350 is the most important number on the planet.
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350 Updates
Asia Dr. Vandana Shiva on Climate Solutions: Diversify and Decentralize
On Tuesday, our 350.org team in San Francisco had the pleasure of hearing a speech by Dr. Vandana Shiva. Dr. Shiva is a physicist, ecologist, and activist, well known throughout the world for her work on matters of food, soil, climate change, and water. But to break up those issues takes away from Dr. Shiva's core message: we must solve our great challenges by deriving solutions at their roots. That is why her organization, Navdanya, not only educates people, but also saves indigenous seeds, preserving natural abundance.
Our good friends at the International Forum on Globalization sponsored her talk at a Congregational Church in Berkeley, which also served as a launch event for the U.S. office of Navdanya international. We are pleased to count Dr. Shiva as one of our 350 messengers, and look forward to working with her on the road ahead.
Stormy Weather
The world is acting strangely these days. Some of it is entirely unprecedented--both the Northwest and Northeast Passages melted open for the first time last week, making the Arctic ice cap a complete island.
And some of it is depressingly familiar, the kind of story that becomes more and more common as the planet warms. In India, as noted below, massive flooding has cut off millions from nearby cities. And in the northern hemisphere a chain of massive hurricanes--Gustav today, Hanna Friday, Ike and Josephine waiting in the wings--unnerve coastal dwellers.
Our work together at 350.org is about making these tragedies less likely in the future. But since they're happening already, we need to help the victims too. Here's two organizations that work internationally to help tend people affected by what we used to call natural disasters--they could use $35.00, or 350 Euros, or whatever you can spare:
North America Action Spotlight: 350 Ride
We just got word of some adventurous folks in the midst of a 350 kilometer bicycle ride across Vermont and New Hampshire this weekend. John Bliss and nine other cyclists are doing the 3 day ride as part of the 350 movement.Click here to check out some great media coverage they've already generated.
This is just the sort of action this movement needs to be spreading 350 locally and around the globe. They're exciting new people to take part and making a clear case for how international action needs to proceed -- all whilst enjoying and celebrating the beauty of their own home and environment.
Safe travels to the riders. We'll look forward to hearing their stories and getting the full scoop when they're back home next week.
- Asia
Changing Course in India
My body is beginning to re-adjust to the appropriate time zone after returning to our 350.org office here in Burlington, Vermont, USA from India just 2 days ago. It is overwhelming to reflect on all that I did and learned in India for August while meeting with partners and allies across the country. The movement to fight climate change is now growing to new levels in India with exciting potential for changing the course of local, national, and international action on this crisis. This new growth is only just in the nick of time.
It's incredibly sad to read reports of the floods in Eastern Nepal and the state of Bihar in northeastern India. As a result of unforgiving monsoon rains, a dam burst in Nepal 11 days ago, and now the Kosi river flowing from Nepal into Bihar breached its banks and changed course, pouring into hundreds of villages and towns. The death toll from floods as well as water-borne disease is rising day by day, and ultimately millions of people are being affected.
- Asia
The Arab World Unites to Fight Climate Change
The Middle East produces more than 40% of the oil consumed worldwide. It's an unlikely region for a grassroots climate network to be born. Yesterday, that's just what happened. The Arab Climate Alliiance, a coalition of more than 15 Arab non-profit organizations and foundations, was launched to promote the use of clean energy, energy conservation and to work with Arab communities affected by water shortages.
- Asia
Worldchanging.com: China's Green Beat
I wrote this piece for WorldChanging.com, a fantastic website, blog, and much, much, more run by one of our messengers Alex Steffen. It's just one example of the incredible stories of climate activism around the world.
Now that the "Green" Olympics in Beijing have ended, what is the future for sustainability in China?
The Olympics brought a new level of scrutiny to China's looming environmental crisis. Whether it was the science fiction-like infestation of fluorescent green algae in Qingdao's Olympic sailing harbor or the toxic smog that blanketed Beijing just days before the opening ceremonies, pollution seemed close to crashing China's coming-out party.
Africa Accra Update: What's Happening Behind Closed Doors
The UN climate negotiations in Accra, Ghana continued over the weekend, with reports of general progress on the forest and industry negotiations. Much of the negotiations have been taking place behind closed doors, away from civil society, so not all is known about what is being discussed. Members of CAN International are on the scene in Accra and are working hard to bring updates from the NGO camp of the closed-door negotiations. For CAN's daily ECO publications, check out http://www.climatenetwork.org/eco/accra-ecos.
Chris Henschel from the Canadian Parks & Wilderness Society is also there, contributing updates on his blog at climateforests.blogspost.com. His sense on the forestry issue is that:
"So far, the most vocal countries have focused on changing the system so that it provides greater 'incentives' for forest management practices that will mitigate climate change. Translation: they want it to be easier to generate credits as incentive and reward for action. The main problem I see with this focus is that it leads Parties away from a mandatory requirement to reduce emissions in this sector and towards a system where they can only be rewarded for incremental improvements and not punished for status quo emissions."
For more analysis of the ongoing talks and how the NGO community is working to influence the policy changes being discussed, check out his blog at climateforests.blogspot.com.
We're all New Orlenians, Bangladeshis, Australians, Indonesians...
When people ask me why I work on climate change when there are so many other urgent problems afflicting the planet and its people, I usually respond with a glib "Because climate change is a civilizational issue, not just an environmental one." Sometimes the comment clicks, and I get a vigorous head-nod. Other times, it's more rolled eyes than head-nods.
- North America
Coal Plants and Politics: Surprising Sources of Hope
The United States is obviously the largest global warming villain on earth--it's pumped more carbon into the atmosphere, for a longer stretch of time, than anyone else, and under President Bush the U.S. has refused to enter into serious negotiations with the rest of the planet. But every once in a while something comes along that gives you a little hope, and this week there were two:
In the western state of Colorado--a bastion of mining interests--the big electric utility Xcel announced it would shut down down two coal-fired power plants in the state and in their place build one of the world's largest utility-scale solar power plants. This is the frist time...
- Africa
Developments in Accra
The Accra UN meeting kicked off with more discussion of sectoral targets. Under this kind of system, countries would commit to reducing emissions from particular part of the economy (cement production, for example), instead of committing to a country-wide cap on emissions.
This may help relieve an impasse between developed and developing countries, but it is unclear (and somewhat unlikely) whether sectoral targets alone will reduce emissions in time to get to 350.
For more of an inside scoop, our friends at Taking it Global are blogging the conference also.
350 Around the World
In 38 Countries people have taken action to spread 350. We need to spread this kind of action to every corner of the earth. View the examples and get inspired to organize your own action.
Understanding 350
- So, what is global warming and what's the problem anyway?
- And what does this 350 number even mean?
- If we're already past 350, are we all doomed?
- How do we get the world on track to get to 350?
- How do we actually reduce carbon emissions to get to 350??
- Will this thing work? Will world leaders listen?
- Where did this 350 number come from?
- Isn't America the biggest source of the problem? What about China and India?
- 350 is just a number. Wouldn't "Climate Emergency" or "Clean Energy Now" be a better call to action?
- Why another organization--there are already too many things going on!
350 Messengers
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"Civilization is what grows up in the margins of leisure and security provided by a workable relationship with the natural world. That margin won't exist, at least not for long, as long as we remain on the wrong side of 350. That's the limit we face."—Bill McKibben, Writer and Environmentalist
Find 350 On
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Friends & Allies
