Climate Change & Environment

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The threat of climate change and global warming, fueled by relentless commercialization and excessive consumption, has turned into a fighting ground for both policymakers and concerned citizens. The coming decade is set to determine not only a collective response to reducing carbon emissions, but the entire future direction for international development and the global justice movement.

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Climate Change: From Issue to Magnifier

Melting icebergs 24th October 07 - Mike Hulme, Open Democracy

The headline in the Independent newspaper on 13 October 2007 made it quite clear what the issue was: "He's won an Oscar. He's won the Nobel Peace Prize. Now, can he win the Presidency?" Can Al Gore accomplish what no one has done before and secure this unique triumvirate of accolades and accomplishments?

Climate Change: The Appliance of Science

18th October 07 - Jeffrey Sachs, The Guardian (UK)

Al Gore's Nobel peace prize is a fitting tribute to a world leader who has been prescient, bold, and skillful in alerting the world to the dangers of man-made climate change. Gore's co-recipient of the Nobel peace prize is less known, but no less deserving. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) is the UN's global body for assessing the scientific knowledge on climate change and bringing that knowledge to the attention of the public and the world's policy makers. Its receipt of the Nobel peace prize sends three powerful messages.

Audio: Gore Nobel Sparks Debate over 'Climate' and 'Peace'

Al Gore wins Nobel 18th October 07 - NPR (National Public Radio)

There has been a great deal of argument since friday about the Nobel Peace Prize that was awarded to Al Gore and the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change. The honor has sparked a public debate, as some question the characterization of climate change awareness as peace work.

Click here to listen to the Talk of the Nation debate between Jan Oberg (director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research) and journalist Stephan Faris on what, if anything, does the study and advocacy on global warming have to do with peace?

Climate Change Threatens the Fight to End Poverty

The former United Nations secretary-general, Kofi Annan, brought about a remarkable consensus among world leaders to establish the Millennium Development Goals and for the world to meet these by 2015. But, as Annan’s successor, Ban Ki-moon, told about 80 heads of state and government in September, it is now clear that climate change threatens the achievement of these goals, so vital to the wellbeing of human society and the elimination of widespread poverty.

Shipping pollution 'far more damaging than flying'

15th October 07, Daniel Howden, Independent UK

New research suggests that the impact of shipping on climate change has been seriously underestimated and that the industry is currently churning out greenhouse gases at nearly twice the rate of aviation.

The Environmental Movement in the Global South: The Pivotal Agent

What is clear is that in most other places in the South, one cannot depend on the elites and some sections of the middle class to decisively change course. At best, they will procrastinate. The fight against global warming will need to be propelled mainly by an alliance between progressive civil society in the North and mass-based citizens’ movements in the South.

Big Banks Are Selling Us Out on Climate Change

Whether we avert catastrophe with climate change may actually be decided by Citibank and Bank of America.

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