Tracking Bonn: The Opening Days of the Bonn Climate Change Conference

On June 1^st, hundreds of representatives convened in Bonn, Germany to draft the United Nations agreement on greenhouse gas emission. If all goes well, they will walk out with a draft that will serve as the blueprint for convened in Bonn, Germany to draft the United Nations agreement on greenhouse gas emission. If all goes well, they will walk out with a draft that will serve as the blueprint for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris (COP21) this December. The negotiators at Bonn have until June 11^th to figure out and clean up what is currently a 90-page list of options and alternatives for how to handle greenhouse gas emissions in the 196 participating countries. Naturally, this will be a great diplomatic feat, with the most pushing and pulling happening around the touchy subjects of finance and enforcement. If you’re interested in taking a look at the starting draft, or want to just scroll down through the blocks of words in awe of the task ahead, you can view it here. Every bracketed paragraph, sentence, phrase, and word indicates a point of contention where an agreement must be made. As it stands, there is a formidable mountain of brackets that needs to be discussed. Nonetheless, it is necessary to streamline this draft before it hits the table at Paris, where they will make the final call and determine the fate of our environment for at least the next decade.   Julie Hu, Intern