Copenhagen - negotiating text

I wasn't surprised to read, in the Guardian, that the draft text for the Copenhagen climate change agreement is long, confusing and contradictory at this stage as all parties have added in their 'corrections' on the initial draft. The process is probably as important as the product but it's depressing to recognise that such agreements do often end up as the lowest common denominator. Pulling it together into a meaningful agreement will require a lot of different skills and understanding. As the article highlights, the big question is "How far will it go to address the traditional sticking points that have delayed progress?" i.e.

• How much are rich countries willing to cut their greenhouse gas emissions, and by when?
• Will large developing nations such as China make an effort to put at least a dent in their soaring levels of pollution?
• How much money must flow from the developed world to developing countries to grease the wheels and secure their approval? How much to compensate for the impact of past emissions, and how much to help prevent future emissions?"

Eco-font

No it's nothing to do with water-saving church ceremonies - it's hole-y fonts rather than holy fonts. Interesting to hear via Mark Yoxon that we could be saving 20% on ink if we download a Dutch ecofont which retains the pattern of letters without them being solidly inked-in.

Wonderful photos

So glad to see that Graham Jeffery, whose sensitive light pages I've much enjoyed in the past, is back behind his camera. He takes some wonderful pictures and of so many different subjects. This one I particularly like. How does he do that?

Digital habitats

I'm looking forward to getting time to read Digital Habitats: stewarding technology for communities, a new book just out from Etienne Wenger, Nancy White and John Smith. I've been very impressed by the communications skills and depth of understanding of the issues and the wealth of ideas shown by these people in the past and their blending of theory and practice. Promises to be a good read.

Great place to go in August!

Just back from a few days break in mid-Wales. Wide open landscapes, great walking, wonderfully peaceful, few tourists away from the honey pots and not a computer in sight. Watched red kites feeding here - quite remarkable. Even with my little compact camera they were close enough to look like red kites. Learnt a bit about how not to cross bogs also....but lived to tell the tale.

Thinking in Systems

I've long been a fan of Donella Meadows, of Limits to Growth fame so was pleased to get a reminder in my email this morning of a book published earlier this year that she was working on at the time of her death called 'Thinking in Systems'. It made me track down an article that appears there called Dancing with Systems in which she presents her ten 'systems wisdoms'. I like the one that says 'Pay attention to what is important, not just what is quantifiable' but they're all pretty good.

Media perspectives on climate change

Internews, Panos and IIED got together to bring forward a range of perspectives on negotiations about climate change with the 'climate change media partnerships'. This year's 40 fellows seem to cover a wide range of issues and different parts of the world. Unintended consequences of interventions feature quite strongly on this site, for instance this one on forestry, where landless farmers evicted by forest restoration projects managed by an NGO consortium have been protesting. Whose rights get taken into account in such situations and what should happen is something we consider in our OU course Environmental Responsibility.