COP17 Durban Climate Conference - Oct 22-31

The last negotiating session of the UN Climate Talks was held in Panama at the beginning of October. The session was aiming to develop draft dexts in preparation for Durban. Christiana Figueres, the Executive Secretary of the Talks, summed the meeting up with two words: "good progress".

Yolandi Groenewald has written a useful introduction to the latest round of talks talking place in Durban. This is the 17th time that governments have come together, to assess progress on reaching a global deal, since first agreeing to try and stabilize greenhouse gasses at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

Christiana Figueres is optimistic that progress will be made in Durban regarding one of the thorniest political issues in these talks: the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol (KP2). Campaigners are worried that the only binding international climate law might be allowed to 'die'.

The UK Youth Climate Coalition has some interesting presentations aimed at youth attending the UN Climate Talks...

Will EU leaders choose the right magic formula to save the climate and boost the economy? Campaigners are already urging Europe to pump new life into the Kyoto Protocol - the only existing international climate law. Find out more on the I Love KP facebook page

Alex Kirby asks what will happen to the Kyoto Protocol during the upcoming UN Climate Talks in Durban. Will the KP survive the talks? In a nutshell:

Christiana Figueres has acknowledged that the global financial crisis may hurt efforts to raise money to fight climate change. Negotiators are trying to create a Green Climate Fund that would give $100 billion a year by 2020 to developing countries to help prevent climate change and limit its effects. In Durban they will need to hammer out where the money will come from and how it will be managed.

Meanwhile investors worth $20 trillion have released a statement (pdf) demanding clear policies on climate change ahead of the UN Climate Talks.

With just over a month to go before talks begin in Durban, a new report from the United Nations Environment Programme has confirmed that current international efforts to tackle climate change are insufficient if we want to avoid a +2C temperature rise. If you'd like to dive into some of the technical suggestions for improving the international climate negotiations, the report highlights a number of options that are worth checking out. This is what Christiana Figueres had to say about it on twitter:

Conservation group WWF has launched a petition demanding that the US Administration stand with Africa and vulnerable communities everywhere by showing bold leadership in Durban. Find out more here

An alliance of four major developing countries known as the 'BASIC' bloc - Brazil, South Africa, India and China - is meeting in Beijing today. They have been cooperating since the 2009 UN Climate Talks in Copenhagen, Denmark, and are working to agree a common strategy on some of the key issues (like the Kyoto Protocol) before the negotiations start in Durban.

Richard Black, the BBC's environment correspondent, explores some of the big themes that will dominate these negotiations.