It is time to act on the climate emergency

And the only acceptable response is ending the use of fossil fuels This year’s UN climate talks – whose motto is ‘Tiempo de Actuar,’ or ‘Time to Act’ – started Monday in Madrid against a backdrop that is as mixed as ever. While the climate crisis shows its fierce face and gets worse each day…

This is unique – let’s seize the moment

On March 15th 2019 1.6 million school children took to the streets to demand climate action. It was an unprecedented moment in the history of climate change activism; building on decades of awareness raising and fighting climate change. Across the globe, action on climate change is accelerating at a tremendous pace;  from Extinction Rebellion’s week long blockade…

From the frontlines of climate change resistance

Hoda Baraka on the climate action movements working to end fossil fuel extraction. The planet is only 1°C warmer than pre-industrial times, yet we are already witnessing a chain of catastrophic climate-related extremes all over the globe. If we want to avoid even more dramatic impacts, we have to stay under a 1.5°C increase in global…

As UN climate talks begin: The Global Climate Movement rises

The UN climate talks (COP23) open today in Bonn against a backdrop that is as mixed as ever – on the one hand, we have grim news depicting wars, famines, poverty, financial instabilities, terrorist attacks, the rise of extremism (in political spheres and elsewhere) and the resulting forced mass migration, to name just a few…

Thousands march in Bonn calling for an end to coal now

Tomorrow the UN Climate Talks are set to begin in Bonn. Over the weekend Germany held its largest climate march ever with tens of thousands marching the streets demanding an end to coal. Leading the front were the Pacific Climate Warriors calling on world leaders to keep fossil fuels in the ground.   Originally published by…

Culture, Climate Change and the Real Cost of Coal

This week, an important meeting of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) World Heritage Committee came to an underwhelming end; thousands of people across the world were hoping the Committee, in its 41st session just concluded in Poland, would live up to its mandate, prioritise culture over coal, and declare as “In…

Ramadan: Reflecting on the future of our planet

Today marks the first day of the holy month of Ramadan, during which time 1.6 billion people (approx. 22% of the world’s population) will be fasting from dawn till dusk. This month provides the chance to reexamine how we interact with the natural world: Ramadan is the month that the Qur’an was first sent down,…