The UN Commission on Sustainable Development convened for a high-level session today, and a major topic of conversation was the current food and commodities crisis. Many UN and NGO representatives underscored the connections to the climate crisis, and how early warning signs of an impending crisis were not adequately responded to.

“It’s clear that, even with all the analysis, we were not ready to deal with the consequences of even modest increases in food prices,’ said Philip Dobie, of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

According to Julia Marton-Lefevre, Director-General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources,”We must address not just food security, but also the burgeoning water crisis, a crisis of biodiversity loss, and threats posed by climate change […] all while sustaining growing economies and continuing to combat poverty.”

For the moment, international aid efforts must focus on alleviating the burdens posed by the current crisis. But the speed at which the crisis spreads reminds us all that a longer-term solution in necessary, one that enables development and weans dependence on fossil fuels.

We often talk about how this movement needs to be beautiful and creative, unleashing art and music of all kinds.  That’s why it’s incredibly exciting to us when we receive unsolicited emails offering us poetic YouTube videos like the one below. Watch the video, enjoy, and start adding your own creative touch to this movement — always with an eye towards spreading 350 and generating action photos and videos as part of this global grassroots call to action.

This past weekend, sons and daughters all around the United States celebrated and honored their mothers - including their Mother Earth. 1 Sky, the U.S.-focused sister campaign of 350.org, brought together a bunch of groups (many of which are represented in the banner at right) to organize nearly 500 events all across the country calling on Congress for bold action on climate change. Check out the great photos and stories here.

Right up the street from our office in San Francisco, local Climate Project presenter and 350.org supporter Doug Grandt and others helped organize an incredible action with the beautiful Golden Gate Bridge as the backdrop. Here’s a report back from Doug: “Over 4,000 girl scouts and 2,000 leaders attended the 27th annual Golden Gate Bridging event took to our 1Sky Make Mom Proud booth like ducks take to water. They drew pictures with crayons on 75 yards of muslin (about 200′ long by 38″ wide) and wrote messages and signed 130′ of butcher paper. They produced an amazing variety of messages and art work.” That’s a lot of girl scouts, and a lot of Muslin.  Here’s a great example of how we can work together with many ages, cultures, and organizations to build a movement around 350, and honor our Mother. Keep the actions coming in!

Way out in the middle of the Pacific ocean atop an 11,000 foot volcano, where researchers can get the most representative and clear atmospheric samples, the Mauna Loa observatory in Hawaii has been continuously recording atmospheric changes since the 1950s.   Scientists at the observatory announced a few days ago that the carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere have now reached 387ppm, a level we’ve never seen within the past 650,000 years.  The head of Greenpeace’s climate campaign, Robin Oakley puts is plainly - “We’re now witnessing a key moment in the climate change story, and it’s not good news. The last time the atmosphere was this choked with CO2 humans were yet to evolve as a species.”  Studies suggest that the increasing growth rate of CO2 levels in the atmosphere can be attributed to a few things - a weakening in  forests’, oceans’ and soils’ ability to function as carbon sinks, and the increased use of coal in China and other parts of the world.  The UK’s Guardian and Metro have more of the story here and here.

This certainly is sobering news, and CO2 levels will certainly continue to rise in years to come - but here’s a silver lining - a quote from the Metro article reads “It raises renewed concerns over the Earth’s dimin­ishing ability to soak up pollution and means targets for cutting emissions need to be revised drastically” from the 450 and 550 ppm levels currently being discussed.  This is our chance to build a movement to tell the world that 350 is that target to avert climate catastrophe, and ensure a safe future for humanity.

Our goal for 350.org is simple. We want to bring together an unstoppable movement to spread the most important number on the planet. Scientists like James Hansen of NASA say that 350 parts per million carbon in our atmosphere is the very upper threshold of a safe human climate to avoid ‘an entirely different planet.’ That’s a number the world needs to know - and we need your help spreading it.

Help us launch our website by taking action in your community with the number 350.

The heart and soul of 350.org will be actions taken by people like you all over the globe. In mid-June, we’ll go live with a new website that will help people to do just that. We’ll have plenty of text and materials to help people take action, but as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words. That’s where we need your help.

We’re going to need images of all kinds that convey what it means to ‘take action to spread 350′ - strong images, fun images, with a few friends or a few hundred. Remember to get the number ‘350′ into your photo in an interesting way, and then email the picture to us at organizers@350.org.  Outside of that, it’s totally up to you.  With photos of people in our cities and on our coastlines, building renewable energy projects, educating citizens, or hosting a gathering of friends - when we launch we want to show the world what we can do. Over the next month we’ll collect your photographs and feature the most inspirational examples front and center on our homepage. These early action pictures will be catalysts for the rest of the world.

We’re counting on you all to take action and help bring this movement to life, and in turn, you can count on us to help show the world the groundswell that is building for our climate, our friends, and our future. We’ll keep you up to date as things move forward, and we look forward to creating something bold, powerful and wonderful with you all.

With excitement for things to come,

The 350.org team

People all around the world know the name “SIT” for their study abroad programs. The SIT Study Abroad Program sends students to near 50 countries around the world. From their website, “SIT [Study Abroad] fosters a worldwide network of individuals and organizations committed to responsible engagement in a changing world.” Their network is an incredible resource, and one we’re hoping can help the 350 mission to be more cohesive and even more globally connected.

Not as many people know about the SIT Graduate Institute, a small school tucked away in the hills around Brattleboro, VT, USA, but they should. These students, from more than 30 countries, come to the Northeast corner of the US to study programs like International Education, Sustainable Development, and Social Justice in International Relations.

They also, as it happens, kick some serious butt in advocating for a safe and just climate for our world. At the end of term, with finals and papers breathing down their necks, these students made banners, translated text into myriad world languages, created art, and spent a half an hour of an already hectic Friday to show their support for 350 with these photos.

For a specific rundown, here are the details from Thea, one of the photographers and event organizers. (more…)