October 2009

In this, the second instalment of the 'Our Ocean Wonderland' animations, Stephen Appelby considers the culinary seafood options likely to be open to us once we've emptied the seas of edible fish.

The Copenhagen Climate Change Summit this December represents the best chance we have of reaching a deal to reverse current emissions trends in time to prevent climate chaos.

This is the first in a series of videos, Voices for Change, which talks to some of those who're already suffering aroung the world as a result of climate change. We'll be publishing more in the weeks running up to Copenhagen.

There's lots happening at our Climate Defenders Camp on the Kampar peninsula at the heart of the Indonesian rainforest.

Today, activists at the camp have been starting the process of damming drainage canals.

After loggers have taken out the most valuable trees from the rainforest, they build canals to drain the peatland that it grows on. The canals serve a dual purpose - they allow easy transportation of wood out of the area, and they also dry the ground out enough to be cleared to allow monoculture tree plantations to be established.

The ever-informative REDD Monitor has covered our Climate Defenders Camp in Indonesia today, with lots of detailed information about the peninsula, the local communities that live there, and the policy debates which are swirling around them:

Originally published on Comment is Free, John sets out how we could use the levers of the economy to shape a greener future.

Talk is cheap, and valued accordingly. At some point ministers will need to translate their climate rhetoric into the language of real change – money. Since 1997 the proportion of government revenues derived from green taxes has actually fallen. The cost of motoring (despite the tabloid headlines) has fallen by 13 per cent in real terms since 1997, while bus and coach fares have increased by 17 per cent above inflation.

For most of us, political speeches are a dull drone in the background while the message that always comes through loud and clear is spelt out in pounds and pence. If we're serious about confronting climate change – and everyone actively involved in the debate claims to be – then some taxes are going to have to rise.

Emma (right) sits on the roof of Parliament during out 'Change the Politics, save the Climate' action.

There's a great piece in the Times about Emma, our senior transport campaigner, activist mum and all-round nice person.She talks about balancing different parts of her life - like bringing up twins, and jumping into the sea in front of coal freighters. It's well worth a read...

It's tough being an energy bill - excellent work from all at Friends of the Earth USA.

(Based on the below, our American colleagues tell me.)

The Kampar peninsula on the island of Sumatra sits deep in the heart of the Indonesian rainforest. Part of the ring of tropical forest that circles the middle of the planet, it’s rich with diversity – a unique and complex ecosystem, sustaining fishing communities, hunters and farmers, full of unique plants and animals, and home to endangered species like the Sumatran tiger and the Wallace’s hawk, not found anywhere else in the world.