International treaties

The atmosphere is pretty much transnational (despite progress on a very high wall between the United States and Mexico). So work on global warming needs to be international.

Kyoto Protocol

The Kyoto Protocol was a 1998 agreement under which all Earth's nations would transform their economies to roll back their emission of CO2 by 2010. (Again, progress would be measured against that alternate Earth that has no humans.) All the nations, that is, except the following:

The United States, which never ratified the Protocol, and whose Senate was almost unanimously against any treaty if it had teeth.
Latin America and Africa, where existing laws aren't enforced and open fires are a fixture. Rural folk burn off crops after harvest rather than plowing them under; city-dwellers gather around open fires in 50-gallon drums, as an ice-breaker for early morning booze-ups before proceeding to the factories.
Crowded and grimy China and India, which were specifically exempted; and
The European Union, which eagerly ratified the Protocol but never complied with it.
The Protocol gave special status to "early ratifiers," the valiant nations that signed on before thinking it through. Bottom line: Nothing happened.

Follow-on treaty

A successor to Kyoto is being developed for the Copenhagen meetings. The parties' negotiating positions are as follows:

The United States is newly receptive to a treaty, but insists on getting credit for its vast forested area. It says these trees store carbon that otherwise would be discharged as CO2 into the atmosphere. But other nations point to the large number of Americans living together without marriage; the lack of diamond rings, which are also carbon, implies that the U.S. is responsible for additional CO2.
China and India insist they are as crowded and grimy as ever and should still be exempt.
Third-world countries have hardened their position. Rather than agreeing to terms they'll never enforce, they now want rich nations to pay them to make the required changes. The checks would be payable to the various Presidents-for-Life, military strongmen, and tin-god dictators, to be spent on behalf of their needy populations. (The portion stored in numbered Swiss bank accounts backs their currencies.)

Satellite Photos of Melting Sea Ice

Satellite Photos of Melting Sea Ice


These satellite photos, recently released under the Freedom of Information Act, show a dramatic change in the sea ice surrounding Barrow Alaska. It is estimated that approximately 1 million kilometers of sea ice disappeared in 2007 alone.

What should we be asking world leaders to agree to in Copenhagen

5 Category What are they asking for?
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10:10 uk Domestic politics Encouraging individuals, businesses and organisations to cut their carbon emissions by 10% by the end of 2010 in order to put pressure on the British government to push for a more ambitious deal at Copenhagen 10:10
350.org Carbon trading A treaty that is strong, equitable and grounded in the latest science. There needs to be a high price on carbon and the treaty must ensure poor countries have a chance to develop 350.org/science
350.org CO2 reduction Reduce atmospheric concentrations of CO2 to 350 parts per million 350.org carbon emissions
ActionAid CO2 reduction Rich countries need to adopt 2020 targets of more than 40% emissions reductions against 1990 levels ActionAid/climatechange
ActionAid Funding Rich countries need to commit to finding £106bn a year to tackle climate change in developing countries ActionAid/climatechange
Avaaz International politics World leaders must tackle climate change now, decisively and together. They must start working toward a new global agreement and set binding global targets for emissions to avert catastrophic climate change Avaaz climate campaign
Cafod CO2 reduction Industrialised countries must commit to more than 40 per cent cuts - based on 1990 levels - by 2020 cafod.org/climate
Cafod Developing world Poor people are hit first and hardest by climate change, but have done least to cause it; they should not be the ones who pay the price cafod.org/climate
Cafod Funding Rich countries must commit to at least €110bn a year to help developing countries adapt to the changing climate and pursue their right to develop in a sustainable way cafod.org/climate
Christian Aid Developing world Rich countries should pay poorer countries to protect themselves from impacts of climate change Christian Aid/climate
Christian Aid International politics Get Gordon Brown and Barack Obama to attend the talks in December Christian Aid/climate
Christian Aid CO2 reduction The UK must reduce its own emissions by 80% by 2050 Christian Aid/climate
Friends of the Earth CO2 reduction Rich countries must commit to cuts of 40% by 2020 foe.co.ouk/climate
Friends of the Earth Carbon trading Rich countries should not be allowed to buy any of their reductions abroad foe.co.ouk/climate
Friends of the Earth Developing world Rich countries must provide additional money for developing countries to grow in a clean way, and to cope with the floods, droughts and famines caused by climate change foe.co.ouk/climate
Global Climate Campaign International politics The long-industrialised countries that have emitted the most greenhouse gas must take responsibility for climate change mitigation by immediately reducing their own emissions as well as investing in clean energy in the developing world globalclimatecampaign.org
Greenpeace International International politics World leaders to attend the meeting in person, agree to mandatory cuts in emissions for the developed world of 40% by 2020 and invest £84bn a year in developing countries so they can shift to a low-carbon economy, end deforestation and adapt to climate change impacts greenpeace.org/climate
Operation Noah International politics The British government should lead negotiations for a cut in global power sector emissions of at least one-third by 2020, as a move towards zero emissions from this sector by 2030 operationnoah.org
Oxfam International politics Asking Gordon Brown to attend the talks in Copenhagen and lead the push for a deal oxfam.org/climate
Oxfam Developing world The UK must pay its fair share of adaptation costs in poor countries - Oxfam estimates this as £1.56bn per year (and get Europe to commit to £9.44bn a year) oxfam.org/climate
Sandbag Climate Campaign International politics International governments should cut global power sector emissions at least 10% from present levels by 2020, sufficient to peak energy-related CO2 and usher in a clean energy revolution. sandbag.org.uk/onegiantleap
Stop Climate Chaos Developing world Resources must be provided to help the most vulnerable people stopclimatechaos.org/
Tearfund CO2 reduction Developed countries must reduce their emissions by at least 40% by 2020 (from 1990 levels) tearfund.org/climate
Tearfund Developing world Developed countries must provide at least £30bn a year of finance to help poor people adapt to the changing climate tearfund.org/climate
Tearfund CO2 reduction The vast majority of emission cuts should be made in the country where they were emitted rather than by offsetting tearfund.org/climate
UN Seal the Deal Developing world A framework must be established that will bolster the climate resilience of vulnerable countries and protect lives and livelihoods sealthedeal2009.org
UN Seal the Deal CO2 reduction Developed countries must reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and limit the growth of their emissions sealthedeal2009.org
UN Seal the Deal Carbon trading An efficient institutional mechanism should be set up for dispersing these funds and an equitable, accountable governance structure sealthedeal2009.org
UN Seal the Deal Developing world Developing countries should receive financial support to limit the growth of their emissions sealthedeal2009.org
WWF CO2 reduction The EU should commit to a 45% reduction in emissions by 2020 from 1990 levels, with at least three-quarters of these cuts made domestically wwf.org/climate
WWF Funding The EU should provide its fair share of the total climate protection costs, currently estimated to be at least £30bn of the £93.4bn needed annually by 2020 wwf.org/climate
tcktcktck International politics World leaders must be called upon to sign an ambitious, fair and binding climate deal in Copenhagen tcktcktck.org

Countdown to Copenhagen

Timeline: Countdown to CopenhagenFrom 7 December 2009, environment ministers and officials will gather in Copenhagen for the COP15 UN climate conference to thrash out a successor to the Kyoto protocol
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It's your personal decision whether you want to be the cause of global warming

In this context the question is whether global warming and its effects will eventually wake up mankind and spark off a change of paradigm. Will we understand this hint of Nature to follow the true meaning of life or will we continue to let us manipulate by media and advertisement as sheer and willing consumers in the economic cycle? Will we continue to strive for power, prestige and possessions following the concept „the more the better "? Shall economic growth and an ever increasing personal income continue to be the reason for being here, beyond everything else?

These questions can and must be answered by everyone. It is not primarily a decision of politicians or of the government. Everyone has to make a personal decision.


It is in our very own interest to induce fundamental changes in our attitude and behavior towards Nature: Modesty and humility, admiration and respect for all life on Earth instead of arrogance and haughtiness.


Let's emphasize it again: Not the others need to change, we must change ourselves. There are no international treaties or additional national laws required to start changing. We can start to change our consciousness immediately. It is really only about our personal behaviour - independent of what others do or don't do.

It's time for change!

The ultimate global warming solutions is to behave as part of a larger whole

Many people between 20 and 65 years seem to live for the one and only purpose of earning as much money as possible in order to be able to buy as many things as possible. In this light, it is not surprising that discussions about potential solutions to fight global warming concentrate on technical measures instead of a fundamental change of our attitude to life in general and to Nature in particular.

Someone who respects Nature and regards mankind as a part of a larger whole would never dream about using up non-renewable resources in a short time nor would this person contaminate the environment with gigantic amounts of pollution. By contrary, someone who respects Nature and regards mankind as a part of a larger whole would in all decisions carefully evaluate any effects on Nature. The preservation of Nature would be given a very high priority. On this base, it wouldn't have been possible to deny and ignore global warming for more than 20 years!