Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Bill Oreilly of Fox News Calls Climate Denialists Ridiculous

When far right conservatives start to call denialists 'ridiculous' you know that things have changed. Well here is Fox News' very own Bill Orielly.

Perhaps we can move together on climate change now? Competeing lef.rightwing policies to address a definete problem. Now that sounds like a senseible debate.

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The Inconvenient Truth: Online, In Full, For Free

Al Gore's now double Oscar Winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth is now available to watch online.

The entire film, with code so that you can post in on your own website, blog myspace etc, is now avialable here.

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Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Report of the Week: New Zealand energy revolution

Greenpeace New Zealand have just launched (video) a visionary new report on a low carbon future for the country.

As you might have expected they launched the report by attacking the nemesis of efficient green power, namely dirty inefficient coal.


Auckland, New Zealand — At the break of dawn this morning the Greenpeace climate rescue team took action against one of the biggest climate polluters in New Zealand - the Huntly coal-fired power station. Greenpeace activists entered the Huntly site at dawn and are now preparing to take action against the plant.

Climate change is real, it's happening now, and it is frightening. New Zealand has largely ignored warnings about climate change for 20 years - we must take action or suffer serious consequences.

As we've seen recently in the Stern Report and IPCC reports it is still possible to avoid the worst effects of climate change but it will require a concerted, international effort, with wealthy countries like New Zealand leading the way in switching to clean, renewable energy sources.

On the back the action at Huntly we have also launched a report called New Zealand Energy Revolution: How to prevent climate chaos. The report is the first ever extensive examination of how New Zealand can restructure its energy system to drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions and avoid the worst effects of climate change.

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Monday, February 26, 2007

I Have A Dream...

The future becomes the most powerfull vision that is presented. This is the basic concept of a quote that I recently came across in a book on social change.

It has the sound of truth in it. It asks of us: what is your positive vision? Our positive vision is not a distaste for fossil fuels, it is not a hatred of corporate greed and it is not a dislike for consumerism as a value system.

It's time for us to bring that vision. I know people who are already doing this, I also know many, including myself who have not done enough of this.

Martin Luther King had a dream. He did not have a complaint. He had a powerful vision of a fairer future and the dream proved irresistible.




I hope you found that video as inspiring as I did. It is a powerful speech, the civil rights movement was a powerful movement, but don't hark back to the sixties, we live now and it is the best time to live!

Never have we faced so many challenges, never in the history of mankind have we been in such dire need of vision. I`m looking to a brilliant future, a future with decentralised energy and most of all decentralised power. I`m looking forward to a clean future, a safer future, a smart future and a future at peace with nature.

I'm thinking about what this future would look like and how we can better talk about it. I hope we can all do this and can lead with vision not admonishment.

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TXU

Coal loving Texas utility (TXU:NYSE) is being bought out. This is expected to result in plans for the construction of twelve coal plants being scrappred. Three may still be built but this is 
uncertain given the high risk of coal in the rapidly changing olicy environment. 

There are many reasons for not building more coal fired power plants in Texas. For economic, environmental and health reasons it would be a bad move for the state. From the investors point of view it would also be risky.

A recent report by investors group CERES finds that:

"TXU’s investors – whether as public shareholders or private investors – will face a multitude of financial risks if the company moves forward with its plans to build 9,000 megawatts of pulverized coal-fired capacity. The report cites construction cost over-runs, burdensome regulatory costs as climate regulations take hold and a slowing of power demand in Texas as state legislators aggressively push energy efficiency and other energy-saving programs. The 11 coal plants that TXU proposed to build are among more than 150 coal-fired power plants currently proposed across the United States. As with TXU, most of these generating facilities would be built with no technologies or controls for capturing carbon dioxide, a primary contributor to global warming.

The report concludes that all coal-fired power plants present wide-ranging financial risks for investors, including to shareholders of power companies as well as to banks financing the projects. But the TXU proposal, which planned to add more coal-fired electricity capacity than has been built in the entire U.S. in the past 10 years, is considered especially risky for investors due to the project’s sheer magnitude and because TXU operates in a deregulated market, where risks are borne primarily by shareholders and other investors instead of ratepayers."

On the news of this latest buy ou coal shares took a knock.

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Sunday, February 25, 2007

Rainforest Action Network and Billionaires for Coal Strike Again (twice)

Boston environmental and human rights advocates in collaboration with the Rainforest Action Network (RAN) staged a dramatic "die-in" in from of the Merrill Lynch office downtown at One Financial Center. Activists fell to the ground crying black tears and spitting up pollution sludge, while "medics" dressed in hazmat suits and masks attempted to save their lives. Other demonstrators, also in hazmat suits, were barred from entering the building as they attempted to deliver a letter demanding Merrill Lynch's Boston branch help stop the bank's financing of TXU's dirty energy plan.



The Billionaires for Coal outside Merrill Lynch's offices in San Francisco.

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Climate Politics in the US

The US is soon to have a cap and trade system for GHG emissions. This will be broader in scope than the current EU ETS as it will include the transport sector.

How soon this comes into being is one question, this year or next? Before or after Bush leaves the White House?

The other question is how stringent will the bill be? None of the bills are environmentally adequate but some are far more stringent than others and they all represent a move towards a carbon constrained policy environment. Grist has a good overview of the details of each of the four bills currently before the Senate.

The bills range from one that is based on emissions intensity per unit gdp, and isn't phased in for several year, and has a safety-vale so carbon costs dont get to high (less the create a market for mitigation technologies!); to one that sees emissions reduced 80% by 2050.

A whole range of businesses have come out in support of the more stringent targets.

Besides these bills there is one other object of much speculation: Al Gore. Currently he is being recieved as a rockstar everywhere he goes, apparently when he visited Idaho to give a speech he sold out a 10'000 seat venue 'quicker than elton john'. He is expected to be up on stage collecting an Oscar with the director of An Inconvenient Truth later today.

He hasn't rulled out running. I hope he dosen't. If he where to win then that may put climate change at the centre of american policy but it is also likely to polarise the issue and leave measures forever framed as political tools. Neither do I think that he would win, he is seen by some as hero, others see him as an extreme-liberal. If ever America needed to be united it is now, Al Gore is likely to be far better at getting the issue on the agenda if he remains outside of politics.

Will this happen, or will he show is human side and reach for power? Based on the principle that all publicity is good publicity, here are some charts of how Al Gore and the two primary Democratic candidates, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton compare by news coverage, google searches and--just for interest--international attention.
First off, searches by region...
Secondly, searches in total note the dates, this is some time back. What is noticeable about this is the high baseline, Al gore has had a continuous high profile since May 06.
John Edwards was not in this final search, the rest of the key is correct. Google searches rather than news coverage are being displayed. Clearly Al Gore is more than a political figuer, his work on climate change has made him internationally of interest.

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Friday, February 23, 2007

Christian Aid Report on Carbon Footprints Includes Indirect Business Impacts...discuss.

Christian Aid's recently released report has recieved some slack because it is seen as condoning--or leading to--double counting. I believe that these acusations are due to a misunderstanding of the report and unfortunately lead people to miss some interesting opportunities...

(Carbonara--And My Response)

As mentioned below by Jon yesterday, British charity, Christian Aid, has published a report saying that many British companies have not measured all their carbon emissions.

It's comments on consistancy where to my mind more important, talk of messy data and comparion between companies being impossible was most worrying. A standard carbon auditing procedure seems to be a good idea.

Christian Aid believe companies should measure, in addition to their direct emissions, also their indirect emissions, for example, those which arise from activities by companies upstream in their supply chain, or downstream, for example, by customer activities.

I think that there is some merrit to this. I find it disengenuos for the likes of Merril Lynch, to be talking about carbon neutrality in it's own running and then funding more than a dozen coal plants in Texas. I think that this information is vital, it could perhaps be seperate from there own corporate emissions when it is presented but reference to it should be made.

While this method would give a picture of the wide emissions impact of a single activity, such as operating a supermarket, this approach is not sensible from an economy-wide perspective.

I don't for a second think that they would disagree with you on this, certainly keeping data on direct and indirect emissions seperate for different purposes would make sense.

Counting indirect emissions would mean double- or multiple- counting lots of emissions, since the emissions of each company in a supply chain would be counted by every other company in that same chain. This makes no sense from public policy perspective.

Perhaps futher to my statement above; double counting occurs when you are calculating a national inventory by addition so in that case it makes no sense, but for a customer to have access to the total for a given company makes absoloute sense. Perhaps they would rather invest with a bank that isn't funding coal, they could be a powerful force if they had this information.

In addition, an organization can only reduce its own emissions, not those of their business partners. In particular, it makes no sense to blame a supermarket such as Tesco for the emissions generated by their customers driving to buy groceries, since Tesco has no control over their customers.

The first point here is plain wrong, suppliers react to...well demand, if there is demand from customers for a low contribution to supply chain carbon intensity then they will work to provide this sort of product! This is how wallmart plans to make it's greatest impact, through its many thousands of suppliers. The second part is also not true although working on customer carbon emissions is more radical it can be achieved by making stores closer to where people live or improving public transport...if they had a financial nmotive they might even put on transport to reduce emissions from cars!

Surely our common goal should be to reduce carbon emissions through a well-designed and well-operating cap-and-trade system.

Absoloutely, no one disagrees on this.

Accusing companies of not measuring emissions outside their own direct control may create a lot of publicity, but it does nothing to promote this goal.

I have tried to argue this is not the case, but if you still disagree i would be interested in hearing your argument.

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Resistance to TXU coal power expansion continues, and win's first battle.

Plans to fast track the expansion of coal in Texas have come dramatically unstuck. A state judge has just ruled that the timetable will return to the standard time frame, in effect gifting campaigners 6 valuable months to build there message. As coal power is expected to expand across the US in coming years, failure for the utility TXU to have the plants built could be hugely significant.

The rain forest action network continue there creative activism. Click on the coal label bellow to see previous posts. Targeting the financial institutions behind the coal giants projects is a great idea. Here's wishing them all good luck from the UK.

Stand up coal comedy.


Billionaires for coal thank Merrill Lynch for helping to finance there coal.


So what did Governor Perry do that the court felt in necessary to rule against?

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Thursday, February 22, 2007

Female, Live in the UK? Is climate change important for the womens institute?

The Women's Institute in the UK is currently conducting a survey into
climate change and how important it is amongst british women.

To make your own views heard on this issue please see the survey here.

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Communicating Climate Change: Creating Behavioural Change

The issue of how we communicate climate change is an interesting one. In fact, the further I look into 'messaging' , 'frames' and 'language disipline' the more important it looks.

Today i have found three more interesting pieces on the topic, all by Lisa Delling and Susan Moser who work for the Environmental and Social Impacts Group, NCAR, Boulder Colorado.

Firstly, a powerpoint presentation,

'Confused and Scared and Deeply in Denial'.
Secondly, a journal article

'Making the Climate Hot: Communicating the urgency and challenge of global climate change'
Finally, this book chapter


'Communicating the Risks of Global Warming: American risk perceptions, affective images and interpretive communities'.


In a previous post I linked to few interesting pieces of work on this topic, these are here, i also found a good talk about marketing here, for the die hard's all relevant posts on my blog can be found here.

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Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Nation States Loosing Legitimacy?

There are many reasons to believe that Nation States are loosing legitimacy. This needn't be the case, there are many good reasons for having a strong state, if governments are to prove themselves worth having then it is time for them to step up to the key challenges of our time, challenges of social justice, global poverty, environmental sustainability and climate change.

Since the Kyoto agreement was negotiated with the express motivation of avoiding dangerous climate change carbon emissions have only increased. World leaders--so called--have increased rhetoric substantially, but actual legislation and resourcing in favour of climate change mitigation has been sparse to say the least.

Meanwhile, businesses are working through associations such as the global wind energy council (GWEC) who have been holding international conferences and mapping out a low carbon energy future. The Climate Group has supported legislation in California (where local industry benefits strongly from this regulatory driver of innovation). NRDC teamed up with a group of the worlds largest companies including energy giants and aluminium manufacturers, pushing government to cap carbon emissions. Now the global round table on climate change, which represents over 80 companies has called again for a global cap on emissions.

Is this a nightmare of inadequacy or a neoliberal dream? Perhaps both, companies are coming to the rescue; only history will tell if they are arriving to late. For many related challenges of sustainability we have good reasons to believe that companies will not be on the side of the people or the governments, with increasingly marginalised states the prospects for a brighter future are delicate. We need our politicians to reclaim the ground that is rightly theres to protect on our behalf.

The UN has bemoaned the lack of leadership on climate change from world leaders and never has a strong stance looked likely. The ability of governments to make these crucial decisions for the very survival of there citizens has been placed in doubt. One of the reasons for the existence of nation states is security. In today's world wars are rhetorical and metaphorical, there is a war on terror, a war that is in fact a cause of terrorism. The legitimate fights that modern society has to deal with are in controlling it's own thirst for resources and it's own requirements to use the atmosphere as a dumping ground.

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The Psychology of Persuasion

Robert Cialdini, author of 'Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion' talks about: Which messages spur citizens to protect the environment?


Audio here, part of the series fo talks available on The University Channel Podcast.


More Details:


Jan 25, 2007 at the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA)


Professor Robert Cialdini is the author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, a book which has established itself as one of the most important publications on the subject of the psychology of persuasion.


The book was the result of a three – year programme of study into the reasons that people comply with requests in everyday settings. Yet it also provides a highly accessible guide to the subtle influences that drive behaviours and decisions in everyday life, from the size of a tip left in a restaurant to life and death decisions.


Professor Cialdini is now turning his attention to the subject of sustainability. How can cutting edge persuasion techniques be used to encourage environmental responsibility?


In this RSA lecture, Professor Cialdini delivers a presentation on his recent research into the successful use of social norms to promote pro-environmental action.

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Low Carbon, High Profit, Amory Lovins on Business Led Action on Climate Change

So putting aside that somewhat weighty issue of climate change for a second. Why hasn't the world moved to a low carbon economy already?

Amory lovins is sure he doesn't know and is successfully making money by advising others, such as the Pentagon and Wallmart on how to save money and carbon.

An insperation as always.

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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Website of the Week: Future International Action on Climate Change

This week's recommended website is one for those of you interested in international climate policy.

Future International Action on Climate Change
The website is targeted to individuals that are active in thinking about future action on climate change such as researchers, climate modellers, members of country delegations to the UNFCCC, NGOs and any other individuals interested in the topic. This is an living website. Any updating information and comments are always welcome.
Be warned there are a huge number of reports on the front page, and if you print them off you may feel compelled to read them...at least that has been my experience in the past. One simple solution to that confusion is just to support contraction and convergence and realise that this increased simpliticty along with the equity and the environmental adequacy is good enough and actually possible to implement!

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Coming Clean: Revealing the UK’s true carbon footprint

Christian Aid is establising itself as a very active member of the Stop Climate Chaos coallition. I beleive that it may also be in attendance at the upcomming Global Climate Campaign meeting in Brussels and that it's international networks could prove very useful in this capacity.

Christian Aid frames it's role in fighting climate change thus:

Having established beyond doubt that climate change is also an issue of poverty and injustice, Christian Aid believes that the best way to fulfil its remit to tackle the scandal of poverty throughout the world is twofold: to find ways of stopping the greenhouse gases that are causing the climate to change, and to help poor people in dealing with the ravages of climate change on their doorstep.
In it's latest report Christian Aid asks 'how much carbon are british companies actually responsible for?'.

While the actual size of our footprint as a nation is not known, one estimate suggests that emissions associated with the worldwide consumption of FTSE 100 company products amount to 12 to 15 per cent of the global total. In this case, the UK’s influence, if not its direct impact, is revealed as not only statistically significant, but also critical to the future of the planet and its people.

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Christian Aid Launch New Climate Change Campaign

Christian Aid launches it's new climate change campaign.

Climate changed. Let's get started We've launched a major new campaign to get the UK to cut its carbon emissions by 5% a year. From changing what you do at home and in the workplace to lobbying the government and companies, find out what you can do to make a difference. If we don’t, it’s the world’s poor who
will pay the price.




They are also carrying out a march through britain starting July 14th. It's great to see them getting well and truly on board. And there ambitious targets for a 90% cut in emissions by 2050 are most welcome, from such a conservative yet powerful organisation.

The world’s poor need you: chance to volunteer for historic climate march

Christian Aid is looking for volunteers to join the longest ever protest march in UK history. The charity is scouring churches and communities throughout the UK to look for people who will put their best foot forward for the first ever mass march for climate justice this summer.

Hundreds of marchers are needed to join parts of the eleven-week, 1000-mile ‘Cut the Carbon’ march, including 10 core marchers who will walk the whole route. They will join campaigners from the developing world to protest against the scandalous injustice that poor peoples’ lives are being wrecked by dangerous greenhouse gas emissions pumped into the atmosphere by the rich world.

Letters of recruitment have already been sent to the Anglican, Baptist, Methodist and URC churches and Christian Aid is also talking with leaders of many Black Majority Churches.Cut the Carbon will be in the tradition of marching against injustice that informed both the Jarrow March for jobs in 1936 and the Nelson Mandela freedom march in 1988.Beginning in Northern Ireland on the 14 July 2007, it will pass through Scotland, England and Wales and arrive in London via Bournemouth and the Labour Party conference eleven weeks later.‘Climate change is the most serious threat to the future of all of us, but the shocking truth is that it’s poor people in the developing world who are already on the frontline of climate chaos,’ said Paul Brannen, head of campaigns at Christian Aid. ‘We have a moral duty to stop this now and where better to start than at home?’

The essential messages of the march will be:
  • The world’s poorest are already suffering due to climate change caused by greenhouse gas emissions from the rich world
  • The UK government must take action to reduce UK carbon emissions immediately and dramatically – by 5% year on year
  • The UK government must also take the lead on negotiating a fair international agreement that will deliver a 90% cut in carbon emissions by 2050

Christian Aid is reducing its own carbon emissions and has just published its carbon footprint.

In addition, the charity has switched to an energy supplier that sources from – and funds the building of – renewable energy installations, is reducing staff travel, especially air travel and is taking all feasible energy-efficiency measures.

Christian Aid is committed to reducing its emissions by 5% a year by saving energy, purchasing voluntary offsets to account for those carbon emissions we cannot eliminate and cutting the amount of printed resources that we produce.In addition, Christian Aid will work with its field offices and partner organisations in poor countries to monitor the environmental sustainability of projects across all our programmes.

Paul Brannen is available for interview. Please contact Claire Shelley on 020 7523 2419, 07961 303481 or cshelley@christian-aid.org

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Carbon Down, Profits Up

The Climate Group has just released the 3rd Edition of Carbon Down, Profits Up.

The publication aims to highlight business opportunities from looking closely at energy usage.They also attempt to get businesses to look at how they can reduce greenhouse gas pollution at small costs but with significant 'positioning' value.

Beyond the value of green marketing truly innovative businesses realise that with good marketing they can shape the marketplace by helping to mold consumer values and creating new opportunities for more ethically sound products.

The Climate Group has also been at the forefront of the business community in asking for mandatory regulation involving a cap and trade system: This, along with frequently stating that innovative businesses have nothing to loose in fighting climate change but much to gain has been a welcome addition to the pressure created by NGOs and the public for political change.

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Monday, February 19, 2007

Audio of the Week: Can Fossil Fuels Be Sustainable?

Radio Ecoshock: Can fossil fuels be sustianable?

There is an interesting discussion about the continuing role of fossil fuels in this program from Radio Ecoshock. Not all of the points stand up, there have been several reports recently about significant (50-60%) cuts in C02 emissions by 2050 but some good points are made.

It looks very likely to me that we can get a long way towards a low carbon economy in the nessicary time frame, but that shortage of fosil fuels will not lead us this way. The pressure will have to come from policy measures.

I think that there is a future for fossil fuels in this century, but disagree with the scale of this future portrayed in the linked audio but a future seems inveitable, perticularly for Asian usage of coal. In the long term fossil fuels are not sustainable and they are certainly not disireable.

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Ban Illegal Timber: Preserve the climate and the planets biodiversity.

International — If you buy or sell pirate DVDs you would be breaking the law. You could face a fine or even get jail time. But when companies in Europe buy or sell illegal timber from the last of the world's ancient forests they won't even have the timber confiscated.

So even though you can't watch a pirate copy of the latest Stephen King horror movie, the real horror is happening all around you as mountains of illegal and destructively logged timber flood onto the world's timber market.

That's because there are no laws to stop illegal timber or timber products from ending up in your local stores or home.

Everything from paper products to furniture or plywood could be made from illegal and destructively logged timber. When you purchase these products it could result in the loss of habitat and death for many unique and endangered species as well as contributing to a chain of human rights violations in forests around the world.

Europe plays a key role in fuelling demand for timber products, as it is one of the world's largest users of timber. But Europe has no law to stop the flood of illegal and destructively logged timber entering the market.

We want to see that change.

"We want laws to ban illegal and destructively logged timber from being sold in Europe and so do more than 160 other environmental, labour, and human rights organisations. 80 companies have also asked for legislation to outlaw illegal
timber. You too have the right to say that things must change."
How to help - it's painless!

The European Commission is asking what the public, timber industry and politicians think about the best way to stop the flood of illegal and destructive timber that pours into Europe each day. So we've made it nice and easy for you to tell them, 'Ban illegal timber'.

Simply go to the Greenpeace website and add your name and country of origin to the objection letter.

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Communicating, Marketing and Propagandising Climate Change

Just a quick post on a topic currently of interest to me. How do we move from acceptance of a problem to active reaction against that problem, how do we encourage others to take those steps. The problem with getting society on board the fight against climate change is that:

"It would be unfair to say that the higher profile of climate and energy issues are receiving has had no impact. An opinion pole survey of thirty countries (including the US) published in April 2006 found that a large majority of people beleive that climate change is a serious problem. But any chang in attitudes is having little impact on behaviour."

S.Rattalleck


This is a problem of communication, a topic dominated by the marketing industry, which if we are being honest is a consumerist propaganda sector. Well, what do climate activists have to learn. Short answer: virtually everything.

No time for the long answer but bellow are a few pieces i`m currently reading to help me understand this better; but first, this video .

Institute of Public Policy Research: Warm Words
Tyndall Centre: Is This Climate Porn? (Working Paper 98)
Chris Rose et. al.: Climate Change Communications
Simon Retallack: Communicating Climate Change (OpenDemocracy)
Futerra: New Rules New Game
Futerra: The Rules of the Game

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Friday, February 16, 2007

Recent News Coverage: Richard Branson and Live Earth

Just a couple of quick thought on how far media coverage of climate change has moved.

Firstly, when the IPCC 4AR SPM was released recently there where no 'climate skeptics' to be heard in the british media.

More recently, Richard Branson, known as a self-publicist announced a $25 million, prize to anyone who can remove large qauntities of carbon from the atmosphere afordably. Now many people can do this, Klaus Lackener of Columbia University is one of the most vocal proponents of a mineral technology for doing this, many others have there own ideas such as using hemp as a building material or a fuel in CCS plants, but if we assume that these aren't good enough then what he is after is a way to take co2 out the atmospher as cheaply as we put it in. Environmentaliists jumped on this eutopian quest for a techno-fix as insane: therby completely missing the point! He has used his publicity skills to get cheap (most likely free) media coverage. This story was covered globally, will cause much discusion and will all end in no one beng awarded the cash but many realising that energy efficiency and renewables are already cheap or proffitable! Ahh, yes, many will implicityl take on the precept of Branson's idea, namely that carbon is better out the air than in. Come on people, get with it! That is how a creative business mind works, when was the last time you had such a subtle way to communicate a message to so many people?

Lastly. Live Earth is Go! Superb. Thanks Al Gore, and to all you cynics out there I don't know whose planet you have been on but if you don't think that Al Gore has taken this message to the masses like a master then you must be pretty jaded. Live Earth, and Al Gore, will be slated: Great. Again, I predict that Al and the event will take the slack but that criticism will be on what he is doing, how the event is being runt etc, not on the why.

We have move from a debate on the science to a debate on the solutions.

I ask that everyone involved in the movement realises this and does there best to adapt.

p.s Fox News have already started the slander on Al Gore, saying he isn't green...implying that being green is a good thing.

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The Seasons Alter: Modern Interpretation of A Midsummers Night Murder (With Keira Knightley)

From Futera, enjoy...

"The Seasons Alter" is a contemporary short film interpretation of a sequence from Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream. The film reinvents classic Shakespeare for a contemporary audience but also delivers one of the most pressingly urgent environmental messages of our time: climate change.


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Thursday, February 15, 2007

Tiempo:Climate and Development Bulletin

Tiempo Climate and Development Bulletin

Tiempo 62

Latin America up in smoke


Hannah Reid and Andrew Simms describe climate change impacts in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Climate and disaster reduction


Sarah Granich reports on the need for appropriate disaster
reduction strategies.

Vulnerability in Sudan

Sumaya Ahmed Zaki-Eldeen calls for improved policy process integration to support adaptation.

Operating the adaptation fund

Amjad Abdullah, Bubu Pateh Jallow and Mohammad Reazuddin describe a new proposal for operating the Kyoto Protocol Adaptation Fund.

Tiempo 61

Desertification and climate

Desertification Secretariat staff argue for a joint approach to climate change and desertification.

Climate change and the Sahara

Guy Jacques and Hervé Le Treut describe the role of climate in shaping the Sahara.

Food security in the Solomons

Louise Hunt reports on the efforts of a community group to teach capacity strengthening.

Institutions for adaptation

Evans Kituyi describes how scientific institutions in Africa could better influence national policies.

The story of the Yellow River

Li Moxuan describes the impacts of climate change.


Tiempo 60

Climate impacts on Nepal

Anil Raut discusses the impact of climate change on Nepal and options for adaptation.

Electric vehicles in Nepal
Megesh Tiwari describes the use of electric vehicles in Nepal.

Clean development in Nepal


Noora Singh considers the future of the Clean Development Mechanism.

Designing adaptation projects

Mozaharul Alam and Lwandle Mqadi describe a novel way of identifying, designing, implementing and monitoring community- based adaptation projects.



Gender and climate change.

Ulrike Röhr discusses the assimilation of gender issues in the climate change debate.

Deserts and desertification


Sarah Granich reports on the International Year of Deserts and Desertification



African fisheries

Friday Njaya and Charlotte Howard describe climate change impacts on fisheries in Malawi

Rural livelihoods

Jennifer Pouliotte, Nazrul Islam, Barry Smit and Shafiqul Islam assess adaptive capacity in Bangladesh

Low coastal zone settlements
Gordon McGranahan, Deborah Balk and Bridget Anderson describe the global distribution of low coastal zone settlements.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007

International Polar Year

International Polar Year is on the way, starting March 1st. This is leading to a great deal of science and outreach. Hopefully we will be hearing of this in the news throughout the year. For an overview of some of the projects being carried out, check out this report.

"It's official: The International Polar Year 2007-2008 officially launches at 10.00 UTC March 1 2007, with an international press conference at the Palais de la Découverte -- a famous science museum in central Paris. More than a dozen countries are also planning national launch events on or around March 1 and an international IPY group is working hard to stimulate activities in schools and science centres around the world."

Also, i have added the RSS feed to the side of my blog, it will remain for the whole year so you can check out the latest news.

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Christians and Creation: Showing a little care?

I mentioned recently that US Christians where starting to recognies the need to care for creation. Same thing happening here in the UK, a perticular note of thanks to the Bishop of London who has just signed a pledge not to fly this year, after declaring it sinful.

The section of this video where the Bishop is addressing a crowd was Nov 4th outside the US Embassy in London as part of the Campaign against Climate Change march, an part of the global climate campaign day of action. More on last year, and pland for this years international actions here.

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Join the global climate campaign! Dec 8th 2007.

Heads up, this year's day of global action on climate change!

From the global climate campaign website...

Visit website for more details, logo, flyers and photos form the last two years.


"This webpage has been set up to publicise and promote plans for demonstrations on climate change, to coincide with the United Nations Climate Talks(COP13/MOP3) in Bali, Indonesia, December 3rd to 14th 2007.

We intend synchronised demonstrations around the world on Saturday December 8th 2007 - in as many places as possible - to call on world leaders to take urgent action on climate change.

The demonstrations will demand that world leaders take the urgent and resolute action we need to prevent the catastrophic destabilisation of global climate, so that the entire world community can move as rapidly as possible to a stronger emissions reductions treaty that is equitable as well as
effective in preventing dangerous climate change.


We feel that there is an overwhelming need to create a groundswell of global opinion to push for the urgent and radical action on climate change, without which we risk a global catastrophe of unimaginable proportions.

To help build for these demonstrations please find the contact for your country, below, or if there is not yet one listed there contact us at info@globalclimatecampaign.org"

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Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Nice Headline.

I love this headline, taken off climate wire.
"Governments told 'don't be hasty' on climate regulation."

My thoughts:

But my child's in the house!

Ohh, calm down, don't get hysterical, we don't know how fast the fire is going to spread.

What !?!

Well, if you must go and rescue your firstborn for god sake don't damage the door, it's just been painted.

You, ah, what...are you insane!

== Analogy Ends ===

In all seriousness, no one can argue against the fact that good policies are important, but urgency of action has to be the key. Weather or not we smash a window and enter that way or brake down the door doesn't really matter in the scheme of things. What matters is that we don't hesitate to act.

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Interesting research into biofuels.

A very wellcome, and interesting piece of research has just come to my attention via Renwable Energy World.

Apparently, you can give up the fertilier, expensive irrigation, and much of the disruption to the soil associated with growing corn.

"Switchgrass is very prodctive when grown like corn in a fertile soil with lots of fertilisers, pesticides and energy inputs, but this approach doesnt have as much energy gain as mixed species on poor soils, nor does it have the same environmental benefits"

You can also give up monocultures such as miscanthus. The best way of producing biomass for co-firing with coal or burning in biomass power stations is to grow a combination of prarie grasses.



"Research conducted by the University of Minesota has shown that a natural mix of prarie grasses can produce 238% more energy than monoculture crops such as switchgrass, corn and soy.


The conclusions, which have been made by ecologist David Tilman are based on ten years of research and show that an acre of native peranial grasses and flowering plants produce more usable energy than many other enrgy crops and is far better for the wildlife and the environment..."


Not a bad idea for bioenergy! Sounds like a win-win to me.
[update] minisota website, thanks to green style mag for the link.

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Report of the Week: Proceedings of the International Conference on Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change

Interested in looking beyond the western perspective on climate change?

A recent conference on 'Adaptation to Climate Variability and Change' looks at the challenges we face due to commited emissions so far. Since Kyoto emissions have only increased, weather we like it or not adaptation is going to be a key concern in the developig world over the comming century and if there are going to be deals on mitigation the the global north is going to have to take on much of that financial burden.


These conference proceedings summarize the intensive
discussions held in New Delhi (January 5-7, 2006) on Adaptation to Climatic Variability and Change. The conference, which was financed by the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) and organized jointly by the Institute
for Social and Environmental Transition (ISET) and Winrock International India (WII), brought together a unique set of participants that included high-level governmental decision-makers, development organizations, physical and social
scientists, and field practitioners. While presenters spoke in their individual capacity rather than as representatives of organizations or governments, they brought a wealth of perspectives and practical experience to the meeting.
More on the challenges of adapting to climate change here.

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Sunday, February 11, 2007

Planning a Book For This Year's Climate Camp

Last year the Camp for Climate Action was accompanied by a superb book. This year, there will be another one and I am helping to produce it.

The first question in planning the book would be to decide on what it's purpose is and then to try and produce an outline that contributes towards this aim.

Our purpose is clear, to contribute to the fight against climate change.

The aims of the camp for climate action guide us futher, here are the aims and my take on each.
  • education

Knoledge to make smart decissions and to succede in campaigns, personal choices and in choosing the fights we wish to pick.

  • direct action

Pressure policy makers, inspire activists and cause the wider public to stop and think.

  • sustainable living

Be the change; make a real personal contributions and inspire the vast number of others not directly involved to take a few steps in the same direction.


My thoughts on where this leads us are included in this pdf with futher clarification provided in this mp3.

If you are interested in either helping to plan this book or in contributing then please send an email with your suggestions to climatecampbook[at]googlegroups.com . This is currently invite only to view the discussions but anyone can post messages. And i`ll add you if you request this.

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Saturday, February 10, 2007

Don't they undertstand it is financially risky?

In Texas TXU are planning up to 11 new coal fired power stations.

Amongst people unhappy about this are environmentalists, christians, 
local people, some local politicians, a rock star and a film director.

And every other sane person on the planet. But when co2 emission regulations kick in they will be hit, so why are they taking the risk rather than investing in wind or energy efficiency?

More on the situation here. And also on this previous post with a video clip of some activists.

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Billionairs for Coal and Rainforest Action Network

Billionaires for coal and Rainforest Action Network visited Meryll Lynch, the corporate backers of a new series of 10 coal fired plants in Texas. This is perticularly striking for two reasons. Firstly, coal is the most polloutng form of energy both in terms of its local impact and its impact on the climate. Secondly, Texas has amongst the largest wind resources in the country along with a great deal of potential for solar. Texas is blessed with renewable energy possibilities and is chosing to ignore them. More RAN videos.



Opportunity for action on the RAN site and the Itsgettinghotinhere blog. Please go over and take a minute to make your opposition known.

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Friday, February 09, 2007

Ahh, thats why the whitehouse have been slow to act on climate change.

For all you synics out there who thought that oil money was behind the whitehouse's reticence to act on climate change. You where wrong, here is the real reason.

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Thursday, February 08, 2007

Help stop destructive road proposal

******************************************************************
URGENT ACTION ALERT - help stop destructive road proposal
******************************************************************

2 minute email action: Here

Along with local communities, Friends of the Earth Scotland, WWF Scotland, the Woodland Trust, Campaign against Climate Change and many other groups are opposing plans to construct the environmentally-damaging Aberdeen bypass.

What is the problem? This £300 million road will simply encourage more car traffic and increase climate pollution. It would also cut a swathe through 46 km of countryside - much of it designated greenbelt and rich in important wildlife.

What should happen instead? Plans for this road should be shelved. The money should be spent on an integrated transport system that has a focus beyond cars.

More information: http://www.stopthebypass.com

What can I do?

******************************************************************
No matter where you live in the world, we need you to formally object to this road scheme by Friday - the 9th February 2007.

******************************************************************
My take on this fiasco...


There are several bizzare aspects to this project. The foremost is that there really isn't much need for a bypass of Aberdeen. It sits by the east coast and has little through traffic. If congestion could be solved by building new roads then in the case of Aberdeen these would be wider trunk roads.

The second factor is the price, oficcially £200-400 million, analysis carried out on behalf on one of the main opposition groups estimates nearer to 800 million. The exact figuers are not important, there magnitude is. Aberdeen is a city of 200'000. I can't think of another area where funding of £1-2000 per person would be allocated (to take official figuers). And this outlay would benefit the tiny percentage of the traffic that does not want to actually want to go into Aberdeen. And this benefit, judging by past experiance of road building, won't last long.

The final factor is the reason for this sites existance, climate change. Whilst many are worrying about how society will cope when it inevitably starts to decarbonise in a meaningful way, authorties are outlaying huge sums of cash to allow the implementation of what may euphemistically called 'poor transport policy'.

In some of the worlds great cities climate change and integrated transport systems have been recognied as the challenges opportunities that they are. In London, car ownership has started to decline as disincentives are put in place alongside well developed alternatives. Public transport such as buses, trams and local rail services provide some of the answers, whilst active transport such as cycling, walking, rolar blading etc, provide the other important element. All of these have serious benefits for both the health of the planet and it's people. In a society of epidemic obesity it might have been thought that getting people onto there bikes would have recieved slightly higher priority. Indeed, if these alternatives are provided for with safe cycle lanes, a certain degree of pedestrianisation, a well funded public tranpsort system and facilities that enable these to be used in combination then you have the start of an integrated tranport system that allows for higher mobility, fewer emissions, and a healthier population.

This year in a city of 8 million, London will achieve a great deal with £150 million in funding. If Aberdeen where to spend even a fraction of the officially estimated £400 million on such policies then it would be the greenest city in europe and amongst the most mobile.

Please support this campiagn to throw out the vested interests and inneficiecies of the past and move to a cleaner, healthier and more mobile future.

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News Flash via FT: Climate change concerts 'to dwarf Live Aid'.


A very interesting report out of the UK Financial Times...

They seem to be giving up on modest efforts and responding in a manner commensurate to the challenge; Huge!

A series of concerts "bigger than Live Aid" is being planned for July, in a bid to put the subject of climate change before an audience of a global audience of 2bn.

The event, scheduled for July 7, will feature co-ordinated film, music and television events in seven cities including London, Washington DC, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Kyoto, with major broadcasters and media owners aiming to extend the reach of public awareness of global warming.

But who, i hear you ask, could launch such an initiative..?

"It is understood that former US vice-president Al Gore, whose movie An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change to cinema audiences last year, will announce the event tomorrow in London."
"The organisers hope to involve up to 2.5m people in events and link-ups at the cities involved, as well as other locations."

Continuing on the issue of scale, the talent involved will be 'exponentially bigger'. Thats a big claim!

"The talent involved is just exponentially bigger because the issue itself is bigger. Live Aid was about asking people to stump up money, this is about effecting systemic change."

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Wednesday, February 07, 2007

Website of the Week: ISET

This week the website which I would like to draw some attention to is that of ISET.

According to the website:


ISET is an international partnership for implementation, education and research on natural resources & the environment.

More plainly, they are an organisation who have produced reports on water management, adaptation to increased risk of flooding, and the policies required for combining development and adaptation to climate change.

In general many developing nations, perticularly those not as far along the path of development as china, see adaptation to climate change as there big challenge. Looking at the growth of some of these nations will lead many in the west to hope that this will change. The continuing widespread poverty in many areas of Asia, is perhaps masked by such gross statistics as GDP growth that we are bombared with.

Combining clean development with adaptation is becoming more a more an more urgent issue, and is gaining support. A couple of the key organisations in this field of research are TERI (India) and BCAS (Bangladesh), both of whom contribute to a recent report published in
conjunction with ISET.

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The Climate Justice Project: A Student-Led campaign for Contraction and Convergence

  One person, one balloon.
That is the simple message that a newly formed British group has been formed to promote.



The world has a carbon budget that it must stick to in order to avoid climate chaos. When distributed on an equitable basis these emissions, increasingly visualised as purple balloons in the UK thanks to the Carbon Coach represent the rights we have to the atmosphere.

We don't currently know the size that these 'balloons' should be but best guesses range from 1-2 tonnes of co2 per person, this will decrease as the global population increases.

This simple idea, everyone has an equal right to the atmosphere, has been developed into a framework known as Contraction and Convergence

This new campaign, started at Oxford University has initially been rolled out to 60 universities across the country who are all putting forward motions at there student unions in support of the framework.

Oxford Students Launch National Campaign to Tackle Climate Change

8th February 2007

Today, Oxford students put aside their books to concentrate on what they believe is the only real solution to global warming. The national “Climate Justice Project” went online today at www.climatejustice.org.uk, representing the first step of a groundbreaking new student campaign. It is rallying student support for “Contraction and Convergence”, the world-famous model for international agreement on greenhouse gas emissions which has already received the support of 5 of Britain’s 7 political parties not to mention the European Parliament, India, China and the African Group of Nations.1

Quite simply, “C&C” rests on the principles that every person on the planet has an equal right to emit carbon dioxide, but a safe limit needs to be set. Thus, an equal CO2 allocation is assigned to each person, with allowance for trading, and over time this allocation reduces so CO2 concentration in the atmosphere is kept to a safe level. The “Climate Justice Project” will unite pan-university support with the aim of gaining NUS endorsement and pressure on students’ MPs to pass C&C legislation. “It seems that Contraction and Convergence is the best possible response to climate change, in a way that is equitable and practical for all parties involved. We’re uniting student voices into a clear message to which the government will have to listen,” said Vrinda Manglik, a campaign co-ordinator.

Oxford University is already a world pioneer of climate change research and runs off green electricity, whilst Oxford city leads the way in climate change activism, so the students hope that their campaign will be a pace-setter in the same way, And it’s already happening. Councillor Matt Sellwood, who is Deputy Leader of the Oxford City Council Green Group, and a former student, commented: “It is great to see students standing up for the rights of those most affected by climate change.... Contraction and Convergence is the best way forward, and this campaign is another example of grassroots action making a difference.” It was a group of Cardiff students that created the impressive website (www.climatejustice.org.uk) and on 2nd February the LSE student union passed a motion supporting C&C; meanwhile, groups are springing up in Edinburgh and Durham. The UK itself has set the global agenda on climate change and sustainable development, and the example of students in the UK will surely ripple outwards as the world searches for a ‘post-Kyoto’ solution.

Given that the worst effects of climate change will fall on the next generation, the student voice is fundamental to finding the solution. These students say they’ve already found it: now they’ve going to make it a reality.

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Review: The Great Warming -- A Christian Perspective

Climate change, a christian perspective, an argument for action on climate change based on our common humanity. The Great Warming is a facinating fresh perspective on the problem of climate change.

We don't have the flash graphics and the head on approach of An Inconvenient Truth; we have a very nicely put together documentary about the impacts of climate change, focusing on human health, agriculture and personal stories.

This angle, along with the neutral term Great Warming, does well to move past the negative association that many US christians have with environmentalism. It seems obvious to many that climate change is a moral issue, perhaps to obvious for the comfort of those of us involved in this issue within a secular society. The involvement of the chirstian community therefore makes perfect sense, but how to get this 'creation protection' started? The great warming is a superb start, it's suitability for church groups and it's solutions based approach are most wellcome!

"In a couple of hundred years people will look back at us as we look back at the Bronze Age and the Stone Age, and we’ll be called the Fossil Fuel Age.”
"We are living at the dawn of a new age – an era of changing climate, erratic weather, and social calamities that could change our way of life forever."


If you wan't to make the case for conservation, for low impact living, in your community and the thought of somone as strongly associated with the Democrats as Al Gore dosent seem appealing then The Great Warming could be for you!

Clip from the film...



Background
Get Your Copy/Get Involved

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Some photos from...all of you.

Hello All,

Thought i would share these photos, they are from everyone who has placed there name on the map atop this page. Take a look, at where everyone comes from and there photos, here.

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Tuesday, February 06, 2007

Geothermal Energy: Hot water to fight hot air.

There have been a couple of very interesting reports on the potential of geothermal energy recently.

These reports have been about the US resource and it's potential development. It is worth noting, however, that China also has a huge geothermal resource, and indeed according to the latest global stats that i have seen (2001) it is still in the lead. If anyone has any reports about developments in this area then please let me know.

The US reports that have received a fair amount of coverage in the blogosphere where produced by NREL (3MB,PDF) and MIT(14MB, PDF). The former focuses on national resource of geothermal energy and the latter focuses on the viability of using these reserves.

NREL state that there aims are:

"to gather and summarize expert opinions about the potential of various geothermal resources for generation of electricity and utilization of heat energy "

This is an interesting document to read for those of you wondering how significant geothermal could be. Wind is the current green-tech 'killer-app', solar pv is rapidly moving in the same direction, towards mainstream prices and extraordinary growth of market share. Could geothermal do the same...read this report for the answers.

Whilst the MIT study explains it's remit thus:

"[we where] assembled in September 2005 to
evaluate the economic feasibility of EGS becoming a major supplier of
primary energy for U.S. base load generation capacity by 2050."

If you notice the term economic in there...perhaps this explains the extra size of the document when compared with the NREL study!
6% of Global Renewable energy investment went into geothermal during 2005. The sector is not, however garnering the same press attention as the new energy technologies. It may be that this old and well developed technology is worth bearing in mind as we move towards a low carbon and more energy secure economy. Higher oil prices, a price on carbon, a premium on base load generation all bode well for geothermal energy.
Overview, A step back: Renewable Energy Outlook 2006

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When Shell Oil aren't sponsoring cultural events in London they are...

The ugly truth behind the huge proffits!

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Sunday, February 04, 2007

Art Attack: Activists Target Shell Sponsored Art at Natural History Museum

Knowing my readers, and i don't, this may be controversial. The following is an attack in London on a group of photographs in a gallery sponsored by Shell. The photos, as you can see are undamaged as they are behind glass.

Perhaps never going to be a success in PR terms this action certainly leads to the question of how far you can go to make a point. Watch the clip an i`ll continue my thoughts bellow.



First of all, i think it is fair to say that in terms of getting a message across this was always going to be difficult or near impossible. The chances of communicating with the artists and pressurising the gallery, are perhaps somewhat greater.

Now as to weather or not i support this action. I will start by providing some background for shell. Currently, my two most significant grievances against shell are, there operations in Nigeria and there LNG plant on Barrow island, off the coast of Australia. Since oil production came to Nigeria the per capita GDP has decreased, gas flaring was illigalised after a powerful fight by the local people, a fight that lead to Shell having Ken Saro-Wiwa murdered. Gas flaring, although now illegal still continues. This damages the climate (over 2 billion cubic feet of gas are flared per day!), it destroys crops, wildlife and health with dioxins, benzene and other carcinogens. I wrote about gas flaring here.

Barrow island in Australia has been described as Australia's' Galapagos Islands, many of the species are endemic or threatened on the mainland. The site was classified 1a by the IUCN and according to this status should be used largely for scientific research and monitoring. Shell are partners in one of the worlds largest construction projects that is being built on this pristine wilderness. A project that, for a slight increase in expenditure could be carried out on the mainland.

Simultaneously, Shell are investing in renewables, all be it on a small scale, and they are investing somewhat more heavily in greenwash...buying environmental credibility by association with projects such as the Natural History Museums' wildlife photography.

I believe that such rank hypocrisy desperately needs to be exposed, the gallery and the artists will at the very least have to look into why there is such commited opposition to this very lucrative arrangement. Finally, i will point out that the protest although messy is both non violent and non-destructive with regards the artwork.

Comments please...!

Actions:
Friends of the Earth email action
WWF Barrow Island email action

Backgroud Reading:
Report on Gas Flaring in Nigeria
Article on Barrow Island

The 'Art Attack':
Indymedia Story
Tragic History Musuem

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Saturday, February 03, 2007

What the (uk) papers say...about the IPCC WG1 SPM

I took a look at the UK papers and this is what i found:

In the UK the argument is officially over. Climate change is happening, we are the cause, lets deal with it. No exceptions.

It's been on the way for a while, glad we are finally here.

We have to get working on soloutions now, how can people take this information and easily integrate it into there lives?

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IPCC Fourth Assesment Report (4AR) Summary of Climate Science for Policy Makers

Two interesting facts about the IPCC summary for policy makers.

Firstly, it is only 20 pages long, so it may well be worth reading...i`m just off to do this! Better to read the facts than many pages of speculation about these facts.

Bellow is a short, and pretty well done news report on the impact of the IPCC's findings. Note, David Miliband looking distinctly awkward.

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Fraser Institute Up Security At Launch of Report

The fraser institute beef up security for launch of forthcomming report that dramatically watters down the findings of the ipcc summary for policy makers that was released Feb 2nd.

This move comes in the light of increasing awareness of the groups funding, a leak of the report, and the likely presence of several UK climate change groups.

Briefing on the Fraser Institute.

If you are in the UK, make your way down to four millbank, with some coppies of the briefing and make sure you get them out to as many of the journalists as you can. Please note, you will not be alone!


Date: Monday, 5th February, 2007


Time: 10 a.m.


Location: The Atrium Restaurant (across from the Houses of Parliament)
Four Millbank
Westminster

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Friday, February 02, 2007

Exxon Mobil (XOM) Funded Climate Skeptics To Launch New Report!

I have just been sent notification of an exxon funded group about to launch a 'critique' of the latest IPCC report.

This will happen on 10am Monday in central London.

I include a link to the briefing on this group, it is the usuall crew, including Bellamy! If a few of you could make it and hand out these briefings that would be great--i`m currently in Aberdeen sorry :-( . Also, please give me a ring if you have any questions or suggestions asto how we can highlight this!

Regards,
Calvin Jones
http://climatechangeaction.blogspot.com
UK 01339 756000

Here is the notification that i recieved:

There is a Canadian Exxon-funded think tank readying to launch an attack on the IPCC report on Monday, Feb. 5th at 10am at the Atrium Restaurant (across from the Houses of Parliament, Four Millbank, Westminster. Here's the info, with backgrounders on the group, we need people down there to get out the message about who these guys really are. I'm stuck halfway around the world and cannot attend. Even just 5 peopel to print off copies of the briefing note I have prepared and be there to hand it out to meeting -- anybody can go. And, trust me, you will really be making a difference. Would also be a very cool excercise in showing just how powerful blogs can be!!!! Contact me at kevin[at]desmogblog.com if you want more information.

Here is some background on the fraser institute:

http://www.desmogblog.com/fraser-institute-ipcc-london-report

Here is a report detailing those involved:

http://www.desmogblog.com/sites/beta.desmogblog.com/files/DeSmogBlog%20note%20on%20the%20fraser%20institute.pdf

[UPDATE: THIS HAS MADE THE GUARDIAN]

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Thursday, February 01, 2007

Report of the Week: Efficiency the Amazing New High Tech Solution to Climate Change!

This week's report of the week is by the American Solar Energy Society.

The key findings are:
  1. Efficiency can stabilise energy consumption up to 2030.
  2. Under these circumstances ever greater penertration of renewable energy can lead to significant decarbonisation and lower greenhouse gas emissions.

In qauntitative terms, emissions reductions from the energy system of 40% by 2030 are shown to be entirely feasible. The research finds that savings in MtC per year by 2030 could feasibly come from:

Energy efficiency 688MtC 57% of savings.

All generation technologies 512MtC 43% of savings.

  • Concentrating solar power 63MtC
  • Photovoltaics 63MtC
  • Wind 181MtC
  • Biofuels 58MtC
  • Biomass 75MtC
  • Geothermal 83MtC

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Climate Change: The Nature of the Solutions

My previous post outlines the nature of the challenge that climate change poses us. Bellow i describe my thought on some key aspects of how we will take up this challenge and give future historians like Jared Diamond something to wonder about: just how where we able to maintain our global civilisation?

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Climate Change: The Nature of the Solutions

We can bring the human race through this challenge thanks to the fruit of the carbon based industrial revolution.

Faced with the current challenges I do not believe that any previous civilisation could have survived. We can, and we will, for several powerfully ironic reasons. Possibly the strongest irony to come out of human civilisation thus far.

Fossil fuels have powered a socio-technical development that represents the combined intelligence of several billion humans, and the invested energy of more work than these people could possibly have achieved if it where not for earths natural capital—if it where not for the very carbon based fuels that now threaten our wealth and ultimately our survival. Moreover the very corporations that through there very power have stressed the earth to its utmost limits are in fact so enslaved to the markets that they promise an almost instantaneous way to access the entire global fabric of society.

There is space, however much governments seem determined to avoid it, for a genuine global political settlement. A framework, simple in its it details, but truly ambitious in its scope. Cap global emissions, plot out a carbon pathway for stabilising greenhouse gas concentrations and throw out the neo-liberal dogma of economics as a system of governance. Enslave the market and put it to good use. Achieving this settlement must surely be the goal of every conscious citizen with the knowledge and means to act. We must support contraction of global emissions and convergence of national emissions rights on a per capita basis. All are born equal, who would agree to a system other than one that affirms this foundation of ethics?

Scorched by the rampant exploitation of global citizens and natural resources by unregulated multi-nationals many seek to disband this motley crew of mercenaries. Much like a cliched Hollywood film, we require one last task of them before society can establish a more decentralised and localised system of power. We must harness this power.

We must simultaneously grow as we might from our roots and start implementing local, communal, low carbon solutions now. Here the second great irony of our times comes in. Local, communal low carbon action is facilitated by the transfer to information globally by amazingly advanced technologies developed by the very carboniferous forms of energy that we now seek to supplant.

The world is full of false dichotomies. Full of questions that have both answers, and a few more not looked for. We have a perilously small period of time to achieve a great deal, we have the means to fend off the threat but we must deal with every level of the hierarchy, and radically strengthen currently week levels.

Personally, if you have the ability to reduce your own carbon footprint then you have the responsibility to do so. Households, have this same responsibility. Where in our society is there space for local community action, we need far more such places, so called third spaces, not work and not home. Experience shows that such groups can achieve far more than individuals can acting alone. Small, medium, large businesses all have roles to play. Councils have a role, sub national and national government have a role.

Climate change mitigation is a very inclusive and very serious game, we have room for CEO's, council leaders, MP's, community activists, small business people, protesters, media and many others. The only ban enforced is on the apathetic and unambitious. We have a race to win, it's time fore everyone to get there trainers on!

The Previous Article (1 of 2) is here.

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