Last December I was one of the lucky six chosen by the University Centre for Development Cooperation (Brussels) to attend the second week of the biggest climate change event of the year: the COP18. I was so looking forward to experience a U.N. international conference from close-by.

This time the 18th Conference of the Parties took place in Doha, the capital of Qatar. Isnt it ironic that the country with the highest ecological footprint per capita on earth, hosts a conference on climate change?

The first couple of days went by quite fast. I was impressed by the size and the organization of such an event. The Qatar National Convention Centre (where the COP was held) is huge: it hosted about 30,000 people (delegates, visitors, journalists, members of NGOs and volunteers). At least I got to stay fit from walking a couple of kilometers a day!

The real negotiations were not opened to observers like me, but there were plenty of side-events I was allowed in, like press conferences and information panels. Some very interesting topics were discussed, like sustainable energy resources, food security, impact of climate change on indigenous groups, etc.

I also attended a couple of actions organized by NGOs. I got the chance to interact with young people from all over the world, people who really care about the climate and would do a lot to try to save it. It was very inspiring to hear their point of view, to see how driven they were. It was also touching to see how, by the end of the COP, they had lost all hope for this COP: they realized there would be no ambitious climate agreement this year. Despite this, they were more determined than ever to keep on fighting for the climate, and to organize many more actions back home to make people realize that climate change is an urgent matter: we cannot afford to wait another ten years. Time is running out Werent typhoon Bopha and hurricane Sandy recent proof of this?

Talking to them was what made me understand that waiting for a global, ambitious agreement is not an option anymore. Maybe it is time for usthe civil societyto take action, instead of waiting for politicians to do so: a so - called bottom - up approach to fight climate change instead of ineffective climate negotiations.

Unexpectedly, attending the COP18 has radically changed my views on what seems to be the best way to tackle climate change. All over the globe, climate action movements are growing.  Thousands, maybe millions of people are ready to act. They are hopeful that together we can build a worldwide movement of solidarity and that we have the potential to actually make a change if we cooperate.  I too am now convinced of this.

More experiences of the 6 students at the COP18 can be read at the UCOS @ COP 18 blog.  

When I was working as a journalist in Peru in 1999, I saw the devastation of the 1997-98 El Nio first hand. Heading north from Lima, the flood damage to homes was clearly visible. Large sections of road were cut off by landslides, buildings were turned to rubble and cultivated fields were laid to waste.

Rising sea surface temperatures suggest that another El Nio is on its way. The UN's weather agency, the World Meteorological Organisation, says there is a 60% chance of it starting before September this year. An El Nio event usually happens every five years, but a severe one hits every 15 to 20 years. We are due for another.

The El Nio Southern Oscillation, to give it its full title, is characterised by higher water temperatures in equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean, which leads to changes in wind patterns. This has widespread effects, from higher-than-normal rainfall in the Americas, to droughts in India and Australia, to heavy snowfall in the UK. If a severe El Nio hits this year it would bring heavy rainfall to South America in December. Much needs to be done to protect lives and livelihoods, and the next four months are critical.

In Peru, local governments have identified flood control channels and embankment projects that would help minimise losses. A recent report published by UNDP and ODI says local governments should come up with their own risk management projects and seek support to implement them. But national government bureaucracy in Peru is holding things up. In the border province of Piura, 115 small projects have been identified to prevent flooding and landslides, but none have received funding yet, and local officials are getting nervous. There are even calls for the National Public Investment System to relax its rules to allow projects to start immediately.

In neighbouring Ecuador there are problems that may take longer to fix. Disaster risks are not addressed in 90% of Ecuadors municipal development plans, said a source in a provincial planning department. This means that buildings keep going up in high-risk areas.

Despite these issues, much has changed in South America since 1998. I would expect the impact of a severe El Nio to be less damaging. Banks across South America are in better financial shape this year to deal with the costs than in the past, according to Moody's Investors Service. Over the last decade, economic growth, poverty reduction and disaster risk governance reforms have made Peru and Ecuador more resilient to climate extremes. At the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas last month, Ecuador's Minister of Defence, Mara Fernanda Espinosa, spoke of "constant improvements in practices, laws and standards for risk reduction".

Scientists now know a lot more about El Nio and can give advance warning of the kind of event that is expected. I spoke to UNDP Perus Alfredo Zerga, who said that a great deal can be done to prepare for a severe El Nio now. Families can find out if their home is in a flood-prone area as all local governments have risk maps, and they can identify points that are higher than the surrounding topography. These actions will certainly help save lives.

So how will South America fare when the next severe El Nio hits? Thanks to strong economic performance, political will and decentralisation of risk management, we have come a long way since 1999. But populations are still at risk and urgent action is needed.

In Luca Florez's Action4Climate documentary Back to Paoyhan, a shipibo shaman visits his home community in the Peruvian Amazon after the flood.

Watch below.

[video:https://vimeo.com/95548021]

A commuter walking on Sandton's West Street, half of which has been closed to cars. Credit: Simphiwe Nkwali (City of Johannesburg)

Johannesburg may be a city built on the profits of gold, but Mpho Parks Tau, Mayor of South Africa’s largest city, has a green dream. His dream is to make “public transport, walking and cycling more accessible, safe, attractive and cool.”

"For our economy to grow and flourish, we need to decongest our roads and have fewer people spending time in their cars stuck in traffic," he said at the launch of Africa’s first EcoMobility World Festival on Oct.4.

During the festival, Sandton central business district–also known as Africa’s richest square mile–is partially closed to private cars and converted into an ecomobile zone, not just for a car-free day as in Paris, but the entire month. Leading by example, the dynamic 45-year old mayor encourages the city’s 4.8 million residents to go ecomobile as well and "show that is possible for the residents of Joburg to break away from the habit of using private vehicles."

Transport accounts for 31% of South Africa’s energy consumption and 16% of its CO2 emissions. A relevant share of it comes from transport in urban areas. The promotion of ecomobility, which means prioritizing walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility, is a key part of the city’s action on climate change, air pollution and social inequalities.

The city’s forward-thinking initiative puts Johannesburg on the world map of city-driven climate change action. The opening of a new bike path between Sandton and the township of Alexandra and the “Streets Alive – Jozi W-R-1” parade underlined the link between ecomobility and social inclusion.

“Cycling should become a way of life, our municipalities must become sustainable,” said South Africa’s Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, announcing further national policies in support of ecomobility. South Africa is not only Africa’s largest economy, but also the continent’s biggest polluter, ranking among the 15 largest CO2 emitters worldwide.

“We contribute to climate change systematically through carbon emissions, and the reliance by Joburg commuters on single-passenger vehicles is an inefficiency we must confront,” Mayor Parks Tau declared in his State of the City address in May.

Johannesburg's Executive Mayor Parks Tau (with green helmet) amongst riders of bicycles and other ecomobility vehicles heading off from Sandton CBD, Adfrica's richest square mile, to the low-income township of Alexandra. Credit: Simphiwe Nkwali (City of Johannesburg)

[video:https://vimeo.com/106893756]

 

Connect4Climate joined the People's Climate March with Rachel Kyte, former Vice President and Special Envoy for Climate Change at the World Bank Group.

Days before world leaders gathered at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York, the People’s Climate March inspired more than half a million people to participate in public demonstrations. “Action, Not Words,” was the core message of marches and solidarity events worldwide, calling for leaders to take ambitious and immediate action to mitigate climate change.

166 countries

2,808 solidarity events

630,000+ social media posts about the NYC march alone

600,000+ people marching

Connect4Climate is very excited to announce our new partnership with Whos Good: The Institute for Sustainable Development, an innovative, cutting-edge web platform to provide dynamic data on Environmental, Social, and Governmental (ESG) risks for companies.

Based in Korea and the United States, Who's Good allows corporations and companies to identify and manage the Environmental, Social, and Governance issues thus enabling them to monitor risk over time by identifying trends and create customized watch-lists and tailored alert services.

Who's Good believes that because businesses are key components of any society, corporate responsibility is fundamental. Environmental, social and governance issues have an impact on economies and financial markets. Thus, ESG factors must be incorporated into financial factors and the investment process of any company. By helping companies do this, they limit future risks by minimizing harm to people and planet.

We, at Connect4Climate, are thrilled to learn more about social responsibility practices for accountable companies. We welcome this innovative entrepreneur to our partnership team and look forward to joining forces to find ways to shift to a more sustainable future!  

We at Connect4Climate are very excited to announce our new partnership with Orange Fiber, an innovative and cutting-edge textile company based in Italy that makes sustainable fabric from fruit. Thats right. Fabric from fruit.

This companys concept for textiles is just plain genius: Take the "waste" from citrus transformation - what happens to the orange peels when producers make orange juice, anyway? - and turn it into sustainable textiles. Cellulose is extracted from the leftovers that would normally be discarded after pressing an orange, then treated with a special process using nanotechnology and essential oils, and applied to fabric. Wearing products made out of Orange Fiber is like wearing a vitamin cream; its nourishing for the skin - and the effects are guaranteed for twenty washes - for now. Orange Fiber creators are working on a way to refresh the textiles with softeners.

 

The idea is the brainchild of Sicilian Adriana Santanocito, who wrote about creating a vitamin-enriched textile from citrus waste in her university dissertation while she was studying fashion design at the Afol Institute in Milan. She shared her idea with Enrica Arena, a fellow Sicilian and communications postgrad, and they began Orange Fiber. In 2013, they patented the innovation in Italy and, in 2014, received their international patent. With help from investors, they opened for business and now have two headquarters one in Catania, on the east coast of Sicily, and one in Rovereto, in northern Italy.

Santanocito and Arena view Orange Fiber as a continuation of Italian tradition. "We want to transform citrus wastecurrently valuing 700,000 tons just in Italy - into a sustainable and vitamin - enriched textile that would represent a brand new opportunity for Italian tradition in high quality textiles and fashion", they write on their website. They are also using one of the most familiar products of their homeland of Sicily - oranges! Each year more than 25 percent of Italys oranges are not even harvested because the cost of collection exceeds the sale price.

Connect4Climate is thrilled to have such innovative, socially responsible entrepreneurs on our partnership team and we look forward to joining forces to help them with their effort towards creating a more sustainable fashion industry.

Oranges being used for Orange Fiber process. Photo by Orange Fiber

New York, NY--Straight from the mind of “The March of the Penguins” creator comes a project you should definitely investigate. Luc Jacquet, the director and writer behind the informative, jaw-dropping, and downright adorable Oscar-winning film about Antarctica’s most famous residents, has envisioned and created a way for students—and students-at-heart—to learn about climate change in a way he can best teach it—through gorgeous film shot around the world.

Jacquet has created a multimedia project through his nonprofit Wild-Touch NGO. Called Ice & the Sky, it offers something for people of all ages curious about how our planet’s temperatures are changing – videos, animated films, storyboard diagrams, and interviews with leading scientists.“We have to break the walls between science, entertainment, and education and bring them all together.” All elements on the website can be used as teaching material, or viewed solo. 

We hosted Oscar-winning director Luc Jacquet (March of the Penguins) and his Wild-Touch team in our offices before the first screening in the United States of his latest film, Ice & the Sky. We're exploring ways to work together to tackle climate change.

Jacquet’s latest film, “Ice & the Sky,” focuses on French glaciologist Claude Lorius, who began researching in Antarctica in 1957 when he as 23. After 32 expeditions to frozen continent, the 82-year-old now looks back at his work—told through amazing archival footage—particularly at his breakthrough discovery of measuring carbon bubbles in ice, which reveal temperatures when they were formed. A collection of ice cores allowed the researchers to see the changes in temperatures throughout the ice ages and warmer periods, demonstrating that in the last 100 years, mankind’s role in releasing greenhouse gases has significantly altered the planet’s climate. Lorius was one of the first scientists to talk about global warming. “Ice & the Sky” closed the renowned Cannes film festival this year, and received a standing ovation nearly 10 minutes long.

Connect4 Climate was lucky enough to attend the first U.S. screening, held on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Jacquet spoke after the film, emphasizing his quest to help the younger generation understand what is happening and help them find solutions: “My duty is to do something for the planet. If everyone does something within their own professions we can move quickly.” Jacquet says his contribution to the climate movement is through the storytelling mechanism he knows best—film.

We will be sharing more details of Jacquet's exciting efforts soon. Stay tuned!

Such a simple action, one night out that changed my life forever. As a University of Maryland (UMD) student this past spring, I attended the Connect4Climate Right Here, Right Now event at The World Bank in Washington, DC, to celebrate and recognize artists around the world who had participated in a competition to link conversations about global climate change to the local actions of our daily lives. I had no idea at the time what an impact this would have on me. 

Our professor, Dr. Leszek Sibilski, had explained that along with the excellent opportunity of attending this event, a couple of students from another class were working on a video assignment and needed a little extra help. So a few of UMD students came together and had an excellent evening producing video clips and listening to The World Bank President Jim Yong Kim, Sustainable Development Network Vice President Rachel Kyte, External Affairs Vice President Cyril Muller, Africa Vice President Makhtar Diop, the Global Environment Facilitys CEO and Chairperson Naoko Ishii, and the Italian Minister of the Environment Corrado Clini speak and celebrate youth engagement in creative climate action. Good music, good food and a tour of the World Bank Headquarters left us curious, concerned and inspired to do more. Later I found out that The World Bank, the Italian Ministry of Environment, and the Global Environment Facility in collaboration sponsored that event with more than 150 partners.

Students of the University of Maryland Contemporary Social Problems Class working on iChange competition videos with Professor Leszek Sibilski.
Source: connect4climate.org

Our friends at Education Africa, Model UN South Africa and UNIC Pretoria put together this primer on the origins of the climate change debate ahead of the Model UN debates kicking off October 21st through 24th. This is a helpful resource for those of you engaging with us during AVCC week (October 24-31). While this primer doesn't address all the details of all the climate change agreements since 1992, it does provide a little bit of insight into where this conversation began and just how far the parties are on getting to an agreement on this very complex issue of climate change.

During AVCC week, we would like to hear what regular Africans (and policy-makers if possible) have to say about climate change and their local community and country. For Africa to develop, it will require massive amounts of energy. How developing regions access and generate that energy is a major component of this debate. How is Africa expected to develop without access to energy? What are some ways in which the continent can develop clean energy systems in enough capacity to address growing populations and an emerging middle class that is consuming resources at an alarming rate. Does the consumer bear a certain responsibility in changing their consumption habits? If so, how?

As you can tell, there are many angles to this debate. And that is why AVCC matters. Take part, and engage in the debate. What is your climate change story? What are some solutions? More importantly, share with us what YOU as an individual are doing to address the problem. Stories matter, and they begin with yours.

A iniciativa do Banco Mundial, Connect4Climate, junta-se à multiplataforma de entretenimento da Sony Pictures Television, Crackle, e à Universidade Federal Fluminense (UFF), de Niterói, Rio de Janeiro, para lançar o "Projeto Crackle Green", uma série de cinco curtas-metragens disponível na plataforma online brasileira da Crackle. Com o objectivo de promover o talento dos estudantes de cinema do Brasil e consciencializar a população sobre o meio ambiente e a sustentabilidade, a Crackle financiou cinco curtas-metragens apresentadas pelos alunos de cinema da UFF. Este é o primeiro passo para uma iniciativa global.

Um comité composto pela equipa de programação da Crackle e figuras internacionalmente reconhecidas da indústria do cinema, tais como o realizador Fernando Meirelles e os actores Alessandra Negrini e Rodrigo Santoro, selecionou os argumentos para as curtas. Segundo o realizador nomeado pela Academia, Fernando Meirelles, “O Projeto Crackle Green é uma oportunidade única para jovens cineastas se envolverem na defesa do ambiente e ajudarem a alterar os mecanismos de produção actuais da indústria cinematográfica.”

O Projeto Crackle Green pretende motivar o público a adoptar uma atitude mais consciente em relação às questões ambientais. As curtas-metragens (três documentários e duas ficções) abordam questões como as práticas do consumo sustentável, a preservação ambiental e o transporte sustentável.

“Crackle assenta numa intersecção entre media, entretenimento e conteúdo original de elevada qualidade. É um prazer ser parceiro da Universidade Federal Fulminense, da iniciativa do Banco Mundial, Connect4Climate, e do Departamento de Sustentabilidade da Sony Pictures Entertainment no lançamento de uma iniciativa de consciencialização ambiental que alia cinema, educação e tecnologia para um bem maior”, afirma José Rivera Font, GM & VP, América Latina Digital Networks da Sony Pictures Television. “Crackle é o meio perfeito para transmitir uma mensagem poderosa através de mais de quinze diferentes plataformas para a audiência brasileira, convidando-os a participar nos nossos esforços e juntos fazermos a diferença”.

“Segundo o nosso presidente, Jim Yong Kim, ‘Nunca acabaremos com a pobreza se não combatermos as alterações climáticas’”, afirma Lucia Grenna, Directora do Programa Connect4Climate. “O Connect4Climate pretende promover uma discussão que conduza à acção na luta contra as alterações climáticas e à criação de  um movimento global. Com mais de 180 parceiros em todo o mundo a trabalhar em conjunto para alcançar as mais diversas audiências e resultados tangíveis, o Connect4Climate integra-se perfeitamente nesta iniciativa única. Contamos dar o máximo de visibilidade às curtas-metragens, levando vozes locais a uma audiência global”.

A forte presença da Crackle e as suas  aplicações gratuitas facilitam o acesso da população brasileira através de dispositivos móveis, smart TVs e internet pelo site http://www.crackle.com.br As pl.ataformas incluem Google Chrome, Google TV, Sony Bravia TV, Samsung TV, LG TV e os seus dispositivos Blu-Ray, Apple TV, PS3, PS4, XBOX 360, XBOX One, Windows 8, Blackberry, iOS, Android e Kindle Fire.