Today I’m engaging in a long and occasionally heated debate with George Monbiot in the pages of the Guardian about the future of civilisation. And yes, it is a portentous as it sounds. It’s also, I think, an important first foray into territory which the Dark Mountain Project exists to occupy, and which is given little space or airtime at present. Environmentalism has always been a broad church, but in recent years its concerns have narrowed spectacularly. Today’s environmentalists are … [Read more...]
Pulling the wool from over our eyes
On August 12th at 1pm, hundreds of New Zealanders paused for five minutes with woolly hats over their eyes. We then lifted our hats together, showing that we will not have the wool pulled over our eyes about the possibilities for real action on climate change. Scientists say that an atmospheric carbon dioxide of 350 parts per million is the safe upper limit for humanity. See the NZ 350 website. … [Read more...]
Carbon Offsets: A Dangerous Distraction
Friends of the Earth explain why offsetting is a dangerous distraction from the urgent business of decarbonizing the world’s economies. CDM and related offset plans can’t be reformed: they must be scrapped. The following is the Executive Summary of Friends of the Earth’s new report, A Dangerous Distraction, which examines the record of the main offset scheme, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM). The full report can be downloaded here. Tackling climate change urgently requires major cuts in … [Read more...]
When is a problem not a problem?
News of the Dark Mountain Project has started to reach civilisation. Few institutions could be more civilised, more wedded to the myth of progress, than the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce – yet its Arts and Ecology editor, William Shaw, is not immune to ‘Uncivilisation’, describing the manifesto as “erudite, lyrical and, most of all, apocalyptic in an almost William Blake-ish kind of way.” Meanwhile, in the pages of the Morning Star, Chris T-T (who also … [Read more...]
The Manchester Report: 20 Ideas for Solving the Climate Crisis (via feedly)
The solutions picked by the Guardian and Manchester International Festival's expert panel as the most promising for tackling global warming The Guardian and Manchester International Festival assembled an expert panel to sift through ideas for tackling climate change from all over the world. Below are the top 20 and you can vote on the what you think is the best of the top ten here. The results will be presented to policy-makers as The Manchester Report.The panel was chaired by Lord Bingham, … [Read more...]
Links for April 12th to April 16th
These are my links for April 12th to April 16th: Design Council | Directory listings | Events and competitions | Design in Alternative Futures - 2009 will be remembered as a year of global economic downturn, but what could this mean for the future of the economy, society and government? Will the downturn compel us to turn inwards, to become a nation of close knit families driven by individual needs? Or will it force unprecedented collaboration, creating a Britain that is focused upon the common … [Read more...]
Links for March 14th to March 23rd
These are my links for March 14th to March 23rd: Defra, UK - News - News releases 2009 - Third sector taskforce on climate change and environment launched - A new taskforce launched today will help the government and the not-for-profit sector to tackle climate change and environmental issues. The group will be jointly chaired by Defra, Department of Energy and Climate Change and Cabinet Office ministers and third sector representatives and aims to identify specific actions that Government and … [Read more...]
Links for February 22nd to February 23rd
These are my links for February 22nd to February 23rd: GOOD.is Transparency - Getting Around - A nice graphic showing how much energy is needed for various different modes of transport. Cycling comes out best. Free Wifi in London...Mapped - Londonist: London News, Food, Arts & Events - Does what it says on the tin, i.e. maps free wifi locations in London :) How we can fix the Plone skin situation - To summarize our overall conclusion… I’ve heard a number of people say … [Read more...]
Links for December 9th to January 8th
These are my links for December 9th to January 8th: Mind42.com - Collaborative mind mapping in your browser - Mind42.com is a browser based online mind mapping application. With Mind42.com installing mindmapping tools is no longer needed - for a hassle-free mindmapping experience. Just open the browser and launch the application when needed. Chronology of Money Timeline - What lessons does monetary history offer that are relevant to today's economic, political and social problems? Chelsea … [Read more...]
Bolivian government calls for Open Source Appropriate Technology
The following text on development in the context of climate change, by Evo Morales, president of Bolivia, contains 20 proposals, three of which are an undisguised call for the development of open and shared designs for appropriate technology. This is a great step forward towards peer to peer policy formulation. Evo Morales on technology transfer to developing countries: “13) Innovation and technology related to climate changes must be within the public domain, not under any private monopolistic … [Read more...]