Hollywood Joins Politicians, Artists and Environmentalists in Hard-hitting UN Campaign to Combat Climate Change

by Joanna Benn

Climate change is here and threatens us all. That's the message from Hollywood actors, film directors, environmentalists and politicians in a new UN public service announcement series:

With less than 80 days to go until the crucial UN climate convention meeting in Copenhagen, there is no time to lose in getting the message out.

The series is aimed a promoting public awareness and catalyzing action at the highest and humblest level to boost the prospects for a wide-ranging and transformative agreement in December's meeting.

Jeffrey Nachmanoff, co-writer of blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, an apocalypic science fiction film that depicts catastrophic effects of climate change has directed the series which urges viewers to sign the Climate Petition (www.sealthedeal2009.org)

Speaking about the project, Jeffrey Nachmanoff said: “Climate change is such a pervasive and persistent challenge that it's difficult to get people to focus on it constructively. The Copenhagen conference represents a specific moment in time, and is an opportunity for action. My hope is that this campaign will encourage people to increase public pressure on world leaders to seize that opportunity."

The videos feature President Mohamed Nasheed of the Maldives; Don Cheadle -Hollywood actor, film producer and author, Professor Wangari Maathai - Nobel Peace Prize Winner; Midori Goto - UN Messenger of Peace; Phillipe Cousteau - Animal Planet presenter and environmentalist; Saba Douglas-Hamilton – wildlife film maker.

The featured personalities said:

The Honourable Mohamed Nasheed, President of the Maldives: "For the Maldives, climate change is no vague or distant irritation, but a clear and present danger. And what happens to the Maldives today happens to the rest of the world tomorrow. That’s why the Maldives is slashing emissions by shifting from foreign oil to renewable energy, aiming to become carbon neutral in a decade. It's time we all Seal the Deal!”

Midori Goto, UN Messenger of Peace: "I am happy to add my voice to those who are concerned about climate change, and I am extremely excited by the opportunities implicit in the commitment of the newly-appointed Prime Minister of Japan, Yukio Hatoyama. He and his government are advocating a substantial decrease in emissions. We can act together to bring meaningful changes to our lives and to our environment. Let's sign the climate petition and let our voices be heard."

Professor Wangari Maathai, Founder of the Green Belt Movement and Nobel Peace Prize winner: “Climate change is a matter of life and death. Something very serious is happening. Africans - and especially African women - will suffer most from climate change. It’s time to Seal the Deal! in Copenhagen."

Phillipe Cousteau, CEO EarthEcho International, Animal Planet host and environmentalist: “I’ve spent my life working to educate people about our environment and about how human actions have had a catastrophic effect on our planet. Now we have the chance to take action to make a positive difference and correct some of the damage caused in Copenhagen. It’s time to Seal the Deal!”

Saba Douglas-Hamilton, BBC wildlife presenter and conservationist: "For me it took a trip to the high Arctic filming polar bears to understand what was going on in my own back yard. In Kenya, we live or die by the grace of the Monsoon and when the rains fail, as they have this year, we suffer terrible drought. Climate change is the great leveler. No matter who or what you are - rich or poor, human or amphibian - it will affect us all. I want to be able to tell my daughter with an open heart that I tried to make a difference when I could. Help us Seal the Deal."

Joanna Benn is an information officer with UNEP (United Nations Environment Programme)

A Hunger Conference with Canapés and Thinly Sliced Veal

by Janet Ritz

Cross-posted on The Huffington Post

A U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization hunger conference called to address skyrocketing food prices has opened with Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon's pronouncement that the world must increase food output by 50% before the year 2030 to avert a global catastrophe.

The three-day conference received press after Western representatives who'd protested the attendance by Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe -- whose people are said to be suffering from hunger through his mismanagement -- had stated they would not converse with him there.

That did not stop other attendees from kissing Mugabe on the cheek in welcome.

Another moment that stood out?

The gourmet repast the attendees dined upon while they all but ignored the speech given by Bangladesh's Foreign Minister describing the famine in his country.

The FAO luncheon was not the only food game in town for delegates. Premier Silvio Berlusconi was co-hosting a state dinner Tuesday evening with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at Villa Madama, a Renaissance villa. Berlusconi aides said they planned what they call a "Tricolore menu" — a meal that evokes the green, white and red of the Italian flag and has become a standard of formal dining under the patriotic premier. For the Tuesday dinner, guests were being served pasta with pesto, cheese and tomatoes, a beef steak with a tricolore side dish of vegetables and pistachio, and vanilla and strawberry ice cream.

NGO representatives have taken a pragmatic view in reaction to the conference's culinary delights in the hope that the attendees will part with the billions needed to avert the looming world food crisis.

"Leaders can eat what they want as long as they take decisive action to deliver the policies and the aid in agriculture that is needed to ensure that poor people who are suffering from high food prices are helped," said Alexander Woollcombe, a spokesman for the British aid group Oxfam.

Food riots have been increasing due to skyrocketing inflation, a problem that has been exacerbated by a world-wide rice shortage, the growing desertification of fertile regions, the declining value of the dollar, the increased value of the petrol-dollar, the pressure on supply due to diversion of crops to biofuel production, pollution, overpopulation, over-fishing, the lack of sustainable farming techniques, mismanagement by dictators and corporate interests, droughts in Australia's wheat basket....

The list is seemingly endless.

All of which has culminated in world-wide food riots and heartbreaking reports of the growing extinction rates of threatened species -- which may soon have to be modified to include humans if inflation and environmental degradation continues to spin out of control.

Meanwhile, back at the conference, the hors d'oeuvre have been very well received.