Climate Solutions
Climate Initiatives
Pole Expeditions
Both the Arctic and the Antarctic are showing signs of global warming. Global Green USA, in conjunction with other Green Cross International affiliates, is bringing attention to these areas through expeditions that hilight the imminent danger caused by these warming trends.
Pax Arctica
Green Cross France will lead a series of expeditions to the Arctic in conjunction with Green Cross organizations in Canada, the United Sates, Russia, Denmark and Sweden. Global Green USA Board Member Sebastian Copeland and Luc Hardy will jointly lead the expedition. The expeditions, which will unfold until 2010, will feed research on high stakes issues: Climate, mineral resources, transportations, culture and biodiversity.
The Pax Arctica initiative has two objectives.
- The expeditions will endeavor to impart an educational message by involving young people. The idea is to prove that young people, symbols of future generations, want to commit themselves to peace and to the protection of the Arctic and of its resources.
- The expeditions will also convey a political, scientific, philosophical and ethical message: It is the responsibility of our generation to regulate the exploitation of mineral resources in the Arctic in order to protect its unique and fragile environment for the sake of local populations and future generations. It is necessary to find long-term solutions to prevent utilitarian and by definition limited appropriation.
The Arctic program will have the following objectives:
- To oppose and put an end to territorial claims in spite of the relentless claims by the eight surrounding nations (Canada, Denmark, USA, Iceland, Finland, Norway, Russia, Sweden). The objective here is to help fill the existing judicial and legal void by having recourse to just and legitimate international arbitration.
- To promote the creation of international legal instruments to freeze the exploitation of the ocean’s seabed, regulate the exploitation of dry land resources, and encourage scientific research and scientific optimization of the region.
- To make the general public and political leaders aware of the Arctic’s character as a world public good.
To read about the Summer 2008 expedition, click here.
Antarctica
In 2006, a multi-national expedition of scientific experts, researchers, and photographers brought back unique images from remote Antarctica, illustrating the melting ice shelf.
To send a ‘global warning’ to the world about the threats posed by climate change and to encourage smart solutions (i.e., renewable energy, conservation, fuel efficiency), the group also sent a photo of themselves assembled on a stark white iceberg to form a large “human SOS.” Global Green USA and Green Cross Argentina co-organized the photographic mission with Sebsastian Copeland, Spectral Q’s John Quigley and the crew of the Ice Lady Patagonia and Asociación Buque Austral Patagónico.
The message calls attention to the imminent danger caused by warming trends to Antarctica and the melting sea ice, not just to penguins in Antarctica but to all of humanity due to the resulting rising sea levels. Since 1945, the Antarctic Peninsula has experienced a warming of about 4.5 degrees. This has, among other threats to nature, resulted in the Adelie Penguin population shrinking by 33 percent in the past 25 years. If the Antarctica ice sheet were to break from land and slip into the ocean, global sea levels could rise by 20 feet. 80% of the world’s population lives in coastal areas.
Arctic Circle
In 2005, Global Green led a delegation of celebrities, scientists, and political leaders to the Arctic Circle on Earth Day. Salma Hayek and Jake Gyllenhaal helped Global Green generate worldwide visibility from “the top of the world” about the plight of the indigenous Inuit people whose very way of life is threatened by the impacts of snowmelt attributed to global warming. As a result of the trip, Global Green generated international press coverage that included the Washington Post and CNN.
"Having seen the Arctic Circle firsthand," said Hayek, "It's deeply disturbing to me that even though there is growing physical and scientific evidence from the research community illustrating the effects of global warming, world leaders simply are not doing enough to fight the problem."
PHOTO GALLERY
Publications
Green Building Developer Fact Sheets
As part of Global Green's Greening the Tax Credits Campaign, an effort to encourage various states around the country to adopt sustainable building practices as part of the state-administered federal low-income housing tax credit program, we recently published Green Building Developer Fact Sheets, which highlight various sustainable building practices and provide information about local product availability and cost. The first set of fact sheets is for Louisiana, the second set for NY State.
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Global Green USA’s Policy Report Series Community Development Through Climate Solutions: Los Angeles and Beyond
Funded by the Ford Foundation - This report identifies strategies that can simultaneously build community assets while promoting strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The report suggests using existing financial regimes or creating new ones where necessary and by engaging community and non-environmental stakeholders.
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