David Miliband

Foreign Secretary

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Thursday 15 October, 2009

Blog Action Day - Climate Change

Today is Blog Action Day  and across the world bloggers are coming together to blog on one topic; climate change. There is no topic more pressing or more worthy, and both government and individuals need to be mobilised in support of an ambitious and equitable deal in Copenhagen. Bloggers who individually have quiet voices can collectively speak volumes.

Last year 12,000 bloggers took part. This year I hope there will be even more. Including our Foreign Office climate change bloggers, now gathered in one place on our new blog platform 'Climate Conversations' . But climate change has an impact far beyond those traditionally thought of as environmental. So bloggers right across our network are are also writing on this topic - John Duncan, Ambassador for Multilateral Arms Control & Disarmament, on nuclear issues and climate change; David Concar, Climate Change Counsellor Beijing, on China’s climate change concerns. The Prime Minister too has produced a one off blog for the cause, available to read on Number 10’s website

But it’s not just bloggers. Everyone can do their bit by backing the bid for an ambitious, effective and fair deal in Copenhagen. Go to the 'Act on Copenhagen' website  to find out more.

The UK is doing its bit– the first country to set legally binding targets to cut its carbon footprint and the first to set carbon budgets to limit emissions. But we, and the rest of the world, have a massive challenge in front of us. The window of action to avoid catastrophic climate change is closing and agreement at Copenhagen is by no means certain.

All countries must come together to face the shared threat. There will have to be compromise, but there cannot be compromise on the ambition – to keep global temperature rises below 2 degrees, we need nothing less than a 50% reduction in global emissions by 2050. I hope the voices raised today will help us near our goal.

Posted at 11:55 15 October 2009 by David Miliband  |  Comments[21]

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Hi David, Good to hear about what the Foreign Office is doing. I'm interested in hearing what you are doing personally. How are you reducing your environmental impact? Have you or are you intending to sign up to the 10:10 http://www.1010uk.org/ campaign? Regards, Phil

Posted by Phil Clark on October 15, 2009 at 12:40 PM BST #

Here's my contribution to Blog Action Day on climate change: http://percefalsquest.blogspot.com/. With the Prime Minister joining in just 9 days before the International Day Of Climate Action on 24th - click my blog link - as part of the buildup to Copenhagen, it's all boding well for UK Government commitment to achieving real changes in December 7th.

Posted by Percefal on October 15, 2009 at 02:06 PM BST #

FYI - the Spark project undertook ideas generation with young people to come up with a phone app to tackle climate change. The result is a recycling guide, available to all mobile phone users - we hope this will increase people's knowledge about what they can do to make a difference. Also, sign the UN climate petition here: http://www.hopenhagen.org/home/map

Posted by The Spark on October 15, 2009 at 02:46 PM BST #

I am sure the end of both the Iraq and the Afghanistan wars could help us fighting the climate change. Don't you think?

Posted by Paulo Coimbra on October 15, 2009 at 03:13 PM BST #

Respected Sir, you are the 'real changemaker' of the world; world community is looking towards 'dedicated leaders like you' to save this earth from CLIMATE CHANGE. Sir, today i also posted on my blog http://www.mynature-myfuture.blogspot.com on topic CLIMATE CHANGE. Sir, you are invited to my blog with your comments, on this topic. My best wishes to every world citizen on BLOG ACTION DAY. [Prabhat Misra, District Savings Officer, Etawah, U.P., India.]

Posted by Prabhat Misra on October 15, 2009 at 03:55 PM BST #

This is encouraging to read, and I hope the UK will take a leading role in Copenhagen. Perhaps you can help convince our PM to take this a bit more seriously. Here’s my post for Blog Action Day: http://selfdestructivebastards.blogspot.com/2009/10/wake-up-humanity.html Everyone else go make one too!

Posted by Canada Guy on October 15, 2009 at 04:06 PM BST #

David - thanks for your blog. It's so important to have high-profile people blogging about this issue. I've uploaded my blog to Project Dirt's frontpage http://www.projectdirt.com/profiles/blogs/thursday-15th-october which outlines the major campaigns to get involved with, along with what London's community groups are doing.

Posted by Nick on October 15, 2009 at 11:49 PM BST #

Once the deep mystery of “climate change” has been solved And “What’s green and causes CC?” is no longer a popular riddle, The legacy of the era most likely will be: “Never in recorded history have so many made so much over so little”. With apologies to the late, great Winston Churchill.

Posted by edwin sanchez on October 16, 2009 at 02:28 AM BST #

I hope that they change everything around...

Posted by chris brown on October 16, 2009 at 04:53 AM BST #

Sir, suggestions for carbon free world, are: 1. There should be a WORLD COMMISSION FOR SCIENCE AND DEVELOPMENT for promoting the researches and developmental works which have zero to low carbon emission. 2. There should a compulsory constitutional amendment to make ENVIRONMENTAL WAY OF LIFESTYLE a compulsory duty. 3. Investment in R&D should be more in areas like solar, tidal, wind and water energies. 4. There should be a big role for N.G.Os. in implementing the plans & projects of government. 5. There should be effective programmes, at grass root level to save the environment from degradation, such as RED TAPE and GREEN VILLAGE [ http://www.blogs.fco.gov.uk/miliband/act_on_copenhagen ]. 6. DEVELOPED nations should provide financial help and green technology to DEVELOPING nations to phase-out the fossil fuels. 7. One way Carbon caping legislation programme may cause economic recession in developing world.

Posted by Prabhat Misra, District Savings Officer, U.P., India on October 17, 2009 at 01:05 PM BST #

SIR, HAPPY DIWALI to the WHOLE FAMILY of "FCO BLOGGERS and VISITORS". This is the GREAT INDIAN FESTIVAL of light as well as celebration of win of peace, truth and justice over injustice and violence. My best wishes to the citizens of this planet. [Prabhat Misra, District Savings Officer, Etawah, U.P., India]

Posted by Prabhat Misra on October 17, 2009 at 01:14 PM BST #

that is really a great topic for world discussion because climate changes has post a every big problem to humanity and if not carefully checked the worst will happen and make site has great tools to check climate problem just visit and find out.. nice time to all and environmental safety to every one

Posted by chigozzie on October 17, 2009 at 02:15 PM BST #

Both sides I hope make a change http://www.webedesigner.com

Posted by James White on October 18, 2009 at 03:47 AM BST #

Hi, That's great to see everyone writing on Climate change... Even I have put my thoughts on what are the causes of climate change and how to stop it... http://bit.ly/QSTpk

Posted by Sikku on October 19, 2009 at 08:12 AM BST #

David, you will doubtless be aware, but visitors to this blog may not, that on 28-30th September 2009, there was a conference. The Environmental Change Institute International Climate Conference www.eci.ox.ac.uk/4degrees/index.php Subject: Implications of a global climate change of 4+ degrees for people, ecosystems and the earth-system. Two degrees of warming is considered 'dangerous'. But looking at our current business as usual CO2 emissions trajectory, the predictions for various emissions scenarios, a warming of 4 degrees is considered a real possibility, perhaps more. The presentations are available at www.eci.ox.ac.uk/4degrees/downloads/abstractbook.pdf There are presentation downloadable as mp3 files and pdfs A video that puts this in a nutshell: 'A REALLY Inconvenient Truth: Dan Miller' climateplace.org

Posted by Christopher Sauvarin on October 19, 2009 at 08:40 AM BST #

Your battle-cry to the People to rise up in a sort of crusade against global warming is a bit hysterical. People did exactly the same thing in medieval times about the appearance of comets, believing them to harbinger the end of the world. Your statements sound very similar. They are unscientific and emotional. The majority of scientists do NOT accept the theory of AGW because the majority of scientists understand the chemical equation: Cfossil fuel + O2air = CO2 + H2O + Heat Hopefully you accept this equation You therefore must accept this chemical reaction occurring simultaneously: CO2 + H2O + sunlight = C6-H12-O6biomass + O2. photoautotrophic growth Therefore, the only relevant question regarding AGW, is to ask which chemical reaction taking place is returning the greater volume of gas to the atmosphere. Is it combustion, respiration, decomposition plus other inorganic redox reactions, or photoautropic growth of all types which consumes CO2 and produces Oxygen? Air-breathing plants plus aquatic carbon-fixing phytoplankton produce about 150,000,000,000 tonnes of biomass every year. This is a huge mass but this includes everything that grows across the whole planet including the oceans. To complete this photoautropic activity, living matter has to sequester about 470 billion tons of CO2 annually from the atmosphere to produce this amount of biomass. Of this, about 10 of the CO2 47 billion tonnes, is permanently lost to the atmosphere due to the creation of irreducible biomass and carboniferous deposition. Add to this the 4 billion tons of organic-based waste which is buried in landfill sites around the world, representing approx 12 billion tons of CO2, gives a total loss to the atmosphere of 59 billion tons of CO2. Since the declared total amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere worldwide is 29 billion tons US Energy Information Administration leaves a 30 billion ton shortfall of CO2 in the atmosphere. Your AGW prognostications has to be wrong. Even at a very basic level, the imagined rise in CO2 for any industrialised country would be offset by the mere waste 80 carbon that’s permanently captured when buried in landfill sites.

Posted by Justin Gudgeon on October 21, 2009 at 01:09 AM BST #

I think it's better think than done. Especially in China, the government dicides everything, and our comments are so weak.

Posted by satiko on October 21, 2009 at 08:12 AM BST #

You're wasting your time and our money. In so far as climate change is happening, wild variations in planetary climate have happened before, long before industrialisation and large human CO2 emissions. It is not a process we can control, certainly not through such coincidentally self-interested methods advanced by politicians of higher taxes. The hysteria on this issue is a product of an arrogant human belief that we are important and powerful. Relative to other animals on this planet, we may be. But in the context of the planet's natural cycles, we are really tiny dots of irrelevance. I believe that history will make you and all climate alarmists look very silly indeed. Please, take the opportunity now to get on with something constructive for humankind instead.

Posted by Mike Hanlon on October 23, 2009 at 02:32 PM BST #

¨to keep global temperature rises below 2 degrees, we need nothing less than a 50 reduction in global emissions by 2050¨. Just copy your economy. You have reduced the value of a quid by 50 percent in no time.

Posted by Pedro on October 23, 2009 at 04:29 PM BST #

Quite apart from the well-rehearsed climate change reasons, I believe that, over the next 3-4 years, the increasingly evident oil shortage will provide many more pressing reasons for us to cut back on oil use and thus on carbon emissions. At present the temporary reduction in consumption due to the global recession has caused a short-term surplus and hidden the seriousness of the situation. However, as the major world economies start to grow again, the shortage will be unavoidable and rapidly become critical. Western governments seem to have their heads in the sand on this one.

Posted by Alistair Knox on October 26, 2009 at 03:11 PM GMT #

In the run up to the Copenhagen climate change conference, it is vital the following information be disseminated to the public as well as to our political leaders. A widely cited 2006 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Livestock's Long Shadow, estimates that 18 percent of annual worldwide greenhouse gas GHG emissions are attributable to livestock….however recent analysis by Goodland and Anhang co-authors of "Livestock and Climate Change" in the latest issue of World Watch magazine found that livestock and their byproducts actually account for at least 32.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, or 51 percent of annual worldwide GHG emissions! The main sources of GHGs from animal agriculture are: 1 Deforestation of the rainforests to grow feed for livestock. 2 Methane from manure waste. – Methane is 72 times more potent as a global warming gas than CO2 3 Refrigeration and transport of meat around the world. 4 Raising, processing and slaughtering of the animal. Meat production also uses a massive amount of water and other resources which would be better used to feed the world’s hungry and provide water to those in need. Based on their research, Goodland and Anhang conclude that replacing livestock products with soy-based and other alternatives would be the best strategy for reversing climate change. They say "This approach would have far more rapid effects on GHG emissions and their atmospheric concentrations-and thus on the rate the climate is warming-than actions to replace fossil fuels with renewable energy." The fact is that we are being informed of the dangerous path we are on by depending greatly on animal flesh for human consumption. We still have the opportunity to make the most effective steps in saving ourselves and this planet. By simply choosing a plant based diet we can reduce our carbon foot print by a huge amount. We are gambling with our lives and with those of our future generations to come. It's madness to know we are fully aware of the possible consequences but yet are failing to act. Promoting a plant based diet to the public is would be the most effective way to curb deforestation, we hope this will be adopted as a significant measure to save the rainforests and protect the delicate ecology. Thank you for your consideration.

Posted by SAAW International on November 05, 2009 at 08:05 AM GMT #

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