Alternative Conference for the Rio Summit

Alternative Conference for the Rio Summit

Saturday 16th June to Sunday 17th
(the weekend preceding the summit Wednesday 20th to Friday 22nd)
To register a place at the conference click here.

Organised by the Campaign against Climate Change with the School for Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) Department for Development Studies.

Taking place at the central London Universities - SOAS, the Institute of Education (IOE) and University College London (UCL). Opening plenary in IOE, Thornhaugh Street off Russell Square, Russell Square Tube. Map here.
This is a free event but donations to help the campaign would be appreciated.
If you would like to steward at the conference please click here.

Rio to Rio: 20 wasted years? 

Between 1992 and 2012:

The global surface temperature has risen by 0.38C.
The Arctic sea ice has decreased by 2.94 million square kilometres.
The CO2 in the atmosphere has risen by 35.19 PPM.
30 661 900 hectares of Brazilian forest have been lost.
More than 431,215.08 million tonnes of CO2 have been emitted.
The amount of CO2 emitted per year has risen from 21,421.45 to 30,398.42 million tonnes.
A wide range of workshops and seminars - and an exciting main plenary - are planned.
Titles include :
“Food Security how can we stop a tragedy unfolding?”
“Green Energy versus ‘Extreme’ Energy”
“One Million Climate Jobs”
“Inequity is not only bad for society but a barrier to dealing effectively with the ecological crisis”
“Renewing Political Commitment to win the global battle against eco-calamity: a lost cause or is there a way forward?”
“We will not achieve environmental justice without a fundamental shift in values”
“New legal frameworks for a new era of environmental progress and justice”
“Can London lead the way in the fight against climate meltdown?”
and more workshops on: Green growth vs De-growth; bioenergy and land grabs; forests and biodiversity; aviation; geo-engineering; oceans; Zero Carbon Britain by 2030; arctic methane time bomb; generational justice; climate refugees;civil disobedience; “fracking”; population, gender and climate change; false solutions; TREC: energy from the deserts…and more.

Confirmed speakers include:

John McDonnell MP (Labour), Jean Lambert MEP (Green Party), Deborah Doane (World Development Movement), Jeremy Leggett (Solar Century), Jenny Jones (Green AM & Mayoral candidate), Aniol Esteban (New Economics Foundation), Derek Wall (Green Party/Green Left), John Stewart (chair Airport Watch, HACAN etc) Stephen Tindale (ex-Director, Greenpeace), Oliver Tickell (author Kyoto 2), Mayer Hillman, Mel Evans (Platform), Prof Peter Mollinga (SOAS), Hannah Smith (COIN & Refugee & Migrant Climate Forum), Keith Taylor MEP (Green Party), Deepak Rughani (Biofuelwatch), Murad Qureshi (GLA & Bangladeshi community), John Lanchberry (RSPB), Rich Hawkins (PIRC), David Powell (Economics Campaigne, Friends of the Earth), George Barda (Occupy LSX), Centre for Alternative Technology, Action Aid, Native Spirit Foundation, UK Tar Sands Network, David Wasdell (Meridian Project), Andrew Lockley & Tim Kruger (on geoengineering), John Maclaverty (GROW Campaign, Oxfam), Suzanne Jeffrey (CCC Trade Union Group), Debi Wagner (US Citizens Aviation Watch via skype), Chris Baugh (assistant General Sec Public & Commercial Services Union), Peter Challenor (National Oceanography Centre), Danny Chivers, Chris Church (Low Carbon Communites), Speaker from the Eradicating Ecocide Campaign, Gerry Wolfe (TREC-power from the deserts), Muzammal Hussain (Wisdom in Nature), Susan Roaf & Fergus Nichol (on built environment), Terry Reintke (co-spokesperson FYEG- Federation Young Euro- Greens), Melanie Strickland (Wild Law, Occupy), Ian Mason (Wild Law), Daniel Scharfe (Greenspeed), Tim Emerson, Christian Ecology Link, Emma Biermann (350.org), Neva Frecheville (WWF), Dan Plesch (Director, Department of International Studies and Diplomacy, SOAS), Harald Heubaum (CISD, CEPES, SOAS)… and more invited.

Timetable:

Saturday
9.00 - 10.00 Registration, Coffee
10.00 Conference opens: intro at Institute of Education Students' Union
10.30 Session 1
12.00 Plenary in UCL
1.45 Lunch
2.45 Session 2
4.15 Session 3
5.30 End of sessions
Coffee, drinks, music in IOE SU bar

Sunday
11.00-12.00 Registration, coffee, stalls
12.30 Session 4
1.45 Lunch
2.30 Session 5
4.00 Session 6
5.30 People's Assembly
6.30 Ends.
Ongoing discussions, drinks, music in IOE bar.
To register a place at the conference click here.
See you there !