Frances Beinecke: Progress in Poznan, Did the Media Miss It?

The news cycle on the United Nations climate negotiations in Poznan, Poland is closing, and yet for the most part, the media missed the big story: the dramatic movement made by several key emerging economies. Most of the news coverage conveyed a state of limbo, if not retrenchment: Negotiators were waiting on the new Obama administration for clear signals; the disastrous economy had the developed nations running scared. There is truth in those stories, but they leave much unsaid. I did not attend this round of talks, but my NRDC colleague Jake Schmidt did, and he gave me a first hand account of the real action at the negotiations. • Brazil announced that it signed a national climate change plan that pledges Brazil to cut deforestation rates in half by 2018. • Mexico unveiled its plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions 50 percent below 2002 levels by 2050. The country will establish a national cap and trade program that will set emissions limits on specific sectors, including ... (link)