by Caroline Schley 
It's no secret that climate change is a hot topic in international policy. The United Nations announced Tuesday it would hold formal climate talks in April, just months after the body's failed Copenhagen Climate Conference.
The issue has been a prime focus in U.S. politics. Since President Obama was inaugurated in 2009, his administration has promised that the United States will drastically reduce carbon emissions by 2020. This has to major debate about climate change in the U.S. Senate, especially from the body's top global warming naysayer, Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma.
Most pertinent in current climate change news is the release of the 2010 Environmental Performance Index (EPI) coupled with the Copenhagen Climate Conference, where U.N. member countries were unable come up with a plan to extend the Kyoto Protocol past 2012. Since the United Nations conference did not produce the measurable results so many hoped it might, people have turned to the EPI to provide insight into the variety of problems facing international climate change policy.
According to the 2010 Environmental Performance Index, which was based primarily on data compiled in 2009, Iceland, Switzerland, Costa Rica, Sweden and Norway were named the top five greenest nations in the world. The United States fell 22 places to 61st and China fell 16 places to 121st. Sierra Leone was last in the list of 163 countries.
With United Nations renegotiations on global climate change coming up in November 2010, people need to get involved in assisting their countries to move up the list of green nations. In order to do this it's important to understand the standards for the EPI, as well as places where the researchers that compile the list (mostly from the environmental programs at Yale and Columbia universities) need to improve data collection and shorten information gaps and, most importantly, indicators where your country may have some room to improve.
Read More » 
Become a Fan
Follow Us on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment