them, behind my mask protecting my lungs from virus particles, and be glad again to be flying in this lifetime.

Poppies and Butterflies, Vincent van Gogh, 1889

The ocean may be our best hope in fighting the climate crisis -

 — but it needs our help.

 

Due to its vast expanse, the ocean is able to capture at least 25% of the carbon dioxide released by humans into the atmosphere.

 

The underwater world beneath the waves can trap carbon for thousands, and perhaps even millions, of years. This "blue carbon" is far more efficient than the carbon captured by plants and trees. 

 

But such an impressive capacity can't be expected to continue without protecting the sea itself, said experts participating in CNN's Call to Earth Day on Thursday. Scientists suggest preventing fishing and mining in large areas of the ocean, restoring ecosystems like coral reefs and preventing pollution from entering waterways.

 

If the warming ocean in its current state is able to do its part in saving the planet, a healthier ocean could make an even greater impact, experts believe.  The ocean is full of hope. Just ask the Queen of the Deep, Sylvia Earle

The 87-year-old oceanographer has spent much of her life exploring the ocean and still holds the world  record for the deepest untethered walk on the seafloor. "Every time I go into the water, I see things I've never seen before," she said. Her Mission Blue program, which supports research and restoration of the ocean, has  identified more than 140 marine areas around the world that are critical in revitalizing  the ocean. Designated as Hope Spots, these special sites are guarded by local communities and institutions. [Quote above from CNN Science Wondertheory Newsletter, Nov 5,22] [Below is link to an article about Mission Blue and Sylvia Earle:] Sylvia Earle link to article by CNN

What the SwanWater group has done

 Due to my chronic coughing/bronchectasis, related to asthma, I was stuck at home today and missed the meeting of the  (Swannanoa Watershed Action Network: When All Thrive, Earth Regenerates)

But I'd already received a review by member, Robertson Work, of the first 10 months of this dynamic group. So here it is!

"A Story of SwanWater"

     Here in the beautiful mountains of western North Carolina, some of us have been meeting two hours each week since 3 March 2022. Next week, on 3 November, will mark our eighth month together. Happy anniversary!

     We began as four folks, who were invited by one of us, to discover what we might do to catalyze social justice and ecological regeneration in the Swannanoa watershed (stretching from Asheville in the west, to Black Mountain in the east, and up toward Mt. Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi) using Doughnut Economics models and methods.

     In these eight months together, we led discussions, listened to several presenters from local organizations to learn what they are doing and what they need, realized that we are a self-organizing, organic group of volunteers, met in a tent by the Swannanoa River, went river floating together, became friends who care about each other, held river cleanups, provided training in permaculture, raised funds for BIPOC initiatives, help public meetings at Warren Wilson College, shared news of our work on social media and radio, created our name SwanWater (Swannanoa Watershed Action Network: When All Thrive, Earth Regenerates), grew to fifteen active members and seventy Facebook group members, and are now meeting each Friday afternoon at the Black Mountain Presbyterian Church.

     The group contains a variety of skills and interests including home food-forests, bio-medicinal plants, rain water run off management, environmental education at the college level, environmental planning, advising county government, providing capital to BIPOC initiatives, women's rights, group facilitation, local governance, database management, website design, videography, social media, getting out the vote (GOTV), tiny homes for the homeless, solar energy, river clean up, and more.

     Recently through facilitated, participatory workshops, we developed statements of who we are, what we are doing, and created seven actions teams on Doughnut Economics Education, Social Actions, Environmental Events and Projects, SwanWater Structure, Environmental Data, Social Outreach and Marketing, and Funding, with a three-month timeline of actions.

     We are also interviewing nonprofit grant recipients, getting out the vote for November elections, participating in global online meetings of the Doughnut Economic Action Lab (DEAL), and sharing roles of meeting facilitation, minute taking, meeting setup, and Zoom hosting.

     We are now discussing how our organizational structure might evolve, how to unroll the Doughnut in the watershed, how to identify specific gaps in the social safety net and fill those needs, how to help the homeless, how to influence the Buncombe County 2043 plan, and how to create partnerships with local governments, businesses, nonprofits, and local communities, and are creating a data base with maps, preparing to do public DE workshops, continuing river clean ups, and much more.

     May each Swan be happy! May we be patient with and care for each other. May we care for everyone in the watershed. May we be a sign to local people of what they can do together as neighbors to care for their bioregions in Buncombe County, North Carolina, the USA, and around this beautiful Earth.

     SwanWater looks forward to learning from other DE pilots and to sharing our lessons with others. Our Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/groups/5322547411191905

Robertson Work

Ecological-social activist and nonfiction author

Books and bio: https://www.amazon.com/Robertson-Work/e/B075612GBF

Other groups are also using the Donut Economics model...above is a great graphic on a descriptive brochure. 

This graphic shows how a doughnut can be unrolled to address a specific problem. All of these factors would be along either the inside or the outside of the doughnut, in the original model.

A good link to learn a lot more about Doughnut Economics, is the DEAL, Doughnut Economics Action Lab. 

I've mentioned Doughnut Economics model before on this blog, and have offered many recordings by Robertson Work. Just search by those names.