The world faces a climate crisis: Can we fix it? Observer: Yes...if we act now

The title of this thread is my summery of a good comment article in the Observer yesterday. A number of climate change experts gave their views on whether we can avert 'climate crisis'. It's pretty interesting as the commentators come from different parts of the world: from the Maldives (which would be underwater if the sea rises even slightly) to China, the US, the UK and a researcher in the Arctic.

This morning the Guardian asks... Copenhagen: Deal or No Deal? to another pair of experts.

And as you get ready to open your advent calenders - here's a nice countdown to Copenhagen timeline. Not long now, so I thought I'd show you my Christmas climate change message (above).

Campaigns Conference Success / Art with a message

Last Saturday I went along to the UNYSA campaign conference. It was great to see so many people who were enthusiastic about taking on 'the two greatest threats facing the world': nuclear proliferation and climate change.

The Youth Council would like to give a special thanks to everyone at Leicester University United Nations Society for being such excellent hosts, and to our two speakers, Tim Kellow from UNA-UK and Kate Lyons from Global Action Plan.

Everyone who attended was given a copy of our campaigns packs: STOP THE SPREAD (on Nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament) and SEAL THE DEAL (on Climate Change). Both packs are crammed full of fun campaigning ideas - from running a film night to painting campaigns T-shirts. Click here for a free download of STOP THE SPREAD and SEAL THE DEAL.

You can find out more about how the conference went on our website.

One of the best things about the conference was meeting so many people great people who shared an interest in the UN and international affairs. At the end of the day we managed to get everyone together to do a Wave (you can see the video here) to get ready the big event in London. I'll be painting a banner this week and would love to see some others!

Speaking of getting arty, I saw this instalation (top photo) in the shape of a mushroom cloud by Subodh Gupta in a magazine. It's currently in Brisbane, so not much chance of me seeing it for real, but it got me thinking about other works of art with a message. Has anyone else seen good Climate Change / Nuclear non-proliferation artwork?

Our friends at Global Action Plan told me about COP Art : the idea is that you upload any of your art with an environmental flavour and it could be shown in Copenhagen.

Obama is going to Copenhagen

Today we found out that Obama is going to Copenhagen (and so am I, though sadly not at the same time!) and he will be bringing a proposal to cut US emissions by 17% by 2020.

As the New York Times says, 'first time in more than a decade that an American administration has offered even a tentative promise to reduce production of climate-altering gases' - so it's a big step forward.

Obama will be in Copenhagen on the 9th December, the day before he picks up the Nobel Prize from nearby Oslo. Critics are worried that Obama won't be around at the end of the conference to meet with other world leaders and help broker a deal.

If anyone is interested in America's efforts to become more environmentally friendly, you should watch This World: Can Obama Save The Planet (on bbc iplayer). It's pretty good fun, but only available for the next 7days.

Something else for you to look at, I found a good section on Copenhagen from the New Statesman a few weeks ago. Take a look, there are loads of good articles. The only thing that slightly spoils it is the adverts from oil companies stressing their 'green' credentials!

Copenhagen Preparation

The papers have been talking down the prospects of a legally binding deal at Copenhagen for ages. Now it seems like they were right. Slow progress on Climate Change legislation through the US Senate, as well as at international preparation meetings mean that we'll have to wait longer for internationally binding carbon reduction targets.

But all is not lost. The Kyoto deal took a long time after the conference had finished to take shape and an important political deal can still be made at the Copenhagen Climate Conference. The legal pact would then come in 2010.

This news comes as I just received confirmation of my accommodation in Copenhagen. I'll be staying with local volunteers thanks to New Life Copenhagen - an excellent initiative aimed at dealing with the shortage of accommodation in Copenhagen during the conference by encouraging local people to let delegates stay with them. Its great that so many people have volunteered to have someone stay in their houses and I'm really looking forward to meeting my host.