Create a climate for peace

In the Absence of Success, shall we cheer for not having fully failed?

2011-01-30T12:19:00.000-08:00

A month ago, many negotiators departed from Cancun with a sense of relief and achievement. The COP16 closing plenary concluded in a particularly enthusiastic atmosphere with several unusual rounds of standing ovation. Most praised the role of Mexico in skilfully managing the COP presidency.

Only Bolivia refused to participate to the festive mood prevailing in the closing plenary, emphasising the gap remaining between the level of ambition contained in the agreements and what physical reality imposes upon us.

A process back on tracks, but on tracks to where?

The talks held in Cancun have been successful in preventing the UN process to collapse and have, beyond the expectations of many, contributed to recreate a positive atmosphere. Negotiations were held in a more inclusive and transparent manner. Obviously, the UN process could certainly not afford dramatic sessions as those in Copenhagen. The renewed faith in
the UNFCCC negotiations as the most relevant forum for international negotiations on climate change should indeed be welcomed. The international community has thus avoided for the time being a complete collapse of the multilateral model of negotiations.

However progress achieved on the process will be of little value if it does not lead to fulfil the ultimate objective of the convention. The Convention clearly aims the prevention of (further) dangerous human-induced interference with the climate system, based on equity. The scientific community has repeatedly contributed to the discussions in highlighting what the corresponding of political actions would be. While there is very little doubt about the final destination of this process, especially now it’s reputed to be back on tracks, it remains unclear if it will eventually lead us there.

Balances

Balance appeared as the buzz-word in the negotiations. Since the Copenhagen conference, negotiators have emphasised the importance of reaching a balanced set of agreements. Such an outcome would need to involve all major emitters in a global effort of reduction of greenhouse gases emissions while at the same time considering the different responsibility and capacities of each.

For all young people engaged in the process, this concern of equity translates in how much policy makers are ready to balance the long term interest of humankind with short term political and economic considerations. Article 3 of Convention reads: “The Parties should protect the climate system for the benefit of present and future generations of humankind, on the basis of equity”. The Cancun Agreements don’t seem to take us anywhere near the fulfilling of this objective. Yet eighteen years have passed since its adoption. Moreover, scientists insist more and more that the window of opportunity for action is closing rapidly. In this context of growing urgency, any additional year passing without substantial progress should be viewed as a setback.

The road ahead

Now that the negotiations are back on track, and since these negotiations always had clear objectives, the main remaining question is the roadmap to reach this destination. Here a decision on the form of the outcome expected in Durban has once again been postponed and several industrial parties have strongly rejected the notion of a second commitment period under the Kyoto Protocol.

The past 20 years at the UN climate negotiations have certainly demonstrated that political and non-binding commitment brings little results. At present, targets for the biggest emitters rely on non-binding pledges submitted to international review. There is no doubt that this approach to address climate change is inadequate. The negotiations will never succeed unless their outcome guarantees the survival of all nations and peoples. In order to achieve so, negotiators need urgently to adopt a science- and equity-based approach to the allocation of mitigation actions to each country. In this context, the recognition of the need to consider a stronger target such as 1.5 degrees of warming is a welcome assessment. However, there is little sense in doing so once this threshold is already reached, and this should be guiding the timing of the review.

A stronger role for the public

In the remaining eleven months, decision-makers will need to show stronger leadership and more ambition in the negotiations to bridge rapidly the enormous gap between national policies and the requirements to address the climate crisis. All groups of stakeholders will need to keep pushing and supporting national governments in their adoption and implementation of stronger domestic mitigation policies. Decision-makers will also need to acknowledge fully the role and contribution of civil society and to empower local and non-governmental actors to take actions, through a more participative multi-stakeholder approach.

The adoption of a specific COP decision in Cancun emphasising the role of climate education and public participation provides a useful contribution in this context. The longer adequate political action is being postponed, the more difficult it becomes to maintain our chances and those of future generations to avoid the most dramatic consequences of climate change. A paradigm shift will only be achieved in building public understanding and engage them in concrete measures, from the individual to the international level.

Can hope be an end in it self?

The UNFCCC Executive Secretary Christiana Figueres described the conference as having lighted a new beacon of hope. Having restored faith in the multilateral approach to address climate change is definitely a positive outcome. However such a beacon will be useful only if it guides all together to a safe harbour. There is no doubt that the time has come when we will need to take more than a first little step in the good direction. Drowning a little closer to the land after having celebrated the appearance of a beacon would bring us little satisfaction.

by Seb

Patagonia without dams

2010-05-07T13:55:00.000-07:00

Last Friday, at Città dell’Utopia, Juan Pablo Orrego – international coordinator of the board for Patagonia protection – came to lay the basis for the Italian support to the Patagonia without dams campaign which opposes the construction of five dams right in the middle of Chilean Patagonia.

The project opposed is by the HydroAysén society that, through ENDESA in controlled by ENEL. The plan is to build five dams in the Baker and Pascua river basins and submerge 5910 hectares. The hydroelectric plants would be then matched by a row of electricity pylon to move electricity from the plants to the mining areas in the north, crossing Chile for over 2300 km.

On the one side there is the promise of energy independence reached thanks to clean source like hydroelectric one. On the other, the protection of one of the last pristine macro-areas of our planet.
The dams project seems to be unnecessary since Chile is witnessing a decreasing increment of energy request and it would be a false move in a country with such a great renewable energy potential. Not to mention the opportunity of building five dams in a highly seismic zone …

Another quite important point of the Patagonia without dams campaign concerns water rights. The HydroAysén project is based on water rights taken away from Chilean people during dictatorship and in the first years of the ’90 – basically, river are private property. This situation, even if legal, is ethically unsustainable.

With this campaign, the board for Patagonia protection aims to stop the plan and nationalize back the property of the rivers. To do so, the board asks Italian civil society for help since it can, quite directly through campaigning and ethic share investments, put pressure on ENEL to quit the project and keep Patagonia safe.

Various Italian organizations, among which SCI, are backing the campaign both through further campaigning and going deeply in the study of ENEL investment plans. In the meanwhile, a study of the project’s impact on environment is being undertaken and HydroAysén emissaries are playing havoc trying to get their hands on private land and upsetting local communities social dynamics.

2010-04-20T18:44:00.000-07:00

Report from the Bonn1 Meeting
of the UN Climate negotiations process

Side Event on the role of Civil Society

The latest session of the climate negotiations just concluded late on Sunday night (11/04) after three days of negotiations focused on procedural issues. This meeting of the parties to the UN Climate Change Convention (UNFCCC) was the first to take place since the COP15 in Copenhagen. The main objective of this unusually short session was to consider how to move the negotiations forward from the confused situation that they were in.

SCI hosted a side event for the Youth constituency on the role of civil society with the objective of discussing the perspective of different stakeholders. Despite the rather awkward timing of the event (Saturday, 9pm!), a variety of participants spent ninety minutes discussing the importance of the participation of civil society in the UNFCCC process and the role of partnerships and cooperation between the different groups of stakeholders.

Christiana Figueres* from the Costa Rican government delegation accepted our invitation and brought highly valuable input to the discussion. We invited Ms. Figueres due to the fact that Costa Rica has been, in the past, very supportive of the role of civil society and youth at the climate negotiations. This is not to mention the position of her country as one of the very few true leaders in climate action. Christiana has played a role in the negotiations for about 15 years and thus was able to share with us her valuable insights on the place and role of civil society. After having described the role of young people in relation to the negotiating position of Costa Rica, she called on youth to become more active in the integral stage of the definition of the national negotiating positions.

Other participants at the event – representing different groups of stakeholders such as the trade unions, the local governments, the gender caucus, the secretariat of the UNFCCC and another governmental delegation supportive of youth participation (Switzerland) – shared their visions on the key added values of civil society participation. Increased legitimacy and transparency in the process and the possibility to remind negotiators of the true consequences of the lack of political leadership were mentioned several times among other elements such as the opportunity to build the capacity of tomorrow’s leaders and the fact that the presence of youth in particular “humanize” the negotiation process. The second part of the discussion addressed the question of the cooperation between the delegates representing different groups from the civil society at the negotiations. We agreed that, while cooperation is already taking place to a certain extent, there is a huge opportunity to increase this work and to benefit from a more diverse approach to our presence at the UNFCCC sessions and outside of the official negotiation process.

The side event concluded with a challenge launched by Ms. Figueres to the youth delegates: to work through the year in order to ensure that at least 50% of the governmental delegations include a youth representatives during the next Climate Conference in Cancun. Will we be able to rise to this challenge?

Sebastien (sebastien@youthclimate.org)

*Christiana Figueres is one of the candidates to replace Yvo De Boer as Executive Secretary of the UNFCCC. We welcome the application for this position by qualified and committed leaders, such as Ms. Figueres, and wish her luck.

Cochabamba Caput Mundi

2010-04-19T08:38:00.000-07:00

Starts today in Cochabamba – Bolivia – the World People's conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth convoked by Evo Morales after the failed meeting held last December in Copenhagen.

Over 90 governmental delegations coming from the five continents will be attending as well as about 15 thousand delegates. Among them, Nobel prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel, the journalist and researcher Naomi Klein, the French farmer Josè Bove, the president of the United Nation General Assembly Miguel D'Escoto … And for the closing day, presidents Morales, Chavez, Correa, and Lugo will join the conference too.

This world conference is a major moment of debate for the 170 countries represented, but not only for them: for the first time ever, social groups, the academic world and governments will gather together to analyse and elaborate solutions to the climate change issue. What is expected by these days of confrontation is a shared position to be upheld in Cancun at the upcoming COP16. Core issues faced will be approval of the Universal Declaration of Mother Earth rights, the proposal for a climate justice tribunal, a world referendum on climate change, and the request to recognize the climate debt of northern countries towards the world south.

Following the 17 working groups:
- Structural Causes
- Harmony with Nature
- Mother Earth Rights
- Referendum
- Climate Justice Tribunal
- Climate Migrants
- Indigenous Peoples
- Climate Debt
- Shared Vision
- Kyoto Protocol
- Adaptation
- Financing
- Technology Transfer
- Forests
- Dangers of Carbon Market
- Action Strategies
- Agricolture and Food Sovereignty

The event starts in quite an important date for Bolivia: 10 years since the war on water when Cochabamba people started a mass mobilization against water privatization managing to have back water as a common resource. Moreover, the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth will end on April, 22nd: right on the Earth date. There’s no better omen!

Follow the conference on http://pwccc.wordpress.com/

I am a canary, you are a canary, we all are canaries of eco-crises …

2010-04-09T02:09:00.000-07:00

In 1995 Ismail Serageldin, vice-president of the World Bank made a statement about future wars. He said that as XX century wars has been fought for the control of oil, the XXI century ones will be fought for water.

After the GAIA seminar and after the march we took part, I couldn’t but think about the issue. I mean, the ring should bell in everybody’s mind every few hours for water is such a common sight in our life: still in a glass, running from the tap, boisterous in the toilet, tickling under the shower … water is just so present and so necessary.

According to Water Wars by Vandana Shiva, water conflicts have two sides. The first is the real war fought at regional or national level . Often – and reading the book you’ll find many cases – political violence stems from control of scarce water resources.

The second one is paradigmatic. On one front we find cultures valuing water as something sacred, something that must be preserved and duly shared, a human as well as an ecological need. On the other, we find the entrepreneurial culture of greed, privatization, and appropriation of common resources. And if we want to give a face to these two opposed worldviews we find a multitude of local communities willing to retain water as a common, vital resource fighting back to a global government trying impose elite rule through the WTO, the NAFTA, the World Bank, the FMI …

I guess we all know where to stand, but to have a clearer, more informed idea read the book or have a look at this interview by Vandana Shiva.
http://www.inmotionmagazine.com/global/vshiva3.html

2010-03-29T10:01:00.000-07:00

Be wary of fairy tales …

Mostly with no straight connection, the topic of straw bale houses was repeatedly touched during the seminar. For

example, envisioning the perfect green work camp one of us had the image of a straw bale dorm. Then, it was not easy to explain that straw houses do exist and, notwithstanding the fairy tales bias of getting them down with a blow, they are actually safe, solid and very ecological.

In fact, many are the strengths of straw bale construction, a technique which is getting more and more widespread in the United States and in Great Britain. Made with a "waste" material such as straw, these houses have a very high energy efficiency in as much they keep an optimal heat insulation. According to www.strawbale.com, a straw bale wall is about three times as efficient as conventional framing: over thirty years, it means a 75% reduction of energy costs and connected natural resources.

An often raised concern is fire. However, materials laboratories report that a plastered straw bale structure has proven to be exceptionally resistant to fire. In these tests, the flames took more than two hours to penetrate the plastered bale walls while conventional framing took only 30 minutes to one hour to burn: “due to their tight compaction, bales contain very little oxygen and thus resist combustion. It’s like trying to burn a phone book”.

Another surprise is that the straw won’t decompose. The reason behind this trick is that organic material needs both water and oxygen to decompose and the right building technique will keep water well out of the structure. To make sure of this, think that bale homes built in the1800’ still exist in Nebraska and Europe. Quoting again from www.strawbale.com, “straw bale homes have consistently withstood severe weather and wind in Wyoming as well as major earthquakes in California … Many architects and engineers consider straw bales to be the ideal “seismic-resistant” building material. In wind tests, bale structures see no movement in a sustained 75 mph gale and only 1/16 inch movement with 100 mph gusts”.

And what about pests? Pests are more of an imagined concern than a real threat. If straw bales are properly plastered there is no way for bugs and rodents to get in. And if pest were to find their way in, they would find it almost impossible to move in the densely packed bales. Amazingly, termites and other pests pose more of a problem to conventional construction than they do to straw bale structures.As you just read, straw bale houses are not just eco-friendly, energy efficient, sound proof, and solid. They are stunningly beautiful as well and they can have many different shapes. However, If you have never seen them, it's quite of an imagination stretching exercise!

Think Outside the Sink!

2010-03-24T14:36:00.000-07:00

We were among the 200.000 marching against water privatization yesterday.

We joined the parade half way through and we could see the colourful flow slowly moving down via Cavour. Luckily, we jumped in right where a circus like sumba band was filling up the air with energy.
The march was attended by loads and loads of people because of the paramount importance of the issue: 7/10 of our body is water, we need it to live and water simply cannot be a good and it must remain a common resourced publicly managed. The issue was transverse and international as some of the participants of the seminar stretched: all over the world the trend to privatize common resources is getting stronger and stronger.

It was a pleasure to see such an amount of people manifesting their ideas in a strong, yet funny and amusing way. So … people up there in government ranks and management departments, we have a message for you: “we are watching you, we won’t allow you to make a profit out of our invaluable common resources!”

Just one day after is the World Water Day! Get to know about what was happening and to gather interesting materials on this topic visit the

UN Water web page. And there is a surprise present for this occasion: new episode of "The Story of Stuff" series: "The Story of Bottled Water" - watch it and make your commitment for this special day and further!

Meatout Day turned into Meatout Week

2010-03-20T05:32:00.000-07:00

Already since 25 years, 20th March is celebrated as the Meatout Day. Event is widespreaded among 50 states of USA, as well as many other countries of Europe. It is also second to last day of the 2nd GAIA seminar taking place in Rome. During the event participants, divided into kitchen and cleaning teams, were responsible for preparing own meals. Real workcamp spirit! But the most interesting thing is that already for 6 days, 17 people of different cultural and dietary background, managed to prepare everyday meals without using even a piece of meat. We were baking own bread, pizza, pasta, tartas, cooking vegetables, preparing salads, tasting cheese from diffrenet corners of Europe and much more, so nobody complained for boring diet. And most of the ingredients came from food cooperatives or fair trade production.

It's definietely good practice example, that some of us will repeat during their workcamp experience.

To learn, why it is worth to know where your meat comes from and why it is worth to implement vegetarian diet in your everyday life, you can start from watching The Meatrix animation.

Market day

2010-03-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

Today we woke up with sun shining. It’s a perfect Saturday morning and the idea of browsing the market could not fit better with our mood :) It might even be that the sun is shining so bright to celebrate farmer’s market third birthday.

Every third Saturday of the month, a group of local farmers and producers gather for the Mercato Contadino Terra organized by Città dell’Utopia and by terraTERRA group. terraTERRA’s aim is to implement a short cycle agriculture: the only one which can guarantee fresh, genuine products while protecting biodiversity the patrimony of varieties. terraTERRA stands also for food sovereignty because the earth is not a supermarket, food is not a good.

The market is located just below the Casale Garibaldi, headquarter of Italian SCI branch. The stalls are full of luscious organic vegetables and seasonal fruits. Cheese, wines and bread are there to be tasted and toiletries like homemade soaps and toothpaste poke out every now and then. But it’s not all about food, there are craft items as well like colourful hats and cotton little bags. People of all ages chit chats and looks around enjoying a little walk in the sun.

The market is not just a place to purchase local organic food but is a way to inform people about critical consume and the importance of common resources. The focus of today Città dell’Utopia stand is to inform people of this afternoon march against the privatization on water: access to water is a basic need and it must remain a public asset.

And stop. March is time is getting closer and … we didn’t finish our shopping yet! ;)

Surprise surprise

2010-03-20T05:13:00.000-07:00

“Surprise evening”, so was written in the timetable and up until yesterday I wondered and I - not too subtly – enquired. The mystery was suddenly revealed to me when, during the hectic preparation, Milosz started to rave about gardening tools, plants and so on… “is it guerrilla gardening tonight?”

After reaching a no man’s suburban place in Rome we started planning and planting a flower-bed.

There were about forty of us. The heap of tools disappeared in no time and feet were in stepping on the ground. There was a strange bee-hive energy among all of us because motivation was up and kicking. The idea behind guerrilla gardening is to act against neglect of public spaces and reclaim it to public use.

In Rome, as in many other cities I guess, there are plenty of unused or abandoned areas that could easily be transformed by our own small actions. Planting a seed could be a way to change our surroundings and give a clear message that we do value green areas in our grey cities. It is even a way to stretch the idea that the city is ours and we want to take a good care of it, care that often is lacking in municipality policies.

Just arrived we set up for our dinner, a kind of strange picnic in between two roads and a roundabout. An then: we “digged”, we giggled, we sowed, we “singed”, we racked, we “runned”, we planted and, in the end, we just did it!

Neighbourhood was curious and people started coming down to see what was going on. They were pretty happy to see us around and started asking questions. One even brought us a plant! Cars were slowing down to have a peek and they showed their support in a variety of ways. In the end, we spent a good time in an unusual way (it really was a surprise), we joined local people improving their city and, as usual, “deeds no words”!

Some links go dig deeper:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_gardening

and

http://www.guerrillagardening.org/

We are doing stufffff.....

2010-03-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

After yestrday session about SCI's history and mission, participants of the Seminar got very much into the motto of the organization - „Deeds and words”. The morning of the 3rd day of the seminar started with a visit of some activists from the „Happy De-growth” movement from the Rome group. We could hear from the first hand how does the Italian de-growth functions, what are the activities of the group and, most improtant, reasons standing behind those actions.

De-growt movement philosophy is not new. The most important propositions are:

1.We buy much more than we need. A lot of the things we need, we can do on ourslves, exchange with others or even get as a present from the others.

2.If we need to buy less, we need less money and as a consequence, we can work less! As a consequence, people will have more time to devote to their families, cpommunities, hobbies, art and culture.

3.De-growt doesn't mean going back to ancient times. It is about using what we have, but in sustainable way. Instead of growth, people should put more attention to developement. It means focusing on quality, instead of quantity.

So the propositions are actually finctioning in different periods of history. But nowadays for sure they are worth reminding!

The theorethical introduction was followed by presentations about composting and community gardening. Straight from the seminar room we went outside, to check how all that works in practice.

The group was divided into Bread Lab (daling with bread and pasta making), Compost Lab (preparation of the terrain for compost nets wich will be put up tomorrow) and Community Garden group, learning how to set up a garden, that in the cities is usually hidden under the concrete.

At the end of the session, almost everybody had to cut the pastry for the noodles, so that we can eat lunch before the sunset.

But you can be sure, that the handmade gnocchi and freshly baked bread was absolutely best lunch most of us ever had!

It started... with an action!

2010-03-16T04:04:00.000-07:00

Sunny Monday welcomed the participants of the „European Youth taking the lead of environmental challenges: cre-active reflections for future concrete innov-actions” seminar in Rome! 17 participants form different corners of Europe joined together to learn, discus, share ideas, experiences. But most importnat – TO TAKE ACTION! And the first day already provided us with great opportunity to engage in deeds, not words (only).

Italy is facing major social issue currently. Italy's parliament approved legislation allowing private management of water services . The new law obliges authorities to lower their shareholding in municipal utilities with water businesses. Opposition leaders have expressed concerns that allowing private management of water services, even if the network remains in pubic hands, could lead to an increase in tariffs. And the activists form Citta dell'Utopia in Rome are definietely agains the idea of making water the object of business as usual tactics. Monday 22nd, March is the World Water Day. Before it happens, on Saturday a mobilisation for public water is going to happen in the streets of Rome and other major cities of Italy.

But our small seminar group managed to make a contribution fo the action already. On the first evening, instead of usual drink and regular chit-chat, we decided to join SCI Italy's activists in their late evening action. Together we were prepering signs, saying „Water is not a commodity. NO for prvate water” and giving details of the venue of the Saturday demonstration. Later in the evening we divided into groups and put the signs next to public drinking watr fountains in the neighbourhood of Citta dell'Utopia. We managed pretty well, and one of the groups was even hidding from the police!

Learn more and thake your stand!

You gotta fight for your right to...

2010-03-13T05:15:00.000-08:00

...safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose and the right to be heard

Do you recognize these four rights? The right to safety, information, choice and to be heard are the official consumer rights, since 27 years annually celebrated on a World Consumer Rights Day on 15^th of March. They are your rights, because 'Consumers by definition, include us all', as John F. Kennedy, the founder of WCRD day once said, 'They are the largest economic group, affecting and affected by almost every public and private economic decision. Yet they are the only important group... whose views are often not heard'.

The Bill of Consumer Rights was recognized, legitimated and acknowledged by all members of United Nations. As Guidelines for Consumer Protection it was even expanded to the list of eight rights:

to satisfaction of basic needs,
to safety (of the products to consumers life),
to be informed (honest labeling),
to choose,
to be heard (in the process of developing the products and well as governmental policies),
to redress (to receive satisfactory settlement for unsatisfactory services),
to consumer education (being aware of basic consumer rights and responsibilities and how to act on them),
and the right to healthy environment (understood in terms of sustainable development).

Even though internationally acknowledged, consumer rights are being ignored and violated both by governments and producers and retailers. It sometimes seems that unofficially it was made much shorter into the list of right to watch commercials and the right to buy, buy, buy.

On this symbolic day, 2^nd Gaia seminar is starting in Rome! Twenty activists from Italy, Hungary, Serbia, Poland, Macedonia, Croatia and Georgia will be learning and working on new ideas for making change in the world around us!

In your activities celebrating WCRD you can focus on many different things, like food safety, consumer education, responsible shopping and more. During the Gaia event we will touch those topics, as well as we will work on how to implement them in practice during our projects. To learn more, follow the creatclimate4peace blog and remember to leave your comments!

Permaculture as a sustainable choice

2010-02-12T15:19:00.000-08:00

Were you ever wandering, how the world of the future could look like? Apart from science-fiction books, movies, comix, you can also take a look at permaculture. The name means PERMAnent agriCULTURE and in practice it stands for a way of designing human surrounding (housing and food production) in the way that would mimic nature's ecosystems. The idea is one of the methids of adaptation to climate change phenomenons, but first of all the aim is to bring people closer to the nature.

Participants of the „Youth facing global challenges” seminar got a great opportunity to learn even more details thanks to the guest lecturer, Bruno from Croatia. He not only told us about permaculture and eco-villiges, but is himslef a co-funder of one.

The lecture and the discussion evolved around the topic of greening the desert programes, houses made of waste, modern design, that would mimic organic tissue. All that caused thrilling inspiration for many of the listeners. It was followed by specific examples of eco village communities, with detailed presentation of the eco-farm in Vukomeric, which our lecturer came from.

Is that one of possible ways for the developement of GAIA... you will learn in upcoming posts.

SAVE BAIKAL

2010-02-11T15:14:00.000-08:00

Best part of SCI seminars is when you can apply the knowledge from the sessions. WWF Workshop during Youth Facing Global Challenges for Sustainable and Peaceful Future was about campaigning and especially which methods they used during Earth Hour campaign. After we came with own ideas for real problem happening in Russia – campaign against reopening of pulp and paper mill on the shores of the Siberian lake Baikal. It is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world and contains a total of roughly 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water. Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, the body of water is also known as the "Pearl of Siberia". Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world and was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996. Baykalsk Pulp and Paper Mill (BPPM) was constructed in 1966, directly on the shore line, bleaching paper with chlorine and discharging waste into Baikal.

Support the campaign and SPREAD THE WORD!!!

Phenomenon called Climate Refugees

2010-02-09T14:34:00.000-08:00

Who is a climate refugee? It is a person displaced by climatically induced environmental disasters. Such disasters result from incremental and rapid ecological change, resulting in increased droughts, desertification, sea level rise, and the more frequent occurrence of extreme weather events such as hurricanes, cyclones, fires, mass flooding and tornadoes. But, even though it sounds quit logical, can we really say Climate Refugee?

According to the UN Convention on Refugees: a refugee is “(...) any person who (...) owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of his nationality, and is unable, or owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of the protection of that country”

Therefore, technically someone changing habitat due to environmental degradation does not fall into this category since they are not persecuted directly by anyone. There is also a fact that most of the people that are forced to migrate, never leave their home country, and thereby also do not qualify to be a “refugee” according to the UNHCR definition. Of the ones that do leave their countries, most stay in neighboring countries.

Speaking about neighboring countries, we need to mention story about Tuvalu Islands. Just to give you an example how it functions in a reality.

The Pacific Ocean is home to 22 Island States with a total of 7 million inhabitants, one of the culturally most diverse regions in the world. What is really interesting, these Pacific Islanders emit approximately 0,06% of the world's greenhouse gases, at the same time they are three times more at risk to climate change than countries in the developing world. The highest point on the Tuvalu Islands is only 4.5 meter above the sea level. Yes. And it is the home of 11000 people. By 2050, Tuvalu is expected to become uninhabitable. The islanders risk becoming stateless not only the physical island, but all the institutions of a modern state –parliament, police, law course, state education, health care and other welfare institutions – may disappear. This means that their cultural heritage might be lost, and migration or relocation to other states may be the only realistic option; the complete extinction of a state without there being any successor state.

And here we come to the point about neighboring countries. Facing the fact that the islands will disappear due to the rising sea level, local politicians have been trying to make arrangements with their neighbor countries Australia and New Zealand to accept them as climate refugees. And what happened? Well… Australia has said no. How come? Easily. They don't want to create any special arrangements with single countries. This is particularly ironic since Australia is one of the countries in the world with the highest CO2 emissions per capita, and thereby a main contributor to global warming. What about New Zealand? New Zealand has proposed an immigration scheme, allowing 75 immigrants per year. However, these immigrants must comply with a range of prerequisites such as being between 18-45 years old, speak English, and having a concrete job offer in New Zealand once they arrive. Sounds difficult? Considering the location and level of access to resources, it is practically impossible. And even if it was, there is still a fact that the elderly and the poor, the most vulnerable, will have trouble being accepted as refugees. In other words, they are left on their own.

Obviously, mitigation achieving the rights to a new country is not the principal goal of the Tuvaluans. In the worlds of their Governor-General, known as “The Tuvalu Statement”; “Taking us as environmental refugees, is not what Tuvalu is after in the long run. We want the islands of Tuvalu and our nation to remain permanently and not be submerged as a result of greed and uncontrolled consumption of industrialized countries. We want our children to grow up the way we grew up in our own islands and in our own culture.

The U.N. currently states that more refugees are now displaced by environmental disasters than by war, more than 25 million climate refugees (ecologically induced migrants), and experts have projected that number will double within the next five years to over 50 million. Several organizations like the IPCC, Red Cross and The Christian Monitor estimate between 150 million and 1 billion climate refugees will be displaced within the next four decades, yet not one single international law gives asylum or even a helping hand to environmental refugees.

Nothing has moved, while climate is still changing

2009-12-18T05:53:00.000-08:00

10th day of the UN climate negotiation. (text written on 16th of Decemebr, evening)

NGOs, Indigenous peoples and other observers got completely limited access to the conference. On Friday, there will be more head of states than youth!!!
Officially, restricting access to NGOs was due to securtiy reason, but everyone objective would say that it has nothing to do with that. Friends of the Earth International, AVAAZ and Tck Tck Tck had been totally banned for entering COP. These organizations were doing amazing thing trough their campaigns and obviously, from some point, they baceme threat. The main issues they were arising were:

Ambishous targets for Annex I
No offsetting
Climate Justice
...

Today was supposed to be very important day for civil society. Big direct action, Reclaim Power organized by Climate Justice Action, did not achive its goals and the message which has been did not come from the ones whos voice could not be heard yet. Danish police, serving the system, did their job as it was expected. Arresting, beating...

In parallel, developing countries were calling for just and fair agreement, as every day since the COP15 started. It is becoming very, very sad. Science clearly says what should be done. Global civil society is calling for the climate justice and immediate actions on climate crisis. Reports on human impact are mentioning hundreds of thousands deaths per year. Survival of some nations are being threatend by climate change. But it seems like morality and justice are too abstract priniciples, which can't be measured by money or credits and thus they have little value at these negotiations, which have been supposed to save the world. Let's hope that it is not really like that...

On Thursday, 17th of December, people worldwide will join the climate justice fast.

On Friday, the world leaders are supposed to decide on joining or not joining the civil society in this struggle. That will be the question.

2.5 days left. Hopenhagen or Brokenhagen? ...history will judge...

Think before you consume…

2009-12-16T10:14:00.000-08:00

The Angry mermaid award was unveiled in Copenhagen, home to an iconic statue of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale character the Little Mermaid, on the sidelines of United Nations talks on fighting global warming.

The award was set up by Friends of the Earth International and five other groups to "highlight those business groups and companies that have made the greatest effort to sabotage the climate talks, and other climate measures, while promoting, often profitable, false solutions."
The awarding ceremony that took place at Klimaforum on 15th of December was opened by the director of Friend of the Earth International. Over the past several months people were voting over the internet and now the time has come for the little ol` frustrated mermaid to say her own. There were a large number of people waiting to hear which company or a business group is the current villain of the planet. They were announced by award-winning writer and journalist Naomi Klein. And the ‘winners’ are...

American Petroleum Institute was the “lucky” number three with 14 percent of votes well deserved for inviting its membership to attend a series of rallies in 20 key states, in order to give the impression of a groundswell of grassroots opposition to the climate legislation.
Shell, the well-known oil giant ended second place with 18 per cent of votes, for lobbying to sabotage effective action on climate change
Monsanto – the agriculture giant was the obvious “favorite” with the big 37 percent on its side. Monsanto was nominated for promoting its genetically modified (GM) crops as a solution to climate change and pushing for its crops to be used as biofuels. The expansion of GM soy in Latin America is contributing to major deforestation and greenhouse gas emissions.

More about the other nominees and their foul ways you can find on the following link www.angrymermaid.org/nominees

Just to be aware on whose business to be avoided, for as the anchor closed the ceremony with words:

“You are a consumer too, so think before you consume”

Meeting with Naomi Klein on Reclaim Power event

2009-12-15T11:53:00.000-08:00

After official announcement concerning limitations on civil society participation in the events inside of COP15, people are getting upset. No real results of the negotiations, negotiators not even considering the postulates of FAIR, AMBITIOUS and BINDING deal and general disappointment led to planing on more radical ways of action. Thursday, 16th December has been announced as the day, when civil society will make their voices heard. Reclaim Power action inspired individuals and groups to act on the negotiations development. Certain amount of non-violent civil disobedience actions are being planed for tomorrows 9th (out of 11) day of negotiations. General mobilization of civil society members is on-going and big-names are encouraging for the participation. Today morning surprised youth delegates with an unannounced meeting with “The New York Times” journalist, author of “No Logo”, Naomi Klein. She joined youth after their daily meeting, to say more about the civil disobedience actions background and to support youth in their radical demands towards negotiating politicians.

Main point of her message was a REAL deal, not ANY deal. If COP15 is going to end up with unfair agreement, not respecting human rights nor climate justice postulates, it is better that it finished with no deal at all. That is why in her opinion civil society has all the right to disturb the negotiation process and to give the voice to those, who have not been heard till now. Klein called for youth activists to use the time of COP15 as good and as intensive as possible and to prevent the silent genocide, that will be a result of a bad agreement in Copenhagen. Effects of climate change will bring death or serious endangerment on millions of vulnerable people and it's unacceptable for us to peacefully watch the politicians leading the negotiations to that point, as Naomi Klein was saying. Civil society is called to put their bodies on the line, when their future survival is being inefficiently discussed. She also thinks, that people over-hoped “Hopenhagen”, without understanding, that the real negotiations are taking place somewhere else, behind closed door and with money as the main actor. Her final argument for disturbing the COP15 process was that system which created this crisis is not able to solve it. That is why not only Least Developed Countries should start adaptation for climate change results, but also rich countries citizens should start getting used to the thought of change in their lifestyles, in order to become sustainable.

Remarkable point is, that according to Klein, for the first time participants of an unregistered protest march gave in an official declaration of not escalating violent resistance in case of police intervention.

Civil Society uniting under common message

2009-12-15T11:49:00.000-08:00

NGO observers for COP15 are uniting under common messaging. In recent days finally we can see strong tendency for different structures to work out message, that will unite different movements. Time till the end of negotiations and till the end of the period when civil society is allowed in the negotiations venue are disturbingly close. That is why the stress was moved from specific policy solutions to stronger push towards more general, ambitious solutions. The direction the negotiations are going now does not provide a safe future to today's youth generation neither safe present for hundreds of thousands of people from the most vulnerable and least responsible states.

The movement is officially uniting under same aims with hope for strengthening the voice and making the demand for policy regulations even more clear and visible. 350 ppm of CO2 concentration in the atmosphere, fast-track financing for the adaptation for least developed countries, committing 5% of GMP to the adaptation fund and achieving 45% mitigation below 1990 levels by 2020 are the strongest postulates. Bringing coherency to the civil society voice is a big step in building up the structure, on which future, sustainable changes can be built.

United around climate justice!

2009-12-14T06:35:00.000-08:00

12th of December could be called as D-day for climate history, because the biggest action on climate change ever happened. Friends of the Earth organized 5000 people Flood for Climate Justice. The weather followed the mood of people participating, shinny sun rays were dropping on the flood of people wearing blue raincoats simulating FLOOD that could reach dramatic levels, because of melting glaciers or ice on the poles.

After it very long Global Day of Action march consisted of almost 100000 people which has been finished after 7 hours. Amazing atmosphere culminated on the square in front of Parliament, where people gathered and continued together in the direction of Bella Center, where UN conference was happening. SCI crew, joined YOUNGO block, and beside them more groups were involved: Greenpeace, Friend of the Earth, WWF, 350. Joined power of word echoed through the streets which citizens were protected by police guards, who were standing around and smiling at as, but some did not have that much luck and have been arrested because of disobedience. Walking in the march, expressing the request for climate justice, led us to one direction- to show to the decision makers that we care; and the small babes carried by their parents were only reminding us why we are doing all this. That moment bring you to the future point when young people, that are growing up now, are going to be influenced by the decisions and actions of us, today. The demand for climate justice is requested by – citizens of the Earth: the young activist from India called for unite action and to overcome global North and global South differences; worker from UK - ordinary men fighting for his job in factory of wind turbines, he lost his job, and they occupied the factory; the children doctor who is dealing with child cancers caused by radiation coming from nuclear power plants, which are offered solutions for declining GHG emissions in some countries, as China. The representatives of World shout message. Peacefully walking, and showing the banner „There is no planet B“.

But, did decision makers hear that mass of people is screaming for change? Or was it only entertainment for the rest of the world sitting home after weekend shopping, watching TV broadcast recorded from helicopters flying above the protest, and then says: “Let’s see what is on the other channel......” While walking and passing by street lights where photographers were climbing on, with notice of united people asking for climate justice, one asks him or herself is the moment now? For big change? This same people can make a change, to create their own life and future, in harmony with all leaving beings existing on our still blue planet Earth.

We don’t want to be environmental refugees!

2009-12-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

“We don’t want to be environmental refugees!” – this is a clear and laud message from people of Kiribati and one of the most emotional on the third day of COP15. Kiribati – remember this name. It is a small islands country in the Pacific ocean, the first one to suffer very big and obvious consequences in the “front line” of climate changes. The first one to disappear if we don’t do anything! 30 000 people are living on these islands, which are just 2 meters above the see level and approximately 20-30 kilometers wide. So where can people of Kiribati go if the water level rises? Away from the coastline? But their land is a coastline! First climate changes are already evident in Kiribati. They are facing loss of drinking water, stronger and more frequent winds coming from a different side than they used to, erosion of the shore… In the next 50 years people of Kiribati may be left with no good life conditions and without most part of their land. But they are not the only one! The other small island countries stand next to them! It is a sad picture on COP15. On one side there are representatives of the most vulnerable countries, facing hunger, thirst and extinction, who are asking for legal bindings and begging for immediate actions and representatives of developed and developing countries, who are led by hunger for power and material well being. So how can we talk about negotiations when survival is not negotiable!? This is one of the sentences that has been said many times during last week in Bella Center but will it be really heard from the right people? By the way things have been going on so far it is unlikely that we will get positive question until the end of this COP. But this is not an end. We have to do our best to live “climate-friendly” and to keep pushing world leaders until they realize responsibilities they have.

So if they can not do the changes we can!

the picture speaks by itself...

2009-12-13T10:56:00.000-08:00

Side event #: Kiribati: our road to Copenhagen

Pictures of actions

2009-12-13T10:53:00.001-08:00

More photos available at Facebook -> add GaiaGroup Sci as friend

SCI's 5 minutes lasted for 3 hours

2009-12-13T10:49:00.000-08:00

At least till 18th December Copenhagen is whole living with the climate change prevention issue. Parallel to COP15 there are exhibitions, concerts, campaigns, street actions and... Kilmaforum09. It's a civil society summit on the topic of sustainable living, providing with lots of sessions, side events and opportunities for people concerned about environment to meet like-minded people. On Friday our one and only SCI representatives were holding a session about volunteering and good practices of linking it with education on sustainability. We managed to gather not only members of SCI Italy, France, Austria, Germany, Serbia, Poland and Catalunya, but also many other people, who wanted to learn more about our mischievous in the area on unpaid work.

We started with general presentation of the movement, followed by more detailed story about experimental green workcamps and the concept of eco-messengers network. Our listeners were really into the topics. We got enough questions and comments to fill whole 3 hours (!) of the session. Topics were many, starting from evaluation, finishing on the conflict between traveling far to the project being concerned about high personal carbon footprint. SCIers were not only answering the questions, but they kept ears open for good practices worked out by other organizations. We officially left our own, green footmark in Copenhagen!

Spreading the fever AND the good news

2009-12-10T13:24:00.000-08:00

SCIers are going wider. Not only we sleep in the school, but we also give the workshops there! Today three of our youth delegates held workshops with youngsters from Copenhagen school. The topic, of course, climate change and the role of youth at the COP15. Twice today we were twisting young, Danish minds in the direction of ecological activism. Youth between 14 and 18 years old were our experimental material. After explaining the concept of climate tipping point and the big turn for the role of youth at this years COP, we invited the pupils to send their own message to the world leaders! The discussion was followed by preparation of the posters, that will be delivered tomorrow (Young and Future Delegations Day silently taking over Bella Center already on Thursday!) to the world leaders! Let's try to ensure, that all the voices will be heard! And you know what, the future eco-activists got so engaged in the task and wanted to say so much, that the posters will be ready only in the late afternoon. But still on time for us to pick it up on our way to the summit tomorrow! We'll make sure you will see the results here.

Nobody wants me

2009-12-09T07:55:00.000-08:00

Early in the morning we have set out to Bella Center in order to join the action on carbon emission management. Our aim was to remind all the participants of the opening sessions concerning LULUCF and REDD (forestry management in short words) that the emissions from forestry are also part of the global CO2 accounting. The main message of the action was to change the text of the LULUCF in oder to include new regulations in accounting the forests management in CO2 emissions calculation. Activists from differnet NGOs, interested in the youth forest WG, formed a Lost & Found booth, with „lost CO2 molecules” wandering about, asking representatives of the states and particurarly those from Anex I countries (the most developed) who were on their way to the meeting, to claim their lost CO2 emissions and think, if they haven't met each other earlier in their home countries.

The youth forest WG is in Copenhagen (one of the YOUNGO working groups) to secure a climate deal to protect the worlds intact natural forest, restore the degradated forests and suport indigenous people and local communities in developing countries who wish to reduce their emissions from deforestation and forest degradation through a fair and substantial funding mechanism.

First day of COP!

2009-12-09T07:41:00.000-08:00

First day of COP was for most of the members of youth delegation exausting but fascinating at the same time.
Number of plenary sessions, working groups and side events was huge and the first reaction was: « ok, take a deep breath, you can survive that! »
And we did survive well. YOUNGO, the coalition of youth organizations at COP of which SCI is part, took part in a climate flash dance. Hundreds of us danced and sang an anti-CO2-emission song that gathered quite a big crowd of spectators, especially media. Young people were visible as well during the open session of AWG-LCA when our friend from Samoa Islands made a touching speech about climate change that was widely commented after.

In our SCI group we are trying to be active and follow different parts of negotiations and work in diverse working group. I'd like briefly describe what happened in mine in last 24h. I got active in the topic we simply called forest, less simply REDD. This acronym stands for The United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries. Being honest, for me it was a brand new issue. But last days I've learned so much about it. I can recognize now the differences between RED, REDD, REDD+ and REDD++. Sounds interesting? ;) But it is. Our group meets everyday to discuss the progress in negotiations, learn more about all their aspects. Our next meeting will be to write an intervention presenting young people's position on the forest topic.

I'll be informing you regularly how is it going.
Keep fingers crossed for the forests!

Milosz

Just a few super-nano briefing about workshops, sessions and meetings

2009-12-07T11:50:00.000-08:00

Climate justice
The climate justice workshop on the first day of COY was quite revealing in the terms of making the linkage between the global climate issues and the necessities of localization of food production, alternative economics, lower consumption, technology transfer, emissions reductions, social and economical equity and inclusivity along with all other elements that constitute alternative and just mechanisms as addition or to oppose the existing. The personal perspective and firsthand experience of the young people across the globe who participated in the workshop was extremely insightful and made all the difference. It is something quite different than reading it on the internet!

Climate justice action
Radical and quite different approch towards COP and climate negotiations, governments and capitalism. Huge radical action on climate justice is planed to happen on 16th of December - RECLAIM POWER. Goal of the action is to take over the conference for one day and to transform it to People`s Assembly. A few activists from Climate Justice Action held an informative session about the action in order to mobilize some youth delegetes to spread the information or to get involved.
More information at www.climate-justice-action.org

Carbon trading, CDM
This very complex and tricky issue was introduced by young experts from Carbon Trade Watch, Australian Youth Climate Coalition and Indian Youth Climate Coalition. Basically, theory says one, practice shows the oposite. CDM as one of the flexible mechanisms, or so we`re told, so far has increased the emission of GHG and violation of peoples' rights and climate injustice...
More info at www.carbontradewatch.org

Now, looking back to COY, it really looks like many things have happened, lots of knowledge has been shared, lots of great ideas have been created, along with regional networking. But, in overall the movement is on the road from which there is no way back. It has to fullfill its mission... whatever it is.

Super fresh impressions from the COY by SCI delegates:

2009-12-07T11:35:00.000-08:00

Did it ever happened to you that you are going to an unknown place with an unknown people with mixed and undefined expectations and after two days you think „Wow, this is exactly where I should be!“.That was my first impression on Conference of Youth (COY). So many people with different backgrounds that gathered around the same idea, so much energy and knowledge... WOW... and it was organized by volunteers! All I can say is - don't miss it next time...

Sonja

Art & Activism & Actions
After 30-ish hours of doing every yoga (and beyond yoga) position, trying to sleep in the train, we arrived to Copenhagen and COY!
So many young people, so much things happening in the same time! Where to go first? What to do? I was kind of lost - how could I really contribute, do I really know what I want to hear???
So I chose Arts & Activism workshop and, boy was it a right choice at the right time!
Woke up in a jiffy, dancing and singing with all those colorful people…

BUM ! BUM ! BUM ! IT'S HOT IN HERE! THERE'S TOO MUCH CARBON IN THE ATMOSPHERE ! TAKE ACTION, TAKE ACTION, AND GET SOME SATISFACTION! BUM ! BUM ! BUM ! THE GLOBE IS MELTING, THE CLIMATE IS CHANGING …

These were just some of the chants and songs people shared while telling about their actions and plans! I for one, never saw people dancing dramatic ballet on African chants … it was so inspiring!

I can’t wait for tomorrow and the BIG ACTION at the Bella Center at 13 o’clock. Organized by AVAAZ it should really open the conference in a way that will make great introduction and perfect space for all the other amazing actions planed!

Lea

COY day 2
More than 12 000 observers registered!!! Among them more than 2000 youth!!! //Workshops in the morning (REDD, LULUCF, CDM, UNFCCC, YOUNGOs and all other sexy acronyms), another EYCM meeting and open space sessions in the afternoon again on many different topics related to the negotiations, climate movement and climate justice.

Conference of Youth 5 (COY5) – creating a movement is not an easy job...

2009-12-07T11:19:00.000-08:00

So, how did we end up there and what happened?

After 35 hours of travelling Milosz (our friend from SCI Poland) piked us up from Kobenhavn train station and took us to the University in the centre of Copenhagen where COY took place. Once we came there, it was more than obvious that there are already more than 500 youth!!! More than 10 workshops had been taking place at that moment and Seb (brain of the SCI delegation) was leading the UNFCCC crashcourse for about 50 youth (and 2 more courses on Sunday). It was really cool to meet old and new „climate friends“ from Germany, Sri Lanka, Lithuania, Kenya, UK... from Young Friends of the Earth (www.actnow09.eu)Europe, European Youth Forum, Young Greens... So, we took a cup of coffee along with the schedule and joined different workshops on different topics such as art and activism, media, carbon trading, forests, being a youth delegate at COP and climate justice.

Afternoon was a bit more flexible and a bit less organized  We, as SCI delegation, joined the first meeting of European Youth Climate Movement (EYCM) which is aiming on bringing additional value to the International YCM, in particular to bringing the issues of EU at negotiations. Very positive thing is that EYCM will not be focused only on EU, but will also support and include non-EU youth, their positions and ideas. Besides EYCM, action meetings and an introduction to YOUNGO's governance the end of the first day was marked with a speech by two young activists from Canada and India.

Amazing thing is that everything concerning COY and (almost) everything concerning COP has been organized by volunteers. Huge amount of energy, time, knowledge, stress, enthusiasm and criticizm has been invested in the idea which is growing and moving to a direction, which at the moment doesn`t have particularly clear strategy, but has a huge potential for making the real change on the long term paths.

The main goal of COY, as it's published on the web portal of International Youth Climate Movement (www.youthclimate.org), was to build trust and solidarity among youth who will be attending COP15, and to share ideas, thoughts, success and skills with each other. To build a truly global movement to stop the climate crisis.

Picture of the COY plenary

The Copenhagen Trainology - The VCV6 heading for COP15 ....

2009-12-06T02:37:00.000-08:00

... or Train of thoughts on the train to Copenhaguen

Choosing a train as a mean of transport was somehow natural, and it got us thinking why even if we are aware of the environmental consequences of the current lifestyle we still fail to implement alternatives we are more or less aware of. Are we so reluctant in depriving ourselves from the comfort and why?

False, material securities with which we are surrounding ourselves constantly are just a vague attempt of filling in the gap caused by self-inducted alienation. Both nature and ourselves. And happiness. It has become something of which we feel such a big lackage that there are entire industries selling it to us. Can it be actually bought? Pathological over consumption has not be proven as a “yellow brick road” (ref. Wizard of Oz).

How much do we actually need? How often did we ask ourselves where our belongings derive from and what is their real cost.

Simplicity is an alternative.

We are a part of the global, but each one`s individual is what constitutes it. The way we feel, think and act. Each one is a piece of the puzzle, and each one is equally important as well as necessary in the same. Each one has something unique to contribute and give.

Taking responsibilities and not turning a blind eye is one way of doing it. Simple everyday choices can be more important and more contributing than it seems.

We are being insincere if we still claim that it is a “fight” for preserving birds and bees, trees and polar beers. We are all just manifestations of the same. Life. And life will survive, it cannot be diminished. In one form or another, our planet will find a way to recuperate like it did so many times before. What is at a stake is our own survival. In each ecosystem when a catastrophe occurs the first species to go is the most complex one. As we are proudly emphasizing we are the peak of the pyramid, top of the hill. And the first one to go.

But it is not just about the mere survival as well. It is a about regaining the sentiment of the overall connection between each other, and the sense that unity can still prevail on the scale for doing something right.

SCI as an observer: what does it mean?

2009-12-02T11:02:00.000-08:00

A week before United Nations Framework on Climate Change, SCI is preparing itself to observe the negotiations. There is a lot of information on the subject. Figures concerning the reduction of greenhouse effect gases are rushing but maybe won’t have any limiting legal value, as it happened in Kyoto. The never-ending text is full of thousands of incomprehensible acronyms… as if everything was done to discourage people and cut their interest.
Though, the subject of climate change has so important environmental and social issues that it can’t stay in the hands of politics only. To employ the biggest means and to gather people together around a table doesn’t mean bringing out significant measures, all the more so as regarding negotiations, many solutions leaves us unconvinced. So the SCI delegation which has received the status of an observer wants to look at the conference and to relay these observations to the outside with a citizen eye.

Democratic political measures?
This observation must go through a particular attention on the dialog between north and south. Indeed as most of greenhouse effect gases emissions come from the north, the majority of damage is in the south (desertification, climate refugees…). Although the United Nations is the decisional organ which allows every single country to be represented on the principal of one country=one vote, the most affected countries only have minor power in negotiations. So, in the name of climate justice, it is important to see in which proportions the north admits its ecological debt on the countries of the south and what is the place of the less developed countries in Copenhagen. To illustrate this subject the SCI will organize an action in the corridors of the conference. But unfortunately, all meetings where important political decisions are made remain closed to observers.

Fair financial measures?
In Copenhagen, we must stay careful about the help which will be attributed to NAPA (National Adaptation Programs of Action). These plans are the measures that the less developed countries have implemented but that receive very little financial support or deducted in great part off the public foreign aid. Since the Kyoto draft agreement, many doubtful financial measures are implemented by the World Bank. The development of the carbon market allowed industrial countries to buy emission rights off the countries of the south, the REDD mechanism for deforestation reduction enabled to reward people who work in forestry plantation and not more global projects of forest save and reforestation… Unfortunately, all meetings concerning finance are closed to observers.

Commercial and technological measures?
We also know today the impact of wrong solutions in climate change: biofuels, nuclear energy… solutions treated in the Copenhagen summit are once again related to industrial and commercial development, in part responsible of climate change: intensive “green” cars production and other crazy propositions: injection of sulfur in the stratosphere, salted clouds, space mirrors… it can also be interesting to see the importance of lobbies in this area. However if these measures are exposed in press conferences, observers won’t be able to fallow them either.

Environmental and citizen measures?
The role of NGO is therefore limited and is based on the democratic problem of the UN. It is also necessary to increase the time spent on real environmental measures (solar energy, geothermal science, biomass, relocation of economy, resources control, production reduction, forest control, public transport development…). On its side, SCI organizes an event about environment education within the conference. However these questions seem to be more tackled at the climate forum, open to all citizens. SCI organizes a workshop and will widely take part in discussions and citizen events. We will keep you informed.

Who are we??

2009-12-02T10:54:00.000-08:00

Hi dear readers!
If you are here, it means that you want to follow the SCI delegation at the most important climate summit ever! Welcome, we're glad to have you here :)

Maybe you know us, maybe not. We will give you a short explanation to introduce ouselves:
The SCI is an NGO existing for almost 100 years, and whose goal is to promote peace throw intercultural exchange all over the world. You may wonder what this has to see with the Copenhaguen summit. Well, we fear that the climate change will be (and already is) a big threat to peace, so we feel concerned by the issues of the COP15.

That's why we decided to go there with an international delegation of SCI. And we're ready! We are 33, from 9 branches and partner organizations, including SCI Austria, SCI France, OWA Poland, ECZ Russia, VCV – SCI Serbia, SCI Sri Lanka, Utilapu Halozat – SCI Hungary, SCI Italy and SCI Germany. We are really motivated! We're going to sleep in a school with no shower, and we are even not afraid :)

We'll try to give you a good insight of what happens at COP15, what we are doing there, how peace in taken into account in the negociations, and I'll stop here to let you the surprise to doscover the articles little by little.

Thank you and good reading!