By Jan Roberts 

With a slightly stooped posture, he stepped gently to the microphone. His small stature overshadowed by the look in his eyes, which held me still and seemed to touch my soul.  In a soft voice, Dr. Emil Salim, Advisor to the President of Indonesia, breathed a poignant reminder into the room about the depth of the climate change crisis in his land: “Bali is a rice culture that follows patterns for planting and harvesting.  But now the rain does not fall steadily but in brief heavy spurts with a long dry season. Local wisdom no longer works.  How can we inform farmers who used frog noises and the flight patterns of birds for the timing of rice planting? The community is upside down.”

Recently recognized Nobel Peace Laureates echoed the urgency in Dr. Salim’s message on the effects of climate change at the Bali International Conference on Climate Change in December 2007.  Officially known as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (established by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Program in 1988), they are part of a network of the world’s leading climate change scientists and experts. Their exhaustive research shows significant and dangerous trends in the warming of the planet, diminishing snow and mountain glaciers, rising sea levels, and increase in volcanic eruptions.  They state that the “warming of the climate system is unequivocal”, and that since the start of the Industrial Revolution (about 1750), the overall effect of human activities on climate has been a warming influence.  They further state that “human impact on climate during this era greatly exceeds that due to known changes in natural processes, such as solar changes and volcanic eruptions.”  Without a doubt, humans are the problem.  That’s the bad news and the good news.  If we, as part of humanity, are the problem, we are also the solution. 

It was disappointing to return from the Bali conference and learn that our media emphasized the negative and ignored any positive news about what was happening there.  Yes, without a doubt, the U.S. rejection of any specific wording on requiring greenhouse gas emissions both embarrassed and alarmed me.  The planet is running a fever and now is not the time for protecting oil interests.  It is time for concern and actions that support and nourish the health of people and the planet.  In a conversation with Aaron Cosby of the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) based in Canada, we both acknowledged the role of the media in promoting primarily the negative instead of generating hope and energy for change through the positive stories of what is working in many places and countries.  To my surprise, Cosby did recognize the positive efforts of states in the U.S. regarding climate change policies and actions.

Despite the media stories here, there was good news at Bali and it’s coming in big chunks from non-governmental organizations and people’s actions “on the ground”.  A small sampling includes:

• Cosby is an IISD negotiator, who is working with China on sustainable trade policies and agreements, which use scientific environmental analysis teamed with economic sustainability and social equity. And the negotiations are going well!
• Rizhao, China, received a 2007 World Clean Energy Award (WCEA) for its popularization of clean energy. Large-scale solar power and marsh gas applications (from agricultural waste water) directly benefit more than 1.5 million residents, dramatically reducing their yearly energy costs while providing other environmental and health benefits.
• Large scale effort to have citizens use public transport in place of private cars and scooters in New Delhi, India with compressed natural gas driven buses, taxis and three-wheeled motorized taxis.
• Tim Rogers, a mayor in Australia proudly told me about the initiative being led there by the local government that brings the citizens into the planning and development process for sustainability, actually listens to them and makes the recommended changes.
• The Climate Alliance (over 1300 cities) “twins” cities in Japan, U.S. and Germany, which use assessments and benchmarks for reducing greenhouse gases, compare themselves to other “like” cities, and share their knowledge and experiences.
• "Feeder legislation"initiative in Germany that is being implemented elsewhere allows people to produce their own alternative energy and feed it into the grid for the city and get paid for it. It is not only spawning reductions in greenhouse gas but also giving folks “green jobs”
• World Mayors Council on Climate Change was organized by International Council on Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI) and highlighted local climate change actions around the globe.

Earth Charter U.S. (ECUS) is coordinating simultaneous Climate Change Community Summits in 100 communities in the U.S. and around the globe on October 11, 2008, which has been designated by the UN as International Year of Planet Earth.  The Summits will be connected via web technology that will allow the communities to see and hear one another via a round-robin on Summit day and for monthly on-going interactions to share experiences and successes that effectively address climate change on the personal and community level. ECUS initiated collaborations with UN Habitat (which focuses on improving local communities’ economies and quality of life), World Future Council, LEAD International, and ICLEI for the Summits and will be following up.  Also connections were made with Nagoya University in Japan, Columbia University, Ithaca College and Penn State.

Please contact me if you wish to be part of this exciting initiative.  This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it 813-254-8454.

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