Climate Change

Saying no to the new coal age

Posted by jossc — 6 December 2007 at 2:02pm - Comments

Merthyr Tydfil open-cast mine protest, December 2007

Nobel peace prize winner Al Gore would be proud. A few months ago, he said "I can't understand why there aren't rings of young people blocking bulldozers and preventing them from constructing coal-fired power stations." The people of Merthyr Tydfil in South Wales have taken him at his word (albeit one step further back in the supply chain) to shut down work on Britain's biggest ever open-cast coal mine.

Article tagged as: climate change, coal, direct actions, energy

Join the Global Day of Climate Action

Posted by jamie — 5 December 2007 at 6:35pm - Comments

Climate change protesters dressed in polar bear costumes in Trafalgar Square, London

With the climate conference rumbling on in Bali, the time is ripe for people around the world to stand up, be counted and demand tough action to prevent climate change. Time, in fact, for the Global Day of Action, which this year falls on Saturday 8 December so there's just a few days to go.

Article tagged as: belfast, climate change, events, glasgow, london, take action, what you can do

Bali: rich nations must pay up

Posted by jossc — 5 December 2007 at 2:53pm - Comments

Rich countries have paid only $67m into a UN fund designed to help the world's poorest countries adapt to climate change, according to a new report published today by develoment charity Oxfam. Although this may sound a lot, in fact it's less than what Americans spend on suntan lotion each month, and only a tiny fraction of the real amount needed. Oxfam estimates that the true cost of successful adaptation is likely to be at least $50 billion a year, and far more if global greenhouse-gas emissions are not cut fast enough.

Article tagged as: bali, climate change, IPCC, oxfam

'Generation C' - what's really on their minds?

Posted by jossc — 4 December 2007 at 7:18pm - Comments

Habbo - global warming is bad

Yes, it's bad. But there's a whole lot us Habbos can do about it!

According to conventional wisdom (oh all right the tabloid press to be more precise) all teenagers ever think about are themselves. So it may come as a surprise that a global survey of almost 50,000 teens released today reveals that they have many other concerns - and that they worry more about dangerous greenhouse gases than drugs, violence or war.

Article tagged as: bali, climate change, COP, UN

"No money, no forests, no climate, no future"

Posted by jamie — 4 December 2007 at 5:56pm - Comments

Members of the Penan tribe, Sarawak, MalaysiaAt a side meeting of the Bali climate change conference today, Greenpeace launched a new proposal that will encourage and reward countries for reducing emissions from deforestation. It's long, complex and full of acronyms but with forest destruction responsible for around one-fifth of our greenhouse gas emissions, it could represent one of the best chances we have of slashing global emissions.

It tackles a subject which is a big stumbling block in attempts to stop deforestation: money. There's not enough of it, at least not in the right places. Most countries with large tracts of forest, such as Indonesia, Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are still developing and see them as sources of much-needed finance. Even though the link between deforestation and climate change is now being widely acknowledged, these governments rarely have funds available to protect their forests.

Article tagged as: bali, climate change, deforestation, emissions, forests, indonesia, tderm

News reports from the palm oil frontline

Posted by jamie — 4 December 2007 at 3:37pm - Comments

Greenpeace campaigner Hapsoro shows how palm oil plantations are destroying Indonesia's rainforest

Last night, ITV News featured an excellent report from Indonesia about palm oil and how plantations are replacing forests at a horrific rate. Shown as part of a series of reports about climate change to tie in with the Bali climate change conference, it showcases some aerial footage which clearly shows the devastation. Also featured is Hapsoro, one of Greenpeace South East Asia's forest campaigners, who was working at the Forests Defenders Camp when he was interviewed.

If you missed it, the report is available to view online - confusingly, it's on the CNN website but only because the ITV News site is so darned tricky to use.

Article tagged as: bali, climate change, deforestation, forests, indonesia, palm oil, videos

Crucial UN climate conference gets underway in Bali

Posted by jossc — 3 December 2007 at 2:24pm - Comments

melting iceberg (copywrite nasa)

If a week is a long time in politics, then is two weeks long enough for world leaders to finally get to grips with the single biggest challenge we all face - limiting the effects of global climate change?

The answer has to be yes, if only because the consequences of any other outcome would be unthinkable. The start of the 2007 UN Climate Change Conference (otherwise known as COP 13) in Bali today coincides with alarming reports that the tropical belt that girdles the Earth's equator is expanding - pushing its boundaries out towards the poles at a rate not predicted by current computer models, which anticipated such developments only towards the end of this century.

Article tagged as: bali, climate change, COP, UN

Everyone's blogging from Bali

Posted by jamie — 30 November 2007 at 7:17pm - Comments

As you're no doubt aware, the international conference on climate change kicks off in Bali next week and (even though it will be one of those meetings to discuss the possibility of having other meetings to talk about climate change), it's a big deal. So representatives from across the Greenpeace world are making their way there and some will be providing blog updates.

Article tagged as: blogging, blogs, climate change, RSS

Secret filming exposes the harsh reality of palm oil plantations

Posted by jamie — 30 November 2007 at 6:10pm - Comments

Taking up the western half of New Guinea island, the Indonesian province of Papua is a bit of a mystery. It's off-limits to outsiders and journalists, so the activities of the palm oil industry there haven't been widely reported. Until now, that is. With the help of the Environmental Investigation Agency, local communities have been making their own films about what's happening to the forests they rely on.

Two of these films have appeared on the web. In the first, Tears of Mother Mooi, members of the eponymous Mooi tribe explain why the forest is so important to them and what they are already losing as a result of the advancing wave of oil palm plantations. The second, Defenders of the Tribal Boundaries, goes into detail about the activities of the palm oil companies - it's frankly depressing to see the devastation being wrought to provide us with a cheap, convenient commodity.

Article tagged as: climate change, deforestation, forests, indonesia, palm oil, papua, videos
Syndicate content

Follow Greenpeace UK