Never look down to test the ground before taking your next step; only he who keeps his eye fixed on the far horizon will find the right road.
Dag Hammarskjold

Best wishes for a happy Christmas (to whom it may concern), and a bright (green) future!

Today marks the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Some places you should definitely take a look:

• Official UN website
• Know Your Human Rights
• Amnesty International
• Opendemocracy | Human Rights at 60: early retirement or another chance?
• International Herald Tribune; China hails ‘progress’ but quells protest on human rights anniversary
• Right Now (Dutch language, festival, accessible flyer handed out to Dutch minister of Foreign Affairs mr. Maxime Verhagen)
• First time you heard of human rights? No, kidding, read the Universal Declaration here…

You couldn’t have missed this great video, ‘The Price of Silence’ :

ShareThis

Today, hundreds of people are gathering in Poznan to show their commitment to successful climate negotiations at the 14th Conference of Parties (COP14). The 6th of December is announced as Global Climate Action Day. At YouTube, The Big Ask posted this great video:

On 10th August, more than 6,000 people took part in the recording of The Big Ask-video clip at Oostende on the Belgian coast. This was the largest event against climate change ever organised in Belgium. The film clip was made possible due to the engagement of volunteers from Friends of the Earth, and many film industry professionals including award winning director Nic Balthazar, film crews, production houses, actors, … Music has been supplied by Hooverphonic.

350.org, is also helping coordinate a wide range of activities.  They are a great organisation that are spreading awareness about carbon levels and climate safety.  All around the world communities are taking action to spread the number 350 ppm, the safe level of CO2 in the atmosphere measured in parts per million, and make sure world leaders are on course to reach that target.

Read more at 350.org, at The Big Ask… or check the Climate Change Series in The Financial Times…

ShareThis

The graphs climbing across these pages (see graph in detail, or explore the data) are a stark reminder of the crisis facing our planet. Consumption of resources is rising rapidly, biodiversity is plummeting and just about every measure shows humans affecting Earth on a vast scale. Most of us accept the need for a more sustainable way to live, by reducing carbon emissions, developing renewable technology and increasing energy efficiency.

But are these efforts to save the planet doomed? A growing band of experts are looking at figures like these and arguing that personal carbon virtue and collective environmentalism are futile as long as our economic system is built on the assumption of growth. The science tells us that if we are serious about saving Earth, we must reshape our economy.

This, of course, is economic heresy. Growth to most economists is as essential as the air we breathe: it is, they claim, the only force capable of lifting the poor out of poverty, feeding the world’s growing population, meeting the costs of rising public spending and stimulating technological development - not to mention funding increasingly expensive lifestyles. They see no limits to that growth, ever.

Read the full article in The New Scientist…

ShareThis

- by Al Gore

Op-Ed Contributor Ny Times

The inspiring and transformative choice by the American people to elect Barack Obama as our 44th president lays the foundation for another fateful choice that he — and we — must make this January to begin an emergency rescue of human civilization from the imminent and rapidly growing threat posed by the climate crisis.

Read more at the NY Times….

The United Nations Climate Change Conference in Pozna? opened this morning. The Conference is a milestone on the road to success for the processes which were launched under the Bali Road Map. The meeting comes midway between COP 13 in Bali, which saw the launch of negotiations on strengthened international action on climate change, and COP 15 Copenhagen, at which the negotiations are set to conclude.

ShareThis