Briefings
Copenhagen, summit for the planet
On Presseurop
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COP15: Going round in circles
18 December 200916 Presseurop -
COP15: Homo Economicus goes to the wall
17 December 2009703 The Guardian London -
Renewable Energy: Scam with the wind
16 December 2009301 International Herald Tribune Paris -
COP15: Fossil fuels, for the dinosaurs
10 December 200927 El Mundo Madrid -
COP15: Much CO2 about nothing?
7 December 2009Presseurop -
COP15: Copenhagen or the hypercane
3 December 200933 The Independent London -
Climate Change: Carbon storage emerges from underground
7 December 2009201 Trouw Amsterdam -
Editorial: Europe’s example
4 December 2009Presseurop -
COP15: Brussels cheerleads to the summit
4 December 2009La Stampa Turin -
COP 15: The battle over climate change
25 November 20091 La Tribune Paris -
Denmark: Connie the new climate star
25 November 2009PresseuropPolitiken -
CO2: Toxic farming
23 November 2009281 Le Figaro Paris -
COP15: Towards another wasted summit
16 November 2009PresseuropBerlingske Tidende -
CO2: EU slips through Kyoto loopholes
13 November 2009PresseuropDe Volkskrant -
Climate Change: Eastern Europe refuses to foot the bill
30 October 20091PresseuropGazeta Wyborcza -
Biodiversity: Copenhagen treaty may endanger rainforests
26 October 2009PresseuropThe Independent -
Biodiversity: Copenhagen treaty may endanger rainforests
26 October 2009PresseuropThe Independent -
Editorial: Divided we fall silent
23 October 2009Presseurop -
COP 15: EU underestimates climate change
22 October 2009PresseuropDe Morgen -
Electricity: Is the nuclear industry in meltdown?
21 October 200944 Der Spiegel Hamburg -
Energy: The power plant in your basement
13 October 20091 Der Spiegel Hamburg -
Copenhagen summit: Brussels and Brasilia tudo bem
7 October 2009PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
COP15: US-EU fall out over CO2 targets
17 September 2009PresseuropLa Vanguardia -
Editorial: Next stop Copenhagen
11 September 2009Presseurop -
GLOBAL WARMING: The 100 billion euro plan
9 September 2009La Stampa Turin -
Renewable energy: Will Africa's rivers and sun power Europe?
25 August 200953 The Independent London -
United Kingdom: Village buys into green revolution
18 August 20091261 La Vanguardia Barcelona -
Climate change: Water not on the table at Copenhagen
30 July 2009PresseuropLibération -
Climate change: Obstacles to a no CO2 EU
27 July 2009PresseuropLe Soir -
Netherlands: The possibility of a gas-free island
7 July 20092 Trouw Amsterdam -
Pollution: Carbon tax has stood the test in Sweden
6 July 200957 Le Monde Paris -
Urban planning: Vauban, the revolution will not be motorised
30 June 2009158 The Independent London -
Ecology: The uses of enchantment
16 June 2009110 Le Monde Paris
Widely hailed as one of the last chances to save the planet, the Copenhagen conference has proved unequal to the challenge, laments the European press. From diplomacy to the economy, it may be time to learn a lesson or two from this global washout. 
The likely failure of the Copenhagen climate summit to achieve progress on climate change is due to an inability to imagine a humanity that can no longer live without restraint. An impassioned plea by British environmentalist author George Monbiot. 
Renewable energies have been high on the agenda during the Copenhagen climate conference. In Europe, however, with €6 billion in EU subsidies up for grabs, the eco-friendly wind farm industry is fast attracting green swindlers of all sorts. A report by the International Herald Tribune. 
Changing our energy system is the key to curbing CO2 emissions and global warming. In the run-up to the Copenhagen Climate Conference (COP15), the European Union has announced plans to generate 20% of its energy using renewable sources. 
The Copenhagen summit, which is opening with great ambitions, might well come up with no deal at all – or worse: a short-lived deal that never gets ratified or implemented. Climate sceptics, for their part, challenge the very premise of the conference. Here’s today’s press in review on the COP15. 
Either a drastic cut in emissions, or a planet we won’t even recognise. As the Copenhagen summit on climate change opens, Johann Hari, ranging from the Maldives to the Artic and Darfur, argues that this is the stark choice the world faces. 
Numerous companies and organizations, including Shell, have proposed capturing CO2 for storage underground; and scientists who were sceptical about the technique are now rallying to the cause. However, in view of the economic interests at stake, it is hard to tell the independent experts from the lobbyists. 
Even before the curtain rises on the Copenhagen Climate Conference on 7 December, the world is already warring over emissions targets. And Brussels is brandishing some fateful figures in its bid to lead the global crusade against greenhouse gases. 
If few question the veracity of global warming, it is because of the IPCC. Over the last 20 years, the International Panel on Climate Change has changed public opinion. La Tribune reports on the network that is once again under attack. 
A report on carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide fluxes in the European Union shows that greenhouse gases produced by agriculture are in excess of ecosystem absorption capacity. Le Figaro highlights the inherent dangers of intensive agriculture. 
Politicians and electric company executives the world over are dreaming of a “nuclear renaissance”. But a spate of hitches at Olkiluoto 3, the new flagship reactor in Finland, go to show that this is not on the cards, believes Der Spiegel, which also doubts that modernising old nuclear power stations is a viable alternative. 
Intelligent machines, electric cars, biogas power in the basement: millions of mini-power plants, instead of centralised energy sources, are to lead Germany through the energy revolution. Spiegel-Online heralds the new super-industries and shows that the balance of power between consumers and utilities is shifting. 
With three months left to run before the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen (COP15), Europe aims to lead the way in the battle against global warming. In a document to be presented to the European Council on 10 September, the European Commission has provided details of the measures it intends to propose. 
Two massive power-generating schemes have been launched in recent weeks. One offers to create the world's largest solar farm, the other to create the biggest hydroelectric dam on the planet. While situated in Africa, they both aim to export electricity to Europe. The Independent weighs up the pros and cons of two ambitious projects, which, according to many critics, smacks of a colonial style power grab. 
The small village with the small carbon footprint, Totnes is the new-age chic community at the epicentre of the increasing number of pioneering transition towns whose aim is to attain self-sufficiency. They are so committed that they have even introduced a new green town pound to encourage people to buy locally whilst they think globally. 
On Ameland, off the coast of the Netherlands, a number of the islanders are using an innovative mix of hydrogen and natural gas in their homes. The goal is to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, an initiative that is part of a wider programme to make the community self-sufficient in energy and water by 2020. 
Sweden, which has just taken over the EU presidency for a six-month stint, is trying to convince its European partners to follow its example and impose a carbon tax. Adopted in 1991, it has proved efficient on a national level, reports Olivier Truc for Le Monde. 
In a suburb of Freiburg, south-west Germany, a former army camp has been turned into an ecologist’s paradise. No cars, sustainable homes, with a socially homogenous profile. But is it an ideal society? Tony Paterson at the Independent is not quite sure. 
In a forum published by Le Monde, French sociologist and philosopher Edgar Morin calls on civililsation to change by giving greater importance to love, solidarity and poetry. Only an ecology-based politics, according to him, seems capable of seeing such a project through.