World COP15 Climate Summit 2009 Newswire Archive

As the same tired responses and apparently ludicrous solutions keep on being advocated for climate change, I keep thinking, 'I'm just an amateur, what do I know? It may look wrong to me, but surely there's something those in power know that I don't'. I mean, they wouldn't carry on with these schemes and saying these untrue things otherwise, right? If I've got such a point in fields like medicine and architecture, whenever I dig deep I tend to find that yes, there is indeed some serious thing I was unaware of that disabuses me of my opinion.

I want you to forget about April 22, 2009. Just do whatever you normally do on that day; don’t write anything in your diary; don’t put a circle round the date on your calendar; don’t make a special effort to talk about the environment. Why should you? If you are not a hypocrite then Earth Day will mean nothing special to you because like all other days it will just be sustainable living as usual.

The word "persecuted" springs to mind in this article by editor of total liberation and animal rights. Associate professor of philosophy at UTEP, award-winning writer, noted speaker, public intellectual, and seasoned activist. Steven Best engages the issues of the day such as animal rights, ecological crisis, biotechnology, liberation politics, terrorism, mass media, globalization, and capitalist domination.

Coal is killing the planet. It’s as simple as that – so it’s easy to understand why 350.org founder Bill McKibben is willing to risk getting arrested in order to participate in a major act of civil disobedience at a coal-fired power plant next month.

Mark Lynas is a seriously well informed person. While many of us use broad phrases like 'climate change impact', he has very precise knowledge.

To show that climate change isn't something that's going to happen but is already here, he visited many parts of the world already affected, reporting it in the book High Tide: Notes From A Warming World.

As the global temperature is likely to rise up to six degrees this century, he wrote Six Degrees. Six chapters, each detailing the results of extensive research on what the next degree of warming is likely to cause.

He's also a prolific writer of articles, and has spoken out in favour of radical activists such as the Camp for Climate Action.

So it was surprising when, in May 2005, he came out as a convert to the idea of nuclear power using some questionable lines of thinking.

THE FIRST OF MARCH

THE PEOPLES RIGHT. THE HIGHEST LAW.

THE STRUGGLE CONTINUES FOR MORE FREE SPACES.

DEMONSTRATION AT 5pm. FROM GAMMELTORV, COPENHAGEN.

NOTHING FORGOTTEN! NOTHING FORGIVEN!

JAGTVEJ 69 WILL NEVER BE FORGOTTEN.

NO ALCOHOL NO PANIC.

There’s a lot to be said for having progressive targets in all sorts of things, foremost among these is reducing the amount of climate changing gas being poured into the atmosphere; so when, for instance, a government (like that of the UK) says that it will aim to reduce the amount of carbon the nation is sending into the atmosphere by 80% by the year 2050, then it’s good to know that somewhere down the line people are going to check that they are on target. That said, of course 80% by 2050 is hopelessly inadequate, given that that only a net reduction in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere - as distinct from the amount being emitted - by, say, 2050, will have any chance of preventing the worst effects of climate change.

‘We seem to be suffering from an empathy deficit – our ability to put ourselves in someone else’s shoes, to see the world through those who are different from us.’ – Barack Obama

Occasionally – just occasionally – a mainstream politician says something that is both original and useful. This is the case with Barack Obama’s views on empathy. In a thousand speeches, and in his book The Audacity of Hope, he has put cultivating empathy – learning to see the world from the perspective of others – at the centre of his moral and political vision.

I am inclined to praise him because I believe we should view the problem of tackling climate change not as an environmental issue, or one concerning technology or social justice or markets, but primarily as a problem of empathy. We must learn to see the individuals behind the newspaper headlines about climate change, and imagine ourselves into the uniqueness of their lives, developing an understanding of their most important experiences, beliefs, fears and hopes.Sound far-fetched, wishy-washy or a little too sandals-and-carrot-juice for your liking? Let me explain myself.

Campaigners in Greece have apparently succeeded in halting plans for the constructions of new coal-fired power plants. Can we pull off the same here? The future depends on it.

Dear Hazel,

Last week you used an article in the Guardian to attack my “cynical and corrosive commentary”. You asserted your political courage, maintaining that “you don’t get very far in politics without guts, and certainly not as far as the cabinet table.” By contrast, you suggested, I contribute “to the very cynicism and disengagement from politics” that I make my living writing about. You accused me of making claims without supporting evidence and of “wielding great influence without accountability”. “We need more people standing for office and serving their communities,” you wrote, “more people debating, engaging and voting; not more people waving placards on the sidelines.”(1)

“Global warming my ass! It’s freezing! Al Gore sure is taking you people for a ride!” I’ve heard comments along these lines for months now, ever since normal late fall/early winter temperatures set in. Check the comments on any local news story about a snowstorm, and you’ll find at least a handful of people who believe that because it’s snowing during winter in the Northern Hemisphere, global warming can’t possibly be real.

On 23rd January I went to a climate question time at Leeds Civic Hall organised by Oxfam as part of their role in the Stop Climate Chaos coalition. The panel was pretty high level;

Hilary Benn, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Robert Goodwill, Shadow Roads Minister for Transport
Richard Brett, Liberal Democrat and Co-Leader of Leeds City Council
Martin Kirk, Oxfam’s Head of Campaigns

It’s usual in these things for there to be a load of party point scoring – including generous helpings of logical and factual errors – but the balance is somewhat redressed by points from the audience.

as aviation minister, I learned two lessons about the aviation industry. First, its demands are insatiable; secondly, successive Governments have always given way to them.

- Chris Mullin MP, House of Commons, 28 November 2002

It was an extraordinary thing. Greenpeace activists had occupied a coal-fired power station yet the jury acquitted them.

Climate Camp hits the City of London on April Fools Day, the eve of the G20 leaders' London Summit. Join us! Climate camp 2009 /// Stopping carbon markets /// Because nature doesn't
do bailouts.

Information about Christian Aid's Climate Change protests and campaigns - speaking out against E.ON's coal-fuelled power plants. Join us and help make a difference!

The debate surrounding the extent to which the burning of fossil fuels leads to climate change misses a more fundamental point. That is, fossil fuels are an inherently finite resource. This resource is dwindling at an accelerating rate as economies such as those of China and India expand rapidly. Fossil fuels will run out. Maybe not in the next 10, 20 or 30 years but they will run out.

Invitation to the 2nd planning meeting in the International Climate Network, regarding protest and actions during the COP15 summit.

We start our coverage of this year’s UN Climate Change Talks in Poznan Poland with a look at an alternative proposal for a global climate deal called “Kyoto2”. The scheme would limit emissions by rationing the production of fossil fuels at source and would generate a trillion dollar fund to help poor countries adapt to climate change, to preserve forests and to help decarbonise the globe. There is also a strong component of direct regulation. We speak to the scheme’s architect, Oliver Tickell.

We stand at a crossroads. The facts are clear. Global climate change, caused by human activities, is happening, threatening the lives and livelihoods of billions of people and the existence of millions of species. Social movements, environmental groups, and scientists from all over the world are calling for urgent and radical action on climate change.