tagged w/ evan kopelson
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This video recap is my best attempt to explain in simple terms, "What is COP15 in Copenhagen supposed to accomplish? What was the Kyoto Protocol? And why are the talks at COP15 breaking down?"
This turned out to be my final video update from inside the Bella Center in Copenhagen, before NGO access to the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP15) to the Kyoto Protocol was once and for all revoked "for security reasons" despite largely peaceful, coordinated marches which, frankly were mislabeled "protests" and would have been more properly called "support rallies."
Anyway you can see my shiny forehead (sorry.. long day) at around 10pm on December 14th, after a day that started 14 hours earlier with crowded lines in the snow, followed by waiting... then rumors of the breakdown of the talks... more waiting... and then the confirmation of the G77 "threatened" walkout. Finally, my interview with negotiator Felix Dayo from the Nigerian delegation inside the African delegation offices helped shed light on what was going on behind the scenes.
It's still hard to find out what really happened inside COP15 the last few days. This is my best recap of what went wrong there while I was still able to access the negotiators.
I recorded this and all my videos with a cool little gadget called QuikPod. It's a hand-held mono-pod that attaches to any camera where the tripod goes, and lets you extend the camera an additional 18" and record yourself, allowing for better shots than a simple arm's length. Thanks http://quikpod.com for the lightweight solution.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of http://GreenMediaNews.com He advises on sustainability, CSR reporting, corporate transparency, and personal responsibility for climate change action. Evan lives in Venice, CA in a pod made from reclaimed materials in a communal living environment focused on sustainability and permaculture.This video recap is my best attempt to explain in simple terms, "What is COP15 in... more
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At COP15 outside the Bella Center, just after my interview with Bill Becker who was scheduled to speak inside on a panel but was not permitted into the building, I met Jessie Robbins, a student from Georgetown University, who was also shut out of the conference. Access to the Bella Center was all but eliminated for NGO's during the final days of the conference, as the deal fell apart and ultimately a sham "accord" was put in its place. Jessie shares her feelings about how the actions of a few can severely affect the many.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of Green Media News. He advises on sustainability, CSR reporting, corporate, and personal responsibility for climate change action. Evan lives in a pod made from reclaimed materials. He gave up his luxury lifestyle to live in a communal environment focused on sustainability and permaculture in Venice, CA.At COP15 outside the Bella Center, just after my interview with Bill Becker who was... more
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After a long Metro ride past the Bella Center, followed by a trudge in the snow with thousands of other delegates, Bill Becker found himself shut out of the Bella Center when he finally arrived there with his NGO badge and secondary credentials issued just the day before by the UNFCCC along with promises of easy security with the secondary cards.
Bill is Executive Director of the Presidential Climate Action Project and was scheduled to speak on a panel at a side event inside the Bella Center. This did not mean anything to security, who threatened to have him and the rest of the NGO delegates removed if we did not go willingly. Bill Becker was kind enough to grant me what became our second COP15 interview just moments after being shut out of Bella, where incidentally, my badge and secondary card did not get me in either.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of http://greenmedianews.com - He advises on sustainability, CSR reporting, corporate, and personal responsibility for climate change action.After a long Metro ride past the Bella Center, followed by a trudge in the snow with... more
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Nancy Skinner, Assemblymember 14th District, East Bay, CA across from San Francisco, is a true champion of the environment. I was fortunate to meet her at a party at the Hubculture Pavillion in the town square in Copenhagen. The party was crowded, and the only place we were able to find to do the interview was in the service hallway, which had a constant parade of cocktail servers coming back and forth from the kitchen. We talked about sub-national governments, in this case State governments, which are able to lead the country to achieve large reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, while we wait for the UNFCCC to reach a meaningful agreement, which it seems unable to do.
City and State leadership can get us where we need to go, even in the absence of Federal leadership. Ideally, we get both. Nancy Skinner did her part in helping California lead the country. Mr. President, we're still waiting for you to do your part and help America lead the world.
Evan Kopelson in president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of http://greenmedianews.com - He advises on sustainable business, CSR reporting, corporate and personal responsibility for climate change awareness and action.Nancy Skinner, Assemblymember 14th District, East Bay, CA across from San Francisco,... more
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There's no interview here, just some cool Star Wars type visuals as I stand at the very front, then rear, of the Copenhagen Metro trains on my way towards the Bella Center, about halfway through the second week of the COP15 climate summit. The metro stop for Bella was shut down by security after a peaceful demonstration, necessitating a long walk in the snow... after which all NGO delegates were nonetheless refused entry, even with a badge and a secondary entry card issued by the UNFCCC.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of http://greenmedianews.com - He lives in a pod made from reclaimed materials, in a communal living environment focused on sustainability and permaculture, in Venice, CA.There's no interview here, just some cool Star Wars type visuals as I stand at... more
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When I was ready to start the couch surfing part of my trip to Copenhagen, I hopped a ride with a friend and got a free driving tour through the Copenhagen city streets, many of which were blocked off by police. We drove past the financial district or "Wall Street" of Copenhagen, and later drove past Parliament.When I was ready to start the couch surfing part of my trip to Copenhagen, I hopped a... more
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Romel Pascual is Acting Deputy Mayor, Energy & Environment, for the City of Los Angeles. I spoke with the Deputy Mayor in Copenhagen about the role of sub-national governments in helping drive climate action, and he told me about a program in the City of Los Angeles to replace streetlights with more efficient LED lamps.
The Los Angeles LED Streetlight Program is the largest LED Streetlight retrofit program in the entire world. Los Angeles is replacing close to 140,000 streetlights across the City, with a reduction of about 40,000 tons of carbon each year, and a savings of about $10 million dollars each year in energy costs. This is a 5-year program with a total cost of $46 million dollars, and the Deputy Mayor says with a 7-year payback it just makes good economic sense, as well as being the right thing to do for the environment.
Romel says if cities across the world adopt this program and do LED streetlight retrofits, by city action alone the United States can reduce up to 40 million tons of carbon each year, just with this one program. Considering the ultimate failure of COP15 to produce a meaningful agreement, the LA program if adopted by cities across America can be a good demonstration of sub-national governments taking leadership and shaping policy, even while national governments fail to act.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of http://greenmedianews.comRomel Pascual is Acting Deputy Mayor, Energy & Environment, for the City of Los... more
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Paul Hardisty represented Green Cross Australia at the COP15 climate conferences in Copenhagen earlier this month. In this short video, Paul talks to me about the restrictions on access placed on the NGO's mid-conference, as more government leaders from around the world started to arrive in Copenhagen. As it turns out, the NGO delegates were banned completely from the Bella Center, even after being promised limited access.Paul Hardisty represented Green Cross Australia at the COP15 climate conferences in... more
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http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/the-sustainability-journey-is-it-sustainable-to-go-to-copenhagen-for-the-climate-change-conference/2539/?tag=content;col1
This was the final article I published on Smart Planet, just prior to my trip to Copenhagen to cover the COP15 climate conference. I actually raised money on social media to be able to afford the trip, and thanks to generous donations ranging from $10 to $100 I was able to raise about half the cost of my plane ticket from Los Angeles to Copenhagen. I couldn't have done it without the help of caring friends and citizens.
Smart Planet was kind enough to furnish me with the letter of assignment I would need to gain press accreditation by the UNFCCC for a media pass into COP15. Unfortunately, I was shut out of the media accreditation process along with 10,000 other journalists. I was lucky to be able to secure a badge for myself through a non-governmental organization (NGO) with whom I've done some some work, Green Cross International http://www.gci.ch/
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting and founder of http://greenmedianews.comhttp://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/the-sustainability-journey-is-it-s... more
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;col1
This is the 3rd of 4 articles I wrote for smartplanet, a CBS website. For full disclosure, I have consulted for CBS Corporation in the sustainability space.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of Green Media News.;col1
This is the 3rd of 4 articles I wrote for smartplanet, a CBS website. For... more
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;col1 This is the 2nd of 4 journal entries published on Smart Planet, about my decision to give up my luxury lifestyle to live communally. I go back to my childhood in this installment and talk about why living in a pod the size of my former walk-in closet makes perfect sense for me right now.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of Green Media News.;col1 This is the 2nd of 4 journal entries published on Smart Planet, about my... more
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Evan Kopelson took the plunge last month to be sustainable. That leap meant he said “So long!” to his Beverly Hills lifestyle to live in a yoga pod in a communal environment. “The Sustainability Journey” is a window into Evan’s world. Here’s his first journal entry.Evan Kopelson took the plunge last month to be sustainable. That leap meant he said... more
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As the day continued we were given limited but some information from the UNFCCC about the restrictions about to be placed on the NGO delegations. Secondary cards would be issued along with the badges to a limited number of delegates. This was instead of revoking badges but the effect was the same. Here is a more complete report.
It is interesting to note that the following day, NGO's were banned completely from the conference before the end of the day, even with their secondary cards. This included scheduled panel speakers. This banning of accredited delegates led some to decry COP15 as the "climate shame" conference.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of http://greenmedianews.com. Evan recently cut his personal carbon footprint by almost 95% by giving up his luxury lifestyle and moving into a pod made from reclaimed materials, in a communal living environment focused on sustainability and permaculture. He advises on climate issues, sustainability, corporate and personal responsibility.As the day continued we were given limited but some information from the UNFCCC about... more
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As the climate conference in Copenhagen heats up with peaceful demonstrations and coordinated marches with up to 100,000 people, the UNFCCC decides to severely restrict the number of NGO delegates permitted in the Bella Center. This is even with badges. Secondary cards were issued and even then, delegates were being refused entry to the conference. This was the day before the G77 walkout. The following day I would interview one of the Nigerian negotiators (see my interview with Felix Dayo). But that would also be the last day I was permitted entry to the Bella Center. The NGO delegates were banned completely for the last 3 days of the conference.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of Green Media News. He advises on sustainability and encourages corporate transparency.As the climate conference in Copenhagen heats up with peaceful demonstrations and... more
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Copenhagen, Dec. 14, 2009. As the negotiations inside the Bella Center began to break down just days before the deadline to reach a binding climate action agreement among all the countries of the world, I heard the African countries were walking out of the negotiations, and so I busted a move over to the African Delegation's offices. After some waiting and a lot of persistence, I was able to score a brief video interview with Felix Dayo, one of the core negotiators from the Nigerian delegation. Felix gave me his perspective on the biggest problems likely to collapse the talks before an agreement can be reached.
http://greenmedianews.com/evan-kopelsons-exclusive-interview-with-core-negotiator-from-nigerian-delegation-on-the-trouble-at-cop15-and-potential-breakdown-of-climate-talks/ Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of Green Media News.Copenhagen, Dec. 14, 2009. As the negotiations inside the Bella Center began to break... more
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Ruth Potts talks with Evan Kopelson at COP15 inside the Bella Center in Copenhagen, about the One Hundred Months campaign. Ruth says we had 100 months from August of 2008 to stabilize the greenhouse gasses in the atmosphere, and the clock is ticking fast...
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of http://greenmedianews.com - Green Media News is Evan's blog about climate change, sustainability, corporate and personal responsibility. Evan recently gave up a life of luxury to move into a pod made from reclaimed materials, in a communal living environment in Venice, CA focused on sustainability and permaculture.Ruth Potts talks with Evan Kopelson at COP15 inside the Bella Center in Copenhagen,... more
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At the Bella Center in Copenhagen, the COP15 climate summit continued as Canada received its 7th Fossil of the Day Award, for doing the most of any country in the world to BLOCK climate action. I spoke here with presenter Katherine Trajan of British Columbia, who was somewhat ashamed to have had to present the Fossil of the Day Award to her own country so many times. Katherine along with many other Canadians I interviewed in Copenhagen, urges Canada to change its ways.At the Bella Center in Copenhagen, the COP15 climate summit continued as Canada... more
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I had the pleasure of dining not once but twice in Copenhagen with protector of the oceans Jean-Michel Cousteau. He was kind enough to grant me a short interview in between speaking events, and talks here about the true cost of climate change: the hundreds of millions of people who will be forced to relocate as their homelands are flooded by rising sea levels. Jean-Michel had faith that the COP15 would yield a meaningful agreement whereby the world's nations would come together and help solve the problem. Unfortunately, that did not happen. This means we're in danger.
Evan Kopelson is president of Green Media Consulting Inc and founder of Green Media News. http://greenmedianews.com is Evan's blog covering climate change, sustainability, corporate and personal responsibility. Evan recently left behind a life of luxury and moved into a pod made from reclaimed materials, in a communal living environment in Venice, CA focused on sustainability and permaculture.I had the pleasure of dining not once but twice in Copenhagen with protector of the... more
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Jason Hartke is the Vice President of National Policy for the US Green Building Council (USGBC). In this brief interview, shot at the Bright Green Forum during the COP15 climate conference in Copenhagen, Jason talks with Evan Kopelson about the USGBC's policy imperatives, and how green building technology can help developing countries avoid energy inefficiencies we've made here at home.Jason Hartke is the Vice President of National Policy for the US Green Building... more
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