The Climate Action Blog

By Sasha Rose Abelson, Consultant

On November 18 and 19, leaders from around the world gathered in Los Angeles to discuss the urgent issue of climate change. For many of the participants, this was an opportunity to meet face to face for the first time.

Day one of the summit was devoted to discussing different mechanisms that can help in the fight against global warming. ‘Collaborting on GHG Reporting' emphasized the importance of an accurate system to to measure, monitor and report GHG emissions. The panelists stressed that a transparent and credible reporting scheme is crucial to ensure a legitimate carbon market. Later in the day, the sectoral approach to controlling GHG emissions was discussed. This approach would use specific protocols to regulate different industrial sectors of the economy such as energy, transportation, cement etc.

Day two of the summit consisted of a round table discussion between the world leaders during which they were able to explain the progress they had made in the fight against global warming as well as future goals. The Governor of Kansas spoke of harnessing the wind power of her state, the Governor of Wisconsin spoke of other creative methods to create renewable energy (eg: using the byproduct of cheese production to create bio fuels - that's right - cheese.)

A remarkable amount of progress was achieved during the summit. I was thrilled to view a video message from President Elect Obama in which he pledged that his administration would mark a "new chapter in American leadership on climate change." A Forestry MOU was signed between the governors of Brazil, Indonesia and the US (representing 50% of the tropical forests on earth). A Declaration was signed by the world leaders which agreed to fundamental principals which must be taken in the battle against climate change.

In addition to these honorable achievements, I believe many triumphs occurred off stage and away from the cameras. Some of the breakthroughs that were not mentioned in the press were the handshakes, the eye-to-eye contact, chatting during coffee breaks and conversations over the dinner table, and the thrill the Chinese delegation got upon meeting Rob Lowe at Universal Studios. (That's right - Rob Lowe).

The summit provided an opportunity for the attendees to get to know one another as leaders on climate change and as individuals. The Governors Global Climate Summit laid the groundwork for these leaders to engage in future negotiations and served as an introduction to a relationship between people with shared common goa