Friday 3 October 2014

Climate summit and marches around the globe

Over 675,000 people marched from over 2000 communities around the world on 21st September. It was a beautiful expression of our love for creation and all that climate change threatens, and our hope that we can save this world and build a collaborative society powered by 100% safe, clean energy. 

Click to see more pictures from the day: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/climate_march_reportback/?bDxIsab&v=46379

Historic Climate Summit Opens New Chapter in Global Efforts to Tackle Climate Change
New York, 23 September – New commitments, new ideas, and new financing for significant actions to address the challenge of climate change dominated the announcements made by more than 100 Heads of State and Government and leaders from the private sector and civil society at the Climate Summit hosted  by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. An unprecedented number of world leaders attended the Summit, including 100 Heads of State and Government. They were joined by more than 800 leaders from business, finance and civil society.  
Delegates reaffirmed the need to take urgent action to limit global temperature rise to less than two degrees Celsius. Acknowledging that the world was not on a pathway to reach that goal, they also committed to significantly ramp up climate action. Many speakers made it clear that taking action to reduce emissions could be achieved without damaging prospects for economic development and efforts to fight poverty.
There were many promises, but no firm pledges. Most notably, China’s vice-premier Zhang Gaoli promised his country would peak its carbon dioxide emissions “as soon as possible,” and President Obama said that next year he would publish a plan to cut US emissions after 2020. Major corporations trading in agricultural commodities grown on former rainforest land joined with governments in signing a declaration promising to halve net deforestation by 2020 and end it by 2030.

The summit was never intended to conduct detailed negotiations for a new climate treaty. Those talks will take place between now and the UN conference in Paris at the end of next year, which is intended to deliver the legally binding national commitments that a similar event failed to deliver in Copenhagen in 2009. 
For the full UN report see http://www.un.org/climatechange/summit/
Marshallese poet Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner spoke on behalf of civil society during the opening ceremony of the Climate Summit. Check out Kathy’s poem with footage of climate action around the world. Kathy, 26, is a co-founder of an environmental NGO and a teacher and a mother. She is also a journalist, poet and spoken-word artist. She was selected from hundreds of people to address the opening ceremony


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