Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Sunday Forums return Fall 2016

Sunday Forums will resume in September, 2016. Please check back for updates!

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

June 12 Forum: Climate Change: The Paris Agreement

Presenter: Dr. William McPherson
9:15 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. – BUF Conference Room
The Paris Agreement marked a major pivot in international negotiations on climate change. Thanks to the work of French diplomats and many others, 185 countries made pledges for emissions reductions in the months leading up to the final negotiations in December of 2015. Working behind the scenes, the French managed to develop compromises that brought together over 190 countries to agree on text for further action. The agreement did not please everyone; no agreement can do that. But it lays the groundwork for further effective action in the years ahead.
Author of Ideology versus Science and Sabotaging the Planet, Dr. William McPherson is a retired environmental diplomat with 21 years’ service in the U.S. Foreign Service, including assignments in Tokyo and Geneva. After retirement, he has continued his work on international environmental issues, working with Earth Negotiations Bulletin, a newsletter on environmental negotiations. He is an activist with the Sierra Club, working on issues of climate change and coal exports.