27 November 2009 - Siberia,
Russian Federation — If you live in a developed
country, you’re pretty well insulated from
climate change.
Shifts in weather patterns, heavier rainfall,
gradually rising sea levels and temperature
increases – at the moment western society
absorbs these changes without us really
noticing much difference. But for the indigenous
peoples of the Arctic, living on the front
line of climate change, shifts in the planet’s
behaviour are much more obvious.
The Nenet people of
the Yamal peninsula are nomadic reindeer
herders who live within the Arctic circle
on the northern coast of Siberia. In summer
they graze their herds on the tundra of
the peninsula, and in winter as the ground
freezes they move south to milder parts
of the Siberian steppes. They use the frozen
surface of the landscape to cross the numerous
freshwater lakes and marshes of the peninsula,
which in summer they catch fish in.
But things are changing.
The Arctic is the most sensitive area of
the planet to climate change. While global
average temperature has risen by around
0.8 degrees, some parts of Siberia have
warmed by as much as 5 or 6. And so the
Nenet have noticed the ground is freezing
later and later in the year – and in some
places, not freezing at all. The reindeer
herders have to wait longer and longer before
they can move their animals south across
frozen ground.
Here, on the frontiers
of the world, the warming of Siberia is
already threatening a way of life that has
remained fairly constant for thousands of
years. It’s not only that the Nenet have
to move later in the year - many of the
freshwater lakes that dot the landscape
are leaking away as the frozen walls of
earth that contain the water melt, and collapse.
And so the Nenet are also losing the fishing
that provides one of their main sources
of food.
Eternal ice
Siberia is a landscape
that’s underpinned by frozen ground, called
‘permafrost’, but this ground is beginning
to thaw. Off the coast, whole islands made
of permafrost are literally disappearing
as the arctic sea washes away the rapidly
melting land. Melting permafrost is causing
roads, pipelines and foundations to collapse
across the country. Every year, there’s
an increase in the area of ground that melts
in summer and the area that doesn’t refreeze
in winter.
This isn’t just a problem
in the Arctic. This melt has global implications,
because it’s going to speed up climate change.
Permafrost is like a
giant frozen compost heap – full of dead
plants, animals, trees and other carbon-rich
organic matter, and in places it reaches
1.5km (one mile) deep. While it stays frozen,
that carbon is locked up in the ground.
But as the Arctic warms and the permafrost
thaws, microbes start to break down that
organic matter, releasing carbon dioxide
and methane into the atmosphere.
Flaming lakes
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas – probably
causing, tonne for tonne, around 25 times
more global warming over a hundred years
than carbon dioxide. By lighting escaping
methane, scientists can capture dramatic
images of plumes of flame bubbling up through
holes cut into Siberian lakes.
These emissions are
adding more and more greenhouse gases to
the atmosphere, which is accelerating climate
change. Permafrost contains massive amounts
of carbon – probably about twice what’s
currently in the atmosphere, and about 5
times more than all the human-caused greenhouse
gases we’ve released. While we don’t have
a really clear understanding of how much
carbon might be released as the permafrost
melts, it’s fair to say that any extra greenhouse
gases in the atmosphere from melting permafrost
are bad news.
Because of the melting
permafrost, what happens in the Arctic doesn’t
stay in the Arctic. And so we need strong
political action from world leaders at Copenhagen.
We need to control the warming that’s leading
the Arctic to melt away. It’s probably too
late to stop climate change ending the Nenet’s
traditional way of life for good. But if
we don’t act now, that’s going to be the
case for pretty much everyone.
+ More
Climate destroyer shut
down by activists in Indonesian rainforest
ahead of Copenhagen Climate Summit
25 November 2009 - Riau,
Indonesia — With just 12 days before the
critical UN Copenhagen Climate Summit, we
are taking direct action again today - blocking
one of the world's largest pulp mills, in
the heart of Indonesia's rainforests
UPDATE: Our last 4 activists
occupied one of the cranes for 27 hours
in extreme conditions. All activists have
now been detained by the police for questioning.
Thirteen activists locked
down cranes at the giant paper plant's port
calling for strong leadership from world
leaders to avert climate chaos and to provide
funds needed to end tropical deforestation
as part of a fair, ambitious and legally
binding climate deal at the Copenhagen Climate
Summit in December.
Deforestation is one
of the roots of the climate crisis. We are
shutting down this plant at the frontline
of forest destruction to tell Heads of State
that they can - and must - pull us back
from the brink of catastrophic climate change.
The paper mill is owned by Asia Pulp &
Paper (APP). The parent company, Sinar Mas,
is a leading driver of global climate change
due to its widespread role in forest destruction.
This plant is fed by wood from one of the
world's largest peatland forests, on the
Kampar Peninsula in Sumatra, which stores
up to 2 gigatonnes of carbon.
Don't believe the hype
Our action comes as President Barack Obama
is attempting to relegate the Copenhagen
climate deal to nothing but a political
statement and to postpone critical decisions
on a legally binding agreement. President
Obama and other world leaders cannot be
allowed to sabotage a strong outcome in
Copenhagen because of their lack of political
will. Significant funds are urgently needed
to end tropical deforestation in Indonesia
and around the world. This must be a central
part of any climate agreement.
Paper giant APP sells
its products on the global market in China,
the United States, Europe and Australia
and supplies many international brands and
distributors with paper products. Customers
include Vogue, Kentucky Fried Chicken and
designer Marc Jacobs. APP, alongside their
main competitor APRIL, are both responsible
for destroying rainforests and their carbon-rich
peat soil across Indonesia, including the
threatened Kampar Peninsula of Sumatra -
the location our Climate Defenders Camp.
Containing 2 billion tonnes of carbon, the
Peninsula is one of the planet’s largest
natural carbon stores and a key defence
against global climate change.
Suspension for peat's
sake!
We have been working with local communities
over the past month to highlight the central
role that deforestation plays in driving
global climate change. Our Climate Defenders
took action in the area against APRIL on
November 12. Since then, both the camp and
the local communities have been under sustained
intimidation by the authorities including
threats, arrests and deportations. But last
week the Indonesian government suspended
APRIL from destroying the area further -
pending a review of the company’s permits.
Indonesia is the world's
third largest climate polluter after China
and the US, mainly as a result of the ongoing
destruction of its forests and their peat
soils. Globally, a million hectares of forests
are destroyed every month. That's an area
the size of a football pitch every two seconds
-- emitting so much CO2 that deforestation
is one of the main causes of climate change,
responsible for about a fifth of global
greenhouse gas emissions.
Seal the deal with trees
With the UN Copenhagen Climate Summit just
around the corner, Heads of State of developed
countries must show real leadership and
secure a robust climate deal in December
that includes a global funding mechanism
that will transfer 30 billion euros (US$42
billion) annually from industrialised countries
to poor forested countries like Indonesia,
Congo and Brazil, with the aim of ending
deforestation by 2020. Such a deal must
deliver substantial emissions reductions
from deforestation as well as protect wildlife
and respect the rights of forest-dwelling
people. It must also ensure that money does
not end up in the hands of those responsible
for forest destruction, like those in the
logging industry.If world leaders can commit
to halting deforestation at the UN Climate
Summit in Copenhagen - they can accomplish
one of the quickest but also one of the
most cost effective tasks required to prevent
runaway climate change.
