Majora Carter is host of American Public Media show "The Promised Land," and an environmental strategist for the Majora Carter Group. As leaders gather in Cancún to tackle the big picture of climate change, Carter is advocating for "protecting what we still have." She's concentrating on grassroots movements on the ground that have the potential to create jobs and protect the environment, and preparing for climate change in a pragmatic ways. 

The climate change summit in Copenhagen wrapped up over the weekend - and a muted response has greeted what some are calling a toothless agreement, which observers note is merely a statement of intent rather than a binding document. David Biello, associate editor of environment and energy at Scientific American, was at the summit in Copenhagen. He says if you try to pick winners and losers from the conference you'll find that no nation really came out on top. And Kathleen McGinty, chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality during the Clinton administration, says that the White House blew an important chance for diplomatic action.

Climate talks in Copenhagen wrap up today, but will an appearance by President Obama inspire nations to strike a last-minute deal? We talk with Kathleen McGinty, former chair of the White House Council of Environmental Quality, and Peter Thomson, the environment editor for PRI's The World, about what to look for as countries try to reach an agreement in the final hours. 

The UN's historic climate change conference in Copenhagen wraps up tomorrow. There are persistent fears that the end could come without a major, binding climate change agreement between the 193 countries. “The next 24 hours are absolutely crucial,” warned UN climate change official Yvo de Boer. (...continue reading)

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg is in Copenhagen this week to take part in the Climate Summit for Mayors.  Last week, the Mayor passed his Greener, Greater, Buildings Plan, and this week he hopes to inspire leaders from other cities to follow suit. With cities around the world producing more than 80 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions, changes in urban systems can have green effects globally. We speak with Bloomberg from Copenhagen.  (click through for the full interview transcript)
 

In the second week of climate talks in Copenhagen, attention will be on whether big developing countries like India will agree to cuts in their carbon emissions. But western demands for carbon cuts are stoking a surprising amount of anger and resentment in India, even among green campaigners. They see the requirements as imperialist and want to prioritize India's economic growth, as one third of Indians still live below the poverty line. So what can we expect from India in Copenhagen this week? The BBC’s India correspondent, Sanjoy Majumder, joins us from Delhi to bring us views and voices from India.

We've uncovered our crystal ball and are peeking into the week ahead with our Washington correspondent, Todd Zwillich, and Jonathan Marcus, BBC diplomatic correspondent.  They'll discuss what's next for health care reform in the Senate as Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) throws a wrench into the works ... again; President Obama's meeting with some of the heads of the largest American banks; the continuing climate talks in Copenhagen; and continuing nuclear troubles with Iran.  All that and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi getting socked in the face with a statuette.

Protestors, experts and delegations from 192 countries have descended on Copenhagen to try to come up with a strategies for combating climate change resolution. Developing countries are claiming that emission regulations will create an unfair burden on their development, prompting protests in the streets.  And some experts think that the best outcome from Copenhagen would be if nothing gets passed at all.  We speak with Tom Burke, founding director of E3G, a non profit consulting firm working on sustainable devlelopment; and Bjørn Lomborg, author of "Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming," about their views on climate change and what they hope will come out of the Copenhagen talks.

With luminaries flying in from all over the world, the carbon footprint of the Copenhagen summit had worried the Danish government ...but they've come up with a surprising way of making the summit carbon-neutral.  The Danes are contributing about $1 million into a project to replace 20 traditional brick kilns with energy efficient ones, thousands of miles away in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Denmark says the scheme will cut 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions a year, offsetting the fuel spent by the 15,000 delegates' flights to Copenhagen. We talk with the BBC’s Mark Dummett from Dhaka to find out more about the program.

Daniel Stone, senior writer for Newsweek, reports on how a leaked proposal from some of the world's biggest industrial nations is threatening discussions at this week's international climate summit in Copenhagen.  (Read Stone's entry on the leaked texts here.)

While nations around the world are readying themselves for climate talks in Copenhagen, the state of California is already negotiating their own international climate agreements. We talk with Tony Brunello, California’s deputy Secretary for Energy and Climate Change and Ingrid Lobet, West Coast Bureau Chief of PRI's Living on Earth about what the state is facing and how they’re staying ahead of the curve.

China faces a serious challenge as its representatives head to the Copenhagen climate talks: how to continue to urbanize and modernize while keeping carbon emissions in check. That tension is in stark relief in the southwestern city of Chongqing, China's largest city and one of the fastest growing. Every day, it adds 1,300 new residents – and their environmental impacts. We check in with the BBC’s Quentin Sommerville, who is watching the developments in Copenhagen from Chongqing.

The most anticipated conversation about the environment in years will kick off in Copenhagen today. It'll last seven days: Leaders from 192 countries, including President Obama, will attend at least some of the conference. by. International Herald Tribute correspondent James Kanter joins us from Copenhagen to tell us what's on the agenda there. Meanwhile, climate legislation seems low on the list of major priorities for the Obama administration. Politico's Ben Smith joins us to talk about how, with healthcare and financial reform on the agenda, serious legislative action on climate will likely be a long time coming.