Apologies for Cross-Postings
Please sign the petition and forward to others
ASAP!
Gary
Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2008 23:12:07
-0700
To: gary@no.address
From: Brittany Henderson <henderson.brittany@no.address>
Subject: Help small islands states
I thought you'd like to know about this urgent call from Small Island
nations for action on global warming. Read the email below to learn more
about the issue and take action.
Thanks!
--------------------------------
Dear friends,
Imagine the sea rising around you as your country literally disappears
beneath your feet, where the food you grow and the water you drink is
being destroyed by salt, and your last chance is to seek refuge in other
lands where climate refugees have no official status. This is not a
dream, it's the fearful reality for millions of people who live on
islands around the world, from the Maldives to Papua New Guinea.
That is why these small islands are taking the unprecedented step of
putting an urgent resolution before the United Nations ahead of next
week's global climate talks, calling upon the Security Council itself to
address climate change as a pressing threat to international peace and
security.
This is a creative move born of desperation, a challenge to global powers
to end their complacency and tackle this lethal crisis with the urgency
of wars. But the island states' campaign is meeting fierce opposition
from the worldâ??s biggest polluters, so they need our help. Sign the
petition now to raise a worldwide chorus of support for this call -- it
will be presented by the islands' ambassadors to reinforce their
resolution at the UN next week:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/sos_small_islands/98.php/?cl_tf_sign=1
For the first time in human history, the North Pole can be
circumnavigated -- the Arctic ice is melting quicker than many
anticipated, accelerating sea level rise. Now small island nations, whose
highest points are often only a few meters above sea level, are preparing
evacuation plans to guarantee the survival of their populations. They are
on the frontline, experiencing the first wave of devastating impacts from
climate change which soon will threaten us all.
President Remengesau of Palau, a small island in the Pacific, recently
said: "Palau has lost at least one third of its coral reefs due to
climate change related weather patterns. We also lost most of our
agricultural production due to drought and extreme high tides. These are
not theoretical, scientific losses--they are the losses of our resources
and our livelihoods.... For island states, time is not running out. It
has run out. And our path may very well be the window to your own future
and the future of our planet".
Beyond the islands, countries like Bangladesh, whose population of 150
million people is already suffering, face losing large parts of their
landmass. The experience of our planet's most vulnerable communities
serves as a warning sign of the future world we can all expect: extreme
weather growing in intensity, conflict over water and food supplies,
coasts disappearing and hundreds of millions made refugees.
The small islands' brave campaign for survival is our campaign too -- and
the more signatures we raise to be delivered to the UN next week, the
more urgently this call will ring out to protect our common future:
http://www.avaaz.org/en/sos_small_islands/98.php/?cl_tf_sign=1
With hope,
Ben, Iain, Alice, Paul, Graziela, Pascal, Ricken, Brett, Milena -- the
Avaaz team
PS: For a report on Avaaz's campaigning so far, see:
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/report_back_2
PSS: These are the States who are sponsoring the resolution: Canada,
Fiji, Maldives, Marshall Islands, Micronesia (Federated States of),
Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Samoa, Seychelles, Solomon
Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu
For a draft of the Small Islands States Resolution please see:
http://islandsfirst.org/draftres.pdf
For more information about those presenting the petition please
visit:
http://islandsfirst.org
For information on Tuvalu's evacuation plan and climate refugees:
http://www.wwf.org.au/articles/climate-refugees-in-a-drowning-pacific/
For information about how rising sea levels will affect us all:
http://www.earth-policy.org/Updates/Update2.htm
For more information on the Ice melt:
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/climate-change/for-the-first-time-in-human-history-the-north-pole-can-be-circumnavigated-913924.html
For more information about all of the Island States:
http://www.sidsnet.org/aosis/
You are receiving this email because someone sent it to you via the
"tell-a-friend" tool at Avaaz.org. Avaaz retains no information
about individuals contacted through this tool. Avaaz will not send you
further messages without your consent--although your friends could, of
course, send you another message.
Gary Liss & Associates
916-652-7850
Fax: 916-652-0485
www.garyliss.com
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