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Trouble In Paradise
I am lucky enough to find myself in what is often described as Paradise: the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. As we prepare for Greenpeace’s largest ship, the Esperanza, to arrive – organising meetings, speaking to the Government, local environment groups and people active on climate change – I find myself overwhelmed by the beauty…
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Antarctic Ice Shelf On The Rocks
As if you needed more evidence that the climate’s on thin ice. In Antarctica, an ice bridge that was holding the vast Wilkins Ice Shelf to the continent has collapsed. It’s likely Wilkins will soon follow. The ice bridge has been retreating since the late 1990s. In 1950, it was almost 100km wide but, just…
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Inspirational activist cycles to Copenhagen
This is a first-hand report from Kim Nguyen, who is cycling to Copenhagen this year to raise awareness about climate change in the lead-up to the UN’s Climate Change Conference in the Danish capital in December. He is currently in China, having already cycled from Brisbane. I’ve cycled almost 7000 km and it’s almost 8…
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The Heat Goes On: Democracy And Science Versus Coal
‘The hand speaks The hand of a government man… All I want is to breathe… …and the heat goes on…(goes on) and the heat goes on’ ‘Born under punches’, Talking Heads, 1980 The news today that the coal industry is lobbying Parliament again raises the grave but tedious question, when will Australia’s Coal Mafia give…
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Was climate change a key factor in Darfur?
It’s a question posed by Stephan Faris in his new book Forecast: The Consequences of Climate Change, From the Amazon to the Arctic. Tee Lim, our volunteer Communications Intern, reviews the book. Forecast is a relatively quick and accessible account of the many and varied ways in which climate change is affecting regions and communities,…
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Can this film change the climate?
Some years ago, I interviewed Franny Armstrong about her inspiring, amazing docomentary film, McLibel. For the interview, Franny was in the UK and I was crouched in the narrow, dark hallway of my Sydney rental (the only phone line in the house). The line was crackly, Franny was talking 10 to the dozen and I…
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It’s your Climate Summit: join the live info session
When Kevin Rudd announced the 5% carbon emissions target in December, climate action groups organised creative protests with lightening speed. In Adelaide, they pelted ‘5% Kevin’ with shoes (a la the George Bush shoe pelt of 15 December). In Melbourne, activists sandbagged Martin Ferguson’s office against climate impacts. In Newcastle, they occupied the local member’s…
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Rudd’s climate placebo: a 5% target
On Friday, Kevin Rudd announced over half a billion dollars in funding for the NSW coal industry. Today, he announced an emissions reduction target and an emissions trading scheme that will have virtually no impact on reducing emissions and will give billions in handouts to the big polluters. This is a climate action plan that…
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Poznan day 7: Voices of the climate affected
This post is from Paul Yaqona, one of our Pacific representatives in Poznan. The Poznan meeting has a bunch of ‘side events’ (including one by Greenpeace on our Forests for Climate proposal). I’ve been to the ‘Local Mitigation and Adaptation Measures of Indigenous Peoples’ side event – and it proved to be a fantastic eye-opener…
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What is the true cost of coal?
What would you say is the actual cost of coal? I can tell you that you won’t find the answer on your electricity bill. Nor will you find it on the stock exchange or commodities market. Greenpeace has just released a report called The True Cost of Coal, which looks at the many ways that…