April 18th, 2007
Unfortuantely our C&C motion did not get a chance to be discussed at the NUS conference in Blackpool this year. It was the third motion out of dozens in the queue to be debated, and due to the very short amount of time allocated to the ‘Society and Citizenship’ zone, only the first two were actually discussed, meaning that literally dozens of motions did not have a chance to be passed.
Tim Gee, Edinburgh University Student Union’s Vice President (Services) was appalled, “At this year’s NUS conference, the Contraction and Convergence motion wasn’t even discussed. Ethical issues were sidelined and regressive social policies were adopted.”
However due to such strong support for the motion, a group of delegates from across the country have grouped together to ensure that the motion is put back on the agenda for next year.
April 6th, 2007
The need for an equitable solution to climate change rose considerably today with the second in a series of IPCC reports to be released over the coming year. Following on from the first, which concluded that it is at least 90% likely that human activity is the cause of global warming, the second report stated that climate change is already having a marked effect on the natural world, and that the “poorest of the poor” will be the worst hit among human societies (Rajendra Pachauri, IPCC chairman). Read the BBC article here.
In the world of Contraction & Convergence, many large steps are being made. These past two weeks have seen the release and publication of “An Incontestable Truth” (click to view), a film from the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Climate Change which focuses on Contraction & Convergence as the most credible solution to global warming. Amongst the high-profile names involved are Jon Snow, of Channel 4, and Sir Crispin Tickell, Former UN Ambassador for the UK; the wide range of support confirms that support for C&C transcends political divisions. Launched at the House of Commons on March 28 and shown at the UK Public Health Association Conference, it challenges the recent Climate Change Bill on the grounds that its aims are too little, too late, particularly in light of the continuing failure of natural ‘sinks’.[1] The response remains to be seen.
[1] http://lists.topica.com/lists/GCN@igc.topica.com/read/message.html?
mid=1720920997&sort=d&start=589
-Ian Bhullar
