Manish Bapna: Good ideas for the economy and the environment

Civil society plays key roles in pushing for new laws, programmes, policies or strategies on climate change, in holding governments to account on their commitments; in identifying the lack of joined-up government responses to climate change; and in ensuring that national policy making does not forget the poor and vulnerable.

With only days to go before the start of the Heartland Institute’s annual climate denial conference, eleven major funders have dropped their support of the organization.

Together with TckTckTck, the Elders have launched ‘Elders + Youngers’ a global debate with young leaders to inspire the urgent change needed to build a more equitable and sustainable world.

Over the past several days, activists in more than 30 countries worldwide have piled pressure on global governments to adopt a Robin Hood Tax. The popular ‘tiny tax’ would enact a small levy on bank transactions, which would then be used to offset global poverty and fund climate adaptation for developing countries. Since May 18, activists around the world have gathered in London, Mexico City, Copenhagen, Edinburgh and at Mt. Fuji in Japan to show their support for the Robin Hood Tax.

For the past week our tireless team of Adopt a Negotiator trackers have been on the ground in Bonn, following the first session of UN climate talks for 2012. You can follow their daily posts on the Adopt a Negotiator website, Twitter Feed or Facebook Page for as-they-happen updates. If you’re looking to catch up on what happened in the past five days, here’s a prime selection of our favourite posts: