The Challenge

    Official negotiations to reach a worldwide climate agreement have come to a standstill as far as the United States is concerned. Initially, meetings in November 2000 in the Hague, Netherlands adjourned without binding governmental commitments, and in March 2001 the administration in Washington, D.C., announced that the United States would not sign or support the Kyoto Protocol to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Since then European governments, Japan and Russia have nonetheless proceeded to endorse the Kyoto Protocol and it officially entered into force in February 2005. Nevertheless the country providing the largest single contribution to global atmospheric carbon emissions has declined to join with other countries to commit to reducing those emissions, leading many to feel the problem is locked in an intergovernmental stalemate.

    Despite stalemate on this issue within the United States government there is a growing sense of urgency that something must be done. It is now clear that global climate change will affect the entire human community, engendering large scale and profound adjustments in human social, economic and political organization in the years and decades ahead. For this reason responsible scientists and informed citizens in the United States are recognizing the urgency of fashioning new mechanisms to foster open discussion and inform public understanding of global climate issues.

    Voices from Europe, India and the Third World have made it clear as well that there is a need for a stable, reliable, and internationally respected forum to continue a wide range of climate talks. Governments may be reluctant to take the lead on these issues, but other important social institutions are responding to the global challenge that climate change represents. Universities, municipal and state governments, civic organizations, business and environmental groups each bring a range of legitimate concerns and unique insights to the climate debate.

    The challenge we face as a human community is two-fold. First, we need to establish reliable and credible mechanisms to foster the wide scale dissemination of the growing scientific knowledge about our global climate condition and its social and public health implications. Second, in the absence of national leadership within the United States, institutions of state and municipal government and civil society need to forge new platforms to foster and sustain responsible climate talks, working toward the goal of a sustainable post-carbon fueled society.

The Response

    In response to this challenge scholars from several research universities and concerned citizens from around the country have come together as partners to convene a joint Climate Talks Project. This project is designed as a multi-year collaboration between these universities to foster and sustain public discussion of global climate issues, problems and concrete solutions. Other universities, municipal and state governmental offices, non-governmental organizations, business groups and citizen's organizations will be invited to join The Climate Talks Project as their participation is appropriate.

    The Climate Talks Project will present current climate news and relevant views through a Internet based website "Climate Talks U." The objective will be to update participating scholars, the wider educational community and the concerned public about on the latest scientific evidence concerning climate change, its likely social and public health impact and the policy options being discussed to address the issue. Further, "Clmate Talks U" will serve as a means to share the growing information about local, practical initiatives that are being launched around the world to cope with climate challenges. At this point when it seems official negotiations are not materializing, it is all the more important that institutions of civil society sustain and extend public discussion of the challenges before humanity. The Climate Talks Project will provide an important platform and vehicle through the "Climate Talks U" to maintain informed and serious exchange between all parties on these serious issues facing humankind.