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Women, Business Leaders Make Their Voices Heard at Paris Talks

WCAI Science Editor Heather Goldstone reports from Paris, where in a display in the Place du Pantheon, twelve large chunks of ice are slowly melting. Water runs between the cobblestones, as children run between the stranded ice bergs.

Clean energy advocates from New England are at the climate talks in Paris this week, sharing lessons they say could help regions around the world trying to improve both the carbon footprint and the bottom line of their energy systems. The advocates, from businesses, non-profits, and academia, presented a success story in which business flourishes while greenhouse gas emissions are reduced.

David Cash is dean of the McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies at the University of Massachusetts Boston. He presented statistics that pretty well summed it up: Masachusett’s gross product has increased steadily since 1991, while greenhouse gas emissions from power plants have been cut almost in half over the past decade. He says energy systems around the globe face a fundamental problem: regulatory systems that block innovation. He says we need a strong international agreement that puts a price on carbon, but that there’s still an important role for local, state, and regional action.

Also today in Paris, women protestors from around the world gathered to make their voices heard, and Tik Akosa, the executive director of Nigerian Centre for 21st Century Issues spoke on behalf of women's constituencies.

More in the full audio report below.

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