The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change meeting began in Cancun on Monday, providing another chance for world leaders to huddle on solutions to the problems posed by rising global greenhouse gas emissions. This year’s Conference of the Parties—or COP, as it’s known—is certainly kicking off to much less hype than last year’s meeting in Copenhagen, when delegates were expecting a major breakthrough on negotiations. Expectations are much lower this year, but there’s hope that progress might yet be possible.
You can check out my run down of what to expect over the next two weeks at Mother Jones HQ. I’ll be reporting live from Mexico for the next two weeks, which you can catch on Blue Marble and Twitter. In the meantime, here are some headlines from the first day of the event:
EU warns that U.N. climate talks “risk losing relevance”
Time for compromise, troubled UN climate talks told
US sees progress easing climate rifts with China
Frustrations show as climate talks resume
Cancún climate talks: In search of the holy grail of climate change policy
Also, take a look at the massive art project 350.org pulled off on the eve of the Cancun talks. And here’s a video of the opening ceremony on Monday.