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Strategic Ambiguity: How Loss and Damage Became a Part of Global Climate Policy
›As the international community meets in Marrakesh for the climate change negotiations at COP-22, one of the most delicate issues on the table is the review of what’s called the Warsaw International Mechanism for Loss and Damage, or WIM.
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5 Focal Points for U.S. Global Water Strategy (And Submit Your Own Too)
›November 3, 2016 // By Ken ConcaHave something to say about the U.S. government’s approach to water around the world? Here’s your chance. The Department of State has issued a public call for comment on its global water strategy. An open session was held in Washington last Friday, but written comments can be submitted until November 12.
For inspiration, here are points made by our own (and American University’s own) Ken Conca, edited for space:
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Climate Change, the U.S. Military, and “the Intersection of Politics and Events”
›November 1, 2016 // By Schuyler NullThere may not have been a single question about climate change in the 2016 presidential debates, but it remains a hotly contested, partisan issue for many in the United States. That climate change is happening and requires a response is not up for debate within the upper echelons of the U.S. military, however.
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Necessity Is the Mother of Invention: Islands as the Vanguard of Climate Adaptation
›“Climate change is one of the greatest challenges of our time and it calls for a comprehensive and cooperative international approach like we’ve never seen,” said Jainey Bavishi, associate director for climate preparedness at the White House Council on Environmental Policy, at the Wilson Center on October 5. “The leadership of the island nations is essential; they punch well above their weight on this issue.”
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Greener Ports for Bluer Skies in China
›If China is the globe’s most powerful manufacturing engine, the port of Shanghai is its fuel injection valve. This harbor is the world’s busiest, both in terms of tonnage and number of containers processed, allowing China to import the raw materials fueling its development and export the products that represent a significant share of the world’s economy.
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Preparing the Next National Climate Assessment: An Opportunity to Engage
›In 1990, the U.S. Congress passed the Global Change Research Act “to assist the Nation and the world to understand, assess, predict, and respond to human-induced and natural processes of global change.” Under this mandate, the U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) was born, an innovative, cross-cutting research initiative that brings together the science arms of 13 federal agencies working on global change issues, including the Departments of Agriculture, Interior, Energy, Defense, the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and others.
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New UN Secretary-General Brings Humanitarian Experience, But Will It Matter? 5 Things to Watch
›Over the next few days, many smart people will opine on the prospects for success of António Guterres, the man (yes, surprise, another man) nominated by the United Nations Security Council to be the next UN secretary-general.
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Melting Ice Threatens to Expose Former U.S. Nuclear Base in Greenland
›Climate change is poised to remobilize hazardous wastes that the U.S. Army abandoned and believed would be buried forever beneath the snow and ice in Greenland.
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