Wednesday 23 September 2009

Climate Week kicks off with warning from hoax New York Post

Politicians, activists, academics and celebrities descend on New York to build momentum for Copenhagen negotiations
Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 22 September 2009 11.02 BST
If today's UN conclave on climate change does not push world leaders to act, maybe the banner headline "we're screwed" on fake copies of a New York tabloid will.
A group of pranksters called the Yes Men, who first struck a few years ago with bogus copies of the New York Times proclaiming an end to the Iraq war, yesterday distributed phoney copies of the New York Post, with headlines warning: "Global warming kills" and "World leaders slip on UN summit slope".
The action – part of New York's Climate Week – saw hundreds of volunteers handing out copies near UN headquarters and the main train stations. It was among dozens of events this week meant to keep world leaders focused on reaching an agreement to stop global warming.
On Thursday, even the Empire State building is going to go green – although the special illuminations are actually for the 70th anniversary, or Emerald Gala, of the Wizard of Oz movie.
The official start to Climate Week got under way around midday yesterday, with the UN chief, Yvo de Boer, Tony Blair, and other dignitaries issuing a call for action. "Remember, we cannot press the undo button if the climate gets out of hand," Connie Hedegaard, Denmark's minister for climate and energy, said.
A few hours later, leaders from small island states came together to demand the developed world step up at Copenhagen with a far more ambitious deal than has been on the table: 45% emissions cut by 2020.
"Climate change is already delivering damage not of our making," the Maldives president, Mohamed Nasheed, told leaders. "Should we, leaders of the most vulnerable and exposed countries, be asking our people to sign on to significantly greater degrees of misery and livelihood insecurity, essentially becoming climate change guinea pigs?"
Blair said climate change was the most difficult negotiations he had ever encountered.
Gisele Bundchen, the Brazilian supermodel who has just been named goodwill ambassador for the UN environmental programme, was also in town. She immediately called her home country to account, telling reporters that Brazil needed to do more to preserve its rainforests.
Monday night also saw the world premiere of the Age of Stupid, which was held in a blue-lit tent near the site of the former World Trade Centre. The film was simultaneously broadcast to more than 700 cinemas and private screenings around the world.
Today's UN summit and a two-day meeting of the G20 in Pittsburgh on Thursday and Friday make this week one of the most heavily concentrated on climate change before the Copenhagen negotiations in December. Politicial leaders, environmental activists, academics, and celebrities have descended on New York to try to build momentum for the Copenhagen negotiations.
If not, the fake New York Post warned, the world faces "Flopenhagen".