Greenpeace activists convicted for stopping Arctic oil rig

The second of a series of UN climate change negotiations to be held this year will begin in Bonn, Germany on 1 June. The negotiations will culminate in Copenhagen, Denmark in December, where governments must agree on a deal to save the climate. Getting the ambitious deal needed in Copenhagen hinges on progress made throughout the year. The two working groups representing the different negotiating tracks (AWGKP-Kyoto commitments and AWGLCA – developing country action and USA) now each have draft documents designed to form the basis of an agreement in Copenhagen. However, these documents currently contain almost every option that has ever been suggested – some good, some extremely bad – and the June meeting will need to work extremely hard to reach agreement on what stays and what goes – to enhance the good and reject the bad.

The Kyoto Protocol is based on commitment periods instead of single target years. The first 5-year commitment period is 2008-12. In the lead-up to the Copenhagen Climate Summit, countries are negotiating the second commitment period, which starts in 2013 and should run until 2018.

Washington , United States — The first meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) wrapped up today in Washington, DC, with Greenpeace labeling it as a waste of time.

Jakarta, Indonesia — Greenpeace this morning launched its "Forests for Climate" initiative, the pioneering solution to reduce deforestation, tackle climate change, preserve global biodiversity and protect the livelihoods of millions of forest people.