Bono, Al Gore with Thomas L. Friedman speak at the world economic forum. This is an interesting video, my favourite part was al gore saying ‘we need to change lightbulbs but its better to change laws’.
{January 27, 2008}
Al Gore and Bono speak at the 2008 World Economic Forum in Davos
{January 19, 2008}
Tiempo Climate Newsletters #64 and #65
The latest two issues, #64 & 65, of Tiempo: I like to pick these up at they are released so sorry about that delay. The Tiempo newsletter focuses on adaptation and development in the global south. The publication is a joint project of IIED and SEI.
Issue 65 Contents:
- National Adaptation Programmes of Action (NAPA). (Mohazurul Alam)
- The Sudanese NAPA. (Sumaya Ahmed ZakiEldeen and Nagmeldin Goutbi Elhassan)
- NAPA priorities to policies. (Bubu Pateh Jallow and Thomas Downing)
- Leassons learned in Africa. (Balgis Osman-Elasha and Thomas Downing)
Issue 64 Contents:
- Flooding and the urban poor. (Ian Douglas et. al.,)
- Climate risk integration. (Bert Koenders)
- Adaptation targets. (Ian Tellam)
- Community Adaptation. (Roger Jones and Atiq Rahman)
- Roadmap for Adaptation (Gary Yohe)
{January 17, 2008}
UNDP 2007 Human Development Report
The 2007 Human Development Report made a bigger splash than any other report, bar the IPCC’s latest edition. Going into Bali the report was big news, around the world, but perticularly in the nations of the global south. Now UNDP have created a superb video explaining the reports conclusions, it is very compelling viewing, highly reccomended.
Related:
- Summary Report (pdf, 800k)
- Full Report (pdf, 12,200k)
{January 17, 2008}
UNDP 2007 Human Development Report
The 2007 Human Development Report made a bigger splash than any other report, bar the IPCC’s latest edition. Going into Bali the report was big news, around the world, but perticularly in the nations of the global south. Now UNDP have created a superb video explaining the reports conclusions, it is very compelling viewing, highly reccomended.
Related:
- Summary Report (pdf, 800k)
- Full Report (pdf, 12,200k)
{July 10, 2007}
News Roundup Top 5
Here are a few of my favourite climate change stories of late…
1. Darfur is connected with climate change by UN Secretary General. This connection has often been made by others, but received some attention this time!
2. The UN Global Compact has released a report on the state of responsible competitiveness, read this with a big dose of skepticism, but remember its not always greenwash all the time!
3. Al Gore launched Live Earth in Tokyo via hologram!
4. RFK Jr. gives an amazing speech at live earth, the transcript is well worth a read. As an aside, someone bought me a book he wrote on environmental protection but due to his cape wind stance i have never read it…can someone truly be passionate about the environment and be that resistent to an offshore wind farm? Still, the transcript might be usefull in deciding how to frame your arguments.
5. The WBCSD have teamed up with the members of the aforementioned global compact to produce a statement on what the business community needs in order to move rapidly towards a low carbon future. The WBCSD are THE place to go if you want to understand the sort of agreements and regulations that are needed in order to effectively address climate change.
{July 9, 2007}
Guest Post: Alternatives to slash and burn.
By Jessica Schessler
jessica.schessler(at)gmail.com
Obviously, rainforest destruction is a heated topic of discussion. Many popular websites claim to plant trees in exchange for donations, and even Dell has hopped on the bandwagon. When you buy a new computer you can select “plant a tree for me” as you checkout and help offset your carbon footprint. Planting trees can be a good thing, but are we really making progress if we do nothing about the source of the problem? Sustainable Harvest International is heading straight for one source. This small non-profit organization
“has worked with nearly 1,000 families and 900 students in Honduras, Panama, Belize and Nicaragua implementing alternatives to slash-and-burn farming, the leading cause of rainforest destruction in the region.”
Malnutrition is a huge problem in this area of the world, and many vegetables are considered a luxury item. SHI teaches new farming techniques to the local families, such as alley cropping, organic vegetable gardening, and seed saving and storage.
Since 1997, SHI has successfully:
- Planted more than 2,000,000 trees.
- Converted 6,000 acres to sustainable uses, thereby saving 30,000 acres from slash-and-burn destruction.
- Improved nutrition through the establishment of more than 200 organic vegetable gardens.
- Increased farm income up to 800%.
- Built 165 wood-conserving stoves (saving 1,650 trees per year)
“…slash-and-burn practice is very shortsighted and damaging to forests… Removal of the vegetation not only destroys the habitat for numerous species of plants and animals, but it also can lead to soil erosion, watershed degradation, and climate change in the area. Once the vegetation is removed the rapid processes of plant growth, death, and decay that created the fertile environment are severely limited or entirely destroyed.” (1)
This farmer living near the Panama Canal has learned that growing rice in paddies instead of using slash and burn improves his yield by 400%-800%, without the need to cut down any forests.
What better way to stop slash and burn than with education in alternative farming techniques? SHI’s programs not only help out the farmers and their families, but the environment as well.
Check out http://www.sustainableharvest.org to find out more about SHI!
An Inuit activist is honoured by the United Nations Developmet Program for highlighting the harmful effects of greenhouse gases on Arctic communities.
From the arctic peoples website:
The impacts of change
Evidence of climate change is being seen right now in indigenous communities in the Arctic. Some people outside of the Arctic assume that climate change would be a good thing for Arctic peoples, if it means that the weather will get warmer. Unfortunately, that is unlikely to be the case. Arctic peoples are well adapted to their environment, and to using the plants and animals that are adapted to the cold northern weather. As the weather gets warmer, people, plants and animals are becoming stressed.
Saami are seeing their reindeer grazing pastures change, Inuit are watching polar bears waste away because of a lack of sea ice, and peoples across the Arctic are reporting new species, particularly insects. Some communities are having to sand-bag their shorelines to try to slow down an increase in coastal erosion, while in others, buildings, pipes, and roads are slumping because the permafrost is thawing. Vital travel routes linking communities to each other and to harvesting sites are becoming dangerously unpredictable. Routes across the ice become dangerous when the ice thins, or thaws at times different from the past, and water routes can also become dangerous as water flows change.
{June 25, 2007}
Indigenous Peoples at the Arctic Council
Cutting out the middleman, a superb concept, perhaps most brilliantly communicated by Douglas Adams in ‘Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy’ is made possible in relation to climate change thanks to the blog of the “Indigenous Peoples at the Arctic Council“.
Definetly worth a visit…
{May 27, 2007}
Latest Climate Change and Development Bulletin
Issue 63 of the quarterly bulletin is now on-line, featuring articles on on
health and climate in Kashmir, environmental stress and climate change and
gender issues…
In the latest issue of Tiempo Climate Newswatch, a weekly online news magazine
on climate and development…
News of the latest IPCC assessment of climate mitigation options…
Plus the latest news on…
- Bonn climate negotiations
- WWF mitigation report
- Migration and climate change
The Current Climate section now includes the latest monthly data for global
temperature and the Southern Oscillation as well as access to a mosaic of global
webcam skyviews…
{May 14, 2007}
Human Tide: The Real Migration Crisis
This week’s report of the week is by christian aid. Entitled “Human Tide: The Real Migration Crisis” this latest report looks at one of the greatest potential impacts of climate change, the distinctly human rather than environmental impact of mass migration.
“At least one billion people will be forced from their homes between now and 2050 as the effects of climate change deepen an already burgeoning global migration crisis, predicts a new Christian Aid report.”
A great number of development organisations are now looking at climate change, and issue that is so huge as to be a daunting addition to these groups doing very direct and worthwhile development work…but it is becoming increasingly obvious that climate change threatens to wash away any hope of development for the poor, hence christain aids latest climate campaign.
Links bellow to the climate change sections of a few development organisations.
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