But for Marie Granmar, Charles Sacilotto and their young son, their environmentally friendly house-within-a-greenhouse is a true winter escape. Continue reading “Couple Builds Greenhouse Around Home to Grow Food and Keep Warm”
Fox in the hen house: the polluters bankrolling the climate talks
Hypocrisy: Despite media hype CO2 levels still increase every year, fossil fuel subsidies are higher than ever, and no country has yet banned any company from extracting fossil fuels
Creative Commons:
by Tierney Smith As corporate anti-climate behaviour comes under increasing scrutiny from law-enforcers, media and public, a new report highlights the conflict of interest between the Paris climate summit’s aims and the polluting actions of the companies bankrolling it.
‘Fueling the Fire – The corporate sponsors bankrolling COP21’ reveals how Engie, EDF, Suez Environnement and BNP Paribas together own more than 46 coal-fired power plants, and are investing in oil sands exploration in Canada and fracking for shale gas in the UK.
Between 2005 and 2014 the corporation provided half of the total financial support (€15.5 billion) from French banks to the coal industry.
The same fossil fuel corporation have also been involved in attempt to deny science and deceive the public about climate change – often hiding behind lobbying organisations to do so – and have interfered with the UNFCCC, according to the report.
Patti Lynn, executive director of Corporate Accountability International said:
Inviting some of the world’s biggest polluters to pay for the COP is akin to hiring a fox to guard a hen house. We must eliminate this conflict of interest before COPs become corporate tradeshows for false market-based solutions.
EDF, for example, has been working alongside Shell, ExxonMobil and other to block renewable deployment in Europe via the BusinessEurope lobby group.
At the same time, BNP Paribas is one of the largest coal financiers in France as well as a financial backer of Canada’s tar sands extraction, and Engie, formerly GDF Suez, emits over 131 megatons of CO2 each year and has worked to aggressively expand it investments in fracked gas.
Célia Gautier, policy advisor at Climate Action Network France said:
Despite recent announcements to stop new coal projects, Engie still owns 30 dirty coal power plants worldwide. Gas and coal are the company’s main energy sources; renewables account for just 4 per cent of its energy mix (excluding large dams). On top of this, Engie is planning to sell some of its coal power plants instead of closing them down. The French state is directly responsible for Engie’s greenwashing activities as it owns 33 per cent of its shares and accepted to put them in their list of COP21 sponsors.
With the breadth and depth of such companies’ fossil fuel assets made clear, their attempts at blocking climate action common knowledge, and the public helping throw the spotlight on climate Pinocchios, the game is up.
The UN can ensure the “fox” is nowhere near the “hen house” at next week’s climate summit in Paris and in future climate policy-making by kicking polluters out just big tobacco was kicked out of health talks a decade
Around 200 Arrests At Paris Climate Conference Protest
– See more at: http://tcktcktck.org/2015/11/fox-in-the-hen-house-the-polluters-bankrolling-the-climate-talks/#sthash.9V56sjJB.dpuf
Photos From 1st Day of the Global Climate March
Photos From The First Day of the Global Climate March That Bring Us Hope
The biggest U.N. climate conference of the decade starts in Paris on Monday, and hundreds of thousands of people around the world are marching for action.
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Here are some of the photos from the first day of the Global Climate March that inspire us.
Even more are coming tomorrow. If you want to get involved, there are hundreds more marches around the world still to come:
If you’ve already marched,we need your photos to add to this amazing collection!
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60,000 peopled turned out in Melbourne for Australia’s largest climate march ever. It was being lead by amazing young indigenous people from Seed Indigenous Youth Climate Network. This is an incredible way to start a weekend of action:
Folks in Cairo, Egypt needed two selfie sticks taped together to capture this photo:
Photo Credit: التحرك الشعبى من أجل المناخ و البيئة
We’re not just fighting for the next generation — the next generation is joining the fight:
It’s time to keep fossil fuels in the ground and transition to renewable energy — and folks across the world are not shying away from saying it:
In Tokyo, Japan (Photo Credit: Hiroshi Okamoto):
In Samoa:
In Nepal:
And in Wellington, New Zealand:
Frontline communities are not staying silent — this weekend, they are fighting for survival:
Tuvalu Climate March
Dhaka, Bangladesh
photo: Maruf Hossain
“Mina (in front) is dressed in a contemporary mix traditional attire from the Highlands Region of Papua New Guinea. Due to climate change – what used to be fertile lands up in the highlands is now suffering from severe drought. PNG will not be silent anymore. We are standing in solidarity with the world!”
Photo Credit: Dagia. Aka
What is a movement without singing? We’re marching to our own beat this weekend:
We are ready for the solution. In fact, we’re already building it. Here’s a photo from Tokelau, the first nation in the world to go 100% renewable:
Photo by Litia Maiava
Yes!.. I’ll be One in a Billion!.. adbusters
Adbusters are calling for a new UPRISING, timed to coincide with a failure of ”our leaders” to stop the Climate Suicide caused by predator Capitalism
ABOUT PARTICIPATE ORGANIZE http://www.billionpeoplemarch.org/
#BILLIONPEOPLEMARCH
Hey all you wild cats, dreamers and redeemers out there,
It’s been awhile since Occupy Wall Street came and went. Now the revolutionary spirit is stirring again. We’re building a global people’s power bloc – and it all begins with the #BILLIONPEOPLEMARCH.
On December 19, I’ll be one in a billion! We’ll take to the streets in a global big-bang moment that will, for one beautiful day, make business as usual impossible. In every major city of the world, we will come together in our rage, sorrow, compassion, defiance and determination. A revolutionary carnival against the whole dysfunctional system that keeps us on the brink of climate catastrophe, financial meltdown and World War Three. Continue reading “Yes!.. I’ll be One in a Billion!.. adbusters”
After A Decade In Jail For Raising The Morning Star Flag, Political Prisoner ‘Filep Karma’ Freed
Jubilant crowds celebrate the release of prominent Papuan political prisoner Filep Karma.
A high-profile West Papuan dissident leader has been released from prison after more than a decade behind bars for raising a flag.
Political prisoner Filep Karma walked free from jail in Papua, Indonesia last week, after spending 15 years in prison — charged with treason — for raising the banned West Papuan independence flag.
According to a Survival International article, Karma, 56, was arrested in 2004 after leading a peaceful demonstration in West Papua, calling for independence from Indonesia and raising the “Morning Star flag.”
He was named by Amnesty International as a prisoner of conscience. His detention was condemned as “arbitrary” by the United Nations.
In August this year when the government of Indonesia offered him a pardon in exchange for admission of guilt.
Amnesty International wrote, Karma refused because he felt it would…
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1000’s rally in UK and Spain against bombing Syria
Protesters call on their respective countries not to get involved in Syria, as Paris attacks fuel political momentum.
A British parliamentary vote on bombing Syria is expected next week [Andy Rain/EPA]
Thousands of people have protested in London and Madrid against the potential participation of their respective countries in air strikes in Syria, as political momentum mounted to broaden the fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
At least 5,000 people gathered in central London on Saturday, carrying placards reading “Don’t bomb Syria”, “Drop Cameron, not bombs” and “Don’t add fuel to the fire.” Continue reading “1000’s rally in UK and Spain against bombing Syria”
Paris Climate Activists Put under House Arrest Using Emergency Laws
Activists protest against French authorities using emergency law to ban demonstrations at the Place de la Republique in Paris. Photograph: Ian Langsdon/EPA
by Arthur Neslen / The Guardian
At least 24 climate activists have been put under house arrest by French police, accused of flouting a ban on organising protests during next week’s Paris climate summit, the Guardian has learned.
One legal adviser to the activists said many officers raided his Paris apartment and occupied three floors and a staircase in his block.
French authorities did not respond to requests for comment but lawyers said that the warrants were issued under state of emergency laws, imposed after the terror attacks that killed 130 people earlier this month.
The author and climate change campaigner, Naomi Klein, accused French authorities of “a gross abuse of power that risks turning the summit into a farce”.
“Climate summits are not photo opportunities to boost the popularity of politicians,” she told the Guardian. “Given the stakes of the climate crisis, they are by their nature highly contested. That is democracy, messy as it may be. The French government, under cover of anti-terrorism laws, seems to be trying to avoid this, shamefully banning peaceful demonstrations and using emergency powers to pre-emptively detain key activists.” Continue reading “Paris Climate Activists Put under House Arrest Using Emergency Laws”
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