During the COP18 Climate Change negotiations in Doha recently, Yeb Saño, a member of the Philippines Climate Change Commission, broke down while calling on negotiators to do more. With 500 people dead and 250,000 homeless from Typhoon Bopha, Saño implored: “If not us, then who? If not now, then when?”
(Doha, Qatar – Dec. 4, 2012) – In conjunction with the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Eighteenth Conference of Parties (COP18), the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC) hosted a joint event at Msheireb Enrichment Centre,highlighting the growth of green building construction throughout the world, with a focus on Doha and the greater Middle East region.
Award to be presented at Greenbuild International Conference and Expo in San Francisco
Mayor Ralph Becker from Salt Lake City; Mayor George Heartwell from Grand Rapids, Mich.; and Vice Mayor Kristin Jacobs from Broward County, Fla. share local leadership on resiliency in the built environment.
As host cities for the Republican and Democratic National Conventions, Tampa, Fla. and Charlotte, N.C. were gathering spots for the nation’s political elite – both being a mecca for U.S. policy-makers. For USGBC chapters in these areas, this was a prime opportunity to educate and engage policy-makers on sustainability initiatives.
Higher education applications pave the way for biomass to be used at your facility. The combustion of biomass sparks savings in energy and reductions in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Pioneered in Europe over 20 years ago, the technology has been implemented in industrial and educational applications since the early 2000s.
Rubble and tent villages in every direction. Mountains of trash with no place to go. A stench that makes your stomach turn.
Canals full of stagnant, disease-filled water. Thirsty livestock and nesting mosquitoes competing for the same dirty water.
A denuded landscape with hardly any nutrient-rich soil left to retain the precious water needed to support replanting.
Millions of people with limited or no access to basic amenities like clean water, safe shelters, electricity and toilet facilities.
My heart sinks.
COP-17 has made me proud to be South African for several reasons. First, hosting of the 17th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP) here in Durban, South Africa, has helped to remind the world that the impacts of climate change are already disproportionately impacting the poorest and most vulnerable populations of the world. Perhaps nowhere is this trend best illustrated than here on the continent of Africa.