Every year, Suzanne Fallender’s corporate responsibility office at Intel (INTC) receives dozens of requests from sustainability analysts and nonprofits looking to rate the company on its water usage, carbon emissions, workforce diversity, and scores of other factors.

Waiting nine years for climate action isn’t just a delay, it’s a death sentence for communities on the front lines of the climate crisis. Yet that appears to be exactly what the US representatives to Cop17 are pushing: delaying climate change action until 2020.

Julia Hill's 2-year sojourn in the tree began as part of an environmental sit-in to stop loggers felling trees in an ancient forest...