Earth Day

EARTHDAY

A PRESENTATION BY:

?WHAT IS

it’s MORE than a NUMBER...

SCIENCE

it’s about…

a SCIENTIFIC

TARGET…

CHANGING

CLIMATE

FOR OUR

it’s a opportunity

POLITICAL

a specific goal

to shift what’s possible for

A GLOBAL CLIMATE TREATY

it’s about…

MOVEMENT

moving away from fossil fuels

a rallying cry for a global movement

and a single day to join together

AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD

24 oct.

an international

day ofclimateaction2009

SCIENCE

THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT

390ppm CO2

today:

Do you think we’re above or

below where we need to be?

GLACIERS ARE MELTING

MUIR & RIGGS GLACIER 1941

MUIR & RIGGS GLACIER 2004

PEDERSEN GLACIER, AK 1920

PEDERSEN GLACIER, AK 2005

OCEANS ARE ACIDIFYING

Coral reefs are bleaching

SEA LEVELS ARE RISING

Three Year Average

Satellite Altimetry

Year

Sea L

evel C

han

ge (c

m)

WEATHER IS BECOMING MORE EXTREME

Burma cyclone death toll rises above

43,000. “ ”

- USA Today, May 15th, 2008

U.S. dealing

with Katrina’s wrath as death toll soars.

“ ”- International Herald Tribune,

August 31, 2005

Australia suffers worst drought in

1,000 years “ ”

- Guardian UK, Nov 7, 2008

Solomon Islands declare

FLOOD DISASTER.“ ”- Reuters Feb 4, 2009

MAJOR FLOODS PER DECADE

FORESTS ARE THREATENED

“Rapid Warming’ Spreads Havoc in Canada’s Forests.“ ”

- Washington Post, March 1, 2006

Australia fires spark calls for CLIMATE

ACTION“ ”- Washington Post, March 1, 2006

threatens the survival of

SMALL ISLANDS

Climate change could force

1 BILLION from their homes by 2050.

“ ”- April 30, 2008, The

Independent.

CREATES CLIMATE REFUGEES

[Small islands] are like the canary in the coal mine in terms

of the dramatic impact of climate change on a whole civilization of people. They

didn’t cause the problem, but they will be among the first to

feel it.

“ ”- James J. McCarth,

Oceanographer

impacts

LOCAL LIVELIHOODS

The most comprehensive review ever carried out on the economics of climate change warns that global warming could inflict worldwide disruption as great as that caused by the two World Wars and the Great Depression.

“ ”- Environmental News

Service

STERN REVIEW, 2006

The world has never faced such a predictably massive threat to

food production as that posed by the melting mountain glaciers of

Asia

“ ”- Lester Brown, Earth Policy

Institute, Author of Plan B

DISRUPTS FOOD PRODUCTION

Global Warming Increases Malaria, Dengue Fever Threat, UN Says.“ ”- Bloomberg, Nov. 27, 2007

AFFECTS OUR HEALTH:

Climate change will draw ever-deeper lines of division and conflict in international relations… over the distribution of resources, especially water and land.

“ ”- Report: World in Transition

THREATENS SECURITY:

The most startling evidence yet…

is the MELTING OF THE ARCTIC.

New predictions

Satellite observationsMean IPCC predictionMost likely change

(melt)IPCC range

Actual observed melting

it has melted nearly 80 YEARS ahead of when

scientists predicted

YEAR

% c

han

ge in

ice

cover

CO2 CONCENTRATIONS ARE OFF THE CHARTS

CO2 in PPM

TEMPERATURE

Years

Part

s p

er

Million

C

O2

TODAY: 387ppm

550ppm? More?

EARLY 1900S

LAST ICE AGE

Where we’ll be mid-century if we keep this up

390ppm CO2

today:

do you think we’re above or

below where we need to be?

So,

CO2 IN THE ATMOSPHERE

WE’RE HERE: 387

WE NEED TO BE HERE: 350

PA

RTS

PER

MIL

LIO

N C

O2

YEAR

“If humanity wishes to preserve a planet similar to that on which civilization developed and to which life on Earth is adapted, paleoclimate evidence and ongoing climate change suggest that CO2 will need to be reduced from its current 387ppm to at most 350ppm.”

- NASA climatologist Dr. James E. Hansen,

2008

?HOW DO WE GET TO

GLOBAL EMISSIONS STILL RISING 2PPM PER YEAR

Total

Petroleum

CoalNatural Gas

Cement Production

YEAR

MIL

LIO

N M

ETR

IC T

ON

S O

F

CA

RB

ON

/YEA

R

IT MEANS PUTTING UP WIND TURBINESINSTEAD OF COAL PLANTS

IT MEANS PLANTING TREESINSTEAD OF CLEAR-CUTTING

RAINFORESTS

AND IMPLEMENTING AND IMPLEMENTING

A A THOUSAND THOUSAND

DIFFERENT DIFFERENT SOLUTIONSSOLUTIONS

that can create new jobs

And make our communities HEALTHIER

PA

RTS

PER

MIL

LIO

N C

O2

YEAR

Phase-out of coal by 2030

Improved forestry and soil

Reduced oil/gas use

GETTING TO 350

POLITICS

2009

IS A CRUCIAL YEAR

World leaders will gather to create a

new climate treaty at the end

of the year in Copenhagen.

1988: The IPCC was created to “provide

the decision-makers and others interested in climate change with an objective source of information about

climate change”

this all began 20 years ago

UNFCCC, United Nations UNFCCC, United Nations Framework Convention on Framework Convention on Climate Change created at the Climate Change created at the Rio Earth SummitRio Earth Summit

COPENHAGENCOPENHAGEN

RIORIO

KYOTO PROTOCOL 1997Ratified TreatyDidn’t Ratify

Signed, Ratification PendingNo Position

Each year there is a two-week Conference of the Parties (COP) to discuss the terms of the Kyoto Treaty

COP 12 Montreal, Canada 2005

10,000participants come together

from governments, corporations, media, civil society, and NGOs

to try to INFLUENCE this process

Now, Kyoto is set to

EXPIRE, and negotiators

must agree upon a new

treaty by the end of this year.

In 2007, at COP 13 in Bali, Indonesia

NEGOTIATORS CREATED THE BALI ROADMAP

•ADAPTATION

•MITIGATION

•TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

•FINANCIAL RESOURCES

IPCC

450ppm(in 2007- last

report)

MITIGATION TARGETS:

450ppm = 50% chance of 2°C

warming

As effects of warming grow, UN Report is

QUICKLY DATED.“

”-February 12, 2009, Yale

Environment 360

350ppm

has begun gaining traction in the INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS

Two degrees (450ppm) is really not a safe level for small island states. For many of them it would be like a death

sentence in the long run.“ ”- Leon Charles, Chair of the Alliance of Small Island States (AOSIS)

Gore won the loudest cheers [at COP14 in Poland) for supporting a tougher limit on levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere than a widespread aim of 450 ppm or more. ‘We will soon need to toughen that goal to 350,’ he said. – Reuters, December 2008

DECEMBER 2009

By the end of this year, negotiators must agree upon the final terms for a NEW CLIMATE TREATY in Copenhagen

Many are concerned about

the prospects for a treaty that is

fair and just:

•CDM

•CARBON TRADING

•INDIGENOUS REPRESENTATION

•KYOTO HASN’T REDUCED EMISSIONS

•FINANCING FROM DEVELOPED TO DEVELOPING NATIONS

But there is reason to hope that a new treaty could be BETTER

My presidency will mark a new chapter on American leadership on climate change.

There is a lot of work to be done this year. If the nations of the world were

to agree upon a deal right now, it would be FLAWED AND

INADEQUATE.

That’s why we need to make

our voices heard in 2009

THE MOVEMENT

POTENTIAL FOR A GLOBAL MOVEMENT:

WE ARE READY FOR ACTION: Global public opinion polls have found 9 in 10 people want action on climate change, and 7 in 10 want to see dramatic action ‘very soon’

WE ARE ORGANIZED: 110,00 civil society organizations listed on WiserEarth.org

WE ARE NETWORKED: Since 2007, Avaaz.org has collected 10 million signatures online for human rights and environmental causes

BILLIONS on email lists

100+ MILLION blogs

50 MILLION Facebook users

55 MILLION users/month on YouTube

Roughly 25% of the world’s population is on-

line.

A GROWING GLOBAL

CLIMATE MOVEMENT

BALI, INDONESIA

LEBANON

AUSTRALIA

[INSERT YOUR OWN CLIMATE ACTION PHOTO!]

Make the

INVISIBLE

VISIBLE

350: a simple, clear message for everyone who believes in

fighting for safety from DANGEROUS CLIMATE

CHANGE

Who is ?A global movement of concerned citizens

A network of partner organizations

Messengers

A coordinating team of young people from around the world

ALL OF US who seek a just and equitable solution to the climate crisis

CAMEROON

NUNAVUT, CANADA

NAGPUR, INDIA

BOGOTÁ, COLOMBIA

[INSERT YOUR OWN 350 ACTION PHOTO!]

350 IS A NETWORK OF 100s of

PARTNER ORGANIZATIONS

to the

GRASSROOTS

From INTERNATIONAL

NGOS

INSERT INFORMATION

ABOUT YOUR OWN ORGANIZATION’S

INFORMATION

350 IS AIDED BY INSPIRING

MESSENGERS

Climate change is already dangerous. As the Arctic melts and the small islands sink below a rising sea, the world cannot stand immobile. Inuit and all Peoples have the right to live safely in their culture. As a shared humanity, we must back away from the precipice. 350 is a good target to head towards.

-Sheila Watt-Cloutier, Former International Chair, Inuit Circumpolar Conference

Getting to 350 means changing everything about our global economy. It means providing clean-energy jobs to rewire every corner of the world and catalyzing a global transformation built on principles of equity and opportunity.

-Van Jones, Civil Rights and Environmental Advocate

Climate change is a reality. Life depends on a sustainable environment. With no world, there can only be nothing- no birds, no animals, no trees, no us. That’s why getting involved with 350.org is so important – it’s an effective way to take action to turn around the climate crisis.

-Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Emeritus

I am completely behind the 350 campaign. A shift from industrial agriculture to ecological, local food systems would be the biggest single step to move towards 350 and a safe climate, while simultaneously solving the food crisis.

-Vandana Shiva, Environmental Leader

350 IS COORDINATED BY A TEAM OF

YOUTH FROM AROUND THE

WORLD

Civilization is what grows up in the margins of leisure and security provided by a workable relationship with the natural world. That margin won’t exist, at least for long, as long as we remain on the wrong side of 350. That’s the limit we face.

-Bill McKibben, author, environmental leader, and Director of 350.org

And author and environ-

mentalist Bill

McKibben

THE SAME TEAM FROM STEP IT UP

2007

80% BY

2050

OUR STRATEGY:

CREATIVE ACTIONS

+

TARGETED AND SPECIFIC MESSAGE

=

REAL CHANGE IN THE POLICY DISCUSSION

GET INVOLVED!

24 oct.

an international

day ofclimateaction2009

ORGANIZE AN ACTION IN YOUR

COMMUNITY.

Six weeks before the UN climate negotiations in Copenhagen.

A SINGLE DAY TO JOIN TOGETHER

AND MAKE OUR VOICES HEARD

TO THE MEDIA

TO DECISION-MAKERS

TO THE WORLD

What will we do at these events?

United by our COMMON CALL TO ACTION…

WE WILL GATHER

WE WILL MARCH

WE WILL HIKE TO THE TOPS OF MOUNTAINS

WE WILL DIVE UNDERWATER

WE WILL RIDE OUR BIKES

WE WILL GET CREATIVE

WE WILL LOBBY OUR POLITICIANS

The options are open...

WHAT’S YOUR

IDEA?

WHERE WILL WE TAKE

ACTION?

iconic places

places we hold dear

places we hold dear

in the face of our changing

climate

places important places important to our to our

communities communities

OUTCOME

A GLOBAL MOVEMENT, CONNECTED BY THE INTERNET, WITH A

COMMON CALL TO ACTION.

JOIN THE

MOVEMENT.Take a stand for a fair global climate

deal that meets the latest science. SIGN UP!

Insert your contact info here

LOCAL

GLOBAL

SOURCES• BBC World Service Poll -

http://www.globescan.com/news_archives/bbc_climate/

• Hansen, James, et al. Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim? Submitted April 7, 2008.

• The IPCC 4th Assessment Report - www.ipcc.ch

• Baer, Paul, Tom Athanasiou and Sivan Kartha. "The Right to Develop in a Climate Constrained World: The Greenhouse Development Rights Framework"

• The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change

• NASA - www.nasa.gov

• RealClimate.org

• Climate Safety - www.climatesafety.org

• New Scientist - www.newscientist.com