Disinvestments in fossil fuels amounting to 11 trillion dollars – eight times the global GDP – have been recorded in the last six months of this year, according to a report released this week. According to the report, divestment “leapt from 52 billion dollars in 2014 to more than 11 trillion dollars today — a stunning increase of 22,000 percent”. But the report noted that … [Read more...]
‘No jobs on a dead planet’ says Kumi
"Preparing for the 22nd Century, Environmentally" was a talk held by Greenpeace Executive Director Kumi Naido at the Cornerstone Institute in Cape Town recently. Kumi said that faith communities must come to terms with the inconvenient and uncomfortable truth that without the involvement of faith communities, we won’t be able turn around catastrophic climate change. There … [Read more...]
Inter-generational solidarity needed
“Those who call themselves adults should show some inter-generational solidarity,” said Dr. Kumi Naidoo, Executive Director of Greenpeace International at the Climate Leadership Corps training in Johannesburg. Naidoo was one of the speakers on the first day of the training of more than 900 climate leaders of all ages and cultures from 67 countries, speaking 70 different … [Read more...]
Fundamental leadership failure threatens our future
“The current response to our climate crisis in nothing but incremental tinkering. Rearranging the deckchairs. Those in power are doing system maintenance and rearranging instead of redesigning them. Our current system is fundamentally broken, but our leaders are suffering from what’s called ‘cognitive dissonance’ – all the facts are there, but those in power block them … [Read more...]
CCLA sponsors prolong fight against climate change
The Climate Leadership Awards (CLA), the first awards in Africa that recognise, reward, motivate and celebrate businesses, communities, youth, schools and individuals, have attracted significant sponsorships and partnerships in 2011 from some of South Africa's leading businesses, non-governmental and not-for-profit organisations. Chief among these partners are Global Carbon … [Read more...]
Please don’t squander this moment
An open letter to the governments of the world meeting in Durban. Dear friends, Welcome to our city. We remember a time in Durban – indeed, a period in the history of this nation of South Africa – when we feared that the apartheid states’ intransigence would spark a conflict in which much blood would be shed. But even at our lowest ebb, even when the injustice we faced … [Read more...]
COP17: COPpuccino videos
COP17: The Cambridge Programme for Sustainability Leadership (CPSL) is running a series of high-level briefings at their Oasis of Fresh Thinking with people who will be commenting on the negotiations as they unfold and giving a business perspective on the leadership challenges for businesses in the sustainability arena. Among others, there are videos of Christiana Figueres - … [Read more...]
No more jail for Kumi
Kumi Naidoo, the global head of Greenpeace, has been deported from Greenland after four days in jail for his part in a month of direct action on Cairn Energy's Arctic oil rig Leiv Eiriksson. Kumi, like the other 20 activists arrested and deported in the past weeks, is banned from Greenland for one year - but this is far from over. As Kumi said, it is shaping up to be 'one of … [Read more...]