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Tiny Tuvalu Makes Waves at COP15

The tiny island nation of Tuvalu, so vulnerable to the threats of climate change, has flexed some new-found muscles here in Copenhagen, and is...

Ben Jervey
By Ben JerveyDec 12, 2009
Ben Jervey
Ben is a writer and editor covering climate change, energy, and environment, and is currently the Climate and Energy Media Fellow at Vermont Law School. He was the original Environment Editor at GOOD Magazine and his work has appeared regularly in National Geographic News, Grist, DeSmogBlog, and OnEarth. He recently worked with the non-profit Focus the Nation to publish an Energy 101 primer. When living in New York City, he wrote a book, The Big Green Apple, on how to live a lower impact life in the city. A bicycle enthusiast, Ben has ridden across the United States and through much of Europe.
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The tiny island nation of Tuvalu, so vulnerable to the threats of climate change, has flexed some new-found muscles here in Copenhagen, and is turning the talks upside down. On Wednesday, after much back and forth and no consensus found on a proposal to set the course for a legally-binding outcome in Copenhagen, the Tuvalu's lead delegate Ian Fry announced that they could not accept the decision, that the stakes were too high for Tuvalu and other vulnerable nations, and asked that the talks be suspended. The air was sucked out of the room.You can read all the wonky details in my post on OnEarth, or you can get the quick skinny from David Ngatae, chairperson of the Cook Islands Climate Action Network:

You can follow along blow-by-blow on my Adopt-a-negotiator feed.

environmentclimate changecopenhagencop15united nationsunfccc

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