December 2009

The winning entry: My Paper Boat by Arun Bose

Remember '1 minute to save the world' - the international competition to make your own one minute film about the effects of climate change? The idea behind the project was to provide a platform to allow people to share their visions of how climate change impacts their lives - and how it will impact the future of life on this planet.

A message from the Youth Climate Coalition...

Over the next two weeks, our leaders will negotiate the most important agreement of our time – one that must stop a climate catastrophe.

But they will only aim as high as we demand.

That's why on Saturday December 12th thousands will gather at climate vigils in every corner of the planet to send a clear message: The World Wants a Real Deal!

The Global Day of Action by TckTckTck has over 1000 events already registered across the world, and we want you to be part of the event in London, which is being jointly organised by the Youth Climate Coalition.

Where: Old Palace Yard, Westminster, London

When: Saturday December 12th, 4pm

What: Candlelit vigil followed by a UKYCC Flashdance and maybe a few extra surprises...

A couple of hours ago, we heard that the plenary session had been suspended. Tuvalu, the Pacific island nation so vulnerable to climate change, demanded a legally-binding agreement - not in six or 12 months, but at the end of the conference next week. It's a demand that should not, and can not, be ignored.

This goes to the heart of one of the most important questions hanging over Copenhagen and yet a group of industrialised countries - the US, Japan, Canada and the EU - stayed completely silent. Nothing. Not a whisper.

Sometimes, there is such a beautiful synchronisation of multiple ideas in a single word, I'm tempted to believe that it couldn't possibly have happened by chance. For instance, what pops into your head when you hear the word 'fossil'?

A. The preserved remains of long-dead organisms
B. A polluting fuel hewn from the ground
C. Someone who refuses to adapt and evolve even though everyone else has
D. All of the above

If you answered D, you're clearly on the same wavelength as the team handing out Fossil Of The Day awards here in Copenhagen. Handed out each evening, they go to the country which has done most to stall, frustrate or otherwise get in the way of a fair, ambitious and legally-binding agreement during the last 24 hours.

Peace campaigner Louise gives us all a quick behind the scenes look at how to successfully project a slogan onto the Houses of Parliament...

John Bowler is the Project Manager for our Countdown to Copenhagen work and will be updating on what is going on in and around the Bella Center in Copenhagen over the next two weeks. In this repost from the climate rescue weblog John shares his thoughts on the opening day's events at the conference.

"There ain't no power like the power of the people 'cause the power of the people don't stop" will undoubtedly be my memory of the opening of the Climate Summit in Copenhagen this morning. This chant, or more precisely rap, was pounded out by the Solar Generation drummers and rappers. Their performance captivated all who entered the negotiations via the 'metro' gate. Almost as captivating was the free hot coffee given out by Greenpeace activists beside a 16m2 video screen which beamed the "save the climate" message with stories of climate voices from around the world to the 1,000s who joined the queue to gain access to the meeting.

The Committee on Climate Change's (CCC) report on aviation, published today, explicitly undermines government plans to allow a tripling of passenger numbers on commercial aircraft by 2050.

While its Chairman Lord Turner has been careful not to totally rule out the possibility of creating extra capacity in the form of new runways, the committee is recommending that "the policy focus for aviation must be on limiting demand for flights and investing in alternatives such as better rail links and video conferencing." In an interview on the BBC's Today programme this morning, Lord Turner confirmed that a 200% growth in consumer demand for air travel by 2050, assumed in the 2003 Aviation White Paper, would make reaching proposed emission reduction targets impossible.

What a pain it must be to be in charge of the nation's finances in these challenging economic times. It's easy to imagine the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, working feverishly into the night in a frantic attempt to make the sums at least appear to add up as he prepares for tomorrow's crucial pre-budget report. But what to cut when everything is a 'tough choice' - education, the NHS, or the unthinkable alternative - raising taxes?