Cool COP Morning: Spotlight Mexico

While the US is focused like a laser on online shopping deals (here’s an obligatory plug for Green Gift Monday), much of the rest of the world is focused on the United Nations Climate Change Conference, better known as COP16 which gets underway in Cancun, Mexico today.

To help keep up with the proceedings over the nest two weeks, we’ll be offering “Cool COP Morning,” a roundup of the news coming out of Cancun.

Here’s what’s happening on opening day:

1. Mexican President Felipe Calderon is apparently a climate wonk and is eager to show the rest of the world how his country is addressing climate change — including its forest work with The Nature Conservancy. (Washington Post)
2. Mexico is an apt location for this year’s climate summit as it offers a host of examples of climate change threats — from sea level rise, to coral bleaching, to forest destruction. (AFP)
3. With last year’s collapse in Copenhagen  and 100 newly-elected US Republican senators and representatives hostile to climate change action, this year’s COP will focus on “stepping stones” that might lead to a broader agreement down the road. (Business Spectator)
4. Despite pervasive pessimism about the climate change negotiations and the prospects for climate legislation in the United States, many countries (including the U.S.) are finding ways to take action on their own. (The Huffington Post)
5. While the Copenhagen Accord was far from perfect, the worst outcome of the negotiations in Cancun would be the death of that imperfect agreement, argues Slate‘s Michael Levi. (Slate)

(Image: COP 16 plenary session. Courtesy of Flickr user UN Climate Talks. Used under a creative commons license.)