The Green Belt Movement Blog

The Green Belt Movement International Team are joining up with The Rainforest Foundation UK and dusting off their running shoes on 5th September to run 10km to raise money for our tree planting projects in Kenya... and we need your help!

Our ingredients for the super-team are:
Francesca de Gasparis
Sussan Rassoulie
Andrea Devine
Kathryn Stowell
and me, Hannah Smith

But there's one key ingredient missing...

We're aiming to raise £2000 and through your kind donations we may just be able to get there! Your money will help to empower communities across Kenya and worldwide to protect the environment and to promote good governance and cultures of peace.

You can donate online here, or click on our widget below. Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to GBMI and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - we raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for GBMI.

So please dig deep and donate now!

Many thanks and best wishes,

The GBMI 10k Team

: )

Last week I joined Wangari and the team in Oslo to attend the launch of the REDD+ Partnership Agreement. This new initiative for forests (2010-2012) came out of the Fast Start funding discussions also known as the Paris-Oslo process.

Wangari spoke alongside HRH Prince Charles, the host Prime Minister Jans Stoltenberg of Norway, and many other heads of state as well as Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon. Two representatives from the Congo Basin region- DRC President Denis Sassou Nguesso and Gabon President Ali Bongo gave their contributions. Prime Minister Raila Odinga of Kenya also spoke in the opening plenary. The presence of so many high level political leaders as well as NGO leaders and others (over 500 attended) gave an indication of how big the issue of REDD has become in a few short years. And just how high the stakes are getting....

From the NGO world this level of interest and government commitment has had a mixed response. Governments like Norway and the UK, France and other donor countries are being commended for putting the money up for “early day” actions to reduce deforestation ahead of the UN climate change talks process. The other big announcement of the event was the $1 Billion from Norway to Indonesia to stop deforestation in the next two years. This bilateral agreement between a donor government and recipient to reduce deforestation at that level of funding is remarkable.

However many forest NGOs and other experts are concerned about delivery issues and the lack of detail in the text that could mean that instead of protecting natural forests REDD could at worst accelerate deforestation and pay companies to plant plantations like palm oil. Furthermore the track record of big funding agreements have not always been good in terms of governance issues such as upholding rights of indigenous peoples.

There is a lot of fear that REDD could prove disastrous for forests if the process is not transparent and does not adhere to the UN climate change negotiations - where all governments are able to be present and contribute to decision making. A lot of the discussions are quite technical, including the issue of how we define a "forest". Trying to de-jargon the discussions is a big challenge- here John Vidal from the Guardian gives it a go.

Suffice to say it is early days in the new Partnership on REDD... however time is very short if we want to even attempt to reach the targets for deforestation recommended to stop global temperatures from rising over 1.5 or 2 degrees Celsius.

The partnership agreement has relatively modest aims to start with- it hopes to build “capacity” in other words “enable” developing country governments and others to be able to gain future payments for their successes in reducing deforestation. Initially the partnership will fund the institutional processes that need to be put in place for this to happen. Later on, depending on each country's capability, payments for reducing deforestation would start.

Many questions on how this will truly be effective remain. However it is a start, commendable action from some key players when other governments have not so far been forthcoming with their financial commitments to climate change.

Below is our recording of our founder Professor Wangari Maathai’s speech at the plenary session. In summary Prof, as we like to call her, made reference to the issues of climate change skepticism and how this has grown since Copenhagen. As well as the urgent need to demonstrate commitment by governments to concrete actions now before the next climate change summit in Caucun in Mexico. The importance of the REDD+ initiative in addressing deforestation in Africa- the Congo basin region in particular, and the Mau forest of Kenya, that necessitate for capacity building for countries in the region. Prof also touched on the need to be careful to build an open and transparent process to ensure real results are delivered.

This Earth Week, PACT is partnering with The Green Belt Movement to plant a forest. During this week, each pair of underwear will help to plant 20 trees. The goal is to plant 100,000 trees!

From April 16th until April 25th, PACT is showing its support of GBM’s mission by giving 100% of the sales proceeds from each “Green Belt” print garment purchased. This line was designed specifically for Green Belt by renowned African architect David Adjaye. The print, set against a jewel-toned green background, evokes the spirit of renewal and hope with yellow-stemmed fig leaves that echo the shape of Africa.

Visit the PACT website to learn more about this exciting partnership and to purchase your own GBM undergarments!

Today around the world, individuals and nations will come together to celebrate World Water Day (WWD). WWD was officially declared by the UN General Assembly in 1992, and has been celebrated each year since on March 22nd. The goal of this year’s celebration is to raise awareness about water quality around the world and to highlight solutions to the world’s greatest water challenges.

Protecting essential water supplies is a challenge that many GBM communities face on a daily basis. A devastating three-year drought in Kenya, coupled with mass deforestation across the country, has left many families without the water they need to nourish themselves, as well as their crops and livestock.

GBM recognizes the direct connection between tree coverage and water supply. We understand that in order to begin solving the water crisis in Kenya, we must actively work to restore the forests and ecosystems that protect the nation's precious water sources. This is why GBM continues to focus our tree-planting on the five main water towers in Kenya - Mt. Kenya, Aberdares, Mau Complex, Mt. Elgon and Cherengani Hills – which provide 90% of Kenya’s population with water.

Additionally, our water harvesting programs educate GBM community members on how to stop erosion and how to capture run-off from roads and roofs. Through tree-planting, environmental education and advocacy campaigns, we are empowering communities to restore these deforested areas, as well as influence policies that will protect these water catchment lands for years to come.

In honor of WWD, we invite you to support GBM’s grassroots tree-planting efforts that will preserve the five main water towers in Kenya. Together, with each tree planted, we can help ensure a quality water supply in Kenyan communities for generations to come!

Prof is on the road again! We are in India at the moment where we attended the 10th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit. The speakers and delegate’s list read like a UN gathering – heads of state and government, activities, scientists among others. The 3-day summit focused on reflections post-Copenhagen. The most common sentiment shared was that although COP15 was a disappointment, there is still room for optimism. Prof focused on the African perspective and refreshingly adding that there is need for compassion, empathy and values to foster efforts to protect the environment and human society at large.

The criticism of the IPCC was not ignored during the summit. Leaders from around the world and most notably the Indian Prime Minister recorded their unwavering support of the IPCC. The summit ended with a standing ovation in support of Dr. R.K Pachauri. The feeling in Delhi, despite the storm, was that the core findings of the IPCC remain undisputed. Perhaps the PM of Norway said it best when he stated that despite the criticism of the IPCC, it would be irresponsible of us not to act on the overwhelming evidence before us – “the polar ice is melting and the globe is warming”. It was a most impressive summit.

As we thanked some of the organizers (and there were hundreds of TERI staff involved!) and congratulated them for a successful summit, I asked a few of them how long it took them to pull this summit off… it was their 10th one after all...”it takes us a year to put it together” they seemed to almost say in unison. "We start planning again tomorrow." Well worth it!

Read Prof's speech from the Summit!

Legendary folk singer Pete Seeger is calling for support of GBM’s long-term partnership with the Lambi Fund of Haiti. He is asking individuals around the world who are interested in the rebuilding and sustainable development of Haitian communities to contribute to GBM’s Haiti Fund.

These funds will benefit our unique Global South partnership in which members of the Green Belt Movement in Kenya and grassroots leaders supported by the Lambi Fund of Haiti support each other with indigenous wisdom, peer exchanges, and join collaborations to reforest their countries. These efforts will have a lasting impact in the sustainable rebuilding of Haiti in the aftermath of the January 12th earthquake.

We are truly grateful for Pete Seeger’s support!



Be sure to check back on our website soon for updates on GBM’s partnership in Haiti!

Donations to support GBM’s partnership with the Lambi Fund of Haiti are accepted online and by mail. Please send an email to gbmius@greenbeltmovement.org to let us know that your gift is for the Haiti Fund.

Thank you!

Maggie Baxter, one of the founding members of the Green Belt Movement International Europe board, received a wonderful New Year's gift: an OBE for her outstanding services to the voluntary sector. We are one of the very grateful recipients of Maggie's support and guidance.

Many many congratulations Maggie from all at the Green Belt Movement!

Negotiations here in Copenhagen are at a critical stage. Prof. is in the Bella Center today following and conferring about the delegations’ deliberations (and headed to the BBC for a “climate debate” in the afternoon). Time is running out here for a deal—a strong, binding agreement. Some say that it won’t happen. Sure, something will come out of Copenhagen, they suggest. But it may be insufficient to address the realities and pressures of the climate crisis. However, these observer say, it will be sold as a success to the world. Some good news: it appears that REDD with financing will be part in the final agreement. However, all the details aren’t clear yet. Will it be REDD+? How much funding? How much monitoring? How much real equity? Those questions, and others, are in the balance here in snow-bound Copenhagen as the clock ticks on the climate summit.

“I am an optimist,” Prof. stated during the press conference after the ceremony at which UN Secretary General Ban Kid-moon designated her a UN Messenger of Peace (one of 12 such individuals). “So,” she continued, addressing those in the room—delegates and NGOs—“keep working hard” toward an agreement here at the Copenhagen climate talks. Prof.’s the first African appointed to the post (others include actor George Clooney and author Paolo Coelho) and will have a special ambit: the environment and climate change.

Heads of state, she reminded the audience at the ceremony at the Bella Center, wouldn’t be coming to Copenhagen “for a peace of cake,” but only for something serious: a binding agreement and sufficient resources, which Prof. called for. (There’s word today that a deal on REDD may be done and, in fact, may be one of the most significant outcomes of the climate summit.)

Prof. also had a special word for the activists attending the summit, or trying to. As she noted, she’s gone from activist to government and back to activist again. “Thank God for the activists,” she said. “They hold the politicians accountable…[here] they are even being arrested, for something serious. I’m so proud of the activists,’ Prof. continued. The politicians ought to take a message from them that “their people want them to act.”

Later, Prof. delivered one of the keynote addresses at the opening of the high-level segment of negotiations here. She stressed the role of forests in mitigating climate change, and in the lives of billions of peoples and other species; she urged the north and south to overcome their history (including of mistrust) and work together; she stressed the importance of values, of compassion and empathy, in the climate debate. And she reminded the audience, in a light touch, that she’s been attending UN conferences since 1976—what Prof. called “ancient times.” No one leaves a conference like this, Prof. told the delegates, with the perfect document. What’s needed from Copenhagen is a legally binding deal. The governments will do it, she said.

As I listened, I believed her. No doubt. I didn’t have a pass to get into the room for the high-level segment, but in a way, it was more fun to watch the speech on a monitor in the hall, clustered with many others. We strained to listen over the din of dishes clattering and cell phone chattering. Prof. was heard. Now…we’re ready to listen to what the heads of states will say.

During this holiday season, we invite you to make a donation in honor of friends or family that will benefit the Green Belt Movement’s programs in Kenya. Your generosity will help us provide hope of a greener and more sustainable future for communities across Kenya for generations to come.

Since 1977, the Green Belt Movement has planted more than 45 million trees in Kenya while supporting communities to understand the critical link between the state of their immediate environment, poverty, and peace. Thanks to supporters like you, the Green Belt Movement continues to expand and inspire communities in Kenya and beyond.

From our entire team at the Green Belt Movement, we thank you for your support and wish you a very Happy Holiday!

__________
Our US and Europe Offices have several special options for holiday gift giving including personalized acknowledgment letters and certificates. For more information regarding holiday gifts, please contact either our US office by phone at +1 (202) 457-8080 or by email at gbmius@greenbeltmovement.org or our Europe Office by phone at +44(0) 2075490395 or by email at gbmi@greenbeltmovement.org

The many faces of COP 15 are more apparent than ever as the second week begins in Copenhagen. On Saturday the largest ever climate march rocked the city tcktcktck. The protest was largely peaceful with organizers heralding it as a great success grist. There were the usual skirmishes with police from a tiny minority of trouble makers. Police responded with the controversial tactics of mass arrests. In total the police rounded up 968 in a ‘preventive action’ over the weekend with nearly all released within 24 hours COP15-Copenhagen.

Poor nations are still extremely unhappy with the ways things are going and walked out on Monday Guardian. The Africa group of countries followed by other developing countries accused the chair of the conference of trying to "kill" the Kyoto protocol Guardian. As it currently stands a summary of the developing country wishes are:

MITIGATION
- at least 45% emission cuts by developed countries on 1990 levels by 2020 if developing countries are to survive
- climate analytics put the total cuts promised by developed countries at a dismal 8-12% on 1990 levels
- developed countries must raise their targets, close the loophole such as non performing LULUCF, agree on a 1990 base year and five-year commitment periods, and impose an early scientific review

ADAPTATION
- Commit at least US$50 billion annually for adaptation in developing countries, in the next commitment period, increasing to USD100 billion by 2020
- delivery of the funds must be measured, reported and verified
- the funds must be additional to development and commitments

FINANCE
- the finance must come as part of a long term, legally binding agreement to reach a figure of USD195 billion per year by 2020
- additional to ODA
- Funding should flow through a consolidated fund under the authority of and fully accountable to the COP (UNFCCC)

LEGAL MATTERS
- have a full agreement on substance and legally binding deal

The main world leaders are all now flying in so let us all hope that they bring with them the desire to find a way through the complicated difficulties that lie ahead. The after a tough few days maybe good COP will make an appearence again.

It's not every day you see a prince at a climate change conference, but today around noon at the Marriott Copenhagen, there was Prince Albert II of Monaco, soft-spoken, seemingly self-effacing, American-accented, and greeting Prof. at the beginning of a side event (COP 15 speak for a panel or gathering around an issue) on the Congo Basin Forest Fund. (He's not the only prince Prof. will discuss the climate and forest protection with; Prince Charles, a staunch defender of tropical forests, speaks before Prof. tomorrow at the opening of the "high level" (COP 15 for senior government officials, or even heads of state). They'll hold a press conference together afterward.

Today's discussion, which, in addition to a prince, included many senior government officials (the vice president of Burundi, e.g..) and key staff of a range of international agencies and governments (the minister of environment and international development of Norway, the head of the African Development Bank to name only two). The discussion ranged over the benefits of and need for the Congo Basin Forest Fund, the comparative advantages it brings to its work, the challenges facing the Congo forests (agricultural expansion, warming temperatures, shrinking rainfall, illegal and legal logging) and also the opportunities.

Forests are now pretty much on the international climate agenda. It's unlikely that governments will leave Copenhagen without a climate deal including REDD or even REDD+, UN speak for reducing emissions from forest destruction and degradation...with the plus adding afforestation efforts, like those of the Green Belt Movement. "I hope after Copenhagen," Prof. said, the wallets will open. The general consenus within the conference and for the millions following the conference on the Internet, is that REDD is one of the immediate ways we can start doing something for our climate. We have to make REDD a way of life….”

A quick recap: the Congo Basin forests hold anywhere from 25 to 50 million tons of carbon and 80% of the species in the Congo forests aren't found anywhere else. It's the second largest intact expanse of forest in the world (the Amazon is first). At the conclusion of the discussion, Prof. made an appeal, not only for funds, but for accountability and transparency among those in the room and their fellow Africans and "African sympathizers."

We know we have the political will, Prof. said, and we know we have friends who also want to save the Congo forest. What we need are "transparency and honesty, and success stories on the ground," she continued. "Otherwise, we won't go anywhere." Her final statement was crystal clear about the opportunities and challenges ahead for the forest and the Fund: "Money is not the problem. It's the performance on the ground. That should challenge us" to do what's needed to get it right.

“Livelihoods, Forests, Livestock and Climate Change,” GBM’s “side event” (or panel) at COP 15, held with Brighter Green, and the participation of theNobel Women’s Initiative, was packed—literally. There must have been more than 200 people filling the rows of seats, standing in the aisles, sitting on the floor and a number of cameras (video and still) occupied the front seats, trained, mostly, on Prof, who introduced the session and moderated. The Green Belt Movement, she said, wanted to share its experience of reforestation and afforestation at the community level, and in the context of the growing clamor over carbon finance (a loud debate on both sides is taking place here in Copenhagen). The discussion was very good, ranging over forest protection, reafforestation, the challenges of community-based carbon finance, and the role of livestock in climate change...and climate change's role in challenging the livelihoods of pastoral communities.

GBM’s Carbon Finance Officer, Frederick Njau, provided an overview of the lessons GBM has learned about reafforestation efforts in the Aberdares and Mt. Kenya ecosystems. Along with some arresting images—graphic maps of the forest cover and photos—Njau offered some cautions: carbon projects have high preparation, implementation and monitoring costs; that it’s difficult to prove “additionality” (that is, would this project have taken place without the carbon financing?); people’s use of the forests, for example, for agriculture and livestock grazing, can undermine the very carbon capture that’s being funded. Communities also have high expectations for these projects, and many capacity needs, most of which still go unmet.

Mia MacDonald, Brighter Green’s Executive Director, gave the big picture of the livestock-climate connection and the role of the intensification of animal agriculture poses in land use changes, deforestation, desertification, risks to food security and the seemingly inexorable growth in GHGs. Sixty billion farm animals are raised and consumed as food each year; by 2050, if current trajectories persist, that number will be an astonishing 120 billion. At the same time, it’s small-scale pastoralists and farmers whose livelihoods are disappearing as the effects of global warming are increasingly felt. This issue, she concluded needs to be fully on the climate agenda—where it isn’t right now—as well as other critical global agendas (development, economics, public health, ethics).

Then Samwel Naikada of Transmara, Kenya, gave a rich small-scale picture of what drought, desertification and overstocking of animals mean to his community, and the ways it's responding. (Bee-keeping has taken off, as has development of a market for women's beadwork; community members are offering nature walks and working to develop ecotourism around a standing indigenous forest. In describing efforts for forest protection, he commented: "Prevention is better than the cure."

Communities like his lack information on climate change, even as they feel its effects. This extends to the livestock-climate connection. When he first heard, very recently, that cows are significant emitters of GHGs, Samwel said his reaction and that of others, could be described as: no, why, really, how? Yet they'd seen the grass disappear and cows, goats and sheep die from drought. They'd seen milk production levels decline. They'd seen, too, wildlife exhibiting behaviors never seen before: baboons leaving the forest for grasslands and preying on young goats and sheep, due to lack of other food; zebras and gazelles grazing in the forest, unable to find other forage. To community elders, the world has turned upside down. The most common phrase he hears, Samwel says, when people talk about their environment today is this: "It used to be."

And so it was: a well-spent 90 minutes…and just one of many events on the schedule that day. Scroll down here for an article on the side event in the Earth Negotiations Bulletin (which is tracking the conference session by session), and a photo. Not long after, Prof., Njau and GBM’s Peter Ndunda were seen hunched over laptops in a conference center lounge drafting a statement about the climate conference’s proceedings so far. Forests, justice, REDD+ and Congo Basin. Much more to come from Copenhagen.

In Copenhagen temperatures are dropping outside as the discussions and international presence heat up inside.

This week more than 110 Heads of State arrive from around the world, and the Bella centre - that has hosted many activities - will be closed to many of the NGO delegates apparently due to overcrowding.

The diversity and range of activities going on inside the Bella centre and in Copenhagen at large has been mind boggling! From the official negotiations to NGO side events to parrallel events like Klimaforum. The city has been transformed with climate change installations including a frozen polar bear, giant globes and photographic exhibitions. It would be impossible to even list them all here but there is no end to the diverse creative and interesting ways we are being engaged on this issue.

GBM's highlights so far have included two side events that we hosted. The second one was an official side event with partners including Brighter Green. Both events have had great turn-outs with too many attendees to fit into the venues.

At the first event: the IseeT kiosk hosted by the UNFCCC, Professor Maathai and GBM's GIS specialist, Peter Ndunda, spoke about how to do effective monitoring and evaluation of community tree planting projects using appropriate mapping and remote sensing technology.

The second event was on "Livelihoods, forests and climate" - more on this will follow soon.

Got to run as am blogging while in a session on Adaptation during Forest Day 3. Great presentations here so far- Protect the standing indigenous trees!

"2009 is possibly the most important year for forests in living memory. We are in the final stretch of the road to Copenhagen, and COP 15, where negotiators expect to finalise a post-Kyoto global climate agreement in December."

Last word has to go to the tremendous contribution that our founder, Wangari Maathai, has been making at numerous events speaking on behalf of GBM, civil society in Africa, and the world, including for those who cannot - the trees and other species. This is a forum that can really learn and listen to lessons learnt at GBM over the last 30 years. Its been a huge privilege to be able to be here as a part of the team supporting her.

Copenhagen
12-8-09

Guest blogger Elizabeth Baker is vice president of the Resource Renewal Institute and a delegate to the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference with the Green Belt Movement.

One of the great transition points in modern history has Copenhagen cracking with excitement. President Obama is coming with other world leaders to COP15 and is armed with an exciting new potential power that can free him to act independently of the Senate opponents. Late Tuesday evening, Center for Biological Diversity attorney Kassie Siegel delivered a crisp assessment of the legal precedent for the President to use his executive authority to cap greenhouse gasses without congressional ratification.

Following the US Environmental Protection Agency announcement of a final ruling that greenhouse gasses are harmful to human health, days before receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, and a week ahead of his landmark participation in COP15, President Obama’s hands were untied.

With her analysis of legal precedent dating to the 1987 Global Climate Protection Act, Ms. Siegel methodically outlined how President Obama could legally circumvent the two-thirds majority in Congress required to ratify a new piece of legislation.

The Clean Air Act authorizes and requires the Environmental Protection Agency to act on harmful greenhouse gas emissions from sources as diverse as cars and large power plants. With this sound legal justification, President Obama could cap harmful greenhouse gasses at a level of his choosing through the use of an executive agreement. Such agreements have been the birth of nearly all international agreements including, notably, NAFTA.

“The choice would only be political, ” said Ms. Siegel. “He has full legal authority to make a deal here in Copenhagen. When presidents have the political will to get things done, they don’t wait for the Senate.”

The concurrent release of ‘Yes, He Can’ by Greenpeace is bound to fuel increasing displeasure among environmentalist who are still waiting for President Obama to deliver on his climate change campaign promises. With a heretofore-unknown avenue of action available to the President, bitter climate change realities mix with cautious optimism. This more direct route may have punishing political consequences in the US but as the new Nobel Peace Laureate, President Obama’s leadership will have an even greater arena in which to triumph.

With so many nations waiting to act until the US expresses its carbon reduction targets, knowing Mr. Obama’s hands are not legally tied may catalyze more intense negotiations. As it is, things in the Bella center won’t get into high gear until next week, when the heads of state arrive to decide what the world needs to prevent catastrophic climate change.

Like the northern winter sky as seen through the Bella Center’s glass ceiling, a bright moment exists in which to act, but it is very, very short.

Guest blogger Anna Collins, of the UK Youth Coalition on Climate Change, has been following the climate change talks throughout the year since the last COP meeting in Poznan. As we enter the last ten days before Copenhagen, Anna has some thoughts about forests and the current status of the negotiations.

When you think of a tree, draw a tree you probably colour it green. Green is the colour of trees…right?

Well actually you’re wrong…

At the UNFCCC red is the colour of trees.

Well to put it more precisely REDD is the colour of trees.

REDD stands for Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation and that’s the part of the negotiations that refers to trees (or to be more precise, forests). Almost 20% of our current emissions come from deforestation and degradation, mostly in the developing world, and so addressing this is vital to fighting climate change. That’s what REDD was designed to do. To create a mechanism that protects forests stops deforestation and keeps natural forests in tact.

But we seem to have a problem! Because as we head towards Copenhagen that is not what we are seeing in the REDD negotiations.

As it currently stands REDD may increase emissions not reduce them!
Language has sneaked into the text that allows beautiful and amazing natural forests to be chopped down and replaced with plantations, all in the name of soaking up carbon!

In Bangkok this reached a head with the EU negotiators leading the drive to take out the language that safeguards against this. Though since then we have seen the EU retract that move, the language to protect against this is still in a bracket. Which means there’s still a high likelihood it may be scrapped in Copenhagen!
What kind of agreement are we looking at in Copenhagen if things like this are not secured?

The REDD text also fails to address what actually drives deforestation and which trample all over indigenous peoples rights!

Indigenous people have been the guardians of the forests for thousands of years, you cannot, just because we have realised forests are vital to fighting climate change, ignore their rights. REDD cannot and must not go ahead without indigenous rights being secured.

As we hurtle towards Copenhagen the number of problem areas and issues with what we are likely to see in any deal rises.

There is a very real possibility of deals being done in Copenhagen that make things worse and not better.

A deal that allows our amazing, and beautiful natural forests to be chopped down, a deal that robs indigenous people of the forests they have depended on and protected for thousands of years, this is not a deal we should accept.

REDD stands as just one example of how we could end up with green wash or a dirty deal.

As talk hots up, as high-level debates continue over the form and outcomes of Copenhagen, we cannot forget what’s at the very heart of any sort of deal.

Getting the deal in Copenhagen may be about politics not policy now.

But the outcomes of any deal should not be about politics or money…they should be about our beautiful planet and its amazing people.

When Japan’s Musicians Without Borders (MWB) came to Kenya this week, they could not resist planting a tree with Prof and the Green Belt Movement. The occasion was very symbolic of the global outreach of the Mottainai campaign in Japan, which has shown such great appreciation for Prof since it began in 2006.

MWB is a non-profit organization which helps to link peoples hearts through music. Music, they say, has a wonderful power to heal people’s hearts. The musical group formed in Japan in 2005 and now has 4 main activity areas - charity concerts, an annual peace concert, donations of used musical instruments, and a storehouse that sells used musical instruments. All of this was music to our ears! Re-use, reduce, recycle... here was a group that is ensuring the re-use of precious musical instruments. And it’s all in the spirit of Mottainai.

When Prof arrived on Sunday afternoon to the Kenya Children’s Home where the tree-planting ceremony took place, she was welcomed by the children singing. Two trees were planted – the first one with Prof and the second with MWB’s lead singer Mayo Shono. It was when Prof sat down for a meeting with MWB that she learned how they associate their reusing of musical instruments to the Mottainai Campaign! A total of 210 instruments were donated to three children’s homes in Kenya this week and included drums, guitars, recorders, castonets, bells and more. All of the musical instruments have been used before – and have found new homes here in Kenya. Through the efforts of MWB and others like it, the Mottainai campaign continues to touch so many.

After a lovely day with the children and musicians of MWB, we got up to leave – but so moved was one of the musicians that she came up to Prof and urged her to sing along to Amazing Grace. Of course, we all joined in! How could we not. Here we were celebrating Mottainai with our new friends of Musicians Without Borders.

In less than three weeks the worlds eyes will turn to Copenhagen as countries of the world come together to try and work out our response to climate change.

With time running out Wangari Maathai and the Green Belt Movement have joined with people from all around the world is calling for climate justice to be at the heart of any deal that is struck.

Climate Justice has, at its heart, the principle that emissions have a price and greenhouse gas emitters must pay. The countries, and peoples, who are suffering the most from the adverse consequences of climate change – both now and in the future – have done the least to cause it

Joining with Kofi Annanand Desmond Tutu Wangari called on Africans from across the continent to act now to ensure that they have their voices heard, encouraging people to visit Climate Justice to join the campaign by downloading the campaign song for free or uploading a ‘tcktcktck’ video, image or text message to the human clock that ticks down the seconds until the start of the climate talks.

As the campaign launched Wangari said:

“Climate change justice is important for Africa because she has emitted an almost negligible amount of carbon in the last 200 years of industrialization, and yet scientists say she will be hardest hit by climate change.”

Now as we hurtle towards the Copenhagen summit it’s time to remind those who hold the future in their hands that without climate justice we will never effectively tackle climate change.

Now it is time for climate justice.

People across Kenya are facing a deteriorating environment…. The formerly spectacular landscape of Kenya is now littered with carcasses of wildlife and flamingos along the banks of dried up lakes, hippos stuck in the mud of Lake Naivasha, and scores of wildebeests with broken limbs from jumping onto the bare rocks of a dwindling Mara River. Severe water shortages and power rationings are the order of the day across Kenya, and the Mau Forest debate rages on with no light at the end of the tunnel. Something must be done!….

As part of the Enough is Enough campaign inspired by Prof. Wangari Maathai, the Green Belt Movement has launched a call for a million signatures from members of the public. By adding their signatures they are supporting the call for action that the Enough is Enough Campaign represents. Kenyans must refuse to be victims; we must stop waiting for superheroes to come to our rescue. We must become our own superheroes and refuse to watch our fellow Kenyans die of hunger and thirst! We must take drastic action to stop the looming ecological and human disaster.

How is the signature campaign going? Wonderfully! In the two weeks that the tent has been up in Nairobi, GBM has already collected over 30,000 signatures. The tent will be moved to different parts of the city to make sure every single person in Nairobi gets a chance to participate and show their support for the campaign. GBM’s extension officers all over Kenya have also begun to collect signatures at the community level within their project areas.

When the 1 million mark is reached, the signatures will be presented to the Prime Minister of Kenya, Hon. Raila Odinga, to let the Government of Kenya know that we shall not sit and watch our country fall apart. We say Enough is Enough!

If you are in Nairobi, please stop by and add your signature. We need your support!

Guest blogger and GBMI Europe intern: Anna Collins reflects on her recent visit to Kenya...

When I sat down to write this blog about my recent trip to Kenya the first huge question was simply “where to start?” Because everyday on the trip I learnt something new or discovered something amazing.

I went to Kenya to do some research working with Green Belt and also other civil society groups in Kenya around the issue of climate change and how communication about climate change is happening all the way from the grassroots right up to the international level.

But that isn’t where I want to start. Because what people are saying isn’t the first thing you notice about climate change in Kenya.

The first thing you notice is that climate change is happening in Kenya right here, right now! And people’s lives are changing in Kenya right here, right now!

The rains aren’t coming as they should, so the crops aren’t growing as they should. There just isn’t enough food to feed the country.

The lack of rains mean there’s not enough water so people are getting sick- cases of cholera are on the rise. Even in relatively affluent urban areas people are going for days without water in their homes. Lack of water also means lack of power, so blackouts are a regular occurrence.

These are just a couple of examples of how changes in the climate are effecting people, but there are many, many more.

The effects of a changing climate are being felt everyday and people’s lives are changing because of them as every day passes!

And it’s not just the people that know things are changing and they are not the only ones responding. In the Masai Mara this year the migration arrived weeks early! The animals too are shifting in response to these changes in the earth.

Do we need any clearer signs than that?

But the messages about climate change coming from Kenya are not messages of despair. They are messages of hope! And they are everywhere, in the newspapers, on TV, in the people you meet on the street. People are talking and people are coming up with innovative solutions. Whether or not they know the words climate change they know things are changing and they are responding. And the Greenbelt Movement is leading the way, as they have been for over 30 years now.

Our very future as a whole planet relies on us together tackling this challenge and if there was one thing I learnt in Kenya it’s that the rest of the world needs to really pay attention to what is going on in Africa because some of the solutions we may need are happening there now. They have to, there is no choice, they don’t have time to wait!