The Right Climate for Public Diplomacy

For the past 10 days, world leaders and representatives from 150 countries gathered in Paris, France for the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21). PD News headlines this week look back at some of the stories that emerged from this event. Environmental advocates in India faulted the COP21 negotiators for “wrangling over ‘country commitments,’ ‘caps’ and 'cuts’ in greenhouse gases,” contending that the climate talks were ignoring one of the most important issues: country-specific levels of fossil fuel consumption. Meanwhile, China reflected on its recent environmental visit to California, observing that Beijing could learn from "Los Angeles' battle with smog" how to clean up its own "intense air pollution," and GOOD Magazine mobilized community environmentalists to "send a love letter from Earth to Paris" in order to "help ensure that real action is taken on climate change."

• China and the World Turn to California for Climate Change Expertise—LA Times
• Do COP21’s NGOs and Activist Observers Actually Affect the Negotiations?—Good Magazine
• India To U.S.: Cut Back On Your Consumption!—NPR
• Power of volunteerism can help build more sustainable world, says Ban on International Day—UN
• Send a Love Letter From #EarthtoParis—Good Magazine

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Photo by Trey Ratcliff | CC BY-NC-SA 2.0