(Bali) conference : saving the Bali global warming conference

[Guest guest]

The current global warming conference in Bali, Indonesia, with 190 nations

attending, provides an opportunity to start an effective response. But, as the

message below indicates, the US, Canada and Japan are holding up efforts to

draft a strong statement that would set targets for major decreases in

greenhouse gas emissions. Such a statement would make it more likely that there

will be recognition that a major shift toward vegetarian diets must be an

important part of the solution.

 

So, I urge you to read the statement below and to sign the petition, as I have.

 

Many thanks,

 

And thanks to Ivan Kess, a Jewish vegetarian activist in Australia, for passing

this important alert on to us.

 

Richard

 

===================

URGENT ALERT - climate-wrecking at Bali

 

Dear friends,

 

The US, Canada and Japan are climate-wrecking at Bali - here's our global

emergency petition to save the talks, add your name automatically by clicking

below!

 

" We call urgently for the US, Canada and Japan to stop blocking serious 2020

targets for emissions reductions, and for the rest of the world to refuse to

accept anything less. "

Click Here to Sign Now

We're here at the climate summit in Bali -- but it's reached crisis point.

Working late, negotiators were nearing consensus that developed countries should

pledge post-Kyoto emissions cuts by 2020--a step which the scientists say is

needed to avert the worst ravages of global warming, and which will help to

bring China and the developing world onboard. But then the news broke: the US,

Canada and Japan rejected any mention of such cuts. Every few hours the draft

changes.

 

We can't let three governments hold the world to ransom: so we're launching a

global emergency petition before the summit climax in 48 hours. We'll deliver

our message every way we can -- a stark full-page advertisement in the Jakarta

Post conference supplement which all the delegates are reading, stunts at the

conference gates, direct to country negotiators -- telling Canada, Japan and the

US to accept the option of post-Kyoto targets, and the rest of the world to

settle for nothing less.

 

Please take a moment right now to sign the new global emergency petition -- the

text is in the box above, so click this link to sign automatically if you've

taken action with us before -- then tell all your friends:

 

http://www.avaaz.org/en/bali_emergency/7.php

 

Today marks the 10th anniversary of the expiring Kyoto pact, but Japan, the US

and Canada don't seem to want a workable global deal to follow it. There is

almost universal agreement in Bali that the idea of 2020 climate targets should

be included, making possible a deal to bring the developing world onboard over

time. As the news links below make clear, the US, Japan and Canada are

destroying that delicate bargain, not even allowing the idea to be mentioned.

 

We're doing everything we can. Tens of thousands of Canadian Avaaz members have

launched an ad campaign telling their government not to betray them -- our

Japanese members are emailing their leaders -- while our American members will

send their own message to Bali as Al Gore and Congressional and local

representatives land there, asking negotiators to ignore the official US

delegation because it does not represent them.

 

Coming from every country on earth, all of us can play a direct role in the Bali

face-off by signing this global emergency petition -- delivered at the summit

gates, in a full-page Financial Times ad, and direct to delegates. Add your name

at this link, act now and spread the word -- we have just 48 hours:

 

http://www.avaaz.org/en/bali_emergency/7.php

 

With determination and hope,

 

Paul, Ricken, Galit, Ben, Iain, Graziela, Milena and the whole Avaaz team

 

PS This article explains a bit of what's going on:

 

http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/12/10/news/climate.php

 

The New Scientist has more detail here:

 

http://www.newscientist.com/blog/environment/2007/12/bali-draft-hints-emissions-\

targets-may_10.html

 

We're in the thick of things here at Bali -- Avaaz was the only organisation

allowed to demonstrate inside the fortified summit Saturday. As hundreds of

thousands marched around the world, we brought over half a million voices to the

heart of the decision-making venue, carrying big banners and scores of country

flags. We've also been hosting the daily Fossil Awards of the Climate Action

Network, the umbrella of all the NGOs here - see http://www.avaaz.org/fossils.

 

 

 

ABOUT AVAAZ

Avaaz.org is an independent, not-for-profit global campaigning organization that

works to ensure that the views and values of the world's people inform global

decision-making. (Avaaz means " voice " in many languages.) Avaaz receives no

money from governments or corporations, and is staffed by a global team based in

London, New York, Paris, Washington DC, Geneva, and Rio de Janeiro.

 

To contact Avaaz, please do not reply to this email. Instead, write to

info. You can also send postal mail to our New York office: 260 Fifth

Avenue, 9th floor, New York, NY 10001 U.S.A.

 

If you have technical problems, please go to http://www.avaaz.org.

 

 

 

 

Richard H. Schwartz, Ph.D.

Professor Emeritus, College of Staten Island

Author of " Judaism and Vegetarianism, " " Judaism and Global Survival, " and

" Mathematics and Global Survival, " and over 130 articles at

www.JewishVeg.com/schwartz

President of Jewish Vegetarians of North America (JVNA) www.JewishVeg.com

and Society of Ethical and Religious Vegetarians (SERV)

Associate Producer of A SACRED DUTY (asacredduty.com)

president