The importance of Water from WWF on Vimeo.
Find out where you fit in, and how you can help: wwf.panda.org/water
The world’s seven billionth baby has been born in a packed government-run hospital in the Philippines.
Weighing 2.5kg (5.5lb), Danica May Camacho was chosen by the United Nations to be one of several children around the world who will symbolically represent the global population milestone.
She was delivered just before midnight on Sunday amid an explosion of press camera flashes at Manila’s Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital.
“She looks so lovely,” her mother, Camille Dalura, whispered softly as she cradled her tiny newborn.
“I can’t believe she is the world’s seven billionth.”
Danica’s name means morning star. She is a second child for Camille Dalura and Florante Camacho.
The parents and the baby were met by officials from the UN, which named 31 October Seven Billion Day, aiming to draw attention to the challenges of the world’s growing population.
The accuracy of the projection has been questioned, with some groups arguing that the figure is more likely to be reached next year.
UN officials nevertheless presented the baby and her parents with a small cake as she lay on her mother’s chest wearing a knitted red hat.
The family also received a scholarship grant for Danica’s education from wellwishers and some money to help them open a shop.
Previous children picked out at birth by the UN to mark world population milestones have complained that the international body forgot about them later in life.
Both 12-year-old Adnan Nevic of Bosnia Herzogovina, the sixth billionth baby, and Matej Gaspar from Croatia, who was number five billion, have complained that the UN chose them at birth then largely ignored them.
“We saw Kofi Annan as almost like a godfather to him,” Adnan’s father, Jasminko, told the Guardian.
Adnan said: “He held me up when I was two days old but since then we have heard nothing from them.”
The UN Population Fund hopes to raise awareness about reproductive health, women’s rights and inequality through the campaign.
Countries around the world have held celebrations to mark the occasion, including a song contest in Zambia and a concert in Vietnam.
The Philippines has 94.9 million people, according to a UN report, and 10% of girls aged 15 to 19 have been pregnant.
Enrique Ona, the country’s health secretary, said the birth offered his country an opportunity to address population-related problems.
Port Louis Mauritius 28th June 2011
Green Earth Africa announced today that due to the wave of interest created by their various environmental credit initiatives the company has received numerous offers from interested parties in different parts of the world for participation in creating a renewable source of energy and carbon credits through various land holdings made available to the company. Working in partnership with local communities and partners, Green Earth Africa will refocus and expand their operations and fund raising to take advantage of the opportunities made available to the company within the carbon credit sector by expanding into the renewable energy sector in the form of bio fuels, bio mass and renewable power through various fully integrated agricultural operations. In a brief statement, Havercroft was quoted as saying “Green Earth Africa is in a unique position in that it has had various blocks of prime agricultural land made available in various parts of the world and is in the enviable position of not having to raise finance to purchase these blocks of land but will rather develop and work this land in partnership with local communities, the rightful owners of the land. This situation has allowed the company to be in the enviable position to enable it to invest all funds raised into the production of various commodities and renewable energy sources rather than tying up investor’s funds into land ownership, thus creating a far bigger and quicker return on investor’s funds. Our fully integrated business model allows for the production of food crops and various plantation crops with the bi products being used for the production of renewable energy in the form of electricity through the use of the crop waste being converted into bio mass for electricity generation, or in the case of our planned sugar cane estates, the production of bio butanol fuels and the crop waste being used in bio mass production for electricity generation through continuous pyrolosis, thus creating a multiple cash flow stream. Our model offers the perfect investment destination for various funds seeking to invest in the renewable energy, environment, green, social and agricultural sector and ticks all the right boxes .For a comprehensive insight into the company’s current and planned operations and opportunities, the Green Earth Africa web site is being rebuilt and updated and will be relaunched within the next few weeks, or alternatively I can be contacted directly.”
Port Louis, Mauritius 28th June 2011 — Nick Havercroft, founder and president of Green Earth Africa announced today the demerger of Green Earth Africa from Z R Energies/Good Earth Power.
In a brief statement, Havercroft advised that though the shareholders of Green Earth Africa will maintain a substantial shareholding in Z R Energies in their individual capacities and will continue to work with and alongside Z R Energies, but due to the enormous wave if interest currently being experienced by Green Earth Africa and their environmental business and investment opportunities, Havercroft felt it was paramount to take advantage of this interest and refocus his energies into Green Earth Africa. He will continue to offer his help and advice to Z R Energies on a part time basis.
Havercroft was quoted as saying .”Z R Energies has a very capable founder and CEO, Jason Rosamond, who has an extraordinary amount of energy and a fantastic team around him and with the enormous amount of opportunities currently available in the renewable energy and environment sector throughout Africa, it is far more advantageous to the economies and communities of developing countries for myself and Jason to head up both Green Earth Africa and Z R Energies independently. Rather than combine our skills and energy through one entity, It will be far more advantageous and effective to develop the markets and opportunities in the various targeted sectors through both companies .This will invariably lead to greater investment into these economies and communities, whilst at the same time promoting job and wealth creation , poverty alleviation and the development of the renewable energy sector.”
Earth Hour 2011: Beyond the Hour from WWF on Vimeo.
This Earth Hour 2011: 8.30pm, Saturday 26 March, celebrate your action for the planet with the people of world, and add more to your Earth Hour.
From its inception as a single-city initiative — Sydney, Australia – in 2007, Earth Hour has grown into a global symbol of hope and movement for change. Earth Hour 2010 created history as the world’s largest ever voluntary action with people, businesses and governments in 128 countries across every continent coming together to celebrate an unambiguous commitment to the one thing that unites us all — the planet.
Sign up to earthhour.org, switch off your lights for Earth Hour 2011, and share the positive actions you will sustain for earth beyond the hour.
Earth Hour 2011 Official Video from WWF on Vimeo.
Some scientists and environmentalists say geoengineering—intentionally altering the earth’s climate systems as a quick-fix for climate change—could be the solution to all our climate problems. Others say such schemes could have unforeseen negative consequences, and just this week, delegates at the Convention on Biological Diversity meeting in Japan called for a moratorium.
Meanwhile, there have been similarly strong calls to put market values on nature and biodiversity as a way to save it. Others say that is a misguided approach that can only produce false solutions.
At the CBD meeting, the World Bank launched a global partnership “that will give developing countries the tools they need to integrate the economic benefits that ecosystems such as forests, wetlands and coral reefs provide, into national accounting systems.”
The rationale for such programs is that ecosystems and biodiversity are not properly valued, and by recognizing them as economic assets, countries would be more likely to take steps to preserve them. But many disagree, including groups like Friends of the Earth. Isaac Rojas, their forest and biodiversity coordinator, said, “Commodification and privatization of nature and biodiversity are false solutions. Biodiversity is not for sale. Existing financial incentives usually harm biodiversity conservation rather than supporting it, and often violate the rights of local communities.”
Even if it’s a great idea in theory, the implementation is unreliable and enforcement often ineffective—with few or no accountability measures to compensate. In the words of The Guardian’s Jonathan Watts, “Nature cannot complain if it gets cheated.”
So while environmental advocates are rooting the loudest for solutions to these problems, their voices are often ignored as to what those solutions should be, and the big financial players of the world look to win out.
Which brings us back to geoengineering. Debate opened up after Bill Gates announced $300,000 in funding for cloud-whitening technology that, in theory, would increase the reflection of sunlight back to space, thus slowing the warming of the earth. It would be the largest geoengineering trial so far, but the fact that it would be conducted in advance of international rules being formed for this type of technology has caused alarm for some following the story. It’s also been pointed out that the global south, most affected by climate change to begin with, seems to have little say in whether this or other experiments move forward.
Some environmentalists believe in the potential of projects like using vertical pipes in the ocean to bring cold water up, or pumping sulphates into the stratosphere to block sunlight. Others think they take away from the real problem of human-induced climate change and that people should face up to the consequences of their actions. They also worry about the unforeseen effects that may result—and considering these projects are (intentionally) on such a large scale, the potential damage would be proportionate in size.
