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CES Lunchtime Seminar

“Leadership and Accountability in International Climate Governance”

Steve Vanderheiden, University of Colorado
Thursday, Feb. 2nd :: Noon-1:30pm :: UEL 106

Despite acknowledging the responsibility of developing countries to “take the lead” in acting to mitigate climate change, and against exhortations to exercise leadership in international climate policy from the UN Secretary General, the United States continues to shirk the burdens of climate policy leadership, frustrating rather than facilitating mutually beneficial cooperation on this important problem. In this talk, I shall explore the problem of leadership in the context of international climate governance, examining the forces and incentives that discourage its exercise but also its pivotal role in overcoming key obstacles to effective collective action. I shall also explore the idea of moral courage, or the claim that leadership is in its essence reliant upon a power resource that involves risk-taking in pursuit of moral ends, where actions by moral leaders are necessary precursors to cooperation in securing certain kinds of collective goods. This form of courage, I shall argue, can be fostered and reinforced through several accountability mechanisms, which reduce the risks of leadership while amplifying some of its effects. On the basis of this analysis, I shall also briefly suggest how such leadership and accountability might manifest in a successful international climate policy effort.

Learn More About Steve Vanderheiden

Stormwater utility fee system explained

 

Article by CES Graduate Student Kate England

WESTERLY - The typical Westerly homeowner would pay $68 per year under a stormwater utility fee system included in a draft report produced by the Rhode Island Department of Environmental Management. Owners of a typical commercial property would pay $449.

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CES Grad Student Goes Behind The Scenes at Durban

By Courtney Coelho 

When graduate student Brianna Craft volunteered to help the Least Developed Countries bloc at the United Nations climate change negotiations in Durban, she had no idea she'd been given an all-access pass to the closed-door climate talks. Here she talks about her experience, what she learned and why she's still optimistic about the possiblity of international climate justice. 

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CES Chair J. Timmons Roberts and Environmental Studies students travel to Durban South Africa for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations (Nov. 28-Dec 10, 2011)

The purpose of this group is to contribute timely, accessible and impactful content that informs more just and effective global policy making on climate change, particularly on the issues of climate finance and Latin America. The focus during the fall 2011 semester is to influence the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change negotiations in Durban, South Africa to produce more just and effective processes and outcomes concerning climate finance and other relevant climate policy.

FOLLOW THEIR PROGRESS AT THE FOLLOWING LINKS BELOW

Global Conversation: Follow Brown's Climate Change Team at the COP 17 Negotiations http://www.watsoninstitute.org/news_detail.cfm?id=1602

Climate & Development Lab – Twitter Feed http://climatedevlab.wordpress.com/

Intercambio Climático – Blog of the Latin American Platform on Climate http://www.intercambioclimatico.com/en/

Adaptation finance: How can Durban deliver on past promises? http://environmentalresearchweb.org/cws/article/opinion/47954

 

Past ES SEMINAR with Dr. Papa Samba DIOUF, Executive Director World Wildlife Fund West Africa Marine Programme

The West African Marine Eco-Region:
The World Wildlife Fund’s role in marine
conservation and sustainable fisheries

Watch video of talk

Local Occupy Protesters Join D.C.Rally

PROVIDENCE —The local Occupy movement traveled to Washington this weekend to join an estimated 10,000 protesters against the proposed transcontinental tar sands oil pipeline.

Two buses left the city early Saturday with about 40 protesters from the Occupy Providence and Occupy College Hill protest groups for the Sunday afternoon rally at the White House. The event was organized by activist and college professor Bill McKibben of 350.org and Tarsandsaction.org. Both groups urge President Obama to deny the permit for the pipeline.

By TIM FAULKNER/ecoRI News staff

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The EPA Discusses Opportunities
for Brown Students

See video footage of their talk

View their PowerPoint presentation

Catch the Video of Speaker Sivan Kartha's Captivating Talk on

“Little Pledges and Big Loopholes: industrialized country efforts under the global climate regime”

With more trees, city looks to go greener

The Brown Daily Herald

Natalie Villacorta
Senior Staff Writer
Published: Wednesday, September 28, 2011

In a report released last May, the spring 2010 class ENVS 1920: "Analysis and Resolution of Environmental Problems and Case Studies," found that areas of Providence with fewer trees are hotter than greener neighborhoods. Trees are crucial to human health and happiness in a variety of ways — they remove pollutants from the air, provide shade and add beauty to their surroundings.

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TREES AND THE URBAN HEAT
ISLAND EFFECT:

A CASE STUDY FOR PROVIDENCE RHODE ISLAND

“One straightforward and cost-effective way for the city to buffer itself from heat waves stood out among all the rest: to plant and care for trees”

CLICK HERE TO READ REPORT

UNITING ART AND BIOLOGY TO CONSERVE CORAL REEFS

Outreach, education, and charity to inspire marine stewardship among policy makers and the public
By Courtney Mattison

PRESS:

Art and science are increasingly joining forces, more now than in the past, because of their shared creativity and the critical importance of conveying accurate messages to the public about the natural world. Mattison aims to discover how art and science can inform one another and combine to catalyze a public and political movement for coral reef conservation. To learn more about Courtney Mattison’s project Click Here.

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