Photo: Oxfam. Bangladesh: Shahanara (45) stood in flood water near the camp she has been staying at for five months since her house was destroyed in the floods in the village of Puteakhal.
It feels like we were in the global-political good books for all of one week. Didn't it feel great?! Our new Government came out of the stalls sprinting; signing the Kyoto protocol and our PM personally attending the Climate Change Conference in Bali. Things were really starting to happen.
I hope you enjoyed our brief time in the sun because we're back on the dark side again. Yep, together with the USA (no surprise there), Japan and Canada (!) we are refusing to sign up with the rest of the world for a global emissions cut of between 25 and 40 per cent by 2020 (at 1990 levels).
To recap this is perhaps the greatest humanitarian crisis the world has ever seen and people are still protecting their environmentally unfriendly industries despite:
- The IPCC and other studies point to clear-cut ecological and social dangers above three degrees Fahrenheit of additional warming.
- The only way to avoid that threshold, the scientists said, is to cut global greenhouse gas emissions in half by 2050 from their levels in 1990.
- And the only hope of doing that lay in starting now, they said.
Sometimes all the numbers are hard to take in but think about the humanitarian angle. According to Oxfam, poverty will deepen unless we tackle climate change – immediately. It’s already hitting millions of vulnerable people in developing countries – where drought, flooding, hunger and disease are becoming more common than ever.
Oxfam sees the impact extreme and unpredictable weather is having on people’s homes and livelihoods in poor communities all over the world. Poor people will simply get poorer unless something is done, fast.
What can you do?
- If Avaaz collects 100,000 electronic signatures it's going to publish a full-page ad in the Jakarta Post and deliver them directly to country delegates to stiffen their nerve against any bad compromise. Add your name to the campaign now!
- Join Oxfam's pledge to fight climate poverty.
- Stay informed and outraged about what we're doing to our planet! Tell your local MP!
Adam Valvasori - Values Manager
2 comments:
It sucks doesn't it. I agree that we need to economically assess things before we jump in. The frustration is, it feels like we have assessed pretty much EVERY impact of lowering carbon emissions we need. It would be nice if someone just made a call and did it for a change. The knowledge is there! Back yourself and lead...instead of managing public opinion down.
sigh.
One group of highly funky scientists that’s going about things in the right way is the Biomimicry community. The book, Biomimicry, by Janine Benyus, is a must read for those out there questioning how we can reduce emissions and keep the economy afloat.
p.s - I know I missed out on the comp to name the blog, but what about 'The Body Blog'?
Absolutely, I realise Labor have to - politically- prove they are responsible, economic conservatives to Australians. That's why they're waiting for the Garnaut review.
BUT the question is: Is that more important right now than proving -morally- that Australia is a responsible member of the global community wanting to save the planet so we can even have a stupid economy.
Did anyone think of calling Ross Garnaut and asking him if the 20 -40% carbon reduction target window (which is massive) is in the ballpark? Maybe it is? Maybe we're resisting for nothing.
If anyone who's anyone reading this thinks this might be a good idea. Here's the professor's contact us page:
www.garnautreview.org.au/CA25734E0016A131/pages/contact-us
Good Luck Planet Earth!
:) Adam
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