On Saturday, December 8th, the International Day of Action against Climate Change will take place. Besides numerous manifestations and demonstrations on topics concerning climate change, there will also be more creative actions showing the necessity to act now on global warming. In Germany one of them will be the initiative “Lights Out! For our climate”. The BUND, the World Wide Fund for Nature and Greenpeace have appealed to people all over the country to turn off their lights between 8:00 and 8:05! We talked about the campaign with Cornelia Deppe-Burghardt, Spokesperson of Greenpeace.
Hello Cornelia Deppe-Burghardt, what are you going to do on Saturday between 8 and 8:05 pm?I guess I`m on my way back home because I`m going to join the demonstration in Berlin that day. When I´m home I certainly switch off all my lights.

Who is supposed to join the initiative?Everybody can join this initiative. That is the best of it.Should only the lights be switched off or does it involve every electric device?Our appeal is it to switch off the lights. But if anybody wants to switch off more electric device, please do so. How did the idea of the campaign „Lights Out! For our climate!” come about?Together with WWF and friends of the earth we have a cooperation with the BILD newspaper in Germany for the benefit of climate protection. The four of us developed the idea to initiate some really huge event to support the global climate action day.It's going to be dark on Saturday...
What’s the aim of the initiative?The aim is to send a sign to the politicians at Bali and to the people to act forceful now for climate protection. Besides everybody should realise how may energy he uses and how he can reduce it.Various institutions already declared that they will join the campaign. Can you give us some examples?We have more than 220 commitments right now from the Brandenburger Tor to the Hofbräuhaus in Munich and from the cathedral in Cologne to Neuschwanstein palace.

Let’s assume, the whole country will switch off their lights for five minutes – what would be the effect on our environment?This is no measure to save energy. We cannot save a lot of energy with it. We want to send a signal for more climate protection.What can you tell us about other campaigns on climate action day?There are activities in several other countries worldwide. In Germany there will be two demonstrations in Neurath near Düsseldorf and in Berlin for climate protection.The climate action day is supposed to enlarge our conscience for what we can do against global warming. To what extend do you think living a sustainable lifestyle has been established in our society?I think people begin to think about it but there is still a long way to go.

So if you achieve your goal, it’s going to be very dark in Germany for a while. Could you recommend a good idea about how to spend these five minutes?First exchange your light bulbs for energy saving bulbs. Then exchange your energy provider for a green one.

At the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali from 3-14 December it could be a stormy affair between the already industrialized nations and the newly industrializing countries (NICs).The backdrop for the big meeting could not have been better selected: the Indonesian island of Bali, a tropical paradise on earth set in the middle of the Indian Ocean with lush hibiscus and panda nut palm trees – it’s not surprising that this place is also known as the “island of the gods”. However Bali is not only an example of our planet’s beauty that is worthy of protection; Bali also stands for the threat posed by climate change, as can be seen by the rampant weather extremes during their monsoon season and the progressive global warming which endangers its coastlines.Of course, the participants at the UN climate conference are aware of this double meaning. In order to save these particular paradises (and the world climate in general), they have jetted to Bali from a total of 192 countries. But the consequences of their kerosene consumption in the CO2 debate is only a fringe concern. The issue that will exclusively decide the success or failure of the summit is whether an effective successor agreement can be found for the Kyoto protocol that expires in 2012.Opening of the Climate Change Conference in BaliWhether an agreement is effective or insufficient is measured basically by the magic number two. Global warming of two degrees Celsius above the pre-industrialized level – according to general expert opinion - is the maximum our planet can tolerate. As the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) emphasizes, greenhouse gas emissions in the year 2050 must be reversed to at least 50% of the 1990 level in order to reach this goal.This objective is ambitious, and several climate researchers fear it is too ambitious. There are indeed quite positive trends: After the change of government in Australia the new Labor government under Premier Kevin Rudd ratified the Kyoto Protocol immedietely. And since the G8 summit in Heiligendamm in June, the resistance of the USA against an effective global climate policy seems no longer carved in stone. Nevertheless: Many European industrialized countries are falling short of their ambitious self-imposed goals for emission reduction. The real problem is with the rapidly developing NICs. An agreement that does not include countries such as India, China and Indonesia, in which an overwhelming thirst for growth and thus cheap energy has developed, is worth nothing more than hot air – in the literal sense. But to get all these countries into the same boat, may prove to be very difficult. Prior to the conference the Chinese government implied that it could only imagine a mandatory upper limit for emission in exchange for being compensated by the rich industrialized nations for its stunted growth . This is reminiscent of Vladimir Putin’s tactics in 2004, when he consented to the Kyoto Protocol only in order to guarantee EU approval for Russia to join the World Trade Organization (WTO). China’s behavior, however, can be accounted for by a certain exigency: For its economic growth, China needs concrete and steel in great quantities – materials that require considerable energy input for their production. Hence the Chinese deputy minister of foreign affairs, Zhang Yesul, emphasized a few weeks ago that the Chinese energy demand “will increase over a long period”. Economic advancement must be sanctioned to the newly industrializing countries.This attitude is not completely incomprehensible. The wealth of the Western industrialized countries is based to a considerable degree on a decade-long exploitation of nature. Holding others accountable for the mistakes that one has allowed one's self to make, undermines one’s credibility to be an example, as the West perceives itself to be. But when the prospering NICs of China, India and Brazil are excluded, as in the Kyoto treaty, will the Bali summit therefore be considered a failure? What would a good solution look like?First of all, a basic rethinking of the global struggle against climate change is imperative. The Kyoto Protocol attaches importance to economic solutions but ignores, for example, the possibilities of technology transfer. Ecologically compatible coal-fired power plants and a massive support for regenerative energy sources in the NICs would not only retard their emission output, but also provide a surge of innovation in the industrialized countries. This alone, though, will not dissuade the Chinese from their belief in fossil fuels; in that land an average of two new 500-megawatt coal-fired power plants per week are being constructed.Yvo de Boer, Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (left) with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right)Great expectations are placed on the trade with emission allowances. Every country will receive air pollution certificates based on its population figures. Wealthier countries have the possibility to buy extra certificates from the NICs, thereby subsidizing the implementation of environmentally compatible technologies in these countries. At the same time energy in the industrialized countries would increase in price, which would force these lands to think about more efficient technologies. The snag, however, is that India and China in particular would have many certificates available to them due to their high population figures, but the CO2 emissions there are already so high that scarcely any certificates would be left over for trade.Whether the climate summit meeting will indeed fulfill these great expectations remains to be seen. All participants, however, should be conscious of the fact that they are quasi “doomed to success”. Yvo de Boer, executive secretary of the United Nation's Framework Convention on Climate Change, does not tire of stressing that a successor treaty of the Kyoto Protocol ending in 2012 must be written at all costs, since the ratification process in the individual countries demands so much time. Conference participants can contemplate their responsibilities until 14 December – in a location that daily illustrates to them the magnificent aspects of our planet that need to be saved.What do you think about the responsibility of the newly industrializing countries (NICs) to reduce their emission? Are the demands of the wealthy industrialized nations unfair? Or are there no other alternatives? Are the industrialized nations supposed to reduce their emissions one-sided? Write and send us your opinion!To hear more voices about the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, watch also our Video of the Convention of the Social Democratic Party in Germany!Images: United Nations

On Monday, December 3rd, the world is focusing its attention on the UN Climate Change Conference in Bali. An international agreement needs to be found to follow the Kyoto Protocol which expires in 2012. And the support of the United States, one of the largest emitters of carbon, is absolutely necessary. Last October, at the National Party congress of the German Social Democratic Party (SPD) in Hamburg, we collected opinions about the responsibility of the United States to combat climate change.

In Venice one can imagine the watery apocalypse that is said to await us. Images of flooded cities and submerged resorts are used more and more as scare tactics to warn us to change our lifestyles or deal with the impending results of climate change. But the rising waters, the melting ice-caps, none of these are necessary to experience what it would be like to live in a city of water. Welcome to Venice. As we peer over the side of our Gondola, we can see the tops of old cellar windows and doors, now flooded and useless, the wine they stored destroyed and the families they housed long gone. The stairs of the luxurious private palaces, stained and un-kept and overgrown with moss, descend into the blue water, waves lapping and darkening the courtyards as they rise with the tides. Wooden spindly poles covered in barnacles support the narrow leaning buildings and towers, as they desperately reach down, grappling to stay upright in the soft sand and rising waters of the Adriatic sea.
It is common knowledge that Venice is sinking and the waters are rising. The city may well be an example as to what happens to a city over time, after we have manipulated nature to the maximum, and have to consequently struggle with nature's retaliation.
Venice is actually made up of 118 small islands, connected by 400 bridges, (soon to be 401 as one more is currently built at the Palazzo Roma). And all the buildings have been built into the sand. As we walk along the narrow streets and labyrinth-like lane-ways, we notice the stacked up wooden planks. These are the temporary walkways that are needed when the city floods. Which it does, often. On average, the main square (and tourist attraction) of San Marco floods 90 times year.But Venice was flooding well before the climate change argument began. The floods of AD 589, 885 and 1268 were all significant. In the 1930s, water began to be pumped from under the city to be used in the nearby factories, and the city has sunk 1/5 of an inch each year.
In 1966, a great flood resulted in the ground floors of 16000 homes being abandoned.

There are other problems to consider. The waves created by the new motorboats erode the wooden foundations. The houses lean and strain as they sink into the sandy swamps on which the were built. There are no cars on the island (tourist traffic is limited to just one bridge joining it to the mainland) but ironically its the acid tainted droppings of the pigeons that are also responsible for much for the buildings corrosion.Venice has already had to make extreme changes to deal with its situation and there are no more romantic fireplaces or coal ovens. They are also testing the use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) as an alternative motor fuel for outboard and inboard marine engines. Then there are the large urban projects being developed in order to stop the town from entering an early watery grave. The first involves protecting the island from the rising tides. The"Moses Project" or MOSE
(due to be completed by 2011) consists of 78 mobile steel barriers that will be activated during exceptionally high tides. They will lie on the seabed most of the time, but will be filled with air to create a dam when Venice is threatened. All this would take 30 minutes to work. However critics say that the rise of sea levels from global warming might make MOSE useless in less than 50 years. There are other concerns. Venice has an ancient plumbing system and waste and sewerage is still released into the canals. Without the high tides to flush the filthy water out to sea, the results could be disastrous.

MOSE ProjectThe next idea involves raising the island of Venice itself. This scheme would involve pumping huge quantities of sea water into the ground beneath Venice down 12 pipes each of which would be 700m long. The sea water would make the sand beneath the city expand and lifting Venice by 30cm in 10 years. It also costs just a fraction of Moses at only 100m euro.

How does a city change with the times? Ironically, across the water, the mainland is illuminated with the lights of heavy industry, factories and power plants, that spill pollutants into the air and water. Does Venice need to stay in the sixteenth Century, A UNESCO protected tourist attraction that will drown in its own quaintness? Venice is like an Ouroboros, eating its own tail. History repeating itself, an old city that cannot be overdeveloped yet needs to adjust and adapt with the most modern methods in order to survive.But as one floats down the canals, the only sound that of the swoosh of the Gondolier's oar through water, or the call of a gull, a water city doesn't seem all that bad at all.

At the end of October, the German Social
Democratic Party (SPD), the junior partner in
Chancellor Angela Merkel's coalition government, held
its national party congress in Hamburg. Global environmental topics certainly played an important role during the conference. Club of Pioneers collected opinions on different topics - here's our second of three videos concerning the agenda of the UN Climate Change Conference to take place in Bali in December

Innovative forms of renewable energies and non-polluting electricity generation are traditionally main issues in Germany. Since The Greens joined the Federal Government for the first time in 1998, sustainability has become a very important point on the political agenda of the country. Over the past years, the Federal Government took some important steps to stimulate this development through supporting programmes such as the market incentive programme for renewable energy (MAP) or the Renewable Energy Sources Act (EEG) which regulates the payment for electricity from renewable energy fed into the grid. Bild: Hildebrand & MarianoDue to the disturbing results of studies like the Stern report, the Ministry for the Environment has issued new rules that significantly increase the tariffs for offshore wind energy, hydroelectricity and geothermal energy. Thanks to these efforts, the share of renewable energy in total gross electricity consumption rose to 12 % in 2006. According to the Ministry for the Environment, it has been able to avoid the release of 101 million tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere during the last year. By now, many German companies regard investments in key components for wind energy, hydropower, solar energy, geothermic and biomass sectors as a way to increase their capacity to compete. Due to high prices for crude oil and natural gas, the biofuel sector became especially interesting. Most bioethanol producers, for example, have further plans for expansion in response to the increasing demand. The eastern part of Germany might benefit from this process above average: Experts expect over 200 000 new jobs in the sector of renewable energies to be generated through 2020. The newly formed states benefit from the low-cost supply of renewable primary products in the region which can be used for the production of biofuel. As a further advantage, the strong winds at the coast provide ideal conditions for wind energy.As you can see, renewable energy technologies in Germany have become an important industrial sector with high annual growth rates being expected to increase further. No question, these are good news. But however, further efforts are needed: Although the boom of sustainable energies has taken place, total emissions of carbon dioxide still rose by 0.6 % up to 5.1 million tons in Germany last year. The challenge to face the climate change by continuous improvement of innovative technology goes on – fortunately there’s enough pioneering spirit to cope with this task! You can see for yourself during the next days: We're going to introduce some pioneering german companys that will also join the event “Garden of Ideas”, taking place at the German Embassy in Washington on October 3rd, the German Unification Day. We will be there for you - so stay tuned!
The following blogs of our series will point out the rich diversity of the pioneering spirit in Germany. Some companies have included the idea in their manufacturing process or operation business, others support other pioneers with their know-how and experience. Stay tuned if you want to explore all those different ways to face up to the climate change!

Placido Domingo spoke with us during our interview about the shrinking coasts in Mexico. Domingo was born in 1941 in Madrid, Spain, and moved with about eight years of age to this country. Where they used to have about 20 meters of beach he says, nowadays the beach is gone, shrunk. The singer assumes this is due to climate change.Domingo was quite concerned about the impacts of environmental misbehavior during our talk; he named historical buildings that survived centuries and seem to be endangered due to air pollution. Domingo who is frequently singing in all the Major Opera Houses of the World - amongst them treasures of architectural history like the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Vienna State Opera- loves these buildings.

Domingo has also talked about the air pollution in Beijing which challenge the Olympic Games next year. The city of Beijing is like many others over-polluted and stuck with traffic. The government now has to call to action (We reported).Sustainabiliyt is a topic among the opera singers and artists Domingo knows. He however has to fly which concerns him. Apart from that he tries to save energy and water. During the Salzburg Festival Domingo had the chance to talk with his colleagues and friends about the Hydrogen 7 limousine which he was driven in during the Festival. He liked the car he said during the interview and he expressed the hope that soon a hydrogen infrastructure will be established. Having in mind that he needs to fly a lot from concert to concert he added the wish that even airplanes will work with hydrogen one day.The Opera singer who is of an excellent health and voice is one ambassador of Hear the World, an institution that cares for hearing. In the Mission Statement they say: "By 2015, an estimated 700 million people will be hearing impaired, the equivalent of people using the internet today."
Pollution destroys historical buildings and the natural surrounding. He tested the Hydrogen 7 and said he enjoed this expierience. "Thump up", he says for new kinds of mobility.