Teen activist Greta Thunberg meets UK MPs as climate protests continue

Yahoo – AFP, April 23, 2019

Extinction Rebellion climate change activists performed a mass "die in" at the
Natural History Museum (AFP Photo/Tolga Akmen)

London (AFP) - Teen climate activist Greta Thunberg met a cross-party group of British MPs on Tuesday including opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn, as environmental protesters staged a ninth day of demonstrations in London.

The Swedish activist, who is due to address the protests in Westminster later on Tuesday, met Corbyn along with Liberal Democrat leader Vince Cable, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas and others in parliament.

"We just want people to listen to the science," the 16-year-old told those assembled for a roundtable discussion on climate change.

Organisers of the meeting pointedly left a place empty for Prime Minister Theresa May, who was reportedly invited but chairing a cabinet meeting in Downing Street at the time.

They said there was no response to their invitation. May's official spokesman said he was "not aware" of the request.

The UK Student Climate Network, an environmentalist group, said the meeting with the Westminster leaders had seen an agreement reached "on some important first steps they can take together to tackle the climate crisis."

Thunberg has inspired tens of thousands of children worldwide to boycott classes 

to draw attention to climate change (AFP Photo/FREDERICK FLORIN)

"We need to keep pressure up to ensure actions, not just words," it said on Twitter.

Thunberg has inspired tens of thousands of children worldwide to boycott classes to draw attention to climate change after starting a solitary solo protest last year.

Meanwhile she has been visiting European capitals pressing for politicians to take the issue more seriously.

Thunberg traveled to Britain over the weekend to support fellow activists who have been causing gridlock in parts of central London since last Monday with sit-in protests.

Addressing the ongoing demonstrations organised by the Extinction Rebellion group on Sunday, she declared: "the struggle has barely begun. It's only the beginning."

On Tuesday, protesters carrying flags and banners marched to drums and chants from their makeshift camp at Marble Arch in central London to rally outside parliament on the first day MPs are back after an Easter break.

Police have arrested more than a thousand activists since they began their protests last week, and on Tuesday announced 71 people will face charges over their actions.

Bee-wildering! Hives of Notre-Dame in miraculous survival

Yahoo – AFP, April 18, 2019

It has become increasingly customary in the French capital for bee hives to be
introduced at seemingly unlikely locations, including also at the Paris Opera
(AFP Photo/Sven Hoppe)

Paris (AFP) - Some 200,000 bees inhabiting hives in Notre-Dame cathedral survived the inferno that engulfed the heritage landmark in a miraculous escape, their beekeeper said Thursday.

"The bees are alive. Until this morning, I had had no news," said beekeeper Nicolas Geant who looks after the hives which are kept on top of a sacristry that adjoins the cathedral.

"At first I thought that the three hives had burned but I had no information" after Monday's fire, Geant told AFP.

"Then I saw from satellite images that this was not the case and then the cathedral spokesman told me that they were going in and out of the hives."

Geant said he had been taken aback by calls of support from all corners of the world.

He said that this kind of bee does not abandon its hive, instead gorging on honey and not abandoning the queen bee.

Each hive at Notre-Dame on average produces some 25 kilogrammes of honey each year which is sold to Notre-Dame staff.

It has become increasingly customary in the French capital for bee hives to be introduced at seemingly unlikely locations, including also at the Paris Opera.

Related Article:

Macron vows to rebuild a 'more beautiful' Notre-Dame in 5 years

European voters urged to mobilise behind child climate activists

Yahoo – AFP, Marie JULIEN, April 16, 2019

Swedish teenage climate activist Greta Thunberg holds back tears at a European
Parliament committee where she warned that time is running out to stop the
ravages of global warming (AFP Photo/FREDERICK FLORIN)

Strasbourg (France) (AFP) - Sweden's teenage activist Greta Thunberg choked backed tears on Tuesday as she warned of climate disaster and urged Europeans to vote in next month's elections to press for decisive action on cutting greenhouse gases.

In a speech to a packed committee of the European Parliament, Thunberg, 16, warned time is running out to stop the ravages of global warming.

"I want you to panic, I want you to act as if the house was on fire," Thunberg told the environment committee of the assembly in the French city of Strasbourg.

Citing scientific reports endorsed by the United Nations and holding back her tears, she warned of accelerating disasters like mass species extinction, erosion of top soil, deforestation, air pollution, loss of insects and the acidification of oceans.

She received a warm round of applause before composing herself and continuing her speech.

"You need to listen to us, we who cannot vote," Thunberg said, referring to the tens of thousands of students taking to the streets worldwide to fight climate change.

"You need to vote for us, for your children and grandchildren," she said. "In this election, you vote for the future living conditions for human kind."

Voters in EU countries will elect on May 23-26 a new European Parliament, which will also play a role in chosing the head of the European Commission, the bloc's executive arm.

'Hijacked for political ends'

During a visit to Brussels in February, Thunberg urged the European Union to double its ambition for greenhouse gas cuts, upping its target from 40 percent to 80 percent by 2030.

Under the 2015 Paris climate deal to limit global warming to well below 2 degrees Celsius, the 28-nation EU has pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030, compared to 1990.

EU officials are now talking of increasing the figure to 45 percent.

The UN's Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) has said warming is on track toward an unliveable 3C or 4C rise, and avoiding global chaos will require a major transformation.

Thunberg has inspired tens of thousands of children worldwide to boycott classes to draw attention to climate change.

Around 100 young people marched Tuesday through the streets of Strasbourg to the parliament building to press for urgent action against climate change.

Francoise Grossetete, a French member of the European Parliament, said she would skip the committee hearing because she strongly objected to Thunberg's alarmist stand that in her view is anti-economic growth.

Thunberg has become "the symbol of this just environmental cause that is hijacked for political ends" by environmental lobbies, said Grosssete, a member of the centre-right European People's Party.

The Swede hit global headlines with her speech in December at a UN climate meeting in Poland and has received support from climate activists.

Dutchman ends 'world's longest electric car trip' in Australia

Yahoo – AFP, April 7, 2019

Wiebe Wakker took just over three years crossing 33 countries in his 95,000 km
journey by electric car (AFP Photo/PETER PARKS)

Sydney (AFP) - A Dutchman completed an epic 95,000 kilometre (59,000 mile) journey by electric car in Sydney Sunday in a bid to prove the viability of such vehicles in tackling climate change.

Wiebe Wakker drove his retrofitted station wagon nicknamed "The Blue Bandit" across 33 countries in what he said was the world's longest-ever journey by electric car.

The trip from the Netherlands to Australia took just over three years and was funded by public donations from around the world, including electricity to charge the Bandit, food and a place to sleep.

Wakker drove across a variety of countries and environments including Turkey, Iran, India, Myanmar, Malaysia and Indonesia, with the route determined by the offers he received on his website.

"I wanted to change people's opinions and inspire people to start driving electric by showing the advantages of sustainable mobility," Wakker said.

"If one man can drive to the other side of the world in an electric car, then EVs (electric vehicles) should definitely be viable for daily use."

Wakker said before the car was modified, it would have used 6,785 litres (1,800 US gallons) of petrol to complete the journey.

The modified vehicle can travel 200 kilometres on a single charge, with Wakker saying he spent just US$300 on electricity, much of it in the remote desert Outback of Australia.

Obama hails youth climate protests

Yahoo – AFP, April 6, 2019

Obama is in Germany to promote his foundation (AFP Photo/John MACDOUGALL)

Berlin (AFP) - Former US president Barack Obama, visiting Berlin on Saturday, hailed weekly protests by youths against climate change, saying "the sooner you start, the better."

The Friday protests involve schoolchildren and teens and have been inspired by Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg.

"Many of these people can’t vote, they are too young to vote yet, but they know what’s going on," Obama said during a meeting with youths in Berlin.

"You wouldn't let your grandparents decide what music you listen to, or what clothes you wear. Why let them decide what world you will live in," he said.

"Things change when we strongly mobilise," he said. "Our planet on which we live is in danger. We can’t succeed by sitting back and waiting for someone else to do it".

Obama, who left the White House in 2017 after two terms, was in Germany to promote his foundation.

He signed the Paris climate accord in 2015 which calls for capping global warming at "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) but the planet is currently on track to heat up by double that figure.

His successor Donald Trump decided in June last year to exit the accord.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (centre) has been nominated for 

this year's Nobel Peace Prize (AFP Photo/Axel Heimken)

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Thousands of school pupils take part in second march against climate change

Dutch environmental groups take Shell to court over climate change

DutchNews, April 5, 2019

Part of the massive Pernis refinery. Photo: Shell Media Library

Environmental activists take Shell to court on Friday to try to stop the Anglo Dutch oil giant drilling for gas and oil, and to ensure it meets climate change targets. 

Some 17,000 people and six organisations have signed up to Milieudefensie’s call for co-defendants in the case, which the green group hopes will lead to a judge ‘forcing Shell to stop being a major cause of climate change.’ 

The 2015 Paris agreement on climate change included a commitment to leave oil, gas and coal in the grounds as much as possible, the lobby group says. ‘These three fuels are major causes of global warning and this is why we have to stop our dependence on them as soon as possible. 

‘Shell maintains that it is living up to these agreements but in practice this is far from the truth,’ Milieudefensie said. ‘Shell continues drilling for oil and gas non stop and spends billions of euros every year on oil and gas exploration.’ 

US oil group 

Earlier this week Shell said it is leaving a major US oil lobby group because it disagrees with the group’s policies on climate change. 

After reviewing its 19 industry memberships, Shell said it would not renew its membership of the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers lobby next year because of ‘material misalignment’. 

Chief executive Ben van Beurden said in the review that it is important to ensure ‘the industry associations we belong to do not undermine our support for the Paris Agreement.’ The US withdrew from the Paris deal in 2017.

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EU parliament approves ban on single use plastics

Yahoo – AFP, March 27, 2019

In addition to the ban on a dozen kinds of disposable plastic products, such as straws,
cutlery and cotton buds, the EU will encourage member states to reduce the use of
plastic packaging and introduce stricter labelling rules (AFP Photo/Patrick Pleul)

Brussels (AFP) - European lawmakers voted overwhelmingly Wednesday for an EU-wide ban on single-use plastic products such as the straws, cutlery and cotton buds that are clogging the world's oceans.

The text had already been approved in negotiations with member states and EU officials and it will now be rapidly approved into law. The ban comes into effect from 2021.

EU Commission Vice-President Frans Timmermans said Europe was not the worst source of plastic pollution, but that the pioneering measure could serve as an example to the world.

"Asian countries are very much interested in what we're doing. Latin American countries too," he said.

"Even though our share of the pollution is relatively limited, our change of the economic model has a global impact."

Types of single-use plastics to be banned by the European Union (AFP Photo/

Simon MALFATTO)

The law passed by 560 votes to 35 in the Strasbourg assembly.

Aside from the ban on a dozen kinds of disposable products for which alternatives exist, the EU will encourage member states to reduce the use of plastic packaging and introduce stricter labelling rules.

The law sets a target that 90 percent of plastic bottles will be gathered for recycling by 2029 and that they should be produced with 25 percent recycled material by 2025, 30 percent by 2030.

Rules insisting that polluters pay the costs of a clean-up are strengthened, particularly for cigarette manufacturers, who will have to support the recycling of discarded filters.

According to the EU Commission, the products prohibited under the law represent 70 percent of the waste that pours into the world's oceans, posing a threat to wildlife and fisheries.

Hundreds of thousands join world youth climate demo

Yahoo – AFP, March 15, 2019

"If you don't act like adults, we will" -- banners, slogans and a global cry by young
people for politicians to take urgent action on climate change (AFP Photo/
EMMANUEL DUNAND)

Hundreds of thousands of young people skipped school across the globe on Friday to march through the streets for an international day of student protests aimed at pushing world leaders into action on climate change.

Classrooms in capitals from Bangkok to Berlin and Lagos to London emptied as organisers of the student strike called demos in more than 100 countries.

Students flooded into the streets across Europe and Asia carrying placards reading: "There is no planet B", "You're destroying our future" and "If you don't act like adults, we will."

Despite three decades of warnings, carbon dioxide emissions hit record levels in 2017 and again last year.

Loading the atmosphere with greenhouse gases at current rates will eventually lead to an uninhabitable planet, scientists say.

From Turin to Nairobi, school children and teenagers skipped school to demand 

urgent action on climate (AFP Photo/Marco BERTORELLO)

In Stockholm, Swedish teen activist Greta Thunberg who inspired the protests, warned that time was running out.

"We are living through an existential crisis that has been ignored for decades and if we do not act now it may be too late," the 16-year-old told Swedish public television station SVT.

Writing on Instagram, Thunberg -- who has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for her activism -- estimated more than 10,000 youngsters had joined the Stockholm protest.

In Delhi, one of the world's most polluted cities, 200 students took part in a colourful protest, waving ribbons, juggling and performing stunts with hoops.

"We have to make a choice whether we want to sit and be indifferent or do something for our planet," said 16-year-old student Srijani Datta.

"We are living through an existential crisis that has been ignored for decades," 

says 16-year-old Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, wearing yellow, who has been 

nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize (AFP Photo/Henrik MONTGOMERY)

"Most of us are 16-17 and we're going to turn 18 soon... As voters we will show we care about climate change. If you can't give us that, you will not get our votes."

In Sydney, 18-year-old Charles Rickwood warned that Australia's famous Great Barrier Reef could be destroyed.

"If current trends in the environment continue, we'll see the one, two degrees increase in our ocean then it will simply become unsustainable and we could lose the entire Great Barrier Reef," he told AFP.

Skipping exams

European students were also out en masse. Several thousand youngsters thronged the streets of central London in a raucous demonstration with banners and placards.

In France, tens of thousands joined the youth strike, with up to 40,000 in Paris 

alone, police said (AFP Photo/Sebastien SALOM-GOMIS)

Packing into Parliament Square, they cheered and chanted "Change... now!" before marching past Downing Street and massing outside Buckingham Palace.

"They're not going to stop me trying to save the planet," said 15-year-old Joe Crabtree, from southwest London who had missed two exams to join the demo.

Hundreds of thousands marched overall, according to estimates by organising groups such as the Youth For Climate movement and AFP reporters.

The Friday for Future movement said more than 300,000 young people demonstrated in Germany alone.

As youngsters hit the streets, nations meeting at the UN environment assembly in Kenya announced they had agreed to "significantly reduce" single-use plastics over the next decade.

In London, thousands of youngsters skipped classes to march on Downing Street 

(AFP Photo/Tolga Akmen)

But experts said the pledge -- which only referred to man-made global warming and made no mention of the fossil fuels driving it -- fell far short of the steps needed to tackle Earth's burgeoning pollution crisis.

'Adults should learn a lesson'

The global action drew a mixed reaction from politicians.

Germany's Economy Minister Peter Altmaier said the demonstrators should be in class.

And Australia's Education Minister Dan Tehan said striking was "not something that we should encourage."

World map showing the number of planned climate protests per country by

school students on Friday March 15. (AFP Photo/Sophie RAMIS)

But New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hailed the action, saying: "We hear you and we're getting on with setting a path for carbon neutrality."

"Please keep bringing as many people as you can with you because we simply won't achieve our goals alone."

Greenpeace praised the global protests, saying adults needed to learn a lesson.

"Imagine if their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles -- people with the power to vote for change -- were to make the same kind of effort," said John Sauven, head of Greenpeace UK.

"Grownups cheering on the school strikes are like footballers applauding the crowd. You're on the pitch. Score a goal, or at least assist."

The global demonstrations were started by a 16-year-old Swedish student who 

began skipping school to protest last year (AFP Photo/JOE KLAMAR)

In the Indian Ocean island nation of Mauritius, students circulated a petition to be submitted to the government demanding concrete measures.

"The planet is heating up, the youth are rising up," they chanted.

'My eyes hurt from pollution'

The Paris treaty calls for capping global warming at "well below" two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) but the planet is currently on track to heat up by double that figure.

The UN's climate science panel warned in October that only a wholesale transformation of the global economy and consumer habits could forestall a catastrophe.

"My eyes hurt from pollution. My shirt gets dirty from dust," 13-year-old protester Shagun Kumari told AFP in Delhi.

"I want fresh air that won't harm my lungs and clean water to drink so that I don't keep falling sick."

#UPDATE Hundreds of thousands of young people skipped school across the globe to march through the streets for an international day of student protests aimed at pushing world leaders into action on climate change https://t.co/WNTA37l8bf

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 15 maart 2019

Nobel Peace Prize nomination for student climate campaigner Greta

Yahoo – AFP, March 14, 2019

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg (centre) has been nominated for
this year's Nobel Peace Prize (AFP Photo/Axel Heimken)

Oslo (AFP) - Greta Thunberg, the Swedish schoolgirl climate campaigner who has inspired worldwide protests, should be awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Norwegian lawmakers said Thursday.

"We have proposed Greta Thunberg because if we do nothing to halt climate change it will be the cause of wars, conflict and refugees," Norwegian Socialist Left MP Freddy Andre Ovstegard told AFP.

"Greta Thunberg has launched a mass movement which I see as a major contribution to peace," he added.

Six months ago no one knew who Thunberg was when, as a 15-year-old, she camped outside Sweden's parliament next to a hand-written sign: "SCHOOL STRIKE FOR CLIMATE."

Since then she has gone global, striking a chord with younger people disillusioned by the slow progress of the adult world in halting climate change.

Three MPs for the opposition Socialist Left nominated Thunberg for the prize before the January 31 deadline, Ovstegard said, meaning her nomination is valid for the 2019 prize which will be announced on October 11.

"It's obviously a great honour and nice to be nominated for such a big prize," she told Swedish daily Aftonbladet. "It feels unreal, and a little strange."

On Friday, thousands of students are expected to demonstrate in more than 100 countries in what activists say could be a milestone moment in a grassroots campaign to push world leaders into doing more.

"We are only seeing the beginning," Thunberg, now 16, tweeted recently.

"I think that change is on the horizon and the people will stand up for their future."

According to the Nobel Institute, 304 individuals and organisations have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize this year.

The list of nominees is kept secret for at least 50 years, in line with the Nobel Foundation's statutes.

Thousands of people, including lawmakers and cabinet members from around the world, former laureates and some university professors, are entitled to nominate people for the prize.

Photo: Sabine Joosten/ Hollandse Hoogte

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Thousands of school pupils take part in second march against climate change

Thousands of school pupils take part in second march against climate change

DutchNews, March 14, 2019

Photo: Sabine Joosten/ Hollandse Hoogte

Several thousand Dutch school pupils skipped school on Thursday to take part in a second march for the climate, this time in Amsterdam. 

The first demonstration in The Hague attracted a crowd of around 10,000 police said at the time. On Thursday 5,000 to 6,000 youngsters took part. 

On Wednesday two government agencies published figures showing that targets for cutting greenhouse gases are unlikely to be met by 2030, and the cabinet said it was now considering bringing in a carbon tax for heavy industry. 

‘It is important that the government does enough, and that is what we are demonstrating for,’ one pupil told broadcaster NOS. 

The march organisers plan to hold a third rally on May 24, during a European-wide day of action on climate change.

Greta Thunberg, the Swedish schoolgirl climate campaigner who has inspired worldwide protests, should be awarded this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Norwegian lawmakers saidhttps://t.co/f5NiHyRPRY

— AFP news agency (@AFP) 14 maart 2019

Plastic in crosshairs at UN environment forum

Yahoo – AFP, Patrick GALEY, March 11, 2019

Plastic garbage at Lampung Bay, on the southern tip of the Indonesian island
of Sumatra (AFP Photo/PERDIANSYAH)

Nairobi (AFP) - Countries from around the world set their sights Monday on a pivotal deal to curb plastic waste, a source of long-term pollution and worsening contamination of the ocean's food chain.

Thousands of delegates, business leaders and campaigners are in Nairobi for the five-day UN Environment Assembly, the top annual forum on the planet's environmental crisis.

The UN wants individual countries to sign up to "significantly" reduce plastic production, including a phasing out of single-use plastics by 2030 -- a goal inspired by the 2015 Paris Agreement on voluntary reductions of carbon emissions.

"In the field of (plastic) pollution we don't have such agreements," Siim Kiisler, UN Environment Assembly president and Estonia's environment minister, told journalists as the gathering got underway.

"This is the first time (we have) to convince member states to make international commitments."

A landmark report due out this week is expected to ram home the warning of the threat to ecosystems from rampant plastic and chemical waste.

In the Mosafejo area of Lagos, plastic waste is being used to fill a swamp so that

the land can be developed for housing (AFP Photo/Yasuyoshi CHIBA)

The world currently produces more than 300 million tonnes of plastics annually, and there are at least five trillion plastic pieces floating in our oceans, scientists have estimated.

Microplastics have been found in the deepest sea trenches and high up Earth's tallest peaks, and plastic consumption is growing year-on-year.

"Plastic is a very good material, it's durable, flexible and light," Kiisler said. "This means we should make the best out of it for as long as possible instead of disposing of it."

The conference started on a sombre note after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed on Sunday, killing all 157 on board, many of whom were heading to the event.

The Nairobi meeting comes against the backdrop of series of UN reports outlining in stark terms the damage mankind is doing to the planet, much of it due to reckless consumption.

"These things are all linked: climate, the environment, waste," one delegate told AFP.

One briefing on the eve of the summit said the cost of ecosystems loss through agriculture, deforestation and pollution was a much as $20 trillion (17.7 trillion euros) since 1995.

Map showing ocean trenches up to 10 km deep where scientists found tiny 

shrimps which had ingested microplastics. (AFP Photo/Jonathan WALTER)

Acting UN environment chief Joyce Msuya said the world needed to "transform the way our economies work... break the link between growth and increased resource use, and end our throwaway culture."

The One Planet Summit on Thursday will bring together heads of state including French President Emmanuel Macron and Kenyan counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta to lend political clout to the process.

Kiisler said it was a "critical time for action to protect and reverse the degradation of our planet.

"We are not going fast enough," he told reporters.

"Today we are talking about declarations and commitments but I believe in the future we need some international legislation in place."

The UN on Monday also warned that the global scale of chemical production was likely to double between now and 2030.

A study it commissioned found that worldwide chemical production capacity stands at 2.3 billion tonnes and is growing despite repeat warnings from environmental groups of the dangers hazardous materials pose to ecosystems.

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• Shortage of fresh/drinking water: Invention to make salt from salt water magnetic and remove it with water desalination process in high volumes
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Photo: The Ocean Cleanup