Marginal Voices

3 March 2010: The African Union Commission (AUC) commemorated Africa Environment Day under the theme "African Resilience to Climate Change: Biodiversity Conservation and Enhancing Traditional Knowledge," in celebrations hosted by the Government of Tanzania.

The purpose of the celebration was to raise awareness on sustainable environmental management among decision makers at national, regional and continental levels, highlighting climate change as the main factor leading to land degradation and desertification, hunger, deprivation, poverty and underdevelopment in Africa.

Video links from Eldis to community voices on COP15:

http://community.eldis.org/eldismexico/Blog/Where-do-we-go-from-here--Pe...

Ilmastonmuutos vaikuttaa monien alkuperäiskansojen elämään. Esimerkiksi Suomessa saamelaisten perinteisen elinkeinon, porotalouden, harjoittaminen vaikeutuu selvästi ilmaston lämmetessä. Tämän vuoksi on tärkeää, että laillisesti sitova ilmastosopimus saadaan aikaan tänä vuonna Meksikon ilmastokokouksessa.

Kööpenhaminan ilmastokokouksessa joulukuussa neuvoteltu Copenhagen Accord on laajalti arvioitu riittämättömäksi hidastamaan ilmaston lämpenemistä.

A multi-billion dollar deal tabled at the Copenhagen climate summit could lead to conflicts in forest-rich nations, a report has warned.

The study by the Rights and Resources Initiative said the funds could place "unprecedented pressure" on some areas.

Six nations offered $3.5bn as part of global plans to cut deforestation, which accounts for about 20% of all emissions from human activity.

Campaigners warn the scheme fails to consider the rights of forest people.

LIMA, Jan 21, 2010 (Tierramérica) - "The toads have disappeared from the countryside because of climate change, and now there is nothing to control the insects. Now we have to use chemicals to fight pests, and that is killing the soil," says worried Peruvian farmer Julián Pilco.

For civil society organisations, the impacts of global warming reported by Pilco and other residents of Peru's rural areas should be incorporated into the national climate watch system. The data collected by the science stations is not enough, they say.

BAMAKO, Jan 16, 2010 (IPS) - Mohamed Abd Khibé is a caretaker at the acacia nursery in Dialoubé village, part of a project to sequester carbon in trees while simultaneously improving farmers' livelihoods.

"This nursery is a source of pride for me, because it allows me to feed my family," says Khibé.

DHAKA, BANGLADESH - Mahe Noor left her village in southern Bangladesh after Cyclone Sidr flattened her family's home and small market in 2007. Jobless and homeless, she and her husband, Nizam Hawladar, moved to this crowded megalopolis, hoping that they might soon return home.

Two years later, they are still here. Ms. Noor, 25, and Mr. Hawladar, 35, work long hours at low-paying jobs - she at a garment factory and he at a roadside tea stall. They are unable to save money after paying for food and rent on their dark shanty in Korail, one of the largest slums in Dhaka.

COPENHAGEN, Dec 9 (IPS) - "We don't need to change the climate, we need to change trade," said Brazilian activist Marta Lago at Klimaforum, the civil society meeting held in parallel with the climate change summit in the Danish capital.

Lago and Norma Maldonado from Guatemala, who belong to the International Gender and Trade Network (IGTN), criticised the free trade treaties signed by Latin American countries with the United States and the European Union in a panel Tuesday.

Ilmastonmuutos ei ole tulevaisuuden uhka. Se on tämän päivän todellisuutta, josta kärsivät eniten kaikkein köyhimmät ja haavoittuvimmat. Kööpenhaminan ilmastokokouksessa Punainen Risti vetoaa neuvottelijoihin, jotta kokouksessa saataisiin aikaan sitova sopimus kasvihuonekaasupäästöjen rajoittamisesta.

Joka vuosi keskimäärin 243 miljoonaa ihmistä joutuu kärsimään tuhoisista luonnonkatastrofeista. Ilmastonmuutoksen seurauksena tulvien, myrskyjen ja äärimmäisen kuivuuden ilmiöt muuttuvat entistä rajummiksi.

Suomen UNIFEMin kansainvälisessä seminaarissa 19.11. pohdittiin ilmastonmuutoksen sukupuolivaikutuksia. Seminaarissa puhuivat kansanedustaja Oras Tynkkynen, Ilmatieteen laitoksen pääjohtaja Petteri Taalas, Maailman luonnonsuojeluliitto IUCN:n gender-asiantuntija Lorena Aguilar, luomuviljelijä ja tutkija Asha Kachru sekä europarlamentaarikko Satu Hassi. Osa seminaarin aineistosta löytyy täältä: http://www.unifem.fi/ilmastonmuutos_%20seminaari.php