I am still surprised by how much climate change denial we come across.

Recently Connect4Climate ran the iChange competition, challenging students to present the climate challenge in a 30-second video. We received great responses from around the world and compiled a video with some of the best for MTV. Posting this on our YouTube channel quickly resulted in more than 7000 views, a hearty discussion, and this comment: lol i havent even watched this video. but ive read some of the comments. global warming is a MYTH!

 

What? Such outright denial! How can this be when the science is so overwhelming clear, when world leaders have shown their support for climate action, when reports left right and centre highlight the dire impacts of climate change, not least the World Banks own 4ºC report?

I couldnt let such comments go without responding.

Energy is the single largest driver of development around the world. Access to adequate amounts for our burgeoning global population is one of the main challenges the world faces. For Africa, access to energy is very much tied to the environment; charcoal and firewood are the main sources of energy for much of the continent.

According to a recent study, Africa has a population of 300 million knocking on the door to middle class status. This upward mobility will put extreme demands on the continent’s struggling public resources like water and electricity. Middle class growth equals more consumption, and more consumption equals higher demand to power the continent’s purchasing habits. Cell phones, televisions, permanent housing, cars and office buildings all require energy.

The question is how can African states meet this increasing demand for energy without further harming the environment? The answer is not easily agreed upon, nor is there a single solution to the problem. Solar, wind, and hydro sectors, all have their implementation challenges across the continent’s large and varied landscape.

The answer perhaps lies in the smart implementation of a combination of the above energy innovations. It is only when we dig a little deeper that we understand how energy generation is acutely affected by climatic changes. Take for example East Africa’s challenge of generating enough hydro energy while maintaining a balance with the environmentally delicate Nile basin. Two publications recently looked closely at East Africa’s energy challenge. ESI-Africa looked at the challenges facing the countries dependent on the River Nile for hydro electricity:

Nile Technical Advisory Committee chairperson Fred Mwango told a Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) meeting here that Egypt and Sudan were still wary of water security due to their countries' geographic locations.

Stretching more than 6,600km from Lake Victoria to the Mediterranean, the Nile is a vital water and energy source for the nine countries through which it flows.

Less than 20% of the 300 million inhabitants of the NBI countries had access to electricity, while in some the figure was as low as 3%.

Annual per-capita electricity consumption in the Basin ranges from 1,800kWh in Egypt to only 20kWh in Burundi, whereas per capita consumption of 500kWh is considered a minimum level by today's standards.

Meanwhile, AFREPREN/FWD, looked at some solutions the region could implement to address the single-source problem:

Countries using renewable energy sources to diversify their electricity appear better able to survive the impacts of severe droughts than those relying exclusively on hydropower. For example, Kenya is more resilient than Tanzania and Uganda to drought-induced power generation shortfalls, because Kenya uses a wider range of renewables, including geothermal power, biomass generation and, to a lesser extent, wind.

Diversification as a strategy will need technologies able to adequately meet the needs of a growing continent. Africa contributes over a billion of the Earth’s now 7 billion humans. Solar energy, for all its renewability, lacks mature distribution strategies--although several small initiatives, like our partner Solar Sister in Uganda, are working to that end. Additionally, the cost of solar power is still out of reach for those needing to power more than a desk lamp.

The call for diversification of sources of clean energy is all well and good, but particular attention must be paid to the need to invest in next generation infrastructure to deliver power to the last mile. While solar power offers the ability to leap-frog the need for an energy distribution infrastructure, large-scale use of solar power will still require investments in infrastructure. For example, Egypt’s first solar thermal plant, which went live earlier this year just outside of Cairo, required a $220 million investment.

There exist vast opportunities to spur green economies to address the problem of energy poverty on the continent. But is the continent ready to accept that challenge? How can Africa collectively mobilize to maximize its efforts towards a zero emissions energy strategy? Should funding organizations re-strategize priorities towards energy infrastructure development on the continent? Energy poverty and environmental concerns are complexly intertwined. But the deeper the complexity, the more marketable opportunities there are for the continent. Perhaps a great starting point to set off a needed discussion on this topic is, “what happens if Africa doesn’t find an adequate solution to power its growing middle class?”

On the 14 November Connect4Climate hosted a live chat on the Guardian Climate Change Hub. The topic was “how to build a global coalition to end climate change” and the outcomes of this are to be used in the Be The Movement workshop tomorrow at the University of Warsaw in parallel to COP19.

World Bank president Jim Yong Kim was quoted as saying: "To deliver bold solutions on climate change, we need to listen to and engage broader and more diverse audiences."

The live chat presented the following guiding questions: What do cross-sectoral coalitions to end climate change actually look like? How do you get the science, politics, humanitarian, development, environment, business and donor communities all singing from the same hymn sheet and working towards the same goals? Who gets to decide what those goals are? In addition, how do you communicate the value of working in coalition?

I could go into my journey of environmental awareness, which is a winding path through veganism and vegetarianism, attempts at neutral impact living in the style of No Impact Man, and adventures in water-saving techniques (you learn to conserve water when you live in a flat with water flowing for only about 4 hours a day, and it’s senseless to waste water in a country with limited access), but there is a word limit on this blog post. Long story short, mindful living is a journey that touches on our personal ethics, habits with which we have grown up, and traditions in our own society. We all do what we can, and that with which we are comfortable. Meanwhile, each individual action amounts to a rain drop in a flood of positive change.

Here are a few steps I’ve taken that are fairly easy to replicate:

-As a renter, I cannot install low-flow toilets, so I like to fill used bottles with water, seal them, and submerge them in the toilet tank at home to save water.

-I always turn off my computer and monitor when I leave the office in the evening. It saves a miniscule amount of energy, but think of how much energy is wasted when millions of people leave their idle machines on.

-A few months ago, I won an annual membership to Capital Bikeshare during a safe cycling class they taught at the World Bank. After a cycling commute, I arrive at the office more refreshed and with a bit more money in my pocket than if I spent my morning sitting on a Metro train. (My coworkers, TMS Ruge and Simona Palummo have also blogged on manual commuting!)

-About 5 years ago I transitioned to a vegetarian, and mostly vegan, diet. You don’t have to be vegan to reduce your impact, but just replacing a few meals a week with plant-based foods can have a huge impact. Animal agriculture has been estimated to contribute anywhere from 18% (FAO’s 2006 report, “Livestock’s Long Shadow”) to 51% (The World Watch Institute’s 2009 “Livestock and Climate Change”) of total greenhouse gas emissions measured by warming ability (carbon dioxide equivalents). Animal agriculture also requires more land and water, and diverts food crops from human consumption to animal consumption, where energy is lost before reaching the table.

I hope these actions inspire you to examine where you feel comfortable making positive changes, and I invite you to share your stories in the Voices4Climate competition.

A green wall in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Ivan Bruce

The thought that nature can also be an infrastructure is not new; nature can be harnessed to provide services within the urban environment, by reducing risk of flooding or excessive heat, or improving air quality. When nature is harnessed by people it is known as "green infrastructure." This type of infrastructure can be adopted on a range of scales and placed on a variety of different surfaces.  

Green infrastructure can be parks, forests, trees, gardens and more. But with the increasing trend of urbanization, the area dedicated to green spaces has significantly reduced in urban environments. Green spaces have been replaced with impermeable materials known as ‘grey infrastructure’ that have contributed to the increased frequency of flooding and raised the temperature of urban spaces. Overall lost green space also results in decreasing air quality, a rise in greenhouse gas emissions and reduced biodiversity. 

Urbanization has largely been driven by the move of people to cities, and this trend is dramatically increasing. By 2050 it is estimated that 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This fact alone is of great significance to resource availability, including access to clean drinking water, waste management, transportation and other aspects of modern day society. Furthermore, climate change will bring additional stresses to managing the urban environment. More extreme weather events, shifting resource availability and sea level rise will all have to be managed for a growing urban population.

Considering the effects of climate change and the increasing trend of urbanization, city officials, urban planners and architects are looking at ways to better integrate green infrastructure by creating resilient city plans. Such efforts can be seen in the Action4Climate documentary ‘Rotterdam - The Transition to Urban Resilience.’ The film is part of the URBES project, which with a focus on European cities as case studies, researches how cities can bridge the link between urbanization, ecosystem services and biodiversity.

 

Realizing that cities need to become natural systems is key in addressing climate change and creating healthier places to live, work and play. Increasing the provision of green infrastructure also has a direct impact in reducing the "heat island" effect, which can help address the health impacts of extended and more severe heat waves brought on by climate change.

Research has also shown that human wellbeing increases when people live near nature and water elements. Urban green infrastructure can play a role in bringing nature closer to people living in cities, allowing for greater interaction with green spaces. The concept of encouraging public places has been at the heart of urban design theory for centuries. Public spaces advance social vitalization in cities; green spaces can enhance public spaces for added benefit.

Another exciting concept for green spaces is urban agriculture or creating vertical farms that adopt intensive production methods to meet the demands of daily consumer needs. Such a method of food production is seen to be more conscious to the environment as it maximizes yields and removes many of the added burdens of traditional agriculture such as large transportation miles or unsustainable fertilization or irrigation practices.

The first commercial vertical farm, Sky Greens (pictured above), was opened early this year in Singapore. It provides fresh and locally grown produce, which is a rarity for Singaporeans as only seven per cent of produce consumed is grown locally. 

Rebuild by Design, an organization founded after the devastation that was left by hurricane Sandy, launched a competition to challenge architects, engineers and designers to create solutions to prevent damage in areas most vulnerable to weather events similar to Hurricane Sandy. The winning entry by BIG architects creates a series of parks which also function as protective system to Manhattan; the design is a great example of integrating green infrastructure to create spaces that both increase the quality of the public realm and provide protection against flooding and stormwater.

I highly commend the BIG U projecte must increase green infrastructure now so that cities are prepared before devastating weather events hit.

The application of green infrastructure can be adapted for many uses, from green walkways to living walls and garden roofs which all positively contribute to the city’s environment. However to date green infrastructure is still treated more at a conceptual level, as an unnecessary but pleasant addition rather than an integrated approach for city planning. It is clear that green infrastructure provides economic, ecological and social benefits.

Green infrastructure must be a priority. Let’s shift from grey to green.

Gerardo saving the environment, one recycled bottle at a time

For me, working for Connect4Climate is not just about coming into the office every day at 9am and get out at 6pm. This is not that kind of job that once you are at home you feel “disconnected” from what you did all day: working for the environment means that I embrace the belief that every gesture can make the difference in mitigating my footprint on the planet.

How can I sensitize people if I’m the first to act in the wrong way?

Mahatma Gandhi said, “be the change you want to see in the world.” What a perfect statement to synthesize my vision of the role that every citizen has to defend our mother earth!
More than fifteen years ago, I started to reduce my footprint recycling my household waste, but let me tell you something:  this habit wasn’t an “innate” part of my behavior, it wasn’t part of my “childhood manners” that my parents taught me.

I was born in a small coastal town in the South of Italy called Salerno, which is actually one of the top Italian recycling cities.

Fifteen years ago it wasn’t so, my region suffered from huge waste management problems. This led my region to several collapses of the entire waste system (do you remember Naples invaded by trash?). I imagine “yes”.

People didn’t have the tools or the knowledge to “enter” into the recycling habit until Salerno’s city council financed a massive infrastructure plan to open new recycling centers and empower people through some capillary communication and awareness programs.

After that even my Grandma (90 years old) shouted at me “this bottle goes to the plastic bin and this goes to compost bin, idiot!”

 Those radical changes that I experienced prove that if you give to the people the right tools, they’ll understand “WHY” they need to change behavior.

After all these years, even if I’m living in another continent, for me it is impossible not to recycle my trash!

It became an automatism, a good one.

I have no doubt that informing and empowering people to action in their everyday life is the key to protect our children’s future.

We do not need to wait for another law to pass or for another high profile ONU meeting, the planet needs your every day actions!

I invite you to start today.

Connect4Climate with The Guardian hosted a Live Q&A Session on May 1 to discuss waste management issues. Questions addressed included: Could a potential waste management crisis actually be an opportunity to innovate in disguise? How can different actors work in partnership to find low-cost, environmentally friendly solutions? And in what type of waste management technologies and program is funding most effectively placed?

The live chat is being fed into the Cittadinanza in Festa 2014 discussions on sustainability and waste, 2-4 May 2014. The event is supported by Connect4Climate and Earthday Italia and will also celebrate Rokia Traoré as a Connect4Climate Global Leader for her commitment and dedication to supporting climate change initiatives around the world.

Connect4Climate launched in 2011 with a photo and video competition, inviting people from ages 13 - 35 to share personal climate change stories. We asked that the stories take place within the continent of Africa and focus: Agriculture, Energy, Forests, Gender, Health and Water. Through photos and short videos, participants shared with us how climate change affects their lives, communities, and environments. The selected winners were announced at a high-profile award ceremony at COP17 in Durban, where world leaders and prominent climate change thinkers had the chance to look, listen, and learn about these climate stories.

See the original competition information here

Receiving entries from every country in Africa, Connect4Climate team members have kept in touch with many of the contest participants and winners, including Mants’ase Children’s Home located in Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho. Children from Mants’ase won three prizes for their photo submissions focusing on the agriculture and energy themes. 

On February 3, 2015, one Connect4Climate team member traveled to Mohale’s Hoek, Lesotho, and visited Mants’ase. The children and staff showed her the location of the winning photos and told her about the climate change projects they have implemented and how they are contributing to the global climate conversation.

One student living at Mants’ase studies by solar lamp. Photo by Leigh Vogel

According to Elaine Herbert, Mants’ase Children’s Home Secretary and liaison to the Connect4Climate team:

“In 2003, the first solar water heaters were installed (on the roof of the building) and since then we have purchased more solar water heaters, so that we now only use solar energy for heating water for baths, showers and for doing the laundry.

The pump that pumps the water from the well up to the water reservoir (situated at the highest place on the property) is powered by solar energy. There are two big solar panels (on top of tall poles) situated not far from the teenage boy’s dormitory. The water is then fed by gravity from the reservoir to the taps.

The children and staff at Mants’ase Children’s Home stand near the garden. Photo by Leigh Vogel

We have a few solar lights, including the ‘street light’ in the grounds, which has its own solar panel so that it is recharged every day. The electricity we buy (from the national grid) is a fairly clean form of energy in that most, if not all of it, is hydroelectricity.

A lot of thought and planning has gone into the positioning and orientation of the new buildings (still under construction) along with the number and size of the windows, to allow maximum natural heating of these buildings by the sun during winter. Although in mid-winter our temperatures often drop to well below freezing at night, and very cold winds blow from the mountains, winter is our dry season and most days are sunny. So by keeping the cold wind out, while allowing maximum sunshine in, we should be able to keep to a minimum the use of other forms of energy for heating these buildings during winter.

We reduce our carbon footprint in other small ways—the vegetable garden for example, drying our laundry outside in the sun, and by generating relatively little refuse.

As far as conservation is concerned, most of our efforts have been focused on preventing soil erosion on our property.”

See the prizes the Connect4Climate team is shipping to Mants’ase on the Mants’ase Facebook page here

This morning we ran across two articles covering two different aspects of the climate change debate. Or should we say, two articles highlighting two very divergent realities about climate change. It is important to note that the climate change debate between scientists is a much different conversation than the conversation between those affected by climate change.

On one hand, most scientists have the luxury of empirical data upon which to base their arguments, either in defense or in denial of the phenomena. On the flip side, those affected by climate change most often live the experience of climate change. Their anecdotal contribution to the debate is very much passed over for lack of scientifically verifiable data. This creates a valley of misunderstanding where both sides are speaking past each other and not really putting the two sides of the debate on a equal pitch.

Here's a look at the two articles:

The first one is a prime example of what one normally sees in the climate change debate, highly-educated Western academics and practitioners locked into a battle of intellectual one-upmanship. In this case, Germany's Spiegel publication sits down with long-time activist Fritz Vahrenholt on his new book, The Cold Sun, in which he disputes that CO2 and man-made GHG as the major and sole contributors to climate change.

Today, I want new scientific findings to be included in the climate debate. It would then become clear that the simple equation that CO2 and other manmade greenhouse gases are almost exclusively responsible for climate change is unsustainable.

According to the interview, Vahrenholt asserts that global warming isn't happening, and that in fact, there's a global cooling period that is about to begin.

The whole Q&A session with Spiegel is a riveting exchange of equally matched intellectuals dancing around dissenting conclusions. However, it is important not to dismiss Vahrenholt simply as a climate denier. As a respected scientist in Germany's energy sector, his counter argument to the seemingly single story on climate change is going to carry a lot of weight and perhaps open a whole new chapter to the climate change debate. Vahrenholt, it seems, is aiming for this as an outcome.

"It hasn't gotten any warmer on this planet in almost 14 years, despite continued increases in CO2 emissions. Established climate science has to come up with an answer to that."

The second article was a pictorial featured on the BBC Africa website: In pictures: Making charcoal from Liberian rubber trees. The first thing you notice about this pictorial is that, the images tell the story, instead of the people in the images. The images tell the story of the after-market of rubber trees, a major industry in Liberia, that are cut down after every 25 years. The local population harvests the fallen trees and manufactures charcoal, the preferred energy source for most of the country. According to the captions, Liberia relies mostly on wood for it's access to energy. Only 1% of the country has access to modern clean fuels, the lowest in the world.

This is a polar contrast to Germany, with it's vast array of clean energy resources including wind, solar, nuclear, and hydro-electric. So vast that Vahrenholt casts off solar energy as not suitable for Germany. To Vahrenholt, solar should be relegated to developing markets. "Wind power and biomass are fine in Germany, but no solar panels, please! They're better off in Africa and southern Europe." Must be nice to have an abundance of choices.

The framing of the two discourses is also telling of the current state of the debate. On one hand, the intellectuals get the microphone to wax poetic in defense of their purview. Those at the bottom of the climate change pyramid are most often depicted through someone else's lens and are never part of an equal conversation. They are the users, the affected, and the statistical collateral damage of a polarizing debate.

What happens when the debates become about the people, and less about the science and cyclical anomalies? What happens when these rubber tree scavengers (call them recyclers really) become the center of conversation? Sure, keep science as the tent poles for reasoned policy, but centered around people-centric holistic solutions geared at sustainable development. Does the outcome of the debate change if we reverse course and look at the issue through a human lens? Climate change scientists (not surprisingly) defer on man's contribution to climate change in the grand scheme of the Earth's climate cycles, some dating back thousands of years before man's started producing GHGs.

The UN's Zero Draft documents is heavy on language calling for inclusive sustainable development, where all participants get equal participation and contribution. The document also highlights the need to connect the two spheres of the conversation by maximizing the use of ICT as a tool for development communication. Easier access to information for those at the bottom of the climate change pyramid could facilitate equal discourse between those that have the knowledge and solutions and those lacking climate change facts, data, and research.

@Connect4Climate~Due to high illiteracy levels (75%). Climate Change may seem an alien word to many pple in my locality!

— Abdisalan Ahmed (@Abdisalan_Ahmed) February 8, 2012

ICTs coincidentally, also address a little talked about barrier to a level discourse. As one of our social media followers, Abdisalan Ahmed from Kenya, pointed out on Twitter that "due to high illiteracy levels (75%). Climate Change may seem an alien word to many pple in my locality!"

What do you think, could the use of ICTs help close this gap?

This Monday, the Empire State Building lit up in green as Climate Week (http://www.climateweeknyc.org/) kicked off in New York City. All across Manhattan, a number of climate-related events are taking place to direct the discussion towards an ambitious and binding agreement at the UNFCCC COP21 meeting in December in Paris. At the same time, the Sustainable Development Goals are a key topic of discussion in New York. On September 26, the United Nations will adopt the ‘2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development’.

Connect4Climate recognizes the inevitable link between these goals and the need to act on climate change and we are supporting action on both fronts in several ways. In June, Connect4Climate teamed up with the UN Foundation to organize the New Voices, New Vision +SocialGood event in Cape Town, where it became very clear that the SDGs could not be discussed without making reference to the need for climate action. I moderated the panel on climate change and was encouraged by the clear new vision presented by young South Africans for the need to deploy renewable energy and embrace all climate actions in their daily lives to help the global transition to a cleaner, greener economy.

The connect4climate team is #AngryAboutClimateChange to support the launch of Champion for Earth. Credit: Max Thabiso Edkins

Connect4Climate also formed partnerships that helped emphasize the link between the SDGs and climate change during Climate Week. We’re supporting the Angry Bird Tournament Champion for Earth organized by Rovio and Earth Day Network. The Angry Birds, currently the most downloaded game in the world, will be sure to make an impact on millions worldwide as it incorporates climate change messages into its seven-day tournament.

We will also continue with support messages for Pope Francis’ encyclical “Laudato Si” as the world’s eyes will be on him as he visits Washington DC, New York City, and Philadelphia, and brings his message to act on climate change to American leaders.

We’ll also be supporting the exciting activities around the launch of the SDGs, including Project Everyone, the Global Citizen Festival, the Social Good Summit, the Solutions Summit, and particularly the Climate Week NYC Signature event, where President of the World Bank Group, Jim Yong Kim, will add his support for climate action. 

The 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Credit: UN/Project Everyone

The year 2015 is an important one for development. Across the world, individuals and organizations are supporting the #Action2015 call to action. The need for ambitious climate action is closely linked to the 2030 sustainable development agenda. Climate change impacts all, the poor the most, and has a direct link to all topics of sustainable development – health, water, education and policy, and finance. The people directly affected in each of these areas often have no voice, and that is why Connect4Climate exists – to form a global partnership platform that communicates climate impacts and solutions.

Connect4Climate is encouraging the enthusiasm shown by country leaders, business leaders, regional and city leaders and individuals for a more sustainable future and we look forward to carrying this momentum forward to COP21 and beyond. The impetus for ambitious climate action is certainly there, renewables have taken off around the world, legal systems are increasingly in place to support climate action – and world leaders, from different faiths, countries, cities and businesses have all shown their support for an ambitious outcome in Paris. Join us along the way.