caspar.henderson@opendemocracy.net's blog

The Kyoto Protocol, whose future or obituary is under construction in Bali, set the first framework for a global carbon market with the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) in 1997 (although it did not actually come into operation until the Protocol came into force in 2005). Critics of the CDM are not hard to find, but the substance of their objections varies enormously. They range from NGOs like the International Rivers Network which says it opens the door to huge scams, to multi-million dollar companies which want to make CDM work but say it has been hobbled and risks losing credibility altogether.

Methodist Central Hall in London was abuzz earlier today with campaigners appraising Members of Parliament and politicians busily counting future votes.

"Carbon dating" was the idea of Stop Climate Chaos, a coalition of voluntary and campaign groups in Britain that together claim several million members. They pulled off the remarkable trick of getting up to seventy MPs, including some very senior ones, to sit down with them and discuss their demands to establish a carbon budget that cuts UK carbon emissions every year and to keep climate change at the top of the international agenda.

Ten years ago today an internationally renowned author and activist named Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other men were hanged in Nigeria. He had accused the Nigerian government of genocide of the Ogoni people, and Shell and the IMF of complicity.

From a quick walk around the UN buildings and surronding area, I'd say Solana Larsen is right (see previous post) to say New York is so far underwhelmed by the presence of more world leaders together in one place at the same time since the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992 for a summit predicated on "bold reform".

I was quite surprised to see no organised presence on the streets outside by NGOs like Oxfam calling for the UN to meet the Millennium Development Goals (however problematic those goals may be  - see Amir Attaran in the Sep 13 New York Times and this response from Jeffrey Sachs), or even the recommendations of the UN High Level Panel itself.

People often asked me what openDemocracy actually stands for. I have always said (sounding ever more precious by the second) that it stands for openness, thinking hard, dialogue and, of course, democracy - but, as an organisation, doesn't support any political party or movement. But, I add, this does not mean that people who work at or with openDemocracy are , as citizens - or in the UK case, subjects - political eunuchs. This remains the case. openDemocracy does not endorse or support any political campaign or party. But those of us who work for it or with it may do so as individuals. I think we should be up front about about this.

openDemocracy launches what we hope will be the world’s first truly global debate on the politics of climate change. Why? To find out more, read the new openDemocracy blog Hot Politics.

The BBC reports that at least 17 people have been killed and more than 100 are feared trapped after a nine-storey factory building collapsed in Savar, 32km (20 miles) north-west of Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. Working conditions in Bangladesh's textile factories have long been a source of controversy. A lively debate on the topic took place in openDemocracy last year, with Anita Roddick calling for a campaign for accountability. Farida Khan agreed with Anita Roddick that working conditions in many Bangladeshi factories continued to be appaling, but differed with her as to the best way forward. Naila Kabeer, whose work on women's conditions in Bangladesh has been praised by the novelist Monica Ali and others, sharply criticised what she saw the fuzziness of Roddick's good intentions, which - she argued- didn''t pay due regard to the likely outcomes of campaigns. Kabeer wrote:

The United States has 17% of the share capital and 100% of the power when it comes to appointing the new head of the World Bank. Not everyone is wild about this situation, as Alex Wilks recently reported for openDemocracy.

Take the FT. In an online poll of 30 March, 80% of Financial Times readers opposed the appointment of Paul Wolfowitz, the Bush administration's candidate (sample size 5711 at 9pm GMT).

More news in the run up to openDemocracy´s debate on the politics of climate change.

To the Galapagos islands from 12 to 20 March, where I will research the impact of anthropogenic climate change on one of this most wonderful biome... 

Multiple layers of human thoughtlessness are putting the future of this near miraculous web of life in doubt - one of those canaries in the coalmine for wider changes.  From Charles Darwin to Richard Dawkins, some of the finest minds have brought intellect, imagination and compassion to what exists in Galapagos.  Can we - 21st century humanity - bring similar capacities to bear on rescuing what little we do not exterminate?

In preparation for openDemocracy's forthcoming debate on the politics of climate change, campaigners and others are already wrestling with the question of what actually works. 

Could some of them take a green leaf out of the UK government's book?   The idea may not be as unlikely as it may seem once  you read this report.

BBC online reports that  Britain will announce a scheme to promote clean energy in developing countries by paying into a fund every time a minister or civil servant takes a trip by air. The idea is to offset the climate change impact of the carbon dioxide emissions from flying.

In this  week's edition of The Economist, "Lexington" asks Should George Bush go green? (subscription only).

Embracing greenery, says Lexington, "would be good for Mr Bush, good for the Republican Party, good for relations with Europe, and, above all, good for the environment".

Many people would say Bush describing himself as an environmentalist  sounds ludicrous. But is the prospect really so way out?

Never mind the second coming and the fourth dimension, Nancy Skougor and Paul Hilder are sending out the call for a third force:

"We call for the just and peaceful resolution of all conflicts, for the uprooting of fear and want.

From around the world we say: our brothers and sisters in the Middle East have the right to take responsibility for their future.

We call for ceasefires and civil society-mediated talks including all sides, for citizen movements beyond borders to build peace and democracy, and for non-aligned multinational forces to replace US power in Iraq.

...We think we share a vision of a Third Force for peace, democracy and justice – a network-enabled global civil society movement of movements that is self-organising, self-supporting. We think we can work together, beyond borders, independently, to question and transform the other forces of our world".

Doug Ireland, who is taking part in openDemocracy's debate Rethinking Iraq, says in his blog that "a political crackdown on blogging is coming in the US - thanks to McCain Feingold":

Declan McCullagh has a piece out [3 March] for CNET that is a must-read for both bloggers and political activists: an interview with Bradley Smith, one of six members of the Federal Election Commission. It's a real eye-opener: Smith "says that the freewheeling days of political blogging and online punditry are over. In just a few months, he warns, bloggers and news organizations could risk the wrath of the federal government if they improperly link to a campaign's Web site. Even forwarding a political candidate's press release to a mailing list, depending on the details, could be punished by fines."

The World Health Organisation estimates that 150,000 deaths each year can be attributed to the effects of climate. Will this figure rise as a result of global warming? What do we know about the likely effect of climate change on our health? And how should we manage new risks?

So goes an introduction to three articles on climate and health prefacing a live debate in London on 8 March.

The articles are worth reading for the contrast in thinking they display and the way they rehearse issues, or claims, that are not always well spelt out.

"WHEN I visited America during my time working for Greenpeace International in the 1990s, time and again people would say to me 'we really don't approve of the way your organisation blew up that French ship', or words to that effect".

So begins Jeremy Leggett's review of Michael Crichton's State of Fear in the 5 March edition of New Scientist.

How could it be, Leggett asks, that Americans got the French secret service's sinking of the Greenpeace ship the Rainbow Warrior (and killing of a Greenpeace photographer) the wrong way round so consistently?  He encountered the phenomenon in no other country and concluded it  was something cultural.

In the openDemocracy forums, Courtney Hamilton started a small firestorm when he expressed strong doubts about the Kyoto Protocol, first discussed in this blog here. Hamilton wrote:

Environmentalists have put the Kyoto Protocol on a morally high, political pedestal. But one by one, EU nations are slowly waking up to the economic realities of the Protocol - it's only a matter of time before they all give up this ecological-pantomime.

I want governments to spend more time, and money, encouraging rapid economic development, which would puts our society in a better position to adapt to climate change in the future. Why put the jobs of millions of people on the line?

Last night to the Iran Heritage Foundation for their seminar Children of the Revolution.  Participants included Christopher de Bellaigue and Ali Ansari. The event was chaired by openDemocracy contributor Rouzbeh Pirouz.

A good event - if you could get in, that is.

Because the event was held at the Royal Automobile Club, which requires men to wear ties.   And, this being the 21st century 'n all, a number of us turned up smartly dressed but sans cravate. 

Last June, openDemocracy published an open letter to world leaders by Gareth Evans of the International Crisis Group, in which he called for the leaders of the G8 richest industrialised countries to act to prevent further deaths in Sudan's eastern region of Darfur.  Two months later, he told openDemocracy that the situation had deteriorated and that action was even more urgent.

A lot of blood has gone under the bridge since then. On the positive side, a peace deal signed early this year that may bring an end to the war in the south Sudan, in which millions have died over the last thirty years.

Juan Cole has an interesting suggestion:

Wouldn't a flashmob protest in front of Iran's permanent mission to the UN be an appropriate blogger tool for this campaign?

Here's something for openDemocracts in the New York metropolitan area to organise on a cold February day!

Iran (Islamic Republic of)
    Permanent Representative of the Islamic Republic of Iran to the United Nations
    622 Third Avenue, 34th Floor, New York, NY 10017
    Telephone: (212) 687-2020, Telefax: (212) 867-7086

“It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us…that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”. 

51,000 casualties. 278 words. Abraham Lincoln, speaking in 1863 on a battlefield in the American Civil War, pledged to fight to the end for the abolition of slavery

Now, contemporary US citizens have an opportunity to join a battle their government has avoided, starting with The People’s Ratification of the Kyoto Treaty.   253 words.