Tim Flannery – It’s ‘Now or Never’ on Climate Action

Tim Flannery, internationally acclaimed scientist, WFC Councillor and Chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council, has just published a book ‘Now or Never: Why We Must Act Now to Stop Climate Change and Create a Sustainable Future’ that is sure to frighten everyone who dares to read it – from hardened climate sceptics to true believers. Flannery has been a leader in efforts to change human behaviour to avoid planetary catastrophe but believes we have already passed the “tipping point” of climate consequences. Now we must act to avoid the “point of no return” which would bring on a new “dark age” of full-scale climate catastrophe. “In the next forty to ninety years humanity will exceed the capacity of the earth to supply our needs, thereby greatly exacerbating the risk of widespread starvation,” Flannery says. Flannery is not concerned about living up to the billing of climate alarmist. As David Suzuki writes in the book's foreword, it's time to “take the gloves off and tell it like it is.”

David Krieger – US Should Ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

Writing in the Wall Street Journal on October 27th, David Krieger, WFC Councillor and President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, said recent calls about the need for nuclear testing were totally false and the US must not restart testing. The US has already tested more than 1,050 nuclear weapons, far more than any other country, and continues to conduct computer simulations which can be compared with the data from earlier explosive tests. According to Krieger, ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is crucial in the US for two reasons: It will send a message that the US is serious about its vision of achieving a nuclear-weapons-free world, and it will stop other countries from conducting nuclear tests. The only conditions under which the citizens of the United States will be safe from a nuclear attack are those of a world with zero nuclear weapons. Globally banning all nuclear testing is an important step toward this goal.

Maude Barlow – Uruguay Referendum Gives Resounding 'No' to Privatisation of Water

On October 25th, Uruguayan voters overwhelmingly approved a constitutional reform that defines water as a public good and guarantees civil society participation at every level of management of the country's water resources. This was welcomed by Maude Barlow, WFC Councillor and senior advisor on water to UN president Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann who said “the concentration of power in the hands of a single corporation and the inability of governments to reclaim management of water services allows corporations to impose their interests on government, reducing the democratic power of citizens”. While at least 51 percent of voters elected the country's first leftist president last month, more than 60 percent came out in favour of introducing a constitutional clause stating that “water is a natural resource essential to life” and that access to piped water and sanitation services are “fundamental human rights”.

Vithal Rajan: Supporting green students initiative

On October 26th, WFC Councillor Vithal Rajan was keynote speaker in Hyderabad at the launch of the website of Let's Unite for a Greener Tomorrow – an initiative of engineering students led by seniors at the Padmasri B.V. Raju Institute of Technology, one of India’s leading institutes. The young people aim to stop climate change, influence the government by uniting the youth and to design and produce affordable alternative technologies. Vithal Rajan is a respected advisor on grassroots community development and applications of local technologies in India.

Prince Hassan – Road Map for Human Security in West Asia North Africa region

In October, WFC Councillor HRH Prince El Hassan bin Talal of Jordan called for a new way of dealing with the enormous challenges the West Asia and North Africa (WANA) region faces. In a speech at the Post Conflict Reconstruction and Recovery conference HRH said it is useless to talk about human, economic and natural resources without talking about the 'carrying capacity' of the region. HRH also stressed the need to strengthen the autonomy of human beings through “education for citizenship”. He suggested that one avenue is through promoting awareness of global and regional commons, and building concepts which fit the views and aspirations of the peoples of the region for a secure and stable future. He added that the key issue that must be focused on is social cohesion, warning that “continuing to live on isolated islands and to promote narrow identities would exacerbate the crises in the region, and reinforce the stereotyping of Arabs and Muslims as terrorists”.

Vandana Shiva – Biotech Food Not the Future

In a New York Times debate on October 26th Vandana Shiva, WFC Councillor and the founder of Navdanya, a movement of 500,000 seed keepers and organic farmers in India, said gene-altered crops failed to offer a solution to world hunger. Instead food security over the next two decades will have to be built on ecological security and climate resilience. “We need biodiversity intensification that works with nature’s nutrient and water cycles, not against them” she said. According to Shiva, genetic engineering has not increased yields. Recent research by Doug Gurian-Sherman of the Union of Concerned Scientists published as a study “Failure to Yield” has shown that in nearly 20 years of records, genetically engineered crops have not increased yields. The study did not find significantly increased yields from crops engineered for herbicide tolerance or crops engineered to be insect-resistant. “The claim by the genetic engineering industry that without genetically modified food we cannot respond to climate change is simply false. Climate resilient traits in crops have been evolved by farmers over centuries”, Shiva said.

Wes Jackson – Saving Topsoil a Matter of Plant Breeding

A story on US National Public Radio's “All things considered” this week featured Wes Jackson, WFC Councillor and Kansas farmer who founded The Land Institute. The story identifies topsoil loss as one of the long-term problems in crop production, and describes how Jackson and his group are working to develop perennial varieties of crop plants as a means of reducing erosion. Wes Jackson has spent much of his life laying the foundation for a new farming economy grounded in nature's principles and nurtured in small towns and rural communities. Exploding the tenets of industrial agriculture, Jackson, a respected advocate for sustainable practices, a MacArthur and Pew fellow has sought to integrate food production with nature in a way that sustains both.