Petition Tag - climate change

History reminds of nazi control, gas chambers in slavery times and in new age times, torture was encouraged. States such as Alabama, welcome Monasato, who promotes the strongest chemical and product.

We recommend education to those within this community and everywhere. It has become a global crisis affecting children globally.

Ethanol, Chemtrails and war remind us all to defend our planet and health.

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An Open Letter to His Excellency, President Jacob Gedleyihlekisa Zuma, President of South Africa and the African National Congress

Dear Msholozi, Dr Zuma,

I want to draw your attention to the current state of our nation's indigenous forests. Our national trees, the giant “yellowwoods” of South Africa, are all but gone. You can still see yellowwoods along the highway in the Tsitsikamma forests and even stop to see the "Tsitsikamma Big Tree", but these trees are just remnants of the impressive old-growth forest patches that once existed along our coastline and in our mountains. In just two generations we have forgotten what these forests even looked like and accepted how they appear today.

The one thing that most developed countries will not have in 50 years time is wilderness and intact indigenous habitat. A socio-economic truth in Africa is that we have the most untapped natural and human resources on Earth. Now is the time to guard this competitive edge carefully and make sure that we use our natural resources sustainably, while preserve our beautiful natural heritage. This is Africa’s century and we need to make sure that we have something to show for it in one hundred years time. Our forests, grasslands, wetlands, beaches and bushveld are the next generation of South African’s most important asset.

In 1994, the new ANC government inherited a policy of sustainable timber harvesting in indigenous forests from a government focused on self-sufficiency during the Apartheid years. The Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) has never had the specific mandate to restore our national forests. Indigenous forest management on government land has been underfunded after the privatization of most commercially viable plantations and forests. The truth is we are not doing enough to protect and restore our national forests and hundreds of villages, towns and cities depend on goods and services from these threatened forests. I would like to propose that it officially becomes the responsibility of every South African to rebuild our national forests, while government (DAFF) oversees, facilitates, licenses, co-funds and supports non-profit NGOs and local cooperatives that plant indigenous trees with local communities and develop new green enterprises. Department of Environmental Affairs (DEA) programs like Working for Water and Working for Fire would benefit hugely from independently-funded non-profit NGOs and community-run cooperatives planting millions of indigenous trees in areas where invasive trees like Australian wattle are currently being removed. We need to repurpose the role played by both DAFF and DEA in indigenous forest management to atone for the catastrophic damage done to our national forests by previous regimes and colonial powers. Healthy indigenous forests are a direct reflection of the moral and social development of a country.

In 1652, Jan Van Riebeeck described the forests of t’Houtbaaijten (Hout Bay, Cape Town) as "the best in the world" and then proceeded to cut down all the yellowwoods in this secluded bay to build fortifications. This forest is still gone. Many other forests disappeared in the centuries to follow as more settlers and migrants arrived to build colonies using indigenous timber felled by European “wood-cutters”, government foresters and Xhosa pit-sawyers. Just 350 years ago there were hundreds of thousands more large, tall yellowwood trees dominating the high canopy of an archipelago of Afromontane and southern Afrotemperate yellowwood forest patches along the south coast of South Africa from George to Humansdorp, up through the Eastern Cape, Transkei, and southern Drakensberg, and all the way north to Magoesbaskloof in the Limpopo Province.

According to local Xhosa people living along the Amathole Mountains, yellowwood trees have been widely exploited for over one hundred years and the older people have seen the forests decline and disappear in their lifetimes. For many years the Tribal Authorities in the old Ciskei had forest guards under a mandate to sell yellowwood trees to timber companies. Corrupt officials horded all earnings and did not share with local villages. Older people remember the yellowwood trees, the Umkhoba and Umcheya, as the “government trees” that were guarded jealously from local communities by forest guards. They call the forest guards the “forest police” that only looked out for the yellowwoods. In 1994, these local communities started cutting down and selling large yellowwood trees as a symbol of freedom after the repressive Tribal Authorities had been abandoned as part of our new democracy. DAFF got this quickly under control, but today the local communities still complain about rampant illegal logging by “people from other parts of the Eastern Cape”. We need to break down this culture of exploitation and the association of yellowwood trees with “gold and money”. I am sure you, Mr President, will agree that our natural heritage is worth far more.

There is a shocking example in the harvesting records compiled by DAFF in King William’s Town for the period April 1994 to March 1995. These records account for 81 real yellowwood (Umcheya) and 32 Outeniqua yellowwood (Umkhoba) trees that were harvested from indigenous forest in the Amathole Mountains that year. The DAFF report entitled: “Amathole Forest Yellowwood Harvesting Levels” states that “a number of trees had to be excluded from the analysis due to missing data or discrepancies with the data.” It is notoriously difficult to get raw data on the number and size of yellowwood trees being felled each year. The fishing industry needs constant regulation and management to avoid permanent damage to our fisheries. Why not our forests? We need to overhaul government forestry in South Africa, end the harvesting of our national tree, and invest in the restoration of these important forests. This will be our legacy to future generations.

The core vision of the “Amathole Forest Yellowwood Harvesting Levels” technical report reads: “Forests are managed for people and we need to create an enabling environment for economic and social development through sustainable forestry, especially at the local level”. We, the Wild Bird Trust, are fully supportive of this vision and work with local communities to grow and plant trees in our indigenous forests everyday. This vision is, however, made impossible by the ongoing harvesting of yellowwood trees and events like the felling of over 100 large yellowwoods in one year. Most local people do not benefit from yellowwood timber sales, while the ability of their indigenous forest patches to produce food, poles, building materials, clean water, fuel wood, thatching grass, and medicinal plants has almost irreparably been diminished. If, one day for example, local people want to legally hunt in these forests again, we would need to let our remaining intact forest patches recover for at least two generation. Our national forests need at least 25 years of intensive re-planting and restoration followed by 25 more years of recovery before we can say they are on their way to recovery. By then the 3-5 million indigenous trees will be tall and big. Just imagine large areas of indigenous forest with harvestable timber and no threat of being exploited or destroyed.

For centuries the best furniture, homes, boats and luxury goods were made from shining yellowwood timber. Named for the beauty of its wood, yellowwood adorns our parliament, estate homes, courts, embassies, and old bank buildings. Umkhoba and Umcheya are our national trees. By the late 1800s the demand for yellowwood had worked its way up the coastline past Knysna and Tsitsikamma into the Amathole Mountains and KwaZulu-Natal. Most of this yellowwood timber was used to produce the millions of railway sleepers and mining timbers necessary to sustain an explosive boom in the mining industry. By 1900, we had already decimated most of our yellowwood forests through excessive and wasteful cutting, burning and clearing geared at keeping up with demand. For almost one hundred years we were, in essence, trading gold from the ground beneath us for "gold" from our forests, bringing one up and sending the other down.

All yellowwood trees are now protected. Permits are, however, still active that allow sawmills to harvest yellowwood trees up to their quota every year. Most of trees felled are over 200 years old and irreplaceable. The equivalent of 600 cubic meters of yellowwood timber or anywhere between 20 and 100 large yellowwood trees are felled legally each year in the Amathole region alone. The fact is that, if we continue, legal and illegal logging will very soon destroy our national forests. We have seen more yellowwood tree poaching in the last three years than in previous years and record the loss of important yellowwood trees every year. Some desperate local communities in the Transkei region are burning yellowwood as firewood. Now is the time to protect our golden indigenous forests.

Right now there are harvesting contractors targeting the last-remaining intact yellowwood forest patches, eroding our natural heritage every day that yellowwood extraction continues. Today, only a handful of yellowwood trees over 500-years-old remain scattered in remote, degraded forest patches protected from historical and illegal logging by inaccessibility, proud landowners and local foresters. In King William's Town and Keiskammahoek (Eastern Cape) you can see 200, even 300-year-old yellowwood trees being chopped up at saw mills. Yellowwood planks are now valued at up to R25,000 ($3,000) per cubic meter, an increase in value of over 400% in the last 6 years. This sets a high price for our natural heritage, as legal yellowwood timber is getting harder to source and prices are being driven even higher.

What is incomprehensible about all this is that much of this trade is being done legally. The technical report on the "Yellowwood Harvesting Quotas for the Eastern Cape" allows a quota of 600 cubic meters of yellowwood timber from dead or dying yellowwood trees in the Amathole Mountains each year. Unbelievably every year 50 or more large yellowwood trees are marked for extraction by government foresters. From the perspective of the harvesting contractors with 70-year permits to cut yellowwood trees, the yellowwood harvesting quotas are almost impossible to use, as trees suitable for harvesting are very rare (i.e. dead trees or trees with at leas 75% of the canopy dead). Some people have turned to ring-barking or even poisoning yellowwood trees. For example, we have found evidence yellowwood trees poisoned with diesel to kill them for harvesting the next year. The new government-endorsed yellowwood harvesting protocols actually support the targeting of healthier yellowwood trees than before due to contractors complaining about poor timber quality. The technical report also applies forest biometry theory incorrectly and inappropriate sample plots in unsuitable locations were chosen to justify ongoing harvesting of both yellowwood tree species. These and other inadequacies found in the technical report highlight the need for better training, record-keeping, and auditing of annual yellowwood harvesting quotas. We need external auditors to make sure that healthy yellowwood trees are not being marked and felled.

If you care about our natural heritage, you must institute a zero tolerance, zero harvesting quota as soon as possible. None of the sawmills or harvesting contractors will go bankrupt or lose their jobs, as these businesses depend on blackwood timber to be profitable. Blackwood is an invasive species from Australia with wonderful fine, red wood that is sought after by furniture manufacturers that pay up to R15,000 per cubic meter. Removing blackwood from the Amathole Mountains and other catchments around South Africa helps our indigenous forests, removing large yellowwoods irreversibly harms them.

Legal and illegal harvesting of yellowwoods happens even though these trees are nationally protected. There are now only seven yellowwood trees on the "Declared List of Champion Trees" published by DAFF last year. Names like "Eastern Monarch", “King Edward VIIth Tree” and "Woodville Big Tree" speak to the grandeur of these sentinels that have stood over our forests for up to 2,000 years. We, the Wild Bird Trust, would like to propose the protection and recognition of thousands more culturally, historically and ecologically important trees by establishing the "South African Heritage Tree List". This list will include all protected indigenous trees over 100-years-old throughout South Africa. We protect buildings over 100-years-old. Why do we not do this for trees? We must establish a task team to locate, sample (for DNA finger-printing) and mark all "Heritage Trees" with a presidential seal to protect them from harvesting in the future. “Heritage Trees” will become presidential or “government trees” again, but, this time, for the right reasons.

The Wild Bird Trust volunteers to establish a website for the location and photo of all “Heritage Trees”, so that every South Africans can find these magnificent trees in their area and even report back on their condition or send in a photos. The "South African Heritage Tree List" will have thousands of trees on the register all of which will need to be clearly marked with a presidential seal to avoid being cut down or damaged. We must start being proud of the amazing trees we still have and stop cutting them down. Future generations will thank us and foreign visitors will be impressed. After our “Heritage Trees” have been clearly marked and protected, senior scientists at DAFF must supervise the development of new sustainable harvesting quotas for indigenous trees under 100-years-old.

Vital government-subsidized, community-based tree-planting programs, like the Wild Bird Trust’s "iziKhwenene" Project, the Wildlands Conservation Trust’s Treepeneurs Project, and the work done by Food & Trees for Africa over the last few decades, must be established throughout South Africa in and near all forests and bushveld areas. We must make "indigenous forestry" a viable economic driver for remote rural communities. This could be done through carbon trading, extracting tannins from wattle bark, and even well-funded, long-term tree-planting programs managed by non-profit NGOs. Government, public benefit organisations and local community-run enterprises are going to be the key to rebuilding our national forests.

The restoration of our yellowwood forests in South Africa presents us with a development model that supports natural resource management and enterprise development in poorer provinces like the Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo. Carbon trading is a huge opportunity, as all yellowwood trees planted cannot ever be felled. With government backing all proudly South African businesses and corporates will support the planting of millions of yellowwoods with disadvantaged rural communities that need jobs. We will build hundreds of small “micro-nurseries” and benefit thousands of people during the restoration of our national forests.

We need your support, as the head of state, and champion of the poor. Old people in the villages near the Amathole Mountains have seen their ancestral forests destroyed and replaced with pine and Australian wattle. We, the Wild Bird Trust, herewith officially ask you to intervene by providing us with the necessary funding to plant the first 1 million yellowwood trees and mark all “Heritage Trees” in South Africa. You must end all further logging of our national tree in South Africa. We do not hunt our national bird, the Blue Crane. We do not unnecessarily cut down our national flower, the protea. In fact, we work very hard to protect these icons. The yellowwood trees that we lose tomorrow, the next day, and the week after that cannot be replaced…

We ask you, as concerned citizens, to recognize officially that our natural heritage is more important than natural resource use, announcing that saving our remaining yellowwood forests as a national priority. These trees knew our ancestors and connect us to the greatest events in our history. A small handful of people have made a lot of money from logging and sawmilling yellowwood trees at a catastrophic cost to the remaining forests. It is safe to say that we now sit with less than 10% of the yellowwood trees we had 350 years ago. Every year we chip away at the remaining trees as the forests slowly shrink. The trees are getting smaller, the forests are getting thinner, and the canopies are getting lower, as exotic trees invade our open spaces and water catchments.

I would appreciate the opportunity to meet with you to discuss the future of our indigenous forests and our national tree. We are proud of our rich natural heritage here in South Africa and cannot let another yellowwood tree be felled. I am a loyal citizen and servant of the Republic of South Africa and will gladly give of my time to solve this problem. I live in Hogsback Village in the Amathole Mountains, own land there, will raise a family there, and am dedicated to restoring the indigenous forests of our great country. I have wonderful friends at DAFF in King William’s Town and look forward to working more closely with them in the future.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Rutledge S. Boyes
DST/NRF Innovations Postdoctoral Fellow
Centre of Excellence at the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology (University of Cape Town)
Trustee: Wild Bird Trust
Contributing Editor: National Geographic News Watch

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Where as Dr. Mark Jacobson of Stanford University and Dr. Mark Delucchi of the University of California at Davis have conducted several studies now reported in the Nov 2009 issue of Scientific American, the March 2011 issue of Energy Policy and now in the Feb 2013 issue of Energy Policy on powering the world, the United States and the State of New York 100% with renewable energy, with existing technology, without fossil fuel or nuclear power by 2030.

The US Department of Energy should conduct a feasibility study and implement such a plan in the US, with all deliberate speed to save the country and the planet from global warming and further environmental destruction from the impact of fossil fuel and nuclear power.

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World attention is currently not enough to address the issue of climate change which is increasing in severity year after year. All well-respected scientists agree that global warming is happening, is a major threat to the well-being of the planet and is human caused.

The effects of climate change are developing so fast that later in our lifetimes, many of us will experience the effects much more severe than they are now.

Many species are threatened to go extinct and the ozone layer is getting damaged (a cause for concern over cancer). Pollution and climate change together are estimated to be killing millions of people and costing the world over a trillion dollars each year and rising.

If nothing is done to control global warming and pollution, our children and grandchildren will have it much worse.

By stepping up efforts to reduce greenhouse gases and pollution, we can safeguard millions of people, plants and animals in the near future and in future generations. Tell our governments and world leaders to take more swift action to replace polluting industries with greener technologies to ensure a healthy future for our planet.

Invite your friends to support this cause and sign this petition. Let's make global warming history!

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Canterbury 4 Clean Air was set up in early 2011 to tackle Canterbury's serious air pollution and the lack of action on climate change across the district.

It was clear without a pressure group nothing would change and matters would only worsen. Canterbury Council is Tory led. The leader does not believe in climate change or air pollution and blocks any measures to deal with these issues.

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In September 2000, leaders of the world gathered in New York to assess progress on the UN’s Millennium Development Goals for halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015. The target is quite literally, a matter of life and death for the one billion people who struggle on a daily basis to avoid starvation.

With only four years to go, the bitter truth is that the world is going backwards on hunger. The region which is home to largest numbers of hungry people, South Asia, has lost the ground in the wake of the food crisis.

DISTURBING FACTS

*Over 1 billion people are hungry in the world right now.

*Everyday almost 17000 children die from hunger related causes- 1 child in every 5 seconds

*A further 750 million people are now at risk of falling into chronic hunger.

*This means that 1.75 billion people, or 25% of the world's population, now lack basic food security.

*Global food prices have increased by 83 percent in the last 2 years

*70% of the hungry are female. Women in poor countries grow more than 60% of the food but own less than 1% of the land. Yet there is enough food in the world to feed everybody.

So, ACTIONAID ACTIVISTA is coming together globally to spread awareness on CLIMATE JUSTICE and will drive change by pushing governments to introduce and implement laws that bring an immediate end to all deaths by starvation and ensure basic social protection.

It is a Global Youth network of 27 countries, which includes South Africa, Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe, Nepal, Myanmar/Burma, Denmark, United Kingdom, USA, France, Greece, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, Ecuador, El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, Bolivia, Peru, Haiti and Nicaragua.

ACTIVISTA believes that by acting together, poverty and hunger can be ended.

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Torres Strait Islanders have been asking government for sea walls and sea wall upgrades for the past 10 years, but have seen little result.

We need to show the government that there is widespread support for assisting Torres Strait Islanders to protect our homelands and adapt to climate change.

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Climate change is real and at least partly a result of human activity. The possible effects of climate change are disastrous for all. Thus greenhouse gas emissions need to be reduced drastically.

All of this has been demonstrated time and time again by various climate scientists and international discussion groups, including the IPCC and the Garnaut Climate Change Review. Furthermore, it has been shown that per person Australia is one of, if not the, worst polluters in the world.

An emissions trading scheme would be an efficient way to make a great impact on emissions and encourage development of alternative technologies and resources. Not only this, but the price on carbon needs to be ambitious, fair and with minimal industry offsets to be effective.

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The Torres Strait Islands in Australia are a group of low-lying islands between the tip of Cape York and the coast of Papua New Guinea.

The Torres Strait islands are already experiencing regular inundation from storm surges, causing erosion around the Islands. Islanders are also noticing that the environment is becoming unpredictable, and they attribute this to climate change.

Torres Strait Islanders have been campaigning for $22 million since 2006 to fund the building and upgrading of sea walls to protect the islands. However, despite their vulnerability to climate change impacts, and their repeated requests for assistance, the government continues to ignore the issue.

Please sign this petition to request that money from the carbon tax go towards funding adaptation measures in areas of Australia that are already experiencing the impacts of climate change and are in dire need of assistance.

Thank you very much for your help!

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This year, the grade 10 science teachers have decided they do not have time to teach the climate change unit that is in the grade 10 curriculum. While their reasons for being behind schedule this year are legitimate, units such as climate change and ecology are consistently rushed, undervalued or abandoned altogether at Lawrence Park CI.

It shouldn't be this way and it doesn't have to be. Climate change is one of the most important issues of our time and our generation needs to know about it. To make sure that this vital unit is not neglected in the future, a group of concerned students has started a petition for LPCI students and parents to sign.

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Whereas the current government went to an election promising not to impose a carbon tax. And, using the current numbers in Parliament as an excuse to renege on that promise, after several days of obfuscation.

Whereas the government is making all sorts of reasons, with changes in this almost daily to explain the reasoning for the tax.

Whereas the government has resorted to name calling and question-begging epithets to denigrate ordinary Australians opposed to the carbon tax.

The government does not have the mandate to set this tax. It doesn't have the moral ground, as they claim, either.

A tax this big should be referred to the people, after all the Howard government did it for GST.

And, finally quoting dubious authorities to justify a tax that will burden the whole of Australia for very little effect on the environment. Hey, Tim Flannery said that if the whole world stopped emissions, it would take 1000 years to make 1 degree of difference.

The tax is based on a lie and should not proceed.

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Barry O'Farrell became Premier of NSW because the public couldn't trust the Labor Party any longer. One of his first statements was that he now had a "mandate" to oppose a carbon tax.

Not a mandate Barry!

Many blue ribbon Liberal electorates had a high Green vote and many Liberal voters (and Labor voters now that you have promised to "govern for all") believe climate change is real and we should be doing something about it.

So: not a mandate Barry!

Don't get off on the wrong foot by abusing power so quickly.

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This petition of Australian citizens draws to the attention of the House: our strong support for a price on carbon.

It makes sense to put a price on pollution so there are incentives within the Australian economy to invest in low-carbon technology.

We will adapt. We will manage, We will continue to be leaders and innovators to create a clean energy future, because we are Australian!

We are a lucky country and have abundant sources of renewable energy, including geothermal and solar energy.

But without pricing carbon, these markets won't flourish.

The world is going to change whether we like it not because of climate change.

The cost will be greater to our economy and our families if we don't act now.

Let us be prepared.

Please deal with facts, not fear, when making decisions about our future.

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It is widely recognised that aviation has an undesired impact on air quality, wildlife, the watercycle, weather systems, soil quality and human health.

UK airspace is recognised by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority as some of the most congested airspace in the world.

Despite this, the UK government expects UK air traffic to treble by 2030.

This petition asks for the weekly 24 hour no flight period.

We believe that the regrettable economic impact is by far offset by the potential benefit to the environment and people. For example, it is predicted that we will save at least 102, 740 metric tonnes of CO2 every week (5,342,480 tonnes a year). (Independent.co.uk archives-06/05/08 Cahal Milmo)

Having One Day Off is a simple, appreciable and easily monitored method of curbing air traffic. It is also a clear and considerate commitment from industry to the people of the UK, for whom there is a strong desire to support the well-being of the planet.

We suggest Tuesdays.

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1st. There is no consensus in the IPCC or in science on Co2

“This claim that the IPCC is the worlds top 1500 or 2500 scientists: you look at the bibliographies of the people and it is simply not true. There are quite a number of non-scientists. Those people that are specialists but don’t agree with the polemic and resign, and there are a number of them I know of, they are simply put on the author list and become part of this “2500 of the worlds top scientists”. We have a vested interest in causing panic, because then, money will flow to climate science.” Says Professor Paul Reiter – IPCC and Pasteur Institute of Paris.

“I often heard it said that there is a consensus of thousands of scientists on the global warming issue and that humans are causing a catastrophic change to the climate system. Well I am one scientist and there are many that simply think that is not true.” Says Professor John Christy – Lead Author IPCC

Another Quote: “The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change misled the press and public into believing that thousands of scientists backed its claims on manmade global warming, according to Mike Hulme, a prominent climate scientist and IPCC insider. The actual number of scientists who backed that claim was “only a few dozen experts,” he states in a paper for Progress in Physical Geography, co-authored with student Martin Mahony.“Claims such as ‘2,500 of the world’s leading scientists have reached a consensus that human activities are having a significant influence on the climate’ are disingenuous,” the paper states unambiguously, adding that they rendered “the IPCC vulnerable to outside criticism.”

2nd Natural sources can explain any rise in Co2
Climatologist Roy Spencer (Former NASA employee) Writes:Quote
“C13/C12 isotope ratios measured at various latitudes show that CO2 trends are not necessarily from fossil fuel burning.
.. the year-to-year increase in atmospheric CO2 does not look very much like the yearly rate of manmade CO2 emissions. The following figure, a version of which appears in the IPCC’s 2007 report, clearly shows that nature has a huge influence over the amount of CO2 that accumulates in the atmosphere every year.”

3rd Global warming due to Co2 is fraudulent.
Quote: ”Last week Professor Hal Lewis, an American scientist of great distinction quit the American Physical Society over what he saw as their perceived role in giving oxygen to the great global warming swindle. His voice is added to a growing list of eminent international scientist now going public. No less significant in that last is Dr David Evans, consultant to the Australian Greenhouse Office from 1999 to 2005 and a key government scientist working towards the Kyoto Protocol.

Evans first spoke out in The Australian to say, “There is no evidence to support the idea that carbon emissions cause significant global warming. None.” (‘No smoking hot spot,’ July 18, 2008).

More and more of the public are now persuaded that global warming is the greatest criminal fraud ever perpetrated. It is shockingly covered up by the US and UK governments who knowingly and cynically persist in unlawfully denying Freedom of Information requests (FOIA) time after time. “

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Government is by the people for the people and increasingly demonstrates an inability to meet the needs of Australia's population. I believe there needs to be more timely, interactive, planned and prioritized agenda by our population of our mission, as well run country considerate of human rights, environmental concerns and having a long term view to maintain our planet. There is a great lack of transparency increasingly displayed by a manipulative media.

Politicians play political games rather than focusing on our needs and nobody has a big picture! this is why Q& A is SO popular ordinary peoples' concerns are being heard. Thanks Tony Jones ( And 7.30 Kerry Obrien xox).

As an action plan, The Australian Bureau of Statistics information, needs to be correlated and presented in optional survey on a consistent basis for Government action with professional input from the various departments based on empirical research. Priority issues could be constantly updated and Budgets allocated accordingly. Statistical input on each issue would guarantee the validity of actioning and funding.
As a follow up the handling of each issue and spending would be reviewed assuming we are all educated.

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Over the years, the British Council has supported various programmes to tackle climate change (among others, "Climate Champions" and "Challenge Europe"), involving young people all over the world. However, budget cutbacks may soon hit such programmes, putting an end to this exemplary initiative, which has led to the development of a fantastic network of young people and professionals fighting together for a common objective.

By signing this petition, you will help future young people to benefit from these programmes, working together to promote best practices and reduce carbon emissions.

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Ensuring environmental sustainability is now a crucial issue on the global political agenda. Part of what makes it so important is the fact that climate change is truly a global issue, we now understand that everyone will be affected by climate change.

Yet, when countries came together in Copenhagen in late 2009 to determine what they were going to do post-Kyoto Protocol (after 2012), they failed to cooperate and work together to ensure environmental sustainability for all, and thus, no proper deal came out of the COP15 conference. Nation states failed to achieve a deal that is ambitious, fair, and legally-binding to ensure a future for humanity as a whole.

Our next take towards a global climate deal will be COP16, which is to take place in December 2010 in Cancun, Mexico.

This time, ItsOneHumanity aims to send a resounding message to the world leaders who will participate in the negotiations of COP16 and to those to follow under the UNFCCC process.

We want to raise voices of world citizens in order to remind world leaders that we are all in this together... that there is only one planet and only one humanity. We want them to approach the negotiation table thinking not “what I am going to lose in this, how should I protect my national interests?” but rather “how can I cooperate and fulfill my global responsibilities as a nation state?”

In order to do that, we need your help. Go and sign the petition and share it as much as you can so that we can have the greatest impact. Become an ambassador for humanity and spark a revolution! Remind the world that we have to act now.

... Because it’s one humanity.

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Opinion polls demonstrated a significant number of ALP voters prepared to desert the ALP after its backflip on climate change earlier this year. With the recent change in Prime Minister, there is likely to be an announcement on climate soon, aimed at placating those voters.

The risk is that any new announcement will not be a significant improvement on existing ALP climate policy, but disaffected voters will feel they have to vote Labor for fear of worse under the Tony Abbott and the Coalition. This petition aims to give those voters a voice before the ALP announces its new approach to climate.

We also aim to empower voters who want to vote climate by providing easy to understand answers to questions about climate, climate policies and the implications for climate of their vote.

If you want to know more about these issues or if you like our petition but have questions or concerns you want to raise before signing, then visit our facebook site (above).

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THIS PETITION AIMS TO STOP LHC MAGNETIC EXPERIMENTS at CERN.

CERN has a 10,000 tonne magnet, the LHC experiment generates a field of 4 teslas, 100,000 times greater than the planet Earth. Built in Geneva, 300 feet under two giant pillars of the Jurassic iceage is a 6-metre diameter housing with a 13-metre long superconducting solenoid coil that stores 2.5 gigajoules of energy. The LHC has had a number of failures and an explosion will be switched on again to run at 14 trillion electron volts (TeV) in 2011.

The LHC magnet provides the trajectory curve for two beams of protons to speed 11,000 times per second in opposite directions, faster than the speed of light around in a magnetic ring the width of fire hoses, 27 kms long in a helium vacuum to keep it colder than absolute freezing −273.15°C equivalent −459.67°F and emptier than outer space.

CERN released Antimatter, or dark energy, in an experiment to find the God particle, 29 years ago, by attempting to recreate the conditions of the Big Bang, 14 billion years ago. CERN is only a short radius to the volcanoes in Iceland, 2,500kms, along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, spreading apart the Eurasion and North American plates. Ice poured into the volcano causing huge explosions. as watemelt hit hot lava, generating plumes of ash 30,000ft high. Satellites show a correlation between cosmic ray intensity and the amount of low cloud cover, through the formation of new aerosols (tiny particles suspended in the air that seed cloud droplets or deplete ozone) which influences the Earth's energy balance; small changes can have a strong effect on the climate.

For posterity’s sake the undersigned are very ConCERNed about the magnetic housing of ANTIMATTER and the risks involved and seek authorities to cease LHC Magnetic experiments.

GENEVA is the Palace of Nations, the place on earth that is the seat of power where all elite groups and the richest people in the world congregate and many hold the Nobel Peace Prize attributed to CERN’s facility. The state of the Environment is a reflection of the values of the rich.

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Climate change is a moral, ecological, and national priority.

Our religious traditions may disagree on some issues, but we are united in our concern for environmental stewardship, and our denominational communities have called for swift action on climate change.

We, the undersigned, call on Ohio’s Senators and Representatives to pass effective climate and energy efficiency legislation this year.

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We know that global warming threatens our way of life. According to scientists the window of opportunity to avoid the worst effects of global warming is quickly closing. The time for action is now.

To stop the worst effects of global warming, we need to reduce global warming pollution at least 25-40% below 1990 levels by 2020.

As of now, our biggest bill to date was A.C.E.S (American Clean Energy and Security Act), but that has been put on the back-burner with Senator Kerry and Senator Boxer's bill, Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, taking the lead. With both these bills being highly contested, it is nevertheless necessary for our country to lead the way in solving this crisis.

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After the conduct of the 2009 INBAR training/workshop on Non-Timber Forest Products in Zheijang, China, it has been established that one of the best if not the best solution to the climate change problem is massive planting of bamboo worldwide. This is considering the natural characteristics of this miracle plant as follows:

1. It is the fastest growing plant in the planet. Some species can actually grow up to 4 feet per day.

2. It is much more sustainable compared to trees. 1 tree planted equals 1 tree harvested at a minimum waiting time of 10 years, whereas, 1 bamboo planted equals more than a hundred that can be harvested at a maximum waiting time of only 5 years and it just grows and grows and multiplies continuously.

3. It is much easier to grow compared to trees. It can grow at any elevation, does not require fertilization and requires little water.

4. It ABSORBS 35% more carbon dioxide and also EMITS 35% more oxygen compared to trees making it the best solution for CARBON SEQUESTRATION. Even finished products like boards, floors, furniture, activated charcoal, cloth, paper, etc will retain carbon for decades.

5. It is the BEST SOURCE OF BIO-OIL/FUEL and BIO-COAL. Copra, oil palm, jathropa, sugar cane, sorghum, cassava, moringa and other sources could not compare with bamboo. This will result in significantly reducing our dependence on fossil fuel which is one of the major causes of climate change and air pollution. Other advantages that can be derived in utilizing bamboo for bio-fuel are;
a. reduce GHG emissions, another major cause of climate change,
b. establishment of land cover which will also result in water conservation and flood control.

6. If massive planting of bamboo will be done worldwide, the climate change problem will be TOTALLY GONE in a matter of only 6 YEARS.

Incidentally, bamboo planting and utilization will also significantly reduce poverty as evidenced by China's bamboo-based industries.

1. Income from bamboo farming is 7 times more compared to rice farming.

2. The bamboo-based industries income of China derived from its 7 million hectares of bamboo plantations last year 2008 was US$15billion.

3. It is the best substitute for wood and its tensile strength is higher than that of soft steel. More use of bamboo and less of wood will be good for the planet.

4. Bamboo is a source of food, lumber, charcoal, pulp for paper, medicines, cloth, some chemicals, bio-oil/fuel, bio-coal and a lot more.

5. Investing in bamboo-based industries will;
a. generate more jobs
b. save foreign exchange
c. motivate countryside economy which will be good for overall economy.

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Global climate change, a threat to human survival, is primarily caused by automotive exhaust.

Wars are being fought with devastating effect over the control of petroleum resources mostly consumed by automobiles.

Cars kill hundreds of thousands through accidents and pollution of air, water, and soil. They are also primary components of noise and light pollution. Driving a car is particularly damaging to the health of the driver, but impacts everyone around negatively.

Cars are an unnecessary expense, costing the average driver over half of their income. More than half the cost of driving is subsidized through government maintenance of infrastructure and cleanup. Not only do cars drive you to work, they drive up taxes.

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“채식의 날, 월요일” – 지구를 구하는 첫걸음

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The Philippine National Bamboo Congress was held in Iligan City last 05-07 August 2009 and was participated in by 176 delegates coming from all over the country and this petition expresses the desire of 100% of the participants in their collective desire to help address the problems on climate change and massive poverty in the country.

It has been established during this congress that bamboo could be the best solution to address the two problems because of the natural properties of bamboo like:
1. It is the fastest growing plant in the planet.
2. It is more highly sustainable compared to trees.
3. It is the best substitute for wood.
4. It has lots of uses like food, construction material, clothing, charcoal, source of many chemicals, and it is the best source of bio-fuel/oil/diesel.
5. It is the best for carbon sequestration as it absorbs 35% more carbon dioxide and also emits 35% more oxygen compared to trees. It is noteworthy that if only the world will go into massive bamboo planting, the problem on climate change will be solved in only a span of 6 years.
6. Income from bamboo farming is 4 times more than that of rice farming.
7. It has one of the best industry potential. China's income from bamboo last year was US$15 billion.

Nobody will go into bamboo farming, however, considering their sad experience in tree farming. After waiting for 10 long years for the trees he planted in his own titled private farm to be ready for harvest, it is only then that he finds out that he could not harvest, transport and sell freely his crops as he will be required to apply for permits to cut and transport from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). Add to that the many inconveniences along the way like check (cash) points that will ask for money and if he will have to ship his logs via sea freight, he will also have to contend with the Customs which will be another extortion point. Thus, that became the first and last attempt at tree farming. Sadly, the same hostile parameters also apply to bamboo farming.

This is utterly wrong as tree and bamboo farming are supposed to be agricultural activities and that since they are planted, they should not be considered as natural resources. These then should not be under the jurisdiction of the DENR but should be under the Department of Agriculture (DA). That is just why it is call tree "farming" or agro-forestry (agro for agriculture). This is the way tree farming is done in the U.S.A. and other countries.

And since they are planted in private lands, they should be considered as private property and it will then follow that the tree/bamboo farmer need not get any permit to dispose of his private property as guaranteed in the constitution as embodied in the following:
1. Jus fruendi - Right to the yield of plants or soil.
2. Jus dispondi - Right to dispose of a thing.
3. Jus rerum - Right of things.
4. Jus jabendi - Right to have and enjoy a thing.
5. Jus habendi - Right to property, title. Right of a person in a thing that belongs to him. This is a complete and full right.

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In October 2007, Representative Mike McIntyre pledged to address climate change. Nearly two years later, he has done absolutely nothing to address the issue.

Enough Talk, Let's See Some Action! North Carolina residents and UNCW ECO are holding Representative Mike McIntyre accountable and calling for immediate climate action.

* WATCH the video and forward it to every North Carolina resident you know! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ZL9TU4M6l0

* CALL Rep. McIntyre at (202) 225-2731. Demand that he take global warming seriously. There is a sample script for calling, below.

* WRITE President Obama, and ask him to rejoin the international community by signing a global climate change treaty. The opportunity to pass a global treaty will arise at the December 2009 UN Climate Negotiations in Copenhagen, and President Obama must be a leader on climate change issues. https://secure3.convio.net/gpeace/site/Advocacy?cmd=display&page=UserAction&id=472

Our elected officials work for us! Make your voice heard. Demand science-based reductions on global warming pollution.

For the sake of the health and livelihood of future generations, demand science-based climate action now!

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We urge the Singapore government, especially the Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong, and the Minister for the Environment and Water Resources, Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, as well as environmental and animal rights organisations to recognise the many benefits of a meat-free diet.

The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization released an astonishing report on June 5th 2009, stating that livestock agriculture is responsible for contributing a significant part of causing environmental pollution around the world. Animal agriculture’s 'contribution' to global warming is larger than the emissions from the entire transportation sector from around the globe. A 2006 a UN Report titled, “Livestock’s Long Shadow” supported this with the conclusion that global livestock farming generates roughly one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, more than all of transport combined.

Although Singapore's carbon dioxide emissions appear “small” (0.2% of global carbon dioxide emissions in 2005) and its methane emissions are “negligible” as Singapore is not an agricultural-based country, Singaporeans can almost match the Americans in meat consumption. According to the Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority of Singapore, Singaporeans ate an average of 90 kg of meat and fish per person per year in the year 2007, as compared to Americans who ate an average of 90.7kg of meat and fish per person per year.

This petition calls for the Singapore government to take immediate action by adopting “Meat Free Mondays” and promoting the many health and environmental benefits of a vegetarian lifestyle to the general public.

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(English translation at bottom)


我們敦促香港政府，特別是行政長官曾蔭權與環境局局長邱騰華JP以及其他的環境和動物保護組織︰

我們正面臨空前的全球暖化，各國傳媒均廣泛報導，氣候變遷日益嚴重，已經引起地球上多個國家受到不同程度的經濟損失甚至人命傷亡，天災相繼出現，令所有個人以及整個社會都受到威脅，各國政府間相繼採取措施希望能減輕全球暖化的影響。

現在已有更多人意識到畜牧業不僅帶來疾病，同時也造成氣候變遷。

根據聯合國糧農組織2006年標題為”畜牧業巨大陰影” (Livestock's Long Shadow) 的報告. 糧農組織發現畜牧生產佔溫室氣體總排放量的18%，包括全球9%的二氧化碳排放量 , 37%的甲烷(CH4), 65%的氧化亞氮(N2O)，氧化亞氮這種溫室氣體對全球暖化的影響效應相當於二氧化碳的296倍。

又根據2008年一份研究報告結論指出，生產2.2磅牛肉所產生的排碳量，相等於一輛中型歐洲房車行駛155英哩的排碳量，等量的能源足夠可以點亮100瓦的燈泡約20天。

諾貝爾獎得主聯合國跨政府氣候變遷小組主席帕卓里博士聲明︰“請減少肉食,肉是排碳量高度密集的商品。...” “個人所能採取減少碳排量的唯一行動就是素食。”

基於肉類對環境的衝擊，我們必需減少消費這種排碳量高度密集的商品，做為解決氣候變遷危機的高效率對策。本次請願呼籲香港官員們立即採取行動，展現香港對抗氣候變遷的承諾。
香港金融經濟發達，沒有畜牧業，並不代表不需要對氣候變遷負責，需知道富裕的香港人食用大量的禽畜由外地進口，加上市民對食物有過度浪費的習慣，我們多少也要為受到氣候變遷影響的國家負一點責任。

作為一個負責任的政府，我們應該效法比利時的根特市政府，採取行動鼓勵市民降低碳足跡，已經決定要求市民每週一天無肉，而每週四將會是 “無肉日”。

我們需要向政府官員表達，香港有必要推廣「禁肉星期一」。我們希望政府能夠推動每個星期一作為 “香港市民不吃肉食製品日” 來保護環境並遏阻全球暖化。

所以，請簽署這份請願書，並將其轉發給您的朋友和家人！我們需要每個人的力量支持﹗

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The connection between meat consumption or animal agriculture & environmental pollution is scientifically proven time and time again. What we eat impacts our health and the health of the environment.

Did you know? Or have you heard about the an alarming report of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization released on June 5th 2009, to the Minister of Environmental Defense, states that livestock agriculture is responsible and contributes to a meaningful part of environmental pollution in the world. Animal Agriculture’s 'contribution' to global warming is bigger than all the vehicles on Earth all together.

Vegetarian Monday is an initiative of a gastronomic magazine " Al Hashulchan", which in it's basis stands the recognition of the environment harms caroused as a conclusion of the growing consumption of animals products food. According to Janna Gour, the editor of " Al Hashulchan", the local initiative is part of a worldly contest, the Belgium town Ghent declared a month ago on Meatless Monday.- a similar project runs in the USA, which in its' framework the American public is asked to prevent eating meat on Mondays.

Lets join Sir Paul McCartney and concerned citizens from around the world. Let’s put Israel as a leader in bal tashet and tzar bali hamin and we can do both with a vegan diet. A PURE vegetarian diet is one with out any animal product no eggs to fish its vegan. And this is the best diet to halt climate change, improve your health and recognize the sacred nature of our animal co-inhabitants.

הקשר בין צריכת בשר או חקלאות בעלי חיים ולזיהום סביבתי מוכח מדעית שוב ושוב. מה שאנו אוכלים משפיע על הבריאות שלנו עלבריאותה של הסביבה.

האם את/ה יודע/ת? או האם שמעת על הדו"ח המדאיג של ארגון המזון והחקלאות האו"ם שפורסם ב 5 ביוני 2009,לשר להגנת הסביבה, אשר קובע שמשקים תעשייתיים אחראים ותורמים לחלק משמעותי מהזיהום הסביבתי בעולם. 'תרומתה' של חקלאות בעלי החיים להתחממות הגלובלית גדולה יותר מזו של כל כלי הרכב בכדור הארץ.


"שני צמחוני" הינה יוזמה של המגזין הגסטרונומי "על השולחן", אשר בבסיסה עומדת ההכרה בנזקים הסביבתיים הנגרמים כתוצאה מהצריכה ההולכת וגדלה של מזון מן החי.
לדברי ז'אנה גור, עורכת "על השולחן", היוזמה המקומית היא חלק ממאבק עולמי, שבמסגרתו הכריזה העיר גהנט בבלגיה לפני כחודש על יום ב' כיום בלי בשר. – פרוייקט דומה קיים בארה"ב, שבמסגרתו הציבור האמריקני מתבקש להימנע מאכילת בשר בימי שני.

בואו נצטרף לפול מקארטני ואזרחים מודאגים מכל רחבי העולם. בואו ונעשה את ישראל כמדינה מובילה בתחום בל תשחיט וצער בעלי חיים. אנחנו יכולים לעשות את שניהם עם תפריט טבעוני. דיאטה צמחוניות טהורה היא דיאטה ללא כל מוצר מבעלי החיים ללא ביצים ללא דגים זה טבעוני. וזו הדיאטה הטובה ביותר לעצור שינוי האקלים, לשפר את הבריאות שלך וכן להכיר את טבעם הקדוש של בעלי החיים תושבים המשותפים שלנו

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