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Jamie and the Secretary General

Here's an update from Jamie (Greenpeace China corporate social responsibility campaigner). She went with Greenpeace International Executive Director Gerd to meet UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon last Wednesday, and emailed me this afterwards:

My “date” with Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General of the United Nations

New York, September 19th, 2007. In September 2007, a few days before the United Nations high level meeting for climate change - in which Greenpeace China’s campaign director, Lo Sze Ping, is invited to address 70 heads of state (including Bush) about what we believe countries should do to protect the climate - Greenpeace is also invited by the office of the Secretary General to meet the Secretary General himself in private. When my colleague informs me that on behalf of Greenpeace China, I am to be part of the Greenpeace delegation, my first reaction is, “You have to be kidding me! I am just a 26-year old girl! What am I going to say to when I meet Mr. Ban Ki-moon?!”

For me, meeting Ban Ki-moon is the equivalent of meeting a rock star like Michael Jackson or the Beatles. For one, we are both Korean and he is currently probably one of the best known Koreans in the world. Moreover, I admire his values and the fact that he takes the problems of this world so personally.

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Greenpeace reaction to G8 climate deal

Here's the statement from our team at the summit:

Greenpeace condemned G8 leaders for failing to live up to their historic responsibility for climate change by not agreeing to keep mean temperature rise below 2 degrees compared to pre-industrial levels. The deal is "clearly not enough to prevent dangerous climate change" said Daniel Mittler, climate policy advisor of Greenpeace International.

Greenpeace welcomed that the G8 gave a political mandate for a start of serious negotiations for the second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol to start at the climate negotiations in Bali in December.

The US isolation in refusing to accept binding emission cuts has become obvious at this meeting. "The Bush administration have agreed to "seriously consider" that the rest of the world is setting reduction targets, but is as far away as from agreeing to such targets themselves as ever" said Mittler.

Greenpeace reminded the G8 governments that they need to reduce their emissions by 80-90% by 2050 if the world is to avoid catastrophic climate change. "Governments failed to commit to what science tells us is necessary here. They must now urgently do so at the United Nations."

Posted by Andrew at 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The story so far

Officially, it's only day two of the summit, but there's already been a tons of political drama. For those of you just coming to the story, Greenpeace UK has a good overview up on their site. Here's an excerpt:

So the sleeves are being rolled up on all sides for an intense bout of negotiation. What would success look like?

Well, it's all down to Merkel, and how far she's willing to push it. Leaving aside the possibility that Bush has a Damascene conversion and decides he wants to adopt ambitious, mandatory targets through the UN, the next best result will be for Merkel to ignore him, and focus on the seven other G8 countries that have ratified Kyoto.

If Bush keeps trying to sabotage the process, Merkel needs to keep pushing forward, without worrying about the US. If these seven countries can agree on mandatory and meaningful emissions reduction targets, working within the UN framework, then the G8 will have been a success.

Posted by Andrew at 1:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Human banner

In total, more than 600 people formed this human banner in the city harbour of Rostock! It said, "G8: ACT NOW!" Underneath the human banner, a second banner read "Stop Global Warming."

[photo: © Greenpeace / Guenther Menn]

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Snowmen and Elvis against global warming

Update from Agnes: Several members of the Solar Generation, together with students from People and Planet, took part yesterday in a largely peaceful G8 demonstration in Rostock.

Carrying huge banners and inflatable snowmen, people marched from Schlutuper Kreuz to the Rostock City Harbour to call on G8 leaders to take action on climate change. Leaders from the Group of 8 countries are meeting in Heiligendamm next week to discuss issues like social justice, climate change, and trade liberalisation. There were a number of riots during the demonstration but these involved only a few protesters.

Cheng qian of Solar Generation China delivered a speech before 80.000 people!, urging the G8 to ACT NOW. The Solar Drums group, as well as volunteers from Greenpeace Germany, were also there to join the demonstration.

[photo: © Greenpeace / Salvatore Barbera (Giona)]

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