350 Updates

Holyrood 350 Campaign in Scotland, UK

Jeremy Osborn
Posted by Jeremy Osborn - 08/06/08, 9:05am

One of the most gratifying moments in the advocacy world must be the point after you have sent an idea out into the world, putting yourself and your ideas out on a limb, when you find that others are having the same idea and acting of their own accord in tandem with you. So much the more so in global projects like 350.org, because to act upon the same values the idea must transcend cultural barriers that normally separate us from one another.

It was last Friday when the rumors I was hearing of a 350ppm campaign in the UK were solidified, and personified, too, with Justin Kenrick and John Riley emailing me at 350.org.  Holyrood 350, a Scotland-based climate advocacy project, has launched in fine style...

 
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Vision for the Future

Will Bates
Posted by Will Bates - 08/05/08, 7:03am
in

This piece, written by 350 messenger, Deepa Gupta, was originally posted on Whatwiththeclimate.org, India's new youth climate blog, on July 25.  This is what real leadership looks like, and it will be exciting to witness how such vision will soon manifest as youth leaders from across India meet for their first Indian Youth Climate Summit in Hyderabad this week...

Vision of young people is simple – we want to enjoy a stable climate that our parents grandparents have enjoyed, one without hundreds and thousands of refugees, resource scarcity, and natural disasters.

The IPCC has stated that to give us a 50% chance of preventing two degrees warming we will require global emissions to be stabilized at 450ppm. Now, even venture capitalists would agree that 50% chance of return isn’t a worthwhile investment. Imagine the loss of this investment resulting in the destruction of our planet. My vision for the long term is that India makes to the 350ppm target, which gives us a strong chance at preventing runaway climate change. Clean technology will need a very strong presence to make this vision reality.

My vision of the next 12 months, which will progress beyond that, is somewhat Gandhi-an.

 
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Forestry in the UN Climate Negotiations: a Primer

Anonymous
Posted by Anonymous - 08/04/08, 11:00am

At last year's UN Climate Change conference in Bali, Indonesia, forestry and land use emerged as one of the major areas highlighted in the negotiating process and in advocacy efforts. With land use change accounting for an estimated 20% of carbon emissions worldwide, its no wonder why this part of the process is so crucial and has garnered so much attention from activists, the media, and negotiators. Yet with its many acronyms (LULUCF, REDD, etc...) and opaque language, it's also no wonder why it's difficult to understand what's really being talked about. Luckily our friends at the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) have helped to break it down a little. Read on for a lesson in LULUCF, or "Land Use, Land-Use Change and Forestry", which refers to the mechanism for accounting for carbon emissions from land use change in Annex 1, i.e. industrialized, countries.

 
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Animated Activism

Jeremy Osborn
Posted by Jeremy Osborn - 08/01/08, 4:27pm

Just two days ago we stumbled upon a clever mathematical magic trick. If you haven't checked it out already, dust off your abacus and head to www.thinkofanumber.net. It really boils down the cutting edge climate science into a, well, more manageable form. Forget those supercomputer climate modeling scenarios - you can find the answers to the world's climate questions with the math skills you learned in gradeschool.

Well, today we heard of something even grander: an animated film of Al Gore giving the very same math lesson. Enjoy the film, and thanks to those creative minds for scheming this up!

 
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Climate News: 20 Square Km Piece Breaks off Arctic Ice Shelf

Anonymous
Posted by Anonymous - 07/30/08, 3:22pm

"The rate we are losing ice is phenomenal. This (climate change) is real. I think a lot of people don't understand how fast things are changing up here", said Gary Stern yesterday, a Canadian scientist from the University of Manitoba, in response to giant piece of ice, 20 square kilometers or 7 square miles, that just broke off of the Ward Hunt Ice Shelf. This massive piece breaking loose ought to serve as yet another climate wake-up call in a long trend of rapidly accelerating ice melt in polar regions.

 
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Think of a Number

May Boeve
Posted by May Boeve - 07/30/08, 2:58pm

Yesterday while skimming the web, searching for new partners, cool news hits, and the latest climate change impacts, we happened upon a cool new website. We have a hunch you'll like it too...you might even call it a 350 action!

 
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South Africa forges path to carbon reductions

Phil Aroneanu
Posted by Phil Aroneanu - 07/30/08, 2:51pm

In terms of energy, South Africa has more than a few lemons.

Sometimes wilderness first-aid professionals talk about lemons -- not the fruit, but the strikes against the unaware hiker or climber that can add up to disaster, like an impending storm, a broken toe or a heart condition. Alone, they don't suggest imminent death, but add them together, and the "lemons" have the potential for messing up up a perfectly good hiking trip.

 
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How Do You Want to Take Action?

May Boeve
Posted by May Boeve - 07/29/08, 8:54am

Friends,

Wow. What a whirlwind this has been already. When we launched our global climate campaign six weeks ago, we knew that our small organizing team didn't have all the answers. We put our trust in you all, and it worked - all kinds of creative actions and ideas have been popping up. Now we're launching some new tools to help spread these project ideas around the world. Check them out and get involved...

 
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