climate change

Update: 23rd July

0600 hrs: As dawn broke over the conference center in Bonn, our emotional roller coaster hit another trough, as word came through that the rumors of a deal that we had heard of a few hours earlier, had run onto the rocks again.

Most of us had been up all night, as well as most of the night before, and the strain was just enormous. As I left the conference center to run back to the office, the banner the students had hung in the trees stood out against the dawn, a forlorn plea for sanity and a stark reminder of the simplicity of the fundamental issue - to either move forward, or move backward in our fight to protect the climate.

sounding the climate alarm

Sirens set off by Greenpeace activists outside the United Nations climate conference sounded the alarm - it is time for ministers to start talking. Activists outside the conference unfurled a banner which read "Australia, Canada, USA - Climate Criminals" while inside Australia and Canada were doing their best to either stall or vandalise the Kyoto Protocol and frustrate attempts to combat climate change.

"It's desperation time for the world's climate and this conference," said Steve Sawyer, Greenpeace climate campaigner.

Standing 24 feet above the high-tide line, Greenpeace volunteers and sunbathers at Smathers Beach Wednesday marked the loss the beach could face if global warming continues at its current pace.

"The Keys are going to go under," said Kitsy McMullen, Greenpeace climate impacts campaigner, as the group opened its Take Back the Earth Tour in Key West.

Rising sea levels threaten shorelines and coral reefs everywhere, and Greenpeace activists say President George Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's energy plan is likely to speed up the effects.

Under threat - polar bear

Update: 21st July

The highlight Saturday outside the conference center, was a massive lifeboat organised by Friends of the Earth, constructed with planks covered in messages from all over the world, and towed throughout the city of Bonn and eventually into the Robert Schumann Platz at the conference center. A party atmosphere prevailed throughout the demonstration, and a good time was had by all.

Inside, Chairman Pronk outlined the process that he planned to use to get us through the final stage of negotiation, which is complicated enough to not bear repeating.

Suffice it to say that his plan called for a series of working groups which would report back to him. Then he would write up a text for consideration by the different groups. This was to happen sometime late in the afternoon. The paper finally arrived some time after 11 PM, so Greenpeace and all the other organisations got hold of copies and rushed off to put together commentary on it.

In the early hours, George Bush got a dawn wake up at Chequers when a micro-lite, trailing a "George W Bush - International Outlaw" banner, buzzed the house around 10 times.

George Bush and Tony Blair have flown out to Genoa for the start of the G8 summit today. G8 will bring together world leaders to debate globalisation.World Meteorological Organisation

Update: 20th July

The US Greenpeace students staged a mock wedding between Donny P (Perlman) and US Head Delegate Paula (Dobrianski), demonstrating for those who still had any doubt that the love between the US government and the fossil fuel industry is the kind that of love that only money can buy.

We also sounded the climate alarm today, reminding delegates of the urgency of the problems they are trying to solve.

However, police stopped Greenpeace from relieving delegates from the ear splitting siren in front of the conference centre. Just as the banner was taken down signalling the end of the intended short, sharp climate alarm, the police took away the activists who could have switched the siren off. Oh well, so the police had to drive the truck through Bonn with a very loud alarm still screaming. At least they gave it a police escort with flashing lights!

Whale tail

Melting polar ice is threatening the main food source for Antarctic blue whales and could lead to their extinction, an international environmental group said yesterday. The whales feed on small sea creatures known as krill, which in turn eat microscopic marine algae. These live in sea ice and are released in the summer when the ice melts.

wave energy: a green and sustainable energy resource

A tiny South Pacific nation is planning to evacuate the islands because of rising sea levels. Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand for help in resettling its 11,000 people. The government says the islands may be engulfed in 50 years.

A Tuvaluan government spokesman says New Zealand has agreed to help but there have been no guarantees from Australia.