COP21: United Nations climate change conference

As the great and the good of Europe’s community energy movement gathered in Paris at COP21. There was a palpable sense of optimism given the successful development of the Paris Agreement, and the encouragement this could provide the sector. The French hosts were in particularly good spirits given the recent passage of legislation to support the transition énergétique. The architect of the ...

It’s all too easy to assume that the doom and gloom surrounding renewable energy policy in the UK is the same the world over. I was therefore both delighted and honoured to attend a major community energy event at COP21 in Paris, organised by French community energy supplier, enercoop, and the umbrella body for community energy across Europe, REScoop. It is clear the co-operative voice is ...

While a new deal has just been agreed at the COP21 summit in Paris by world leaders, small-scale producers from across the world continue to face the consequences of climate change. Among them is Luis Martínez Villanueva, from UCIRI, a union of indigenous coffee co-operatives in Mexico. UCIRI sells Fairtrade coffee, exporting the majority of its products to Europe and Canada. The union was ...

A bencom formed by Plymouth City Council and the local community has had its work tackling fuel poverty recognised at the United Nations COP21 Climate Summit in Paris. Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) will receive support to scale up its impact through Schneider Electric Foundation and Ashoka’s Social Innovation to Tackle Fuel Poverty programme. It was selected along with 16 other projects ...

The Co-operative Bank has confirmed it will continue to steer clear of providing finance for coal mining and coal power by signing BankTrack's Paris Pledge. The pledge has now been signed by 18 banks from 10 countries, with collectively more than EUR 85 billion in assets under management. The Co-op Bank is the first high street bank in the UK to sign. Laura Carstensen, chair of the ...

Representatives from co-operative and mutual organisations have taken part in the COP21 conference in Paris, highlighting the potential of co-operatives in fighting climate change. Chief executive of the International Co-operative and Mutual Insurance Federation, Shaun Tarbuck, spoke at the Lima to Paris Action Climate Finance Session. He talked about how the co-operative and mutual ...

Cooperation Jackson heads to the Paris climate talks to show what a just transition to a green economy looks like. Business-as-usual capitalism may be bracing for a stiff challenge from a group in one of America’s poorest cities. Cooperation Jackson is a growing network of co-ops founded less than two years ago in Jackson, Mississippi, to replace an economic system with high unemployment ...

Some of Europe’s biggest businesses have committed to buying Fairtrade Carbon Credits, an initiative launched at the United Nations COP21 climate change conference in Paris. Marks & Spencer and Deutsche Post DHL Group are among the businesses who have signed up to the scheme, which aims to support farmers (both individuals and co-operatives) and vulnerable rural communities in their ...

Co-operation and co-operatives are underrepresented at COP 21, say academics and co-operators. Speaking at the Global Conference of the ICA in Antalya last month, Yuill Herbert of Sustainability Solutions Group questioned whether the co-operative movement was prepared to be heard: “Co-ops have been doing sustainability for 120 years, much before the rest of the world had understood the ...

As world leaders prepare to meet in Paris for the UN conference on climate change, the International Co-operative Alliance is urging them to adopt effective and ambitious measures against climate change. In November the Alliance’s General Assembly adopted a motion highlighting that co-operatives are sustainable enterprises that play an important role in the implementation of the Sustainable ...

Co-operative members and supporters took to the streets of London on Sunday 29 November to mark the start of the UN climate summit in Paris. Organisers said about 50,000 people were on the route from Hyde Park to Whitehall. There were approximately 2500 other events around the world ahead of the summit. Plymouth Energy Community (PEC) led the ‘Stand Up for Community Energy Bloc’ at the ...

While the Kyoto Protocol has resulted in clear commitments from state parties to reducing greenhouse gas emissions, post-Kyoto negotiations have failed to establish a new worldwide contract about climate protection and emission reduction objectives. The 21st Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP21/CMP11) will take place from 30 November ...