Climate Change After Copenhagen
This post was written by David Wagner.
Reed Smith attorney Jennifer Smokelin participated in a seminar sponsored by the Climate Decision Making Center (CDMC) on March 8, 2010 and addressed her time spent at the United Nations' Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCCC or COP 15) in December 2009. Jennifer's presentation, which is available here, discussed COP 15 and the likely affect of the Copenhagen Accord from the perspectives of two stakeholder groups: business and industry non-governmental organizations (BINGOs) and the general citizenry. In particular, Jennifer analyzed the commitments offered thus far under the Copenhagen Accord, compared them to commitments under the Kyoto Protocol and what that means for business and the environment, and opined regarding likely US actions to implement the Copenhagen Accord.
The CDMC is anchored at Carnegie Mellon University's Department of Engineering and Public Policy. It was founded in 2004 with a five-year, $6.9 million grant from the National Science Foundation. Collaborating investigators and graduate students are located at the University of British Columbia, the University of California at Berkeley, the University of Calgary, Oxford University, Stanford University, Pacific Risks, and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. At the CDMC, researchers are studying the limits in our understanding of climate change, its impacts, and the strategies that might be pursued to mitigate and adapt to change.
