Climate Change

The UN Climate Change Conference is in Copenhagen from December 7-18, 2009 Governments and civil society from the world over will be converging on Copenhagen, December 2009 Climate Action Network For months, governments, lobbyists, and civil society have been gearing up for the "big one," and now it's finally here - the UN climate conference in wintry Copenhagen. Governments are meeting in the Danish capital to negotiate what is to follow the "first commitment period" of the Kyoto Protocol, which runs out at the end of 2012. Unfortunately, many industrialized country governments have been

From World Rivers Review December 2009Most rural Africans are directly dependent on surface water - rivers, wetlands, springs and lakes - for their water supply. Today, 20 African countries experience severe water scarcity and another 12 will be added in the next 25 years. As the climate changes, free-flowing, healthy rivers will become an even more valued resource than they are today. Dams are expected to affect water quality and quantity for millions of downstream users. A few ways that dams harm water supply include: By trapping river-borne nutrients, dams can lead to the growth of toxic al

From World Rivers Review December 2009 When a dam developer claims that 97% of the people it surveyed are satisfied with their compensation, take it with a large grain of salt. Back in November 2008, International Rivers hired a consultant to visit the site of the Xiaoxi Dam on the Zishui River in China. Our researcher documented a long series of problems, including the forced eviction of 7,500 people, the failure to restore pre-eviction incomes, arbitrary and inadequate compensation for displaced villagers, no legal recourse for those suffering losses, and a biased Environmental Impac

From World Rivers Review December 2009 A “swoop” of activists outside the European Climate Exchange, October 2009. Mike Russell I was a bit puzzled earlier this month when the new intern in our office - a conscientious sort - didn't show up to work all week. It all made sense when I finally got a call from her saying that she had just gotten out of police custody after having spent two nights camped high up on a smoke stack on a coal-fired power station in Oxford. As far as not coming to work excuses go, it's pretty water-tight. It's been a busy year for climate activis

Why Africa Should Shun Hydropower MegaprojectsFrom World Rivers Review December 2009Africa is the least electrified place in the world. An estimated 550 million Africans have no access to electricity. Nearly half of African countries have a power crisis. Solving this huge problem is made more difficult by widespread poverty, and because most Africans live far from the grid, greatly adding to the cost of bringing electricity to them. In late October 2009, Africans joined a global day of protest to call attention to the need to keep carbon at 350 ppm. 350.org Under these challenging conditions,

Making Climate Finance Transformational From World Rivers Review December 2009 Jyoti Mhapsekar heads a women’s waste-pickers co-op in India. Recycling waste is one of the cheapest ways to reduce emissions. Anne Larracas/GAIA Jyoti Mhapsekar has ideas on low-cost ways to reduce the world's carbon burden. As president of the Parisar Vikas women's waste-pickers cooperative in Mumbai, India, and a climate activist, she has first-hand experience in an industry that is not only one of the cheapest ways to reduce emissions, but also helps reduce poverty in developing countries. But the