NEWS RELEASE: WRI Sends Experts to the Milan Negotiations Of the UN Climate Change Convention
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Paul Mackie, senior media officer, +1(202) 729-7684, pmackie@wri.org
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WASHINGTON, DC, November 25, 2003 -- Experts from the World Resources Institute (WRI) will participate in the Ninth Conference of Parties (COP 9) of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, Dec. 1-12, in Milan, Italy. COP 9 is the latest in a series of meetings of signatories to the UN Climate Convention where countries negotiate details of various aspects of implementing the global treaty to mitigate climate change. During the conference, WRI will launch the Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT), which pulls together the best information on greenhouse gas emissions and other indicators of economic and national factors that can be used to evaluate progress toward meeting the climate change mitigation goals. The data is drawn from internationally respected groups such as the International Energy Agency, The World Bank and the United Nations. The lack of basic information about emissions of countries and their national circumstances has been a barrier to understanding both global and individual country progress toward meeting the treaty’s goals, and to developing future steps. The CAIT website (cait.wri.org) can be viewed starting Dec. 5, 2004. The WRI specialists’ expertise includes international treaty negotiations, climate change, emissions trading, role of developing countries in climate negotiations, emissions trading, accounting for greenhouse gases, and the Clean Development Mechanism. The experts are fluent in English, French and Filipino. The WRI experts, who are available for interviews, are: Dr. Jonathan Pershing, director, WRI Climate, Energy and Pollution (CEP) Program Dr. Pershing, head of the WRI delegation to COP 9, is actively involved in the development of operational rules for the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol, including emissions trading and the CDM, in the analyses of national policies and measures to mitigate climate change including related energy policy, and in work on the post-Kyoto Protocol evolution of the international climate change regime. Dr. Pershing worked at the International Energy Agency and served as the deputy director and science advisor of the Office of Global Change, U.S. Department of State. He served as a principal negotiator for the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, and worked extensively on US climate policy. Languages: English and French. Kevin Baumert, senior associate, WRI Climate, Energy and Pollution (CEP) Program Baumert’s research focuses on the Kyoto Protocol and climate change policy instruments, including emissions trading and the Clean Development Mechanism. He keeps track of international climate negotiations, the role of developing countries, US politics related to global warming, and statistics on greenhouse gas emissions. At the last COP, he released the book, Building on the Kyoto Protocol: Options for Protecting the Climate.” In Milan, he will launch the Climate Analysis Indicators Tool (CAIT), which pulls together the best information on greenhouse gas emissions. CAIT can be used for analyzing a wide variety of data-related climate change issues and to help support future policy decisions made under the Climate Convention and in other fora. At COP 9, governments will discuss CAIT’s role in improving access to climate change data and information. It will be launched on Dec. 5. Language: English. Dr. Sue Greenhalgh, senior economist, WRI Information Program Dr. Greenhalgh's current work involves The Greenhouse Gas Protocol, an internationally accepted accounting and reporting standard for calculating GHG emissions, which will be featured in two special events during COP 9 in Milan. Her other research expertise is on US agricultural policy as it relates to climate change and water quality. It focuses on the 'dead zone' in the Gulf of Mexico, the use of nutrient trading as a mechanism for improving water quality in the US and the impact of the Kyoto Protocol on US agriculture. Other research covers bio-energy production (in particular, ethanol) and its impacts on the environment. Language: English. Dr. Tony LaViña, senior fellow, WRI Institutions and Governance Program Dr. LaViña has been involved in several meetings of the Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change. He played leading roles in the G-77 group for the Kyoto Protocol. Dr. LaViña’s expertise includes international treaty negotiations, sustainable development issues, developing country participation in international legal processes, food and biosafety, adaptation partnerships to climate change, and biotechnology. He will be able to provide an insider’s view on the negotiations, especially from the perspective of developing countries. Languages: English and Filipino. Janet Ranganathan, WRI senior associate and director, Greenhouse Gas Protocol Initiative Ranganathan works extensively with business, government and other stakeholders to develop and implement policies and strategies that reduce business greenhouse gas emissions. Together with the World Business Council on Sustainable Development, she has developed The Greenhouse Gas Protocol (www.ghgprotocol.org), an internationally accepted accounting and reporting standard for calculating business greenhouse gas emissions. The protocol, now on its second edition, will be discussed at two special events during COP 9 from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the BINGO Room of the conference center, on Tuesday, Dec. 9 and Wednesday, Dec. 10. Language: English. Dr. Odile Blanchard, professor, Grenoble University, France Dr. Blanchard, an economist, has been involved with WRI’s climate work since she spent 2001-2002 as a WRI visiting fellow. She is one of the editors of the report, Building on the Kyoto Protocol: Options for Protecting the Climate. Currently Dr. Blanchard is contributing to the Climate Analysis Indicators Tool project, which will be launched on Dec. 5 during COP 9. Languages: French and English. -30- |
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