News stories by Claudia Ciobanu* - IPS/TerraViva

‘’Those who run the decision-making on climate change are the same who have caused it,’’ said Archbishop Desmond Tutu at the world’s first international climate hearing on Tuesday, pithily identifying the reason why justice has been elusive at the ongoing climate change summit in the Danish capital.

Cutting governmental subsidies for fossil energy could lead to a 10 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 as compared to 1990 levels, says a recent study by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.

The Inuit people who live in and around the Arctic are among the worst victims of global warming, and scientists are turning to their experience and indigenous knowledge to understand the staggering effects of climate change.

Among the thousands of people who have flocked to the Danish capital this week for the climate change summit and dozens of parallel activities are activists of all ages and stripes and representatives of the business community. TerraViva caught up to some of them to find out why they are here and what they hope to achieve.

'Decision-makers should stop thinking in realpolitik terms and acknowledge that we are out of time,’’ says Magda Stoczkiewicz, director of Friends of the Earth (FoE) in Europe.

Being the world’s largest producer and exporter of ethanol it is natural for the Brazilian government and its partners to push biofuels as the only real alternative for a world trying wean itself away from fossil fuels that contribute to global warming.

As the climate change summit in the Danish capital moves into a second day, environmental groups warn that by pushing carbon offsetting and trade, governments of developed countries are bypassing their responsibility to significantly reduce domestic emissions and provide aid to developing countries.