As we often say here at 350.org, climate change is a global problem -- a civilizational issue that will require unprecedented international collaboration to solve. Solutions are going to need to come from the ground up as well as from the top down, from every country around the world. And yet international leaders are dragging their feet: Countries like the US and Australia say that without China and India on board, they won't reduce their emissions; China and India say that without industrialized nations taking responsibility for their own greenhouse gas emissions that have created the problem, they won't decrease their own emissions significantly.

For the past few years, it has seemed a deadlock, a wall that climate and justice organizers and concerned citizens around the world have been trying to chip away at (but mostly just banging our heads against). But recently, a few cracks have developed in the wall.

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.

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.